Hi everyone,
I'm hoping I'm not the only mom with this issue... my 6 week old son is formula fed. We have tried Playtex Drop-Ins, Dr. Brown's bottles (standard sized) and the Avent bottles. The problem is, he sucks so hard that he gets so much formula in his mouth that a bunch spurts out the sides of his mouth when he swallows, or just pours down his chin. We go through 2 or 3 burp cloths (cloth diapers) at every feeding. I feel like it's hard to judge how much he's actually drinking... not to mention the huge mess it makes! Anyone else had a similar issue and have some words of wisdom? We're using level 1 nipples.
Thanks!
D.
We had the same problem and found that Nuby brand size 1 nipples work best for my son. Nuby also might be the maker of the Walmart brand of nipples.
Hi D.,
Sounds like he may not be getting enough of the nipple in his mouth. With the playtex, he needs to have his lips all flanged out and at, or past, the textured ring on the nipple. (the NaturaLatch nipples). You may have to sort of twist the bottle left and right several times to get his lips out and get more in. We had to do that with our son a lot! The standard size bottles may not be big enough for his mouth. As for knowing how much he's getting - he'll let you know if he's still hungry *grin*.
Happy New Year!
if the issue is he's sucking so hard to get it to come out, you might want to try 2 hole nipples.
avent recommends you move up to 2 holes at 1 month.
our little girl had a similar problem - moving up to 2 holes did the trick.
also, we can't use anything but avent nipples with her - the playtex are too soft and the dr. brown's flow too fast.
best of luck.
Try a larger nipple so he doesn't have to suck so hard to get the formula. Maybe that will help him regulate how much he sucks in at a time.
If you haven't, try a preemie nipple. I had that problem w/my last child and it seemed to help. the level one nipples were too strong. Also,try changing the position you are holding him in during feedings. try holding him w/your hand supporting his neck and shoulders and in a semi sitting position ( about a 45-55 degree angle) He hasn't learned the control of the nipple yet. Good luck!
Hi D.:
My son had the same problem -- almost drowning on the bottle -- when I started adding in bottlefeeding at 6 weeks. He was used to having to suck much harder on me than the bottle.
I switched to Preemie nipples and it made all of the difference in the world. He used the Preemie nipples with the very slow flow to about 3 or 4 months.
I used Dr. Brown's -- and the only place that sold the preemie nipples locally was Babies 'R' Us.
Good luck!
My son ALWAY made a huge mess with bottles - because he never learned to latch on properly. I know you never think about latching on and bottles, but the seal around the nipple with his mouth isn't tight. Try different nipples. If that doesn't work - you might be able to contact a feeding therapist (speech pathologist) who can give you some pointers. La Leche might be able to help - but I'm guessing. I was lucky because my sister is a speach pathologist and is focuses on resolving feeding issues. Good luck! The first of many messes!!
I also used the Dr. Browns bottles and know that what worked for me was using the different size nipples...they start at newborn (N) and go ups to level 3 (3). You can buy them right where you buy the bottles.
There are websites that sell special nipples for different types of feeding problems. If you don't find something that works you might try googling some related topics. I'm sorry I don't remember the specific websites. I do know, even though it didn't apply to us, the most helpful sites were for cleft lip. They have a lot of great products!
