Teat size for 2-month-old?

[SoupDragon]

My girly is fed about 50/50 expressed breast milk and SMA stage 1 formula. I'm working on increasing the proportion of ebm and reducing the formula, but for now, until we see a lactation consultant, there is no chance of getting her on the boob, so we are using tommee tippee bottles.

We started on slow flow teats, of course, and I moved her onto medium flow at 3 weeks. She's now 9 weeks and I'm wondering if she needs to be on fast flow as she's showing some of the signs of difficulty feeding that she was just before I changed her to medium flow.

She's a big girl and eats 25-30oz per day which I'm told is a lot for her age but when her weight is factored in she's eating the right amount.

What teats were your LOs using at this age, especially if they were on the larger side?

 

[THart]

We pure ff, and never actually used more than the slow flow nipple lol so I'm not any help.

But if you think she is ready for the next step up then I see no reason why you couldn't try it.

 

[SoupDragon]

Thanks THart! I'm sure it won't hurt to try, and I probably will pick up a couple to give it a go when I next see some...I'm just a bit concerned about going up to the fastest flow so early - what are we going to be like when she's 6 months, I'll have to give her a straw!! I can't find any guidelines anywhere on what the usual progression is, i.e. typical ages/weights/whatevers for each size of teat, so wanted to find out what others are doing - I know it will vary widely, but I'd be reassured if there were others whose similarly-aged LOs are also on fast-flow!

 

[Kittycat155]

If your trying to get back to breast feeding I would try to hold off on a faster flowing teat as that may make it even harder. Otherwise could try and see how she does.

 

[Rcx]

My son has been taking 34oz of forumla a day since about 9 weeks, he is a hungry hungry boy. We put him on med flow teats at about 7 weeks, still on them at 13 weeks. I wouldn't say he's ready for fast flow yet. You know they are ready when they are getting too gassy from sucking too hard, sucking the teat right inside out or falling asleep mid bottle/getting frustrated. Try the fast flow and if she's sick or dribbles everywhere then you know shes not ready yet! Xx

 

[SoupDragon]

Oh, I didn't even think of that, Kittycat...good point! I suppose because we've never been successful at breastfeeding I don't necessarily think of these things. The lactation consultant is pretty much our last shot, and a long shot at that, at trying to bf. I'm prepared for the possibility of not managing it and having to carry on pumping, in which case we'll need to stick with the bottles of course. However I hope the LC has some bright idea that will allow us to bf, and I will hold off on the faster flow teats until we have seen her!

 

[SoupDragon]

Rcx, she's really fussing at the bottle a lot, starting to suck and then rejecting it (exactly what she did with the slow flow ones), and the burps are cavernous and huge! She hasn't been collapsing the teat or falling asleep but there's a LOT of frustration going on!

 

[Rcx]

Rcx, she's really fussing at the bottle a lot, starting to suck and then rejecting it (exactly what she did with the slow flow ones), and the burps are cavernous and huge! She hasn't been collapsing the teat or falling asleep but there's a LOT of frustration going on!

Def worth a shot on the next size up, you will know if she is not ready, she will spill a lot and prob chock a little (nothing to worry about though). Also I've never used them but you could try the variflow teats from tommee tippee as then baby controls the flow xx

 

[Kern]

Oh my gosh, Rcx! My 8 week old is ff and is on the slow newborn teat still. We just noticed recently he seems to be getting really gassy and he definitely is falling asleep mid bottle lately. He is a very hungry boy, some days he's up to 40 oz!!! I wonder if we should move him up to the next size. Thanks for bringing that to my attention!

For the original poster, I agree on holding off on the larger hole if you plan on introducing the boob. My milk came in late, we had already been feeding him formula but when it came in I tried to reintroduce him to my boob but he would only scream because he had to work for it whereas the bottle was easier. I definitely wish you luck on going back to the boob, I wish I had been successful!

 

[Rcx]

Oh my gosh, Rcx! My 8 week old is ff and is on the slow newborn teat still. We just noticed recently he seems to be getting really gassy and he definitely is falling asleep mid bottle lately. He is a very hungry boy, some days he's up to 40 oz!!! I wonder if we should move him up to the next size. Thanks for bringing that to my attention!

For the original poster, I agree on holding off on the larger hole if you plan on introducing the boob. My milk came in late, we had already been feeding him formula but when it came in I tried to reintroduce him to my boob but he would only scream because he had to work for it whereas the bottle was easier. I definitely wish you luck on going back to the boob, I wish I had been successful!

Wow, I love to hear of another hungry boy! Most people are so when they hear how much my son takes, but glad to know I'm not the only one lol. But definitely get on to the med flow teats, you'll see a big difference xx

 

[mel28nicole]

DD was very slow with drinking bottles, took an hour to drink 4-5oz! I went up to a medium flow to help out. She would drink it in about 20 minutes, but was spitting up a lot. So I switched back to the slow flow. It wasn't until she was 3 months that she finally got the hang of sucking and would actually let go of the nipple to let air out so she could get more. I'm not sure if it helps your situation but it just seemed like DD had to learn to suck right lol. She's been FF since she was born

 

[Kittycat155]

Have you tried nipple shields?

 

[Desi's_lost]

Could you try a different type of bottle? DD could never figure out tommee tippie bottles so she'd collapse the nipple/get frustrated but yet if I'd give her one of many other nipples of the same flow, she'd be fine.

 

[SoupDragon]

She's been fine since 3 weeks on the medium nipples, no problems til recently, so I'm not sure switching bottle brand would solve the problem.

Kittycat, I have tried literally everything I can think of, plus everything multiple midwives could think of, including nipple shields, positioning, etc...this is why the LC is a last-ditch effort!