[AndreaRenee]

ok so I want the nipple I use on a bottle (IF i use a bottle) to express the milk at the same rate my own boobie does... right? because if its easier to feed with the bottle, he may prefer it over my boob.. so how do I know which flow to purchase?

my friends 3 mo old is too lazy to bf because the bottle gives it to him with no effort... again, bottle feeding will not be done often if I can help it but I have to be prepared...

[Repti.Mom]

I wouldn't go nipple crazy. Just buy 1 kind and don't buy anymore til those dont work. Some babies are fine taking anything and can switch back and forth, some will take 1 nipple of any kind and never bf again, some will refuse ALL nipples.

[MaineBean]

I know nothing about specific nipples, but here's some info I got from my BF class that I took on Monday night that might be helpful to have in your back pocket.

The instructor told us that we should not offer a bottler for the first 3-4 weeks until BF habits are very well established and baby & you are old pros at it. She said then it is ok to offer a bottle, but she recommended someone other than you do the feeding. You should be the boobs and nothing more so as to minimize any confusion. She also said that you should not wait too long to give a bottle because then they may ONLY want the boob- the time example she gave was 3 months as being too late.

I'm sure every kid is different but those all sounded reasonable to me as guidelines. She pointed out the same thing that you are concerned with- bottle feeding is a snap and requires no real work for baby, so if they get used to it, they might not want to go back to the breast and have to put in the extra effort for food!

There were no brand recommendations though, and I've got zip for experience to help beyond that!

[pattijwg]

It's really a trial thing here too..some babies will prefer a certain type of nipple(and paci) and others don't care. however, breast takes A LOT more work, so something slow that makes baby work just as hard would be the best bet..

[soImarriedAnerd]

This is what I was trained to teach people (a few years ago though so it could have changed).....

If your goal is to BF as much as possible then you want the HARDEST flow for baby to drink from nipple (says on the packages). Because mom's nipples take a little work to get milk from so bottle should also. Alot of women who run into issue with nipple confusion have nipples that are way to easy for baby to get stuff out of---so they get lazy and then only want the lazy way. Also not to introduce pacifiers/nipples until BF is established 4-5 weeks (now some smaller babies WILL need pacifiers to kind of learn to suck, but for no-issue suckers you don't want anything).

[Audrey.]

I always read to use the slow flow nipples, even if they've reached the age that you can move them up, so they don't get use to the milk flowing too easily.

[pattijwg]

I've never had an issue with pacifiers. I gave both my girls one in the hospital.

[nvr.4.gtn]

what everyone else said is what I would say. Don't give until you are established.... at least 3-4 weeks, just pick a bottle and nipple and go from there. Stick with slow flow nipples