A breastfeeding mom writes in looking for advice on the best bottle for a breastfed baby.
A Community Member asks:
“What are the best bottles to start putting your breast milk in to start switching to bottles but still using breast milk? My baby has been EXCLUSIVELY breastfed for six months. I need to start now before there is no turning back. I do not want to breastfeed the recommended two years for various reasons.“
Community Advice For The Breastfeeding Mom Looking For A Bottle For Her Breastfed Baby
To see the suggestions the Mamas Uncut Facebook community has for this mom, read the comments of the post embedded below.
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Advice Summary
You can read some of the responses and suggestions below.
“I used Avent when my son was younger and he did just fine with them, but every baby is different.“
“We tried so many and the only one my girl took to was the Lansinoh Momma bottle. She was EBF for the first 6 weeks so she was stuck in her ways. This bottle gave me some freedom back.”
“Every baby is different. I bought one bottle of each and rotated until I noticed a favorite. And I don’t blame you for not wanting to go that long. I didn’t either.”
“I used Nanobee bottle I think I spelled it right it’s round (boobs shaped) easy to hold. My daughter prefers them as they steer more breast-like to get anyway.”
“Avent! I cannot recommend these enough! Number 2 nipple is what breastfed babies are supposed to stay on so that it won’t be so difficult to go back to the breast due to breastfeeding being “more work” to get milk. If that makes sense. I personally like the glass bottles better. To me, they’re cleaner and easier to keep sanitized. They also come in plastic bottles as well.“
“All babies have different preferences. My daughter would only take the mam bottles after I stopped breastfeeding but my niece would take the NUK and dr.browns bottles and hated the mam bottles. If I was you I would get a few different brands that you like and see what your baby prefers.“
Final Thoughts
When using bottles, it is more about how you feed the bottle, not so much what bottle you use. Whether you breastfeed or strictly bottle-feed, it is best to use the “paced bottle feeding” method. This is where you control the flow of the milk which helps to avoid overfeeding, colic, and many other issues that come with drinking too much or too fast.
So when choosing a bottle, it is not really the best bottle that you are looking for, it will be what bottle your baby likes and believe me they will let you know. Many times it is a trial and error. The community shared some great suggestions that worked for them and their breastfed babies. Avent, Comotomo, and Nanobee were just a few. Find what your baby likes and use paced bottle-feeding, and this should help with transitioning back and forth between breast and bottle.
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Dawn Onye is a Certified Lactation Counselor. With this certification comes education and her own experience helping mothers and babies with breastfeeding. With her CLC, she is required to keep herself up to date on the research studies, conferences, and training related to breastfeeding. She chose this field not just because she is an advocate for the benefits of breastfeeding, but because she sincerely loves working with mothers and babies. Her mission is not to push breastfeeding on all mothers and babies, but to help all mothers reach the goals they have and to provide the expertise for them to do so. The most important thing in life is to do what is best for your family without judgment from others.
Dawn is also a wife and a mother. She has four children ranging from 12 to 19 years old. She can help many families with tips and tricks she has learned along the way. She loves to read and write. Her favorite seasons are spring and fall, although she does enjoy summers while spending time with her family. There has been no greater accomplishment in life for her than being a mother.