Bottlefeeding/nipples/thickening…help!

[Anonymous]

Ok, so we use Dr. Brown’s bottles. I have a love/hate relationship with these bottles to begin with. I think they help Landen a lot, but they leak like crazy and now that I thicken his feeds, so much is getting hung up in the parts. But now that isn’t even my biggest concern. The “Y” cut nipple worked fine with rice, but he was getting terrible gas with rice, so last night I started thickening with oatmeal. Well, the oatmeal is thinner it seems, and now the flow seems too fast for him. How are you guys doing this? I am doing 1 tbsp per 1 oz of formula. I don’t know how else to give him a thickened feed. Any ideas? p.s. I wasn’t sure where else to post this.

Thanks,

Jill

[Anonymous]

I had the same maddening problem. I too both loved and hated the Dr. Brown bottles. The Y-cuts were way too fast for Myles. I was thickening with 1 tablespoon for every 2 ounces and it still was too fast for the Y-cuts. The only thing that worked for me was to use a stage 3 nipple and snip the hole with a sharp scissor to make it slightly bigger. It worked well but with time the whole would get bigger so I’d have to make a new one.

BTW, I don’t remember….. but if Landen is MSPI you might want to stick with the Beechnut Brand of Oatmeal since Gerber does have soy in it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! I may take all of his stage 1’s (which he’ll be outgrowing soon for regular feedings anyway) and snip them all. LOL. And yes, we def use beechnut soy-free! Our pedi actually warned me of that since he is MSPI or else I may have screwed up and gotten one of the other brands! thanks so much for your help!

[Anonymous]

We used the level 2 nipples thickened with the oatmeal, and it was fine, but we only used one teaspoon per two ounces.

I have heard others using the level 3 nipples with oatmeal, but they had to make a big batch of formula and blend it in advance so that it was smoother.

[Anonymous]

I just found Dr browns nipples size 4 for thickened feedings. I got them at Target. I love them them!

[Anonymous]

Thank you all!

Mary, thanks for letting me know about stage 4’s! My target only sells things for standard Dr. Brown and my picky Landen would only ever take the wide-necks. So I hope that Babies R Us or Toys R Us will carry the stage 4’s I am going to check this weekend!

[Anonymous]

Did you all find the oatmeal to be easier for the babies than the rice?

for the dr. brown bottles, is the stage 4 large or small??

vodonnell2007-4-27 20:41:30

[Anonymous]

I think most of us have found oatmeal to be easier on their tummies; less gas and constipation.

I’m not sure about the level 4 nipples but I’m guessing they are a bit faster then the level 3’s.

[Anonymous]

Where are the bottles leaking? The only time we ever had a problem with leaking was when we tried the skinny Dr. Brown’s bottles for Alex. We’ve never had a problem with the wide neck, except when we went to visit my dad and his hot water was set too high. It warped the collars (the inside piece) on her bottles when we ran them through the dishwasher.

Hmmm… maybe that’s the problem. Are you running them through the dishwasher at a really high temperature?

Oh, and Level 3 nipples worked really well for Kaelyn when her bottles were thickened 1 Tbsp oatmeal for every ounce of formula. However, she had an incredibly strong suck so I’m sure that helped.

[Anonymous]

I fight with the Dr. Brown’s bottles leaking all the time too.

I find that they leak after I shake up the formula in them. The straw bulb fills up with formula and then it leaks down the outsides (no matter how tightly I have the collar screwed on) as soon as the nipple is compressed. So, I put the funky rubber piece in a sandwich bag (without the straw on it) and put it in the bottle – that way the plastic bag acts as a barrier when I shake it. I then remove the plastic and assemble the bottle. If I don’t go through all of that, I shake up the bottle and then take it apart, wipe down the edges and reassemble it before giving it to him.

I also find that they leak after he’s finished drinking the bottle and I set it down somewhere. Inevitably, it leaks out.

And, I found that they leak when in an airplane or when going up in elevation (up Mt. Ranier, for ex.)

Just my 2 cents…

[Anonymous]

I used to make them up and shake them up, then unscrew the top and rescrew. This usually emptied the straw bulb and I never had any probs with leaking.

[Anonymous]

We always mixed her formula in a shaker bottle and then poured it in. (And Alex is on RTF). Maybe that’s the difference. Hmmm….

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