BF to bottle - lots of spilling

[Ryan&HollysMom]

hi folks, just curious:
i give my dd, who was breastfed til 2 weeks ago, 3 bottles a day. she loves them, is eager to drink, no problems really. but i've noticed that she spills an awful lot while she's drinking, it just squirts back out of her mouth and flows down her chin. i put a bib on her and it's completely soaked by the end of it, sometimes through to her shirt. i noticed her tongue is way forward by her lips in breastfeeding position, is that the problem? is it different for a bottle feeder?
i started out with a size 1 nipple (as in for newborns) but she was taking WAY too long (20-30 min), so we switched to size 2 but still super slow, so went to size 3 (i guess it has 3 holes on top), and she likes that one. we sort of alternate between the size 2 and 3 and sometimes use a sippy (born free hard spout - 9m+) too. she squirts like that with all three, but it's worst with the size 3 and the sippy. any ideas? is this just what it's like? or is she just inexperienced?

[Lolly]

Funnily enough my friends little girl is doing a very similar thing! She is 4 months, BF and having 1 bottle a day now but does some strange things with the bottle she doesn't do on the breast.

What about trying a variflow teat? If your bottl typee does them, they are controlled by how hard the baby sucks and most don't seem to have the continuous drip that normal teats do. It may be worth a try.

Laura

[Ryan&HollysMom]

oh! i've never heard of that!

[~ Vik ~]

Was going to suggest the same as Laura   When we introduced bottles for Dylan's day feeds he hated both the slow and fast flow nipples - I think that he just didn't like that they dripped right into his mouth, plus they made a huge mess.  The variable flow ones work so much better.  The ones that we got (playtex drop ins) are labeled "Y cut for thicker liquids" so keep your eye out for that too - the Y cut is variable flow and is controlled by their sucking.  Hope that you're able to find them for your bottles!

[Ryan&HollysMom]

do you know if they make them for avent bottles?

[Lolly]

They do make them for avent bottles but I have to say the avent variflow are very fast teats compared to others. I use those currently for DD and we have used the tommee tippee closer to nature variflow. The avent drips out very fast without sucking which suits DD and her reflux formula but the TT doesn't - she was making that collapse she had to suck so hard.

I'm not sure if the Tommee Tippee are available where you are, it's a pain switching bottles/ teats I know, maybe try the Avent but it will probably be too fast.

Laura

[Ryan&HollysMom]

i probably wouldn't mind buying a bottle, as i'd be fine with one. i find it okay to just wash it out and use it again, when she only feeds 3 times a day from it. the other option would be to try and find a top like that for our sippy? or do they not make them for sippies?

[mamatolevi]

Hi there, I agree that the avent nipples are pretty fast, so I still use the ones recommended for newborns and my LO is almost 3 months. Don't have a ton af advice for you, but just wanted to jump in and say hi, as I'm very closeby in Sarnia! I haven't found anyone on the boards quite so close to home!

[Ryan&HollysMom]

mamatolevi, my birth club (7-9 months) has a few ontarians on it. there are sooo many canadians on BW. we just had a get together in may in toronto (went to the zoo) but i was there with only 1 other but she was awesome to hang out with. keep an eye out for another meet cause many couldn't make it so they're hoping to plan another. there's also one other mom in windsor, maybe she and you and i can get together sometime and let the babies stare at one another, lol. it's always great to meet BWs. btw, levi is too cute! love that picture.
as for the nipples, i'm not really anywhere near a store that carries stuff like that with a decent selection, so it'll have to wait. meantime, who knows, maybe she'll get really good at what she's got... lol