Increasing bottle teat size

[SallyDom]

Hi everyone,
Just a quick question, I have just bought some (Avent) teats for 6 months+ in preparation for when my little boy gets a bit older, he's 20 weeks now. I was just wondering whether to use them when he gets to 6 months or whether to leave it and see whether he finds a problem with the 3 month ones he's on now.

I felt he needed the size 3 teats cos he was getting tummy ache and with the smaller teats. Do you change your teats as a matter of course or only if you find your baby struggling eith their current ones?

Sal
x 

[TJ & Stephy's Mommy]

Hi SallyDom,

I also use the Avent brand teats.  I remember changing the teat size (2 to 3) when DS started to get frustrated with the flow of the milk coming out too slow.  I think that was when he was about 3.5 months old.  I just recently switched to size 4 teats to see if DS noticed a difference with the flow and he's been fine with it.  He's been using the size 4 teats for the past week and he just turned 7 months.  If DS had a problem with the flow, I'd probably would've switched back to the size 3.

I think you should watch your LO when he eats and then determine if you need to switch the teats or not.

HTH
Mel

[SallyDom]

Thanks Mel I will wait and see if I think Dom needs the change. I bought the size 4 in preparation but then wondered if all babies needed the bigger ones. My sister has a 16 month old little boy and she still has some size 2 and 3's and Finley is happy with them but I bought the bigger teats anyway.

Sal
x 

[Michaela's Mom]

Dd is 9.5 months now, and is STILL drinking from newborn (must be size 1?) teats! I've tried a size up, but she just chokes time and again. She does tend to take ages to drink a bottle as the follow-on formula is thicker, but i just don't know how to change her to the next size teats without her choking. I tried to see if she would get used to the additional flow by using them for a few days, but she just kept on choking. I'm now trying a sippy cup (without much success i might add! ), but i see that she loves drinking from a straw so i'm going to start using the sippy cup with the straw and see if this works.

Sharon

[* Paula *]

I would definitley go with what your lo wants.  DS found it really hard to drink from the size 3 teats so we switched to the #4 at around 5 months.  This worked perfectly for him.

By about 10 months he started getting fussy with them as we went onto the follow on formula that was a lot thicker so we made 2 extra holes in the teats. 

He is now on Cows Milk and has the milk flowing freely through the teat which suits him down to the ground.  I think this way it is going to be quite easy to wean him off the bottle when we want to do this.

HTH

Paula

[evan's mom]

Hi,  Approximately when should you switch from the 1 to the 2 size?

[TJ & Stephy's Mommy]

You should switch when you notice your LO getting frustrated with the milk coming too slow or is taking a long time finishing his bottle.  I switched teats whenever I noticed DS getting frustrated with the flow of the milk and most recently he was taking a long time to finish his bottle.  I switched to size 4 teats to see if he noticed a difference and he didn't.  Just watch your LO when he eats and determine if you should switch teats or not.  I didn't switch teats based on the age; I did it based on his response when he's eating.

HTH
Mel

[evan's mom]

Thanks, but I'm a bit confused with why he's cryinh during feeds...not sure iif it's the flow or not.     So I was just wondering what was the age for starting a 2.

[SallyDom]

I think:
Size 1 from birth
Size 2 from 1 month
Size 3 from 3 months
Size 4 from 6 months

Hope this helps
Sal
x

[* Paula *]

Our HV suggested that we went straight onto Size 2 Teats.

[KathrynK]

we went to size 2 at 4 weeks, size 3 at 8 weeks and size 4 at 16 weeks! each change was earlier than the guidelines state, but each time ds was showing me she needed it by fussing halfway through each bottle and refusing to feed. each baby is different, you really need to follow their cues

[SallyDom]

Ahh, Dom fusses sometimes halfway through his bottle and won't always drink, wonder if that's why. He sometimes squirms and seems like he wants to drink but it hurts him or something. I never put 2 and 2 together though cos sometimes he can drink 8oz in less than 10 mins. I think I'll try a size 4 and see how he gets on. Thanks a lot Kathrynk

[* Paula *]

Let us know how you get on.

Remember the flow may be a bit quick for him, so you may want to hold him slightly raised when you are feeding him.

Let us know how you get on.

[RDelaney]

MY DS went on to size 4 teat at about 16 weeks - he was lolling the size 3 teat around in his mouth and not eating much and basically just faffing around - he loves the size 4 teats and will down 6-7 oz in about 7 minutes!
Ruth xx

[SallyDom]

Dom's on the size 4 teats now and seems happy with them. At times he downs 8oz incredibly quicky but sometims still faffs a bit but I think a lot of it is that he is so interested in everything now and would rather look at things and play then do boring things like eat!

Sal
x

[Michaela's Mom]

Strangely enough, the VERY day i posted on this thread about dd still drinking from size 1 teats at 9.5 months, i went home, gave her a bottle and she just started fussing. I changed the teat to a medium one and she drank her milk without any further ado. I now use the medium teats all the time! Just goes to show - they work it all out for themselves in the long run!!! 

Sharon