Similar to Your Body
Hogg reminds you to consider a “nipple that closely matches your own. For example, if you have flat nipples, try the Nuk, if your nipples are firm and erect, the Playtex, Avent, or Munchkin might be best” (Hogg 120). For me, I found the Tommee Tippee bottle nipple worked best for my baby girl that preferred breastfeeding and she did not gag when we tried to bottle feed her like she did with the other bottle nipples.

In addition, the material the nipple is made out of may be a consideration as well. Most of the nipples are a clear plastic although the Playtex nipple that came with the Platex bottle I bought had a latex texture. My son didn’t like this texture probably because it was actually more similar to how a real breast nipple feels since my son preferred the plastic texture (and is why I breastfed him using plastic nipple shields).
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Type of Flow
The bottle nipples usually come with a flow type, usually 1, 2, 3 ect. You will probably use different flow types throughout the first year. You generally start with the slowest flow and then gradually work your way up. The bottles usually come with the slowest flow nipple. A slow flow may be best if breastfeeding since with breastfeeding the baby has to “work” to get the milk so the easier the milk flows through the bottle the less the baby may want to “work” to get breast milk.

My friend recommended switching to different types of flows depending on how fast or slow you want the baby to drink. For example she lets her daughter have a slow flow nipple in the morning when her baby has her bottle in her highchair to give mom some extra time to get organized for the day versus in the evening she gives her baby a fast flow nipple so her baby finishes the bottle quicker since it is near bedtime. I think this would work great if you have a good bottle drinker. We actually used a middle flow for the entire first year due to my son’s acid reflux. My son seemed to drink better with a slower flow since he tended to gag on the faster flows.

There are also special nipples designed if you add cereal to the bottles. Those didn’t tend to work well (since the fluid would flow too fast) for us and we simply used the standard nipples. For us, the standard flows seemed to flow fine even with the cereal in the bottle. It is not necessarily recommended to add cereal to bottles. We did it to help with my son's reflux. Please refer to the "Baby Cereal" article for more information.
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Works Cited

Hogg, Tracy and Melinda Blau. Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and
Communicate with Your Baby. New York: Ballantine, 2001.
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Last Updated: March 2011; November 2009

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Baby Bottle Nipples

Once you decide to bottle feed, you then need to choose the correct nipple for bottles, especially if you are considering doing bottle feeding along with breastfeeding. This article discusses the following topics related to nipples: Similar to Your Body Type of Flow Works Cited

Once you decide to bottle feed, you then need to choose the correct nipple for bottles, especially if you are considering doing bottle feeding along with breastfeeding. This article discusses the following topics related to nipples:

Similar to Your Body

Type of Flow

Works Cited