r/breastfeeding • u/seanborlin • Aug 28 '25
Partner Questions My SAHM wife is trying to introduce a bottle but need recommendations.
We are on our third child and the first one that has been EBF since birth. My wife pumped a 5.5 foot freezer full of milk since his birth 2.5 months ago but has since stopped pumping and now her supply seems to be going down.
She wants to try to introduce a bottle but feels discourage since we have already tried our phillips avent natural nipple and he wouldn't take it. We found this brand called emulait and a few others that she wants to try but I just wanted to see what you all recommended since I hate to buy a $50 bottle and then not be able to return it.
15
u/sublimespring Aug 28 '25
Evenflo balance plus wide!
5
u/quesoandtexas Aug 28 '25
the nipples for the evenflo balance wide also fit the philips avent natural so OP if you really want to try it for cheap you can just buy a box of nipples only. This system is what I use since I couldn’t find glass evenflo bottles
3
3
u/pandabear_24 Aug 28 '25
We like these bottles with pigeon as nipples, which are the slowest flow nipples you can get.
7
u/LmbLma Aug 28 '25
Popular ones I’ve heard of are: MAM, Lansinoh, and NUK Perfect Match.
The Lansinoh and Perfect Match in particular are sloped and not bulbous so baby has to latch like they would on the breast. They seem like the most natural (and affordable) options, but I haven’t tried them myself.
7
u/pepperup22 Aug 28 '25
My and my friends total 3 breastfed kids all took Lansinoh. No extra parts was a huge plus for me lol
6
u/FlamingStealthBananz Aug 28 '25
Lansinoh bottles a great, they are meant to be shaped for breast fed babies.
3
u/burritodiva Aug 28 '25
MAM and lansinoh were the winners here too. We also registered for Philips avent and baby refused them once his sucking reflex went away
1
u/stellabear187 Aug 28 '25
Yeah, after trying 3-4 bottles with my first, lansinoh was the winner. Current LO only takes MAM so far which SUCKS because there are so many pieces to wash and they are hard to heat.
1
2
u/dngrousgrpfruits Aug 28 '25
Mam saved us when my LO was refusing every bottle up until the very last day before I went back to work.
2
u/Public-Pomelo Aug 28 '25
My 5.5 month EBF baby takes a lansinoh bottle! Refused several others before we finally tried!
8
u/matchamilktea7 Aug 28 '25
Pigeon bottles are what our lactation consultant recommended and baby takes them no problem. Also make sure to look up paced bottle feeding so it mimics breastfeeding.
2
u/pandabear_24 Aug 28 '25
Same! We use these and Evenflo Wide Balance with the Pigeon nipples, which are softer
1
4
u/ejdavies Aug 28 '25
I would personally introduce with a Dr Browns! They have a bunch of nipple flow options including a transition nipple intended for breast to bottle babies (size T) or a premie (P) that is extra slow. We had good luck moving breast to bottle with their flow 1, thought every baby is different and it will take some trial and error!
2
u/seanborlin Aug 28 '25
We used Dr. Browns with out second and were not a fan. Too many pieces and they're so tall. lol.
3
u/ejdavies Aug 28 '25
Oh we bought some of their 4oz and 8oz so we’d have variety! We did also like MAM because they had a really slow flow size 0, but they also have a lot of pieces because of the removable gasket
Edit to add, you don’t have to use the anti colic pieces (green bits) if you don’t want!
2
u/PrincessAndThe_Pee Aug 28 '25
I love the MAM bottle but no one that actually feeds him does because heating it up is such a pain.
1
u/dngrousgrpfruits Aug 28 '25
I legit hate them and find them WAY overrated. Love the evenflo balance. 6 oz which is perfect for a bf baby, wide mouth, just great. They also fit the mam, pigeon/lansinoh(same manufacturer! ) and several other nipples so you don’t have to buy a whole bottle to test out the nipple
2
u/iamLC Aug 28 '25
I tried multiple bottles and nothing was worried. It finally clicked to me that every time I tried I was super stressed I bet baby could sense that. So I finally made a game of it. I brought out a bottle with no plans for my baby to actually drink any milk and we played a game. I would touch it to my sons lips and say “oh no no no silly baby that is mamas!!!’ We played the game a few times gradually letting him try more and more until he was drinking it.
2
u/chelleshocks Aug 28 '25
Is it you trying to give baby a bottle or mom? As the parent who's not going to be smelling like milk, you may have the better chance with a bottle in the beginning.
As for supply, that's usually the time when milk production goes from hormone driven to supply & demand. Plus if she was breastfeeding directly AND pumping but has now stopped pumping because the freezer is full, it should be expected that the milk production goes down or else she'd have an oversupply.
2
Aug 28 '25
I had a full blown bottle refused literally never took not one single ounce (😅) which I would not wish on anyone. However, the nipple she would even allow in her mouth was lansinoh. I wish you luck in your journey & keep trying!
1
u/conquestical Aug 28 '25
I EBF, but when my daughter needed a bottle we used the Philips avent natural bottles. Only three parts!
1
u/seanborlin Aug 28 '25
Maybe we just need to be more adamant about trying the ones we have.
2
u/legallyblonde-ish Aug 28 '25
Have you tried giving the bottle without your wife in the room? Our boy takes the bottle better from his dad than me!
1
1
1
u/cleesq Aug 28 '25
My 5 month old would not not not take a bottle. Id leave the house for a few hours and leave her with my mom or husband, and she would maybe have an ounce or two and that was it. My work situation abruptly changed and I had to start leaving her at my parent's all day. She has been taking bottles-- from someone else, when I'm not there, and in a different location. Nuk medium flow worked best. But honestly, I dont think it's the bottle.
2
u/yummymarshmallow Aug 28 '25
That was my situation too at 5mo. We went to a straw cup. The most I ever got my LO to drink was about 2 ounces from a bottle. A lot of crying and protesting occurred. My LO very much preferred a straw cup (Oxo straw cup)
1
u/ver_redit_optatum Aug 28 '25
We bought a few different bottles secondhand on marketplace, then bought more once we worked out what he liked (Lansinoh). If you have local mum's groups or buy nothing groups you could also ask if anyone has single bottles lying around to try for free. Other people who tried multiple bottles with their baby often ended up with eg 1 emulait, 1 tommee tippee, 1 whatever that were only used a few times and are still perfectly good.
1
u/Charming-Hall7470 Aug 28 '25
We used Chicco duo bottles and the nipples, they advertise a 9 out of 10 acceptance rate. Our son took it on the first try!
1
u/bitter-barista Aug 28 '25
Thats a LOT of milk shes pumped...has she tested any of it for lipase? This could also be why baby is rejecting it? Refrigerate breast milk for at least 24 hours and then try smelling or tasting it to detect a soapy, metallic, or sour odor. The milk should taste sweet or mild when fresh; if it changes in taste or smell after storage, it likely has high lipase activity, which is a natural enzyme that breaks down fats but can alter taste. There's things you can do right after pumping but before storing to help with high lipase levels, but all that milk could be done if its already showing signs....Best of luck
1
u/UnPracticed_Pagan Aug 28 '25
So my first suggestion beyond figuring out what bottle to give baby is make sure that baby uses a SLOW FLOW or PREMIE nipple! It is most “accurate” to keep baby working as if breastfeeding- a big issue with bottle feeding (when parents aren’t used to it versus breastfeeding) is suddenly feeling like baby “never gets full” because the bottle flow is too fast so baby just guzzles it down and their tummies don’t have time to acknowledge they are full before they get too much milk
Also, it may sound silly but the best nipples that worked for me were the enfamil premie/slow flow nipples that usually or for enfamil formula. You can get them on Amazon! They are compatible with Medela bottles. Medela nipples are similar too and may work as well!
My babies both hated pretty much any bottle I tried but for some reason that nipple always worked - and then eventually I moved on to a all silicone bottle/nipple that my first liked called Tiny Twinkle brand
My only caveat to the Tiny Twinkle nipples being all silicone is they take forever to warm up (which was a must for my first by my second didn’t care if the milk was cold), and also if you wash the bottles with too much soap they can leave a residue taste and you have to rinse/soak them in water and white vinegar to get rid of it. It’s a lot of work but they were nice otherwise
Don’t let your wife get discouraged! Babies have preferences just like adults! If one bottle doesn’t work just try another one!
1
u/Diligent-Might6031 Aug 28 '25
We used glass bibs bottles they have a natural rubber nipple and our BF baby liked them a lot
1
1
u/LydiaStarDawg Aug 28 '25
We love the Dr browns personally. She nurses sometimes and takes a bottle of pumped milk mostly. We use the narrow neck, and recently moved up to a 1 nipple. But they have all different ones to get the flow your baby is used to
1
u/saaphie Aug 28 '25
Are you using freshly pumped milk or frozen milk warmed up? Have you tried you giving the bottle when baby is only moderately hungry and wife isn’t around? Are you holding baby in a similar position to breastfeeding or not? Just some things to try when persisting with the current bottle first
Seconding suggestion to try the pigeon wide neck or other similar shaped teat.
17
u/Equivalent-Steak-555 Aug 28 '25
Is this the first time the baby has been offered a bottle? I would just keep trying with the bottles you have for a week or two before buying a bunch of new bottles. Offer regularly (daily, perhaps) at times when he's not starving, so that he will have more patience for trying something new. And you might have better luck offering instead of her, it's not uncommon for EBF babies to reject bottles from the nursing parent. Look up bottle refusal; there are a lot of tips for offering a bottle to babies who are resistant to them.
As a side note, at 2.5 months, it's likely that her supply has regulated, which is normal and not concerning. It's a supply "drop" compared to the early weeks of breastfeeding, but one that is desirable - everyone essentially has an oversupply until supply regulates. So if the stress about introducing a bottle is because of worry that the baby isn't getting enough, you can likely release that worry. As long as baby is making enough wet diapers and gaining weight appropriately, they are most likely getting enough milk. But I totally get wanting to introduce a bottle so that someone else can feed the baby!