One of the most asked questions when thinking about feeding baby is, “What bottle is best for my baby?” And sometimes, “What bottle is best for my breastfed baby? Does that matter?”

Generally speaking, the best bottle for your baby is the bottle that your little one will take!

However, as a feeding specialist, some bottles are more preferred than others.

The top thing you need to consider when picking a bottle is nipple shape.

What are the different bottle nipple shapes?

Look at the nipple on the bottle. Is it long? Does it slope gradually from the tip down to the base resembling an upside down cone? Is the base of the nipple narrow? If the answers to these questions are yes, you’ve likely found a winner!

A narrow-based nipple with a gradual slope is the best shape for optimal oral function.

Why? This shape allows your baby to cup the nipple with their ENTIRE tongue and create suction that will allow them to get milk out efficiently.

If you can, you want to avoid wide-based nipples, nipples that are flat, and nipples that don’t have a gradual slope from tip to base. These promote a chomping pattern because usually the tip of the nipple is the only part resting on the tongue.

**These are our favorite choices for bottles!**

Sloped & Narrow — check, check!
**Shop the bottles here!**

**These are wide-based bottles with short nipples.**

These aren’t great options, but if they are working for your little one, then that is great!

Why is nipple shape SO important?

Here’s the deal: Even if your baby is exclusively bottle fed, let's think about breastfeeding with an emphasis on what happens to the nipples. One of the differences between bottle nipples and nipples on the breast is that mom’s nipples will naturally stretch as baby is sucking and expressing milk. This is why bottle nipple shape is so important!

Bottle nipples will NOT change shape when baby is sucking.

So if the bottle nipple is short and wide before it is in baby’s mouth, then it will stay short and wide while in their mouth. Therefore, it’s NOT the optimal shape for feeding.

Ok, so now you know what shape look for… but what about bottles that say “just like mom’s breast” or “as close to breast as you can get?”

Beware of Marketing!

Beware of the wording and phrases brands use to try to get you to buy their bottle- it’s a marketing gimmick!

We as parents want what is best for our precious babies and unfortunately brands know this and will use it to their advantage. There are lots of bottles that say “just like the breast” or “natural flow”.

Truth be told, the majority of the time the bottles and nipples that are advertised as resembling a breast are not the best options.

How ironic, right? Sure, the nipple may look like the breast at REST, but as you just found out, that’s not what our breast looks like when baby is actively feeding.

Do breastfed babies need a “special” type of bottle?

NOPE. If you’re breastfeeding, you may have heard you need to find a “specific” bottle that looks just like your breast so your baby doesn’t have trouble going back and forth from your breast to the bottle. A narrow-sloped nipple on the bottle is still the recommendation here, BUT there’s a little more to the story.

You ALSO want to focus on the FLOW of the bottle nipple.

When your baby is nursing, they are regulating the flow of the milk and are able to start and stop the flow themselves. So when selecting a nipple flow or level, you want to pick a slow-flow to mimic that.

Each bottle system/brand has different ways of identifying levels. Some brands are labeled with numbers and others use descriptor words of slow and fast. For example, if you are using Dr. Brown’s bottle system you will want to pick a preemie (P), transitional (T) or level 1 (slow-flow) nipple to use. When in doubt, try not to go up higher than Level 1.

Remember that with all recommendations, do what’s best for you.

If your little one is doing well taking a bottle that doesn’t make our recommended list, and it’s working for your family- that’s great! There is NO NEED to make a switch.

If you are trying to breast and bottle-feed and you’re noticing some difficulty going between the two, a bottle change or flow change may be helpful.

If you want more guidance on breast or bottle feeding, we offer virtual consultations and you can get all your questions answered!

If you’re a new parent or expecting, make sure you check out The First Six Months Handbook for guidance on all things feeding, speech, and play in the first 6 months!