Nipple Confusion
“Nipple Confusion” is a phrase that can cause a lot of stress for new parents.
“You can’t give the baby bottles, because then they will have nipple confusion and won’t want to breastfeed!” Were you told something like this?
Today I’m going to bust some myths about nipple confusion and give you some tips to help you to be able to use bottless while maintaining a great breastfeeding relationship!
Your Baby isn’t Confused
I find that when people use the term “nipple confusion” they actually mean nipple preference or bottle preference.
When a breastfed baby is bottle fed, the flow of milk and the shape of the bottle nipple are different than the breast (no matter how “like the breast” the bottle claims to be!) and the baby can use a different technique to get the milk out than they do when they are breastfeeding. Simply, bottle feeding is easier than breastfeeding for most babies, particularly when the bottle feeding technique used by the caregiver contributes to a faster flow of the bottle.
Breastfeeding Latch vs. Bottle Feeding
When breastfeeding with a good latch, baby’s mouth should be wide open. Their tongue needs to be able to lift up in order to create a vacuum seal to pull the nipple into the back of the mouth and remove the milk.
With bottle feeding, baby doesn’t have to use the same mechanics that they do when they are breastfeeding. All they need to do to remove the milk is compress the nipple. They do not need to create that same vacuum seal and use their tongue in the same way. And, the flow of the milk through a bottle nipple is passive- if you hold a bottle upside down, milk will drip out of the nipple, whether something is sucking on it or not. Many bottles flow very quickly and baby can get a lot of milk in a short period of time!
These differences in mechanics and flow can cause the baby to develop a preference for the bottle. It’s easier! However, there are some bottle feeding techniques that we can use that can help our baby avoid developing a bottle preference. Let’s talk about those next!
How to Avoid Bottle Preference
Start by picking a bottle with an optimal shape. PRO TIP: The bottles that are marketed to be most like the breast are usually not the optimal shape! This is because the nipple shape has the appearance of what some breasts look like at rest/before breastfeeding. But in the baby’s mouth, with an optimal latch, the nipple is elongated because it is being pulled to the back of the mouth. Therefore, bottles with a more narrow nipple or a more gradual slope help babies to use a better technique with the bottle, more similar to breastfeeding.
Choose a bottle with a slow-flow nipple. Unfortunately, there aren’t regulations regarding what qualifies a bottle as “slow-flow” but a bottle that is labeled as slow-flow will be slower than the other sizes of that brand. Ask your IBCLC for specific bottle recommendations!
Help slow down the flow of milk by holding the bottle parallel to the floor. Tipping the bottle down into baby’s mouth makes even a slow flow bottle much faster.
I hope that helps ease your fears about nipple confusion! Don’t be afraid to discuss these tips with any other caregivers who are giving your baby a bottle- it can really help ensure that your baby doesn’t develop a preference for the bottle while you are apart and that they aren’t being overfed.
If you’re noticing that your baby has developed a preference for the bottle, contact an IBCLC for some help, it’s often possible to help coax them back to more breastfeeding!