The surface of this one is matte and thick, and the nipple itself tapers off less sharply, so it doesn’t feel as long in the mouth. With the wide and soft breast-shaped teat, Avent has designed its Natural feeding bottle to make it easier for mums and babies to combine breast and bottle feeding. Philips Avent has a lot of products aimed at making the breastfeeding experience a successful one for moms. Although I did encounter occasional leaks from the valves, I was able to manage the problem with minimal effort. However, they can become discoloured, are easily scratched and will ultimately contribute to landfill.

You don’t even need to put a ring around the nipple to hold it onto the base because the nipple screws directly onto the bottle. But I’d heard nightmarish tales of babies refusing to breastfeed after trying bottles, and I was worried because I definitely didn’t want my baby to stop nursing entirely. We introduced bottles to my LO around 5 weeks old and used the Lansinoh Momma after receiving it as a sample from the pediatrician.

When in doubt, though, check with your pediatrician or lactation consultant to see what they recommend. In my experience, the unique matte and thick nipple design successfully promotes natural sucking motions necessary for proper oral development, while the bottle's sturdy plastic and wide neck make it easy to clean. These were highly recommended by the lactation consultant as they have a similar flow and shape to the breast.

If you’re trying to introduce a bottle to a breastfed baby, Nuk Simply Natural bottles are one of the first brands you should try. Designed with advanced anti-colic valves, our Combat Colic bottles help reduce the amount of extra air your little one intakes during feeding to prevent painful colic and gas. Parent tester and mum Jade tested out the bottle with her of a 3-month-old baby and praised the “brilliant quality and design, with teats that mimic mum that my baby took to straight away. It’s important to follow your baby’s feeding cues and signs that they need more milk, such as finishing each feed and seeming to want more (NHS, 2015; Unicef, 2016).

They tested more than 20 bottles among their six total children and gave insights into their experiences with each. Dr Brown’s bottle has been designed with a removable 100% vacuum-free vent system that claims to be proven to reduce windy colic. The aim is to reduce nipple confusion and our testers found their babies took to the teat with ease. Over 90% of maternity units in the UK are now Baby Friendly Accredited, which means a midwife on the infant feeding team should be able to support you if you do have any difficulties with breastfeeding straight after birth (UNICEF 2017).