The babies who took part had been diagnosed by their parents as having colic rather than a medical professional. Minbie have a baby bottle that they report to support instinctive breastfeeding latch-on and motion. Their teat has an anti reflux and anti colic functionality. Here are the best bottles our editors have highlighted through research. And it's all supported by our parents in the BabyCentre community. The claim: Minbie say that the shape of the teat avoids nipple confusion for your baby as it nurtures a proper latch. Because of this proper latch, they report it helps baby’s control of the feed which supports good digestion helping with reflux and colic. They also say it works to prevent lazy feeding.

Bottom line, no one type of bottle is best. Choose one and see how your baby likes it. Some babies will adapt to the bottle straight away, others might need a bit of time to learn the new skill of feeding from that bottle, so don't give up too soon. Each time you change to a new style of bottle, your baby has to start learning all over again.' The evidence: A research project was carried out with 30 babies with colic type symptoms in 2010. 20 babies were given the Born Free bottles and 10 babies continued with their usual bottles. 85% of the 20 babies showed improvement with their colic symptoms. There’s no definite best time to introduce a first bottle but it’s often recommended to wait until your baby is at least 4-6 weeks old, if you plan to continue breastfeeding. This is to allow breastfeeding to become established and to build up your milk supply (1). Will my baby take a bottle easily? is equivalent to 17 babies. This was a very small research study, not big enough to be conclusive evidence. Babies could take part up to 7 months old and we know colic symptoms resolve themselves in older babies. Colic often improves by 6 months (5).

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See your GP if you’re concerned about your baby and nothing seems to help or if your baby is more than 4 months old with the symptoms of colic. Which bottles are best for breastfed babies?

The 5 colic symptoms they looked at included; crying, folding legs up to stomach, frowning and discomfort, face turning red and pain spasms. This was an online diary completed by parents and the parent’s opinion on whether symptoms improved. Parents had to document minutes spent fussing, sleeping or crying. Lansinoh® bottles and NaturalWave® Nipples are dishwasher safe. However, for longer life of the NaturalWave® Nipple, we recommend hand washing. Whether the symptoms had improved was decided by questionnaires (with 7 questions) completed by the parents.After a plugged duct or mastitis has resolved, it is common for the area to remain reddened or have a bruised feeling for a week or so afterwards. The claim: Born Free claim their bottles showed more improvement in colic symptoms than other anti-colic bottles. Any parent who bottle-fed their baby will tell you that not every bottle is the same. Even the size of the bottle can help – or hinder – your baby accepting it for feeding. Some parents are concerned that introducing a bottle may discourage their baby from breastfeeding. This is because your little one has to use a different technique when feeding from the breast compared to the bottle (3). With breastfeeding, your baby controls the flow of milk by suction and pauses to swallow and breathe. Breastmilk doesn’t flow instantly as it takes a minute or two to stimulate the let-down reflex (4).

The Lansinoh® NaturalWave® Nipple is designed for Lansinoh® bottles and will not fit on other wide-sized bottles. We do not recommend using our nipple with any other bottle because we have not tested their bottle with our nipple. This can be very distressing for parents. Colic can start when a baby is only a few weeks old but usually stops by 6 months (5). Some babies with colic have excess gas and so the theory behind anti colic bottles is tominimise the amount of air swallowed. Effective winding can help too. Signs your baby may have colic (5); To avoid buying and trying lots of different bottles, try talking to other parents and finding out what works for them. Be objective and try not to be influenced by marketing claims. If you’re looking for an anti-colic bottle, most now offer some anti-colic features. Feed at roughly the same time as usual. Make sure your baby is ready for some milk but not overly hungry. Lansinoh® bottles and NaturalWave® Nipples can be sanitized by boiling in water for five minutes. Please be sure that no parts of the bottle or attachments touch the bottom or the sides of the pan as this could cause them to melt.

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Anti colic: Minbie claims that colic is reduced because of the proper latch that their bottles encourage. If your baby is getting very frustrated that the milk isn’t instantly available. Try pumping a bit to start off the let-down reflex (4).