Bottle feeding: Dribbling Dramas!

After struggling with breast feeding our second daughter, we needed to bottle feed. Unfortunately the difficulties getting her to latch was not so easy to overcome. Our little newborn drowned, dribbled and cried until she managed to down enough milk from the bottle to quench her thirst. She gained weight, was happy and content with a full belly, yet throughout every feed she bathed in milk. 

It was so difficult bottle feeding, when I think about it, it was just as difficult as breast feeding {except for the pain and physical damage caused}. We spent so much time watching her feed, spotting where the milk was escaping, repositioning and coaxing her to suckle. We noticed that she clamped down on the teat and had wide gaps in the corners of her mouth, milk escaped and air was sucked in. She burped like a pro but all that air caused her difficulties settling. 

Before having our second daughter, I purchased new teats {all stages/ages} for my old bottles, so that I could express and Daddy could share in the experience of feeding. Our second daughter struggled so badly with latching to the bottle and all those bottles/teats were useless. We ended up buying a bottle of every type, with every different shaped teat, from our local the store. Anything to help feeding become easier! 

Eventually we found the most squashed looking teat we could and feeding became a little easier. MAM have a flattened teat with grooves for the babies lips to sit on each side of the silicone. The shape was narrow enough for our daughter to seal her small mouth around and now she dribbles significantly less and is not taking so much air. 

We purchased the longest bottles, so that as she grows we do not have to keep buying bigger bottles. There were two types, basic bottles and anti-colic bottles. The anti-colic bottles have a plastic screw on base {with holes in it} and a silicone seal that pushes into the base which is designed to reduce the air taken in while feeding. Unfortunately this sleep deprived Mamma often struggles to position the silicone seal tight enough and often leaks milk everywhere ... we prefer the basic bottle.