moving up in nipple size

when do you know when to move up a level in nipple size?? DS is 6.5 weeks now and i am using dr browns... I feel like he is sucking away on the level 1 size and when i take the bottle out to burp him he has only taken an ounce. it takes him almost 30-45 minutes to take a 4oz bottle and hasnt even been finishing them. I feel like he is just giving up. when i am out i use the rtf nursettes with the yellow nipple and he plows right through them. is it too early to switch sizes? thanks :)

Re: moving up in nipple size

i moved to size 2 when she was taking that long to eat and i realized she shouldnt. Once i switched she stated finishing her bottle in 10-15 minutes

Re: moving up in nipple size

I would switch to level 2. I did with my DD around 4 months, only cause I was BFing the first 3 months.

Once I switched it was amazing, she finished her bottle in 5 minutes. She did choke/gag a little the first 2-3 times but she got the hang of it.

Re: moving up in nipple size

I waited a long time to switch to level 2... DS was just about 6 months. I was afraid to do it sooner because I'm BFing also and I didn't want him to start getting frustrated with that. I think Dr. Brown's recommends switching at 3 months but obviously it's whenever you think your DC is ready. If it's taking 30-45 minutes to finish a bottle, I would try it. That seems a bit long.

Re: moving up in nipple size

I was gonna post this question soon too.
dd is 7 weeks, and seems to take a while to finish her bottle also. We use Dr browns and avent. I think I am going to go up a nipple size and see how she does.

Re: moving up in nipple size

thanks!!! we just finished 4.5 oz in about 15 minutes!!!! level 2 it is i guess!!

Message edited 4/27/2011 10:57:13 AM.

Re: moving up in nipple size

We moved up around 13 weeks, just before she was 3 months old. She wasn't finishing 4.5 oz in 35 minutes because she'd just get sick of eating and then she'd eat much better and much quicker once we switched. We had been using the Playtex Ventaire, but she hated the medium flow and was tired of the wide-neck (I tried BF for the first 6 weeks but it didn't work out) and we switched to Dr. Brown's and used Level 2 from the beginning of using them and she's doing great. She eats 5.5-7 oz (depending on the time of day and when she last ate) in about 12 minutes now. She'll be 4 months soon, though.

The level 2s say 3+ months which is why we waited, but you have to do what's right for you both.