Buy a bottle with a Latex Nipple. And if you have a fast let-down when breast-feeding (a lot comes out and fast) then buy a bottle with a Medium flow Latex nipple. Gerber Essentials makes them. And I know Nuk also makes them, although they are harder to find. Here’s my story and why this strange solution makes absolute sense:

My oldest son, Kanan, and my newest infant, Scotland refused to take the bottle. With Kanan, I had been nursing him for about 5 months and needed to return to work. I was so upset when he refused the bottle I offered him. I bought a fancy Dr. Brown’s and he refused. Then I tried other expensive bottles that so many mother’s swore by. Nope. He hated them all. In desperation one day, I finally pulled out the cheap Platex nurser bottle with the yellow Latex nipple, from the back of my cupboard. One that I got as a baby shower gift that I thought nothing of. With all the fancy colic-free bottles out there, why have my child drink from cheap bottle I could buy at the grocery store, right?

He took it.

The only thing I could think of as to why he would take that one, was that the latex nipple had a texture more closely resembling skin. Silicone nipples do not at all. I tried all the bottles with the “real breast-like” shaped nipples. But they were all silicone.

Then three children later, I got another child who refused the fancy bottles with the silicone nipples. Similarly, I was getting ready to go back to work. I bought four different ones. All resembling breast like shapes. I even sought after the Playtex nurser with the latex nipple. Couldn’t find the latex nippled versions (it has been 7 years. They may have just phased them out), so I bought the silicone nipple version, thinking maybe it was just the nipple shape after all. Nope. Scotland refused them all.

Finally the week I am at work, after two days of my daughter giving her daycare provider hell, and making her resort to feeding her with a syringe, I decided to head back to the grocery store to find another option.

On the bottom shelf, there stood these bottles. The cheapest in the store. They were called Gerber Essentials. They had silicone nipples, but there was a 10 pack of medium-flow latex nipples, selling next to the bottles. My daughter was only 10 weeks old at the time. Too young for a medium flow nipple. But I thought it was worth the shot.

Sure enough, she took it.

Now I think I figured out why. First, I still believe that the latex texture is more skin-like than silicone. Hands down. But I think there may be something to the medium-flow as well.

See I’ve always had a fast let down. When the milk comes out, it comes out fast. I can hear my baby gulping fast to keep up with it. I wonder if the slow-flow of the newborn bottles is just too slow for my children’s taste because they have gotten used to my let down. They don’t have to work as hard. Those slow-flow bottles are just too slow for them. 🙂 I remember my son, the first to take the latex nipple, took it, but then I switched to medium flow because it just took him forever to finish the bottle and he would get frustrated half way through. Once I switched to fast flow, he loved it.

I’ve come to believe this is not just my story, but a common story. Just in chitchat with a few other women in my life, I have already met two others whose children preferred the cheap, grocery store latex nipples sold by Gerber or even Disney.

They are hard to find these days in the higher end stores. The best bet is to find them at the grocery store or on the internet. For your convenience I’m including links to them here as well. They are affiliate links so there’s no extra charge to you, but if you buy them through the links I send, I get a small share of Amazon’s profit to help support my blog.

Please respond if you get positive results! I would love to know if my theory works for other desperate mothers out there. 🙂 While I wish Playtex Nurser nipples were still around, they are not. But Gerber gets it done! And I recently discovered Nuk has one as well with a glass bottle for those Mamas wanting a plastic free home. These here are the nipples, I recommend. Plan to have your bottle woes disappear!!!

Gerber First Essential Clear View BPA Free Plastic Nurser With Latex Nipple, Assorted Colors, 9 Ounce, 3 Pack

Gerber 6 pack of latex nipples

Nuk Ready to Feed Latex Nipples (2 pack). 

Nuk glass feeding bottle