My Top 5 Bottles for Breastfed Babies as an IBCLC

Looking for a bottle for your breastfed baby that will limit nipple confusion and make the transition easier? This post shares results from a survey done regarding a variety of moms’ favorite bottles for their breastfed baby, along with a lactation professional’s opinion on the best bottles.

Choosing a bottle for your breastfed baby can be a tricky process.

Not all bottles are the same, and choosing the right one can really make or break your experience. In this article, you will learn about what to look for in a bottle, when to introduce it, and what bottles I recommend as a lactation professional.

However, I will also be sharing insights from tons of moms in a survey I did a while back. I have included commentary on many of these bottles from the moms who have used them.

As a brief overview, here are my favorite bottles for breastfed babies (and honestly, all babies!)

• Evenflo Balance+
• Lansinoh Baby Bottles
• Dr. Brown’s Bottles
• GentleFlow+ Glass Baby Bottles
• Pigeon Nipple

Hi! 👋 I’m Katie, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant I have helped thousands of moms worldwide navigate their breastfeeding journey since 2015. I can’t wait to help you! Consider checking out my 1:1 lactation support services or enrolling in one of our online breastfeeding courses today!

I call this an “unbiased report” because none of these companies paid to be included in this article. Based on how breastfeeding works and feedback from other moms, I recommend these bottles.

Best Bottles for Breastfed Babies

These are the bottles I recommend as the best for breastfed babies. They meet all of the requirements I’ve listed above, and I’ve seen lots of parents have success.

My #1 Choice: Evenflo Balance+

These are great bottles, and they are bottles that many parents who were dealing with bottle refusal. The nipple has a nice, gradual slope, and they have a nice, slow flow. They also have only three parts for easy cleaning, and you can pump directly in them with a breast pump adapter.

Unfortunately, the wide-mouth version is usually out of stock on Amazon. However, you can generally get it from Lactation Hub.

GentleFlow+ Glass Bottles

These bottles are newer bottles to the market, so there aren’t a ton of parent reviews yet. However, they feature a super slow flow nipple, a gradual slopped nipple with a wide base to encourage a wide gape, and they are available in glass. These bottles have been carefully designed to meet the needs of breastfed babies, including:

• Available in 3 oz and 6 oz sizes (this is to help manage expectations of how much a breasted baby generally needs)
• Designed to prevent overfeeding
• Easy-to-read volume markings
• Leak-proof design

These are available exclusively on LactationHub.com.

Lansinoh Baby Bottles

This can be an affordable, easy-to-find-option They are easy to clean, designed to work well with paced feeding, and are clinically proven to decrease nipple preference/confusion. They have an air ventilation system, which makes it easier to prevent gas/colic. They come in 5 and 8 ounce varieties.

One complaint I have heard is that the flow is too fast for some babies. If you are dealing with flow issues or bottle preference, this may not be the best fit.

“Lansinoh mOmma bottles are my favorite. I don’t like the tommee tippee because the nipple always collapses into there and I always have to pull it out while feeding. Dr brown has the slowest flow in my opinion but the nipple was weird for him..” – Kayla E.

Dr. Brown’s Bottles

I used Dr. Brown’s bottles when I needed to feed my second son, who pumped milk via a bottle. I liked that they offered a preemie nipple, which helped with bottle preference.

They have a couple of different versions (wide mouth and traditional), and they are also available in a variety of glasses. I recommend the wide mouth as the bottle’s nipple is gradually slopped.

The two biggest complaints I’ve heard about these bottles are:

• They leak. I experienced this.
• They have multiple parts. It can be annoying to clean all the parts, but I didn’t find it that big of a deal (but we only used the bottle once a day for a few months).

Overall, this was the most popular bottle recommended by moms in my survey. Here are a few other comments that I gathered:

“Dr. Brown’s Bottles with the 0-3 months Slow Flow Nipples should continue with the same type and age nipple throughout the first year. Mom’s nipples don’t change, so why should the bottle nipples change? Just our thoughts. :)”—Megan W.

“We give one bottle of breast milk a day. He is a month old and we started 2 weeks ago. he has had no problems. He has taken Dr. Browns and Avent. Mam is next because I have a couple and then Kiinde because I am freezing milk in those bags.” – Shannon R.

“Dr. Brown was the only bottle my LO would take slow and not get angry afterward. Still using the size 1 nipple at 8mnths.”  – Kathryn S.

“Dr. Brown’s–my 9mo still uses the preemie nipple.” – Kristina Y.

“Dr. Brown’s options with the slow flow and newborn nipples size 1 to make them work for the milk.” – Cindy C.

BONUS: Pigeon Bottle Nipple

These nipples are designed based on research about a baby’s natural movements while feeding. They are essentially the same (or very similar) to the nipples on the GentleFlow+ and Lansinoh Bottles.

I include this as a bonus because this nipple is compatible with many narrow and wide-necked bottles. It can be stressful to try bottle after bottle, so using this nipple on bottles you already have can e save you some money.

Pigeon does have a bottle that you can buy. There is a glass version, but there have been reports of there being led on the outside.

What to Look for in a Bottle for a Breastfed Baby

Here are a few things to consider when finding the perfect bottle for your breastfed baby:

• Does it offer a preemie or super slow-flow nipple nipple? It is good to try to use the slowest flow nipple possible. This helps prevent nipple confusion, as it mimics the breast. A mother’s nipple doesn’t change in size as the baby gets older, so you shouldn’t need to shift nipple size! The only time I recommend a faster-flow nipple is if a baby is rejecting the bottle.
• Is there a gradual slope or a more significant difference between the bottle’s base and nipple? I’ll discuss this more below, but you want a bottle with a gradual slope from the nipple to the base, as this will allow for a more similar latch.
• Is the nipple flat or more round? I’m not a huge fan of bottle nipples that are flat on one side. This encourages an inefficient latch and may result in the nipple being flattened when the baby nurses!
• How many parts does it have? Remember – you are going to have to wash these bottles! Sometimes, less is more!

Should I look for a breast-shaped bottle?

A LOT of bottles out there claim they are best for breastfed babies because they look like the breast.

These bottles are gimmicky. Yes, some babies love them! But they don’t allow your baby to latch like they would on the breast.

When babies breastfeed, they need a nice, big mouthful of the nipple and areola. These bottles, which have a very distinct nipple and then a wide base, make it difficult for the baby to get their mouth around the base.

This is why I recommend a bottle with a gradual slope—it will be more similar to how your baby will latch, and they can get the nipple and base in their mouth more easily.

What Other Moms Recommend

A while back, I asked some members of my Breastfeeding Facebook Group for their insight.

Below, you will find the most popular bottles, listed in order of popularity from the people I surveyed – I have also included some of the insight left on them.

Remember that these are not bottles I recommend as good for breastfed babies.

I think it’s valuable to see what others suggest and have experience with. You can also see this list of bottles of babies who refuse bottles. I would recommend trying one of the bottles I recommend above first 🙂

MAM

I found a lot of people mentioned MAM as a bottle they used in addition to their preferred bottle. I also noticed that these bottles had really good reviews on Amazon – a lot of bottles (even the most popular above!) don’t have near five star reviews like these. Interesting!

Jackie Gordon McIlroy “MAM – brilliant as anti-colic and teats are meant to be very close to nipple.” – Jackie M.

Avent Natural

I have used these bottles, but I feel like the slow flow still has a pretty fast flow. I would get the natural, not the classic if you go with these.

“Phillips Avent was the only ones my daughter would take other than nursing.”

“I loved Avent…none of my five kids ever had nipple confusion.” Paula I.

“Avent natural. We tried 4 other bottles before my son took that one.”

“I started with Dr Browns but they leaked and I got tired of washing so many parts. I switched to Avent Natural (not Classic) and she’s done fabulous on them. Only breast milk but she takes them no problem.” Lisa S.

“Avent natural glass bottles. I prefer the glass ones over plastic.”

“Avent. My daughter loves them, they’re super easy to use and clean!” -Lizeth G.

Nuk Simply Natural

I had actually not even heard of this one, but it was mentioned several times as the preferred bottle.

The nipples have been 3 and 9 nipple holes, depending on the flow of the nipple. I thought this was an interesting idea, since it is similar to how breastfeeding works (as in, milk comes out of multiple holes in the nipple!). I would be concerned if this would make the flow too fast, though.

“Nuk Natural.  He never did well with medela bottles, We had hand-me-down bottles from a close friend & they were Phillips Advent & Nuk Natural. He took Nuk much better & at 9 months still uses it with a slow flow nipple. I think I would have liked to give tommee tippee or munchkin latch a try if he didn’t like Nuk, I liked reading all the great reviews on Amazon but never tried them.” – Sophie H. 

Tommee Tippee

“Tommee tippee. They have a “first feeds” bottle with an extra slow flow nipple that worked beautifully for my baby. She switched to a munchkin weighted straw cup at 9 months, but she kept the same nipple until 6 months.” – Erika Clifford

“I got the tommee tippee starter pack and it had extra slow flow nipples in there and they are the only ones my baby can use without choking. They didn’t sell extra in the stores so I emailed them and they sent me two free extra slow flow “0” nipples since they are still working on trying to get them in stores.” -Kalissa N. 

“Tommee tippy worked so well for us! Never any nipple confusion.” – Michael G. 

Comotomo

“We love the Comotomo bottles! They are good for breast tobottle transitioning and they are easy to clean!” – Alyson H.

“My 6 month old took right to the como tomo when he was 6 weeks. I liked that the nipple shape was like my own and the silicone was soft like my breast.” – Meaghan S.

Medela Calma

I’ve seen a lot of discussion on this bottle, and I feel like people either love or hate it. It has a longer nipple, which I’ve heard some moms say their baby gags a little bit on. But other moms say it is the only thing their baby will take.

“My second nurses and will only take medela bottles.”

“For BM the Medela bottles worked well. I much prefer Dr Browns for formula.” -Amber F.

“We use Medela. Thinking about switching because even though it’s a slow flow nipple it still seems too fast.” – Miranda

Playtex Nursers with Drop-In

I think I only used a bottle three times with Jack, but this is the brand we used when we did. My sister-in-law recommended them, and I thought they worked well.

“Started with Munchkin Latch then he took plain old playtex nursers with drop in!”

“I found the Playtex Nursers work best for us. You can squeeze a large majority of the air out before feeding. It helps with fussiness after feeding a lot. I tried other bottles (Avent and Nuk) and LO was fussy after, plus the bottles often leaked!”- Megan N. 

Munchkin Latch

“Munchkin Latch worked better for us ” – Jodie A. 

“With my son, the Munchkin Latch. The most important thing on both being the vent at the bottom!”

Kiinde

Kiinde is an interesting product. They are bags that you can pump directly into. I know a lot of people that love these bags for pumping, but they don’t necessarily use the nipples for nursing. However, a few mothers mentioned that these worked well for them, so if they do…then it makes life easier if you don’t have to transfer milk from a bag to a bottle!

“I use the kiinde system. I love it and my daughter has had no problems with it. Its easy and simple to use! Also, if you like it but your child doesn’t like the nipples, you can still use the system to pump, store, and feed from but use a nipple they like(different brand).” – Alicia W.

“We use the kiinde bottles/bags and lucked out- She’s never had a problem going back and forth. She gets a bottle 1-2 days a week when I work in the office.” – Rachel A. 

When to Introduce a Bottle to a Breastfed Baby

This can depend on the situation and the baby. If you need your baby to take a bottle, I recommend introducing it around 2-3 weeks, just now and then, if breastfeeding is established.

After that, I suggest giving a snack bottle daily for around 4 weeks.

If you don’t care if your baby takes a bottle, you never have to introduce one!

Be sure to check out this article with more tips for introducing a bottle – How to Give a Breastfed Baby a Bottle and Avoid Bottle Preference

What if my Baby Rejects a Bottle?

This can be such a frustrating situation! You can try a few different tips and tricks – and I would also suggest having them evaluated for a tongue tie if you can’t get them to take it at all.

This article has a lot of great tips for helping with bottle refusal.

What size bottle should I get?

Most of the time, you’ll see bottles available in 4-5 ounces or 8-9 ounce sizes. I usually recommend the 4-5 ounce bottles. Most breastfed babies don’t need/shouldn’t get more than 5 ounces at a time in a bottle (and I usually recommend less!). You can check out my Free Breast Milk Calculator for more tips on how much milk to put in your baby’s bottle.

Well, I hope that this was useful in helping you decide what bottle to get for your breastfed baby. Be sure to let me know in the comments what bottle you like the best and if you have any questions!

More Articles You May Enjoy:

• 7 Best Reusable Storage Containers for Breast milk
• The Top 5 Best Glass Bottles For Breastfed Babies
• 11 Best Breast Milk Storage Bags – Mom Approved