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The right bottle teat can help your baby achieve a deeper, more comfortable latch to make feeds calmer and reduce the amount of air they swallow.
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Bottle teats come in different shapes and flow rates to support bottle feeding, so choosing one that matches your baby's feeding style is important.
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If you're combination feeding, a breast-like teat with a slower flow may help your baby move more easily between breast and bottle by encouraging a similar latch and feeding pace.
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Signs your baby may need a new teat include frustration during feeds, taking much longer to finish a bottle, collapsing the teat, or coughing and spluttering if the milk flows too quickly.
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As your baby grows, sizing up to the next teat flow can help them feed more comfortably, but always follow their feeding cues rather than age alone.
Many parents are surprised to learn how much teat shape can affect feeding comfort, bottle acceptance, and feeding pace.
Since every baby feeds differently, finding the right bottle teat often takes a little trial and error.
For parents searching for answers about baby feeding preferences, why babies reject bottles, and bottle refusal help, this guide is for you.
What is a good bottle latch?
A good bottle latch often involves a...
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Deep latch: Allows the baby to use the middle of their tongue to create strong suction
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Natural rhythm: Reaching soft palate stimulates the sucking reflex
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Good lip seal: Reduce air intake for less stress/gas
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Easy positioning: Softness and flexibility allow teat to be manipulated to a comfortable position
Signs of a good latch:
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Baby feeds calmly and rhythmically
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Minimal milk leakage from the mouth
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No signs of distress or pulling away
Why won’t my baby take a bottle?
One common reason a baby rejects a bottle teat is teat shape. Teat shape affects how a baby latches, sucks, and controls milk flow during feeding.
If a bottle teat doesn’t support their natural or usual latch and sucking pattern, they may struggle to coordinate feeding comfortably.
By not being able to reach the soft palate with the teat, they might not be able to maintain suction or create a smooth, rhythmic flow of milk – causing feeding frustration.
Why babies prefer different teats
Teat preference can vary based on a baby’s feeding skills, previous feeding experience, and oral anatomy. Some babies find certain teat shapes easier to latch onto or more comfortable to feed from, especially if they are switching between breast and bottle. Differences in tongue movement, mouth shape, and sucking strength can all affect which a baby prefers.
Wide vs deep teats: What's the difference?
Some babies prefer wide, breast-shaped teats, while others feed more comfortably from deeper or triangular designs.
When comparing wide vs narrow teat options, it helps to focus on your baby’s feeding style rather than appearance alone.
That’s why we have a choice of two breast-like teat shapes, so you can find the perfect teat for your baby.
You can try both teat shapes and find the shape your baby prefers with our Perfect Latch Trial Kit that has been developed with Healthcare Professionals^ for simple first bottle feeds.
Tommee Tippee Wide Latch teat
Our original Wide Latch teat is breast-like and flexible, designed to help reduce nipple confusion when switching between breast and bottle.
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Special ridges flex and stretch like a breast
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Supple pronounced slope for easy movement
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Wide base offers more space for a good seal for less air intake
Tommee Tippee Deep Latch teat
Developed with Healthcare Professionals^, our Deep Latch teat has a triangular shape for a deep latch and natural pace.
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Shaped to easily reach the soft palate
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Gradual taper to wrap lips around fully for good lip seal
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Nipple-like to fill whole mouth for less air intake
Teat features to look for
The right teat should allow your baby to latch deeply and feed comfortably without gulping, leaking milk, or collapsing the teat during sucking.
You want the teat to be able to reach the soft palate so that baby can create a sucking rhythm flow of milk.
Parents may want to look for:
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Soft silicone that flexes like a breast
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A teat shape that supports deeper latching
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An extra slow or slow flow rate option
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Anti-colic venting systems to reduce air intake
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Teats designed to reduce nipple confusion for combination feeding
Anti-colic bottles explained simply
Anti-colic valves like the valves in our Natural Start teats are designed to reduce the amount of air babies swallow during bottle feeding. The small vent allows air into the bottle to stop the teat from collapsing, which reduces the amount of air ingested.
For some babies, anti-colic bottles may help reduce wind, gassiness, and discomfort after feeds. They can also support smoother feeding by helping milk flow more consistently.
Teats for combi-feeding
Parents combining breastfeeding and bottle feeding often look for teats that support a feeding experience closer to breastfeeding.
During mixed feeding or the start of introducing bottle to breastfed baby, slower flow rates and paced feeding techniques are commonly recommended.
The best baby bottle for breastfed babies is usually one that allows babies to control the pace of the milk more naturally and maintain a deeper latch.
This can also help reduce nipple confusion, which happens when babies struggle to switch between the different sucking techniques needed for breastfeeding and bottle feeding.
If your breastfed baby won’t take bottle, read our bottle latching tips for help.
How bottle-feeding mechanics differ from breastfeeding
Breastfeeding allows babies to actively control milk flow through sucking and pauses. Bottle feeding mechanics differ because milk flow can continue more passively depending on teat shape and bottle design.
This difference is one reason some breastfed babies prefer certain teat shapes and flow rates over others.
What flow rate should I be using for my baby?
Flow rate is the speed at which milk flows out of a baby bottle. It can make feeding easier and more comfortable for babies, so it’s important for bottle acceptance.
All babies are different, that’s why we have a choice of two teat shapes and a range of flow rates, so you can find the right combination for your baby at every stage.
Many babies will prefer a slower flow rate to begin their bottle feeding journey, whether they’re newborn or breastfeeding and using bottles.
Tommee Tippee’s teats are available in: Extra Slow, Slow, Medium, and Fast for both teats, and also Vari for our Wide Latch.
Why teat shape and flow rate both matter
Teat shape affects how babies latch, while flow rate affects how quickly milk is delivered.
If the teat shape doesn’t suit your baby’s feeding style, even with the correct flow rate, they may struggle to latch and feed successfully.
If the flow rate is too slow or too fast, it can cause frustration and long feeds, or excess air intake and coughing.
Choosing the right combination of shape and flow can support calmer, more comfortable feeds.
If your baby’s frustrated feeding behaviours continue despite a good latch, read our teat flow rate guide for help.
How many teats and bottles does a newborn need?
The number of infant bottles and teats you need depends on how often you plan to use them to feed your baby.
If you're only going to be using bottles once a day or just occasionally, then you might decide to buy one main bottle and teat set, and maybe one extra as a backup. It's probably best to have at least two so that if lost, damaged, or unclean you have a backup.
Newborn babies can feed anywhere between 8-12 times over 24 hours. So, if you're exclusively bottle feeding a newborn, then you should have four to six bottles and teats to get started with.
Signs your baby needs a different teat
Some common signs that your baby needs a different teat shape or flow rate are frequent unlatching, clicking sounds, baby gulping milk, milk spilling from the mouth, or a slow feeding baby who struggles to finish bottles in 20 minutes.
Watching feeding behaviour is often the best way to tell whether the current teat is working well.
We recommend replacing your bottle teats every two months or at the first sign of any damage or weakness.
When to move up a teat size
Babies may need a faster teat flow if they become frustrated during feeds, suck very hard without getting enough milk, or their teat collapses while feeding.
^ Applicable to the Deep Latch teat and the 60ml Natural Start® bottle. To learn more about our work with Healthcare Professionals, see tommeetippee.com/hcp-claims-explained
