How to Choose the Perfect Bottle Teat for Your Baby | Difrax Teat Guide
Choosing the right bottle teat for your baby is just as important as choosing the right bottle. The right choice depends on a number of factors:
- Your child’s preference
- Your child’s suction power
- Your child's age
- The type of food
Read on to find out which Difrax bottle teat is best suited for your child.
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What makes Difrax bottle teats so special
Difrax bottle teats are made from a soft taste, odour, and BPA-free silicone that’s safe for use even for kids with latex allergies. Each one is nipple-shaped to resemble a mother’s breast, making them the perfect substitute for breastfeeding. They’re also easy for your baby to accept and grip, suitable for use from birth, and easy to clean. Difrax bottles come with a standard-size S teat, but you can easily replace this should you need to.
Tips & Tricks:
- It’s recommended that you replace your bottle teat every six weeks.
- Check your bottle teats for damage every day before your baby uses them. If there are any signs of damage or wear, replace them immediately.
- Check that the slit in the bottle’s teat is open and not stuck together before each feed. Simply squeeze the tip of the teat with your thumb and index finger to loosen the silicone material and assess whether or not the slit is open.
Types of bottle teats
Natural teats:
These small, nipple-shaped teats resemble a mother’s breast, making them perfect for use in combination with breastfeeding. It also means they’re easy to accept and familiar for babies. Their soft coating provides extra grip, which allows your child to easily hold the teat in their mouth. These teats fit any of Difrax’s Natural S-Bottles.
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Wide teats:
These teats are most suitable for children who open their mouths wider than average when feeding. This is known as wide latching. The soft coating on these teats provides extra grip, which allows your child to easily hold the teat in its mouth. They fit both the 200 ml and 310 ml versions of the Wide S-Bottles.
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Dental teats:
These teats are suitable for children who suffer from frequent reflux or choking, drink too fast, or are born prematurely. They’re designed to be rounded on one side and flat on the other, ensuring milk or formula spreads evenly throughout your child’s mouth and stimulates the healthy, natural development of their jaw and tongue muscles. It also prevents choking and ensures that your child consumes just the right amount of milk per sip. These teats fit Natural S-Bottles.
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If you aren’t sure about which teat your baby needs, we’d recommend starting with the Natural one. It’s the most popular type Difrax makes, and generally the easiest for young kids to accept.
Bottle teat sizes
Difrax bottle teats come in different sizes to best suit your young one’s suction power and the type of food they consume. The size is related to the hole in the opening of the teat. Thicker food and greater suction power require a larger teat. Your baby should be able to finish a bottle of food in about 15-20 minutes. If this is the case, you’re probably using the correct size.
1-2-3 XS Variflow Teat:
This adjustable 3-stage teat allows you to adapt its flow to best suit your young one's drinking needs. It’s specially developed for premature and small babies for whom a small teat is still too big and fast. Alternate between an extra extra slow, extra slow, or slow drinking speed for comfortable, successful feeding. This teat is suitable for use from birth for liquid food such as breast milk or formula.
Small:
These teats are suitable for use from birth for thin food like breast milk or formula. They come in Dental, Natural, and Wide versions. If your baby empties their bottle too quickly using a small Natural teat, try a Dental one – it’s specially designed for babies who are prone to choking or reflux from drinking too quickly
Medium:
These teats are suitable for use from around 3 months for thin and thickened food like milk thickened with carob bean gum, flour, or rice porridge. They come in Dental, Natural, and Wide versions
Large:
These teats are suitable for use from around 6 months for thin and thickened food like milk thickened with carob bean gum, flour, or rice porridge. They come in Dental, Natural, and Wide version
