Teats for Baby Bottles
A teat is the nipple attachment of a baby bottle. Teats come in various shapes, materials, and hole sizes. Which teat suits your baby best depends on their age, the type of food, and their drinking behaviour.
Teats usually come included when you buy a baby bottle, but need to be replaced after a while. Here you'll find suitable teats for every age group in a variety of shapes and materials.
Teats for Standard and Wide-Neck Bottles
When buying (replacement) teats, go by the shape of your bottle:
Which Teat Shape Is Right?
Teats come in different shapes. The most common shapes are round and orthodontic. Which shape is right depends mainly on what lets your baby drink calmly and contentedly.
There's no universal right or wrong when it comes to teat shape. Some babies prefer round teats, while others get on better with orthodontic ones.
Round Shape
A round-shaped teat is also called a cherry or natural shape. The round shape visually resembles the nipple and is designed to give your baby as natural a drinking feel as possible. While sucking, the teat is soft and pliable, so it can follow your baby's drinking movements well.
Orthodontic Teat
An orthodontic teat has a curved, asymmetrical shape, meaning there's a top and a bottom. The shape is designed to adapt to your baby's mouth, palate, and jaw while sucking, helping to support a comfortable drinking feel.
An orthodontic teat aims to make drinking from the bottle as natural and comfortable as possible. How well your baby gets on with this shape varies from child to child.
Every Baby Prefers a Different Teat Shape
It's best to try out which teat shape your baby takes to well. Watch to see that your baby drinks calmly, feels comfortable, and seems content.
What Hole Size Does a Teat Need?
The hole size of the teat determines how quickly the food flows. The right hole size depends on your baby's age and the type of food.
Small for Thin Liquids
A teat with a small hole size is suitable for thin liquids such as water, tea, breast milk, and first-stage formula. The small hole means that not too much liquid can flow through the opening at once.
A medium hole size is often also suitable for milk and follow-on formula.
Large for Thick Liquids
A teat with a larger hole size is suitable for purée and thick drinks. The thicker the food, the larger the opening should be.
Instead of one large hole, manufacturers sometimes use several small holes. This is why teats are often categorised as tea teats, milk teats, and purée teats.
How to Choose the Right Hole Size
You can find out which teat is suitable for which food in the product descriptions.
Tip: If your baby sucks very forcefully, a teat with a smaller hole size can help. This makes the food flow more slowly through the opening, which can help your baby drink more calmly and choke less often.
Which Material Makes Sense for Teats?
Teats are made from silicone and latex (rubber). As with the shape, every child has their own personal preference when it comes to material. However, there are age recommendations for both materials, based on the stage of tooth development.
Latex Teats
Latex is a milky sap from the bark of the rubber tree. Latex teats are honey-yellow in colour, and also robust and durable.
This makes them particularly well suited for children who already have teeth. However, latex ages quickly. It also contains proteins, like many other natural products, to which some people are allergic.
Silicone Teats
Silicone is an elastic plastic. Teats and pacifiers made from this material are transparent and have an especially smooth surface. They're not as tear-resistant as latex teats: cracks or holes can form more easily. That's why silicone teats are better suited to babies without teeth yet.
However, the material is very heat-resistant and can be boiled as often as needed. This means silicone lasts longer than latex and doesn't need to be replaced as often.
Teats for Anti-Colic Bottles?
When drinking from a bottle, some babies swallow so much air that they get uncomfortable wind. Nowadays there are bottles with matching teats designed specifically to prevent this.
Anti-colic bottles, for example from Philips Avent, have a built-in valve that keeps the air inside the bottle.
The manufacturer MAM uses ventilation holes in the base of the bottle to equalise pressure.
Frequently Asked Questions About Teats
