"I suggest parents also test them regularly once using. I've had parents
find the
flow rate changing -- slow at purchase but higher drip rate with use.
Perhaps
cleaning, hot water, etc. can "degrade" or affect the teat?"

The overall elasticity of the nipple will vary with use, to some extent.
Latex nipples, especially, will change over time.  A hole which starts out
very tight can become quite floppy!  Silicone nipples are supposed to stay
in shape longer, but they will also lose some elasticity after a while.
Also, silicone will tear quite easily so if any effort is made to use a fork
tine to clean the point of the nipple out (for example) it is possible that
the hole could accidentally become enlarged without being noticed.  Also, I
think there is a slight variation in many of them with the first use.

Another thing people need to realize, especially if the rate of flow is very
important, is that different liquids flow at different rates of speed.  It
will generally flow a bit faster with water than with any kind of commercial
formula, although those vary too.  For example, Nutramigen will flow faster
than soy formula.  Breast milk generally flows faster than formula, too.  In
fact, one of the ways to increase the flow of formula through a Lact-Aid is
to add a small amount of breast milk to it.  It is not that it is thinner,
exactly, but that it is more slippery.  Also, the temperature of the liquid
will affect the rate of flow, and I think breast milk may vary more with
temperature than other things.

That brings up a question I have.  Does hindmilk flow significantly slower
than foremilk?  I wonder if that could concievable be a problem for a baby
whose mother had just started going back to work, say, if she had only
pumped after nursing, until she started pumping at work, and the baby got
his first ever foremilk from a bottle at daycare.

Darillyn

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