Bottle for Honey Thick Liquids

Always consult your child's feeding therapist or medical care team regarding the safest options for your child.

My son was diagnosed with dysphagia in October 2017 with a barium swallow study when he was just over 1 year. He had deep penetrations of liquid in his trachea with every swallow, no matter the thickness of the liquid. His epiglottis is slow to move into place to protect his airway.

For his own safety--to prevent respiratory illness such as pneumonia--he was prescribed a thickened liquid regiment. We now thicken all of the liquid he consumes to at least honey thick (also called moderate thickness).

With his immature oral-motor skills and strength, likely due to his hypotonia, sucking such thick liquid through a typical bottle nipple is very challenging.

Fortunately, Dr Brown's also makes y-cut nipples specifically for thickened liquids. We love our Dr. Brown's bottles and were so glad we could continue to use them with these y-cut nipples.
Dr. Brown's Original Nipple, Y-Cut (9m+), 6-Pack Dr. Brown's Original Bottle, 8 ounce, 4-Pack

We found that he couldn't drink the last half of his bottle with the vent in, so we removed the vent and he drinks 8 ounces at a time.

Even now at 19 months, we still use the Dr. Brown's bottle with the y-cut nipple for almost all of his drinks. Now that he has several teeth, he has started chewing on the nipple, so we usually have at least 4 extra nipples on hand to swap out for a new one if his chewing begins to compromise the opening of the nipple.