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| |    Thumb-sucking In Bottle-fed Babies by Dr. Benjamin Spock reviewed by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. With the average bottle-fed baby, thumb-sucking is most likely to begin at about the time he learns to finish his bottle in 10 minutes instead of in 20. This happens because babies get stronger as they get older, but the bottle's rubber nipple gets weaker with use. Bottles with plastic screw-on rings have nipples with a special opening near the edge for air intake. You can make bottle-feeding last longer by screwing the ring on tighter. This partly blocks the air intake and keeps more of a vacuum in the bottle. You can also get new nipples, leave the holes as they are, and see if that lengthens your baby's bottle time. Of course, if the nipple holes are too small, some babies stop trying altogether. Try to keep the nipple holes small enough so it takes 20 minutes for your baby to finish the bottle, at least during the first 6 months. This 20-minute period refers to the actual number of minutes that the baby is sucking. Naturally, it wouldn't help to lengthen the feeding time by pausing in the middle of the feeding.
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