Chemical doping is an important method to introduce new flux pinning centers in high-temperature superconductors. RE₂Ba₄CuMO_y (REM-2411, where RE is a rare-earth element, and M = Nb, W, Sb and Bi etc.) phase has been widely investigated in recent years because of the well chemical stability and spontaneous formation of REM-2411 nanoparticles in RE-Ba-Cu-O (REBCO) superconducting matrix. Using metallic oxide doping to in-situ form REM-2411 in REBCO is a more simple and efficient method. In this article, nanosize Bi₂O₃ and Sb₂O₃ doping effects on the growth and properties of Y-Ba-Cu-O (YBCO) bulk superconductors are investigated using the 011-type infiltration growth technique. The compositions of Y₂O₃+1.15BaCuO₂+0.1CuO and Y₂O₃+10BaCuO₂+6CuO are used as solid source and liquid source respectively. The nanopowders are doped in the solid source pellet. It is found that, the normal growth of the YBCO bulk is not affected by the 0.5 wt.% nano-Bi₂O₃ addition, and the sample exhibits enhanced levitation force property and higher J_c property. The size of the introduced YBi-2411 nanoparticles is mainly below 100 nm. While for the 0.5 wt% nano-Sb₂O₃ addition, the sample exhibits much smaller growth region containing periodic macrosegregated bands, and the levitation force and J_c properties are much reduced. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results of the samples with high doping level (5 wt.%) prove the existence of the YBi-2411/YSb-2411 phase in the nanosize Bi₂O₃/Sb₂O₃ doped sample. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results indicate that, large amounts of YBi-2411 nanoparticles (~200 nm) with very high density are observed in the 5 wt.% nano-Bi₂O₃ doped sample, indicating that the in situ formation of YBi-2411 nanoparticles in YBCO regime occurs easily. Taking into account both the doping effect on the growth and the properties, the nano-Bi₂O₃ can be determined as a safe and superior dopant for the YBCO bulk superconductors, and also has the potential to become a universal route for enhancing the properties of all the REBCO superconductors. The results of this study are important for increasing the performance of the YBCO bulk superconductors further.