For those Mommies who already had their babies, I would love to know which bottles you are using and how you like them. I am not planning on nursing, so I will be using formula. I was thinking about the Avent bottles. Any opinions or insights on bottles would be appreciated!!!! Congrats
cmarie
__________________
*Angel Baby July '05
*1st IVF...Triplets due 12/3/07
*Conjoined Angel Babies May '07
*Olivia Grace born 10/23/07...our little miracle!
The Dr. Brown's bottles are great!!! They come in both the small and bigger sizes. Economically, I would buy the bigger size because your baby will be drinking bigger portions sooner than you think. They look really funny, but they work so great! They prevent air from getting into baby's tummy, and leads to less gassiness and spit up. You can find them at your EVERYTHING store. They're a bit pricey, but completely worth it!
I bought an abundance of Avent bottles which my son refused from his first feed. I also had problems with the Avent bottles leaking. He was happy with the Dr. Brown's, but happiest with the cheap Gerber bottles. They are sturdy, cost effective and last until sippy cup time. You just have to upgrade the nipples from time to time.
I really liked the Playtex drop in bottles for the first 0-3 months. Once my son started to drink more than 4 oz., I switched to Avent and have been using them since. I really like the Avent, but they do leak at times. They say you shouldn't screw on the top too tightly or this does something to the seal. They are well made bottles though.
I suggest you only buy a few of what you like b/c you might need a certain bottle once your baby is born and then you could be stuck with many bottles that you don't use.
i really hated the avent bottles.... too many leaks, too big for baby's hands, too much trouble! like cheap gerber bottles and cheap evenflo bottles (they're pretty much the same). in my experience, a baby without feeding issues (colic, more gassiness than usual, etc...) does well on just about any bottle, just depends on what mommy likes. my first was this way, she took whatever bottle we gave her and was just happy to eat. my second was gassy and fussy and colicy, and she did best with playtex nursers (we used parent's choice drop-ins) and then we switched to evenflow bottle and got the tri-flow nipple after about 6-7 months.
someone else mentioned it, and i'd have to agree..... only buy a couple of bottles until you find the one baby likes best!
Okay, I have 2 children. One who is 3 1/2 years now. She liked the Platex nursers and I loved them (at first) and used them with her until she was 1. At a year, I just gave her whole milk and I tired of using the drop ins. So, I just got cheap regular Parent's Choice bottles. She did fine with these. I was bad and didn't take her off the bottle until 18 mos. Plus she refused to even hold her own bottle until 13 mos. She is lazy! LOL! Now, my son, has colic and gass and also a milk protein allergy. He is currently 3 months (1 adj.), so I have more experience trying to please him with bottles (and myself!). YOU have to like them too! LOL! I started with the Nursers, b/c I liked them so much with my DD. However, (He is a screamer when he is hungry, so I need to warm bottles quickly) I microwave the formula (very low, like 10-20 secs) and shake it well before feeding to prevent burns. Anyway, the liners (no matter WHAT brand) would leak every now and then. EVEN when I DIDN'T nuke them. They never did this with my DD, so they have been made cheaper over the years. After this kept happening, and I tried other brands, I decided to switch. I had to be careful about the gas, and he liked wider nipples. Fortunately, Playtex also makes Ventaire. These are great, love them! They come in wide and standard sizes, and are easy to clean and care for. I would have used Dr. Browns, but he likes the wider nipples. He does very well on these, hardly gets gassy. Whatever bottles you choose, he will do okay with. Truthfully, what they start out with is more likely what they are going to like.
Prior to having my daughter, I purchased both the Dr. Brown bottles and the cheaper Gerber bottles. She had a difficult time with the Gerber bottles because she was taking in a lot of air so I switched to the Dr. Brown bottles and they have worked great. I never tried the Avent bottles, but friends have told me they had problems with leaks, so I stayed away from them.
Dr. Brown's first choice and Avent as second choice. Dr. Browns are a pain in the butt to clean, but well worth the extra couple of minutes of cleaning time.
We use the Ventaire bottles and they work pretty well. Cleaning can be a pain sometimes but I like that the bottom screws off to make hand washing easier. The standard bottles have worked better for us than the wide ones have. We have tried a few different bottles and the Ventaire have worked the best for our munchkin.
Dr. Brown's bottles are the best!!! My daughter hasn't ever spit up and we have been using these since we started her on formula. I really think it is b/c of the dr. brown's bottles. I agree they are a pain to clean but definately well worth it!
Dr. Brown's bottles are our first choice and Ventaires second choice. I've tried about 4 different bottles, and for my gassy, colicky, possibly milk allergy daughter, those two bottles work the best to keep the gas down as much as possible. Only problem with the Ventaires is if you use a bottle warmer, they don't recommend you use these with a bottle warmer, which is why I like the Dr. Browns bottles the best. By the way, if you ever do decide to use a bottle warmer, get the First Years Night & Day bottle warmer, it's the best and quickest and also has a cooler on the back so you can keep 2 other bottles cool at night and you don't have to even go to the kitchen. That's the main reason we even got a bottle warmer, and now I'm hooked--so we have another one for the kitchen during the day, but it's not as good as the one in the nursery.
Good luck with your bottle choice. I also recommend just to see what works for you and your baby. You'll probably end up buying other bottles, despite what you think you'll like...at least that's what happened to me.
Cmarie--I'm so excited for you upcoming miracle baby!!
__________________
Heyknack
DD, conceived after infertility (3rd IUI), Born July 2007
Baby #2, conceived naturally! EDD March 16, 2009
Thank you all so much for the help! Your advice really helps
Heyknack- It is so good to hear from you Congrats on your little baby girl.
cmarie
__________________
*Angel Baby July '05
*1st IVF...Triplets due 12/3/07
*Conjoined Angel Babies May '07
*Olivia Grace born 10/23/07...our little miracle!
Thanks cmarie! She is such a blessing, we can't believe how lucky we are. I know you will feel the same--probably even more so with all you've been through. Just 2 more months left though!! I'll be thinking about you and I wish you a fairly discomfort-free next couple months and a smooth delivery and recovery for you and baby!!
__________________
Heyknack
DD, conceived after infertility (3rd IUI), Born July 2007
Baby #2, conceived naturally! EDD March 16, 2009
I bought every possible bottle & tried them all!!! Now I have a big huge bag of bottles to give away. Unfortunately I did the same with pacifiers since DS wouldnt suck the first one I got. I ended up using Dr. Browns. Let me tell you they were a huge life saver!!! Yeah its a bit of a pain to clean them out but soooooo worth it. If you fill them with cold water just after your feeding its much easier when cleaning time comes.
Well I was going to come in and post the same question! My 1st son was very gassy and had colic and spit up constantly, I wish I would have tried different bottles (I was a 1st time mama ), I think I used the Parents Choice with him.
By the pp's it sounds like the Dr Brown's are a pretty good choice....I think I will try them 1st.
I have to go with the vast majority here and say Dr. Brown's bottles. They're available in standard AND wide versions. The standard ones come in 2, 4 and 8oz sizes, though 2oz is such a waste of money. My son was a preemie and was taking more than 2oz within 2 weeks of coming home. My sister planned on using Avent but it turned out that her son didn't do well at all with wide mouthed bottles so she started using the bent neck type. I don't know why she never tried Dr. Brown's except that she didn't want to wash "all those extra pieces." Seriously, it's TWO extra pieces, a tube and a valve, LOL. I just toss them in the dishwasher most of the time and they come out nice and clean. (The tubes I stick on the little posts on the top rack to make sure the soap and stuff gets INSIDE.) Anyway, I use these all the time at home and for going to Doctor's offices and family. If I'm going OUT I try and use less expensive bottles in case they get left behind. I used the playtex drop ins when I went out of town for the same reason. DS HATED those and didn't eat too well at all out of them. He definitely likes Dr. Brown's the most!
DS was protein sensitive at birth (he is 7 months now) - he was even tragically allergic to my breast milk. and I was on the blandest diet EVER. Poor little guy, it took the DR. and me to finally realize why he was so miserable. So when I started bottlefeeding exclusively , not that there is anything wrong with it, I was just SUPER attached to breastfeeding. WHich actually surprised me. I really didn't think that I would care one way or the other....but I would have had a difficult time stopping regardless of DS age. Anyway: THE BOTTLES: I tried Avent first but he was choking and he just did not like them which made me not like them (they did leak as well). He was still really colicky. SO I tried the Dr. Browns which were like magic. It took like a day of drinking from the Dr. Browns and he was fine. But I hated them: they leaked, I hated cleaning them(he was still only 10 weeks at the most so I was still all about sanitizing and those 2 extra parts add up!!) and in the middle of the night I would often forget to put the 2 extra parts inside and the formula would leak EVERYWHERE!! But they certainly served their purpose, and there was NO way that I would have switched because it was helping my 'precious boy' who is now turning into my 'precious monster' . When I felt that it was safe to switch him I went back to Avent and he has had no problems, he seems to like them better - he can hold them easier, granted he is mammoth and his hands are more like bear paws. So for a sweet dainty little girl I can see how the fat bottles are difficult to hold. My baby niece is very petite and they are close in age and worlds apart in size. Don't get me wrong, my 'beloved monster' is by no means fat, just a big kid. DH played college football and I played college soccer and while I am only 5'3 I am still pretty muscular. I assumed we were not going to have a dainty flower as a child...Otherwise I may be in BIG trouble - 'milkman!!' ha ha
I have really digresses haven't I - sorry. I have been home alone with the baby for a couple days without much adult conversation - DH is a firefighter and he has been on duty the past few days. He does not come home at all when he on...so there are times when he is gone for 96 straight hours...it can get lonely. and I am not working so I have to try and stay busy or I can get a bad case of cabin fever. Both the baby and I!!
Well, thanks for letting me vent...good luck with the bottles...but I would also agree with others: don't buy too many because you never know what will be going on with your baby or what your baby likes. And I truly believe that even at that tender young age, they can make decisions. Not all of them choose to make it at that time, but some do. Same with pacifiers. Some will not even take one. My son would only take one kind (of course it was the one that they gave to him in the hospital and it was only available at a store in Hawaii (I live in california and I was not in any condition to be making a trip to Hawaii after my c-section).The hospital gave us ONE to go home with, like I wouldn't lose that within an hour or two of being home, right? I was able to place an order on-line so of course I ordered 25 of them, just in case I lost them or whatever. SO all was fine for a month or so until he no longer wanted that one and now will only take the NUK kind (and he only takes it as he is falling asleep when he is teething ,I guess he needs something to chew on - he refuses the teethers). OK...this is entirely too long and not even really about your original post...just venting. Though I really appreciate it. Good luck and let us know how it goes...
Plus she refused to even hold her own bottle until 13 mos. She is lazy! LOL! Now, my son, has colic and gass and also a milk protein allergy. He is currently 3 months (1 adj.), so I have more experience trying to please him with bottles (and myself!). YOU have to like them too! LOL! I started with the Nursers, b/c I liked them so much with my DD. However, (He is a screamer when he is hungry, so I need to warm bottles quickly) I microwave the formula (very low, like 10-20 secs) and shake it well before feeding to prevent burns. Anyway, the liners (no matter WHAT brand) would leak every now and then. EVEN when I DIDN'T nuke them. They never did this with my DD, so they have been made cheaper over the years. After this kept happening, and I tried other brands, I decided to switch. I had to be careful about the gas, and he liked wider nipples. Fortunately, Playtex also makes Ventaire. These are great, love them! They come in wide and standard sizes, and are easy to clean and care for. I would have used Dr. Browns, but he likes the wider nipples. He does very well on these, hardly gets gassy. Whatever bottles you choose, he will do okay with. Truthfully, what they start out with is more likely what they are going to like. 
), I think I used the Parents Choice with him. 
and I was on the blandest diet EVER. Poor little guy, it took the DR. and me to finally realize why he was so miserable. So when I started bottlefeeding exclusively 
. When I felt that it was safe to switch him I went back to Avent and he has had no problems, he seems to like them better - he can hold them easier, granted he is mammoth and his hands are more like bear paws. So for a sweet dainty little girl I can see how the fat bottles are difficult to hold. My baby niece is very petite and they are close in age and worlds apart in size. Don't get me wrong, my 'beloved monster' is by no means fat, just a big kid. DH played college football and I played college soccer and while I am only 5'3 I am still pretty muscular. I assumed we were not going to have a dainty flower as a child...Otherwise I may be in BIG trouble - 'milkman!!' ha ha
