Bottles

RBXChas

I'm not trying to start a breastfeeding vs. formula debate, since we all know that breastmilk can go into bottles (and frankly my son had no issue with nipple confusion and went seamlessly back and forth between bottle and breast), but I was hoping to get some opinions on bottles. With this baby I plan on breastfeeding and pumping so that I am not solely responsible for feedings.

With my son I used Born Free BPA-Free plastic bottles, and we loved them. However, they are expensive (not that I don't already have a really good stock), and they have a TON of parts that require a lot of cleaning. I don't have a problem keeping bottles clean, but those small parts can be really hard to keep really, really clean!

Anyway, this time I was thinking about the Drop-Ins system, which I think is Playtex. I was wondering if anyone had used them and had opinions on them, especially in comparison to other bottles.

My other thought is that maybe I'll switch to something a little simpler that's not a full disposable, like Avent. I know Avent bottles are very popular, but I don't know much about them.

I did also have Dr. Brown's, but that whole contraption was totally ridiculous, just impossible to clean properly, so I am sure I don't want to use those again.

Thoughts about these or any other brands?

Thank you!

ajsdream

I hope you get some good replies - I am planning on breastfeeding and using bottles also. I registered for a few different brands to try, but I didn't know some of them were really hard to clean! They should come with a difficulty rating, haha.

mellynat

i used doctor brown w my 1st and it was a pain in the butt!!! to wash and to clean. I hated them and they seemed to leak. W my 2nd i used playtex and even though there was an extra piece to wash it was a lot easier to deal w and i had no issues w them. my sister used the playtex drop in but she said it got annoying having to buy the drop ins alll the time! and the cost started to add up . and she ended up sticking w the regular playtex. hope that helps!

blink1021

I used drop ins in the beginning with my son I loved them at first because they were so convenient and easy to use. Then I had to buy them on my own and found them to be expensive considering how much my son ate. Also it was hard for my son to get all the milk out I found myself having to squeeze the bag to make sure he could get it all. After a few months I switched to the playtex vent airs (they were on sale) and I really liked them they had three different nipple sizes (slow, medium, fast) you could switch without changing bottles and were very easy to clean with a simple bottle brush. I really liked them because the were angled and I found them to cut down on air. I plan on using them again regardless if I breastfeed or use formula. I also liked them because if I used the fast nipple it worked great for when I mixed cereal with the milk and I did not have to buy a different set of bottles. I never produced milk with my son so I was unable to breastfeed but my sister in law who uses the same brand breastfeeds and says the vent air bottles also freeze well since she freezes some of her breastmilk for her husband to use when she can't be home.

pcedano

For DD I used Playtex Ventaire and then Avent, she also had no problem from boob to nipple. This time around I'm going for the Tommee Tippee, and Babiesrus is having a buy one get the other half off until 10/22. I bought the pack of 3 9oz bottles and a pack of 6 formula dispensers (so cool because the Tomme Tippee formula dispenser actually goes INTO the bottle!!!) for $23!!.

RBXChas

I figured I could buy the drop-in refills either as a generic (I know Target has their own version) or through Amazon Subscribe & Save, which would prevent my actually having to go buy them. Also, I was thinking for those times when you are traveling, they take up less space (Born Free bottles are pretty huge). I never thought about using the regular Playtex bottles, though. I did wonder about the drop-ins and getting those last little bits out of the bottom, which is especially nice to get if it's breastmilk. Something about throwing away a few drops of formula is not nearly as hard as throwing away even a tiny bit of something that you worked to get out of your body.

Born Free did allow for just a change-up in the nipple flow, which was nice, and they even had a couple of 12+ month spouts that were interchangeable (but my son didn't really take to them). According to what I read, Born Free is apparently really good at not leaking, but I definitely had leaking issues from the start. I tried to narrow it down to certain bottles and/or parts, but I never could. That is an additional reason I would like to change, but I totally forgot about that.

I have also thought about Tommee Tippee. We used some of their straw cups a few months back, and I liked them. They are pricey, though, so I'll have to check on sales as we get closer to my due date.

Anyone have any thoughts on Avent?

RBXChas

I hope you get some good replies - I am planning on breastfeeding and using bottles also. I registered for a few different brands to try, but I didn't know some of them were really hard to clean! They should come with a difficulty rating, haha.

I think registering for some different kinds is a good way to go. I got Born Free, which is what I'd planned to use, but someone gave me Dr. Brown's, too, which thankfully I was able to give away to someone I know when I realized I hated them. My SIL used a bunch of different bottles with her daughter to find what worked, and I think she ended up using Avent but didn't have much to say about them when I asked her last weekend.

I'm thinking of trolling Amazon and Babies 'R Us for reviews...

jls8209

I have zero experience, but I decided to go with the Playtex drop-ins. I just bought one starter pack to try, it has a variety of sizes/nipples. I'm planning to breast feed, but would like the option to pump and have DH give a bottle now and then if I need a break, and eventually I'd like to be able to get out for an evening and have a sitter be able to give a bottle instead of rushing home to nurse. I chose the drop-ins because I've always heard that the other types of bottles allow too much air back into the bottle if the baby takes a breather, and that can result in a bloated/gassy baby. Plus you can freeze milk in the bags, which sounds convenient. Anyway, as I said, no actual experience here, so who knows if my choice of bottle will be good for us.

RBXChas

Ok, so based on my initial research (ie, the half an hour I just spent on this before I needed to get back to work), I think I'm either going with the drop-ins for convenience purposes or the Avent Natural bottles. The latter fit right on my breast pump (Avent dual electric), so I can pump right into bottles if I want to. Otherwise I used Lansinoh storage bags either for refrigeration or freezing. They worked fine for me last time.

But, needless to say, Born Free wore me out with all the parts! Plus I know I'd need to replace some of them, and they don't just sell parts like that (except nipples), meaning I'd probably have to buy a bunch of new bottles anyway.

I'd still love to hear others' experiences, though.

mormonmomma11

I have zero experience, but I decided to go with the Playtex drop-ins. I just bought one starter pack to try, it has a variety of sizes/nipples. I'm planning to breast feed, but would like the option to pump and have DH give a bottle now and then if I need a break, and eventually I'd like to be able to get out for an evening and have a sitter be able to give a bottle instead of rushing home to nurse. I chose the drop-ins because I've always heard that the other types of bottles allow too much air back into the bottle if the baby takes a breather, and that can result in a bloated/gassy baby. Plus you can freeze milk in the bags, which sounds convenient. Anyway, as I said, no actual experience here, so who knows if my choice of bottle will be good for us.

Ditto. I liked that my little man wasn't overly gassy with drop ins. Yes, they can get expensive - but the target brand (and walgreens brand) is GREAT & the drop ins where still cheaper than buying the gas drops every week (because with the regular bottles we were going through a TON of gas drops. Before we did drop ins we had tried playtex vent-air (too many peices) and regular playtex (too gassy), and medela (it was nice that it attached to the pump - but still too gassy).

After little man moved onto whole milk (but was not willing to part with a bottle before bed) we moved to avent. To be honest, it's okay - but whichever one we got (I didn't really pay attention because I just needed a shorter bottle that still held at least 8 ounces for bedtime so it did its job) has an extra ring in the center of the nipple to prevent leaking and to be honest - it's just one more peice to clean and it was frustrating.

Rebecca - I nearly exclusively pumped with my son. I think that mom's who choose to (and can) pump their milk so their babies can have bm even when mommy isn't around are very dedicated! Pumping does number on the girls thats for sure! I had to educate my doctor's office that there are mommies out there that bottle their breast milk and that we are a growing community of women. It would irritate me when they ask "Bottle or Breast?".

RBXChas

Rebecca - I nearly exclusively pumped with my son. I think that mom's who choose to (and can) pump their milk so their babies can have bm even when mommy isn't around are very dedicated! Pumping does number on the girls thats for sure! I had to educate my doctor's office that there are mommies out there that bottle their breast milk and that we are a growing community of women. It would irritate me when they ask "Bottle or Breast?".

It's so funny you say this! Just this past weekend, I was visiting with my BIL and SIL, whose due date is about a week after mine. Their daughter is about to turn one, and my SIL just quit pumping about two months ago. They did not intend for her to get pregnant again this quickly, so she was semi-joking that she was not going to breastfeed this baby, that her boobs were still "tingling" from all that nursing and pumping!

Then I said, "Maybe you should pump exclusively," and she loved that idea. Later it hit me, why hadn't I thought of that for myself? Not that I don't think nursing is worthwhile, but I found it to be incredibly difficult for both of us. When it wasn't working, no one encouraged me to get on the pump until it was too late, and I had hardly any supply left. Despite my lack of a good supply, I still had a good relationship with my pump and didn't mind it *that* much. (I might feel differently if I were EPing, though.)

Anyway, point being, I've spent the last week looking for EP resources. I'm not sure if I will exclusively pump or breastfeed and pump, but I'd like to avoid the cost of formula this time. I think there's a lot to be said for EPing, and I agree that it's a bit unfair that it is so easily overlooked!

Edited for clarity

mormonmomma11

It's so funny you say this! Just this past weekend, I was visiting with my BIL and SIL, whose due date is about a week after mine. Their daughter is about to turn one, and my SIL just quit pumping about two months ago. They did not intend for her to get pregnant again this quickly, so she was semi-joking that she was not going to breastfeed this baby, that her boobs were still "tingling" from all that nursing and pumping!

Then I said, "Maybe you should pump exclusively," and she loved that idea. Later it hit me, why hadn't I thought of that for myself? Not that I don't think nursing is worthwhile, but I found it to be incredibly difficult for both of us. When it wasn't working, no one encouraged me to get on the pump until it was too late, and I had hardly any supply left. Despite my lack of a good supply, I still had a good relationship with my pump and didn't mind it *that* much. (I might feel differently if I were EPing, though.)

Anyway, point being, I've spent the last week looking for EP resources. I'm not sure if I will exclusively pump or breastfeed and pump, but I'd like to avoid the cost of formula this time. I think there's a lot to be said for EPing, and I agree that it's a bit unfair that it is so easily overlooked!

Edited for clarity

The best resource I found was a group on Babycenter (The EPing Mommas maybe? I don't remember). But they have a running list of "rules" to help you establish, start reducing the number of times you pump without losing supply, avoiding mastitis, saving time on cleaning your pumps, etc....

The hospital with my son SERIOUSLY messed us up on breastfeeding - they gave him a nipple shield because he didn't latch in the first 3 minutes and being a first time mom I had no idea what I was doing. This time I will try harder to get LO to latch naturally - because I do like breastfeeding... but if this baby has issues latching as well, I'd rather EP than be stressed and not enjoy the time I have with my baby. Breastmilk is breastmilk no matter how it gets in their little tummies.

Editted to add: I don't know you very well, but you seem fairly competitive (like myself) which was a really good thing for me while pumping. I made it a game to pump more each week than I had the week before - by the time I stopped pumping my little man had almost 2 months of milk in the freezer to drink

blink1021

I figured I could buy the drop-in refills either as a generic (I know Target has their own version) or through Amazon Subscribe & Save, which would prevent my actually having to go buy them. Also, I was thinking for those times when you are traveling, they take up less space (Born Free bottles are pretty huge). I never thought about using the regular Playtex bottles, though. I did wonder about the drop-ins and getting those last little bits out of the bottom, which is especially nice to get if it's breastmilk. Something about throwing away a few drops of formula is not nearly as hard as throwing away even a tiny bit of something that you worked to get out of your body.

Born Free did allow for just a change-up in the nipple flow, which was nice, and they even had a couple of 12+ month spouts that were interchangeable (but my son didn't really take to them). According to what I read, Born Free is apparently really good at not leaking, but I definitely had leaking issues from the start. I tried to narrow it down to certain bottles and/or parts, but I never could. That is an additional reason I would like to change, but I totally forgot about that.

I have also thought about Tommee Tippee. We used some of their straw cups a few months back, and I liked them. They are pricey, though, so I'll have to check on sales as we get closer to my due date.

Anyone have any thoughts on Avent?

Careful with the generic drop ins I tried them because I could get 100 of them for really cheap and they were horrible they didn't fit right and they crunched up so you lost space and they never wanted to stay on either.

VelociMama

When my siblings were babies, we used the playtex bottles with disposable liners. They are awesome. Kept the air out and the kids were able to use them at any position not just inverted. I have them on my registry now.

With the bottles we used, we never had trouble with the generic liners either, but I see now that the system has changed a bit.

nursenikki829

My son refused to take a bottle because he liked the breast so much, that my husband had to drive him to my work so I could feed him at night. That being said, I tried about 10 different bottle brands on him before finding one that he would take (that is breastfed baby friendly). He liked the Tommee Tippee bottles, and they are easy to use without a ton of pieces.

chickybuns

I'm a first-timer but I just bought the medela bottles. I also bought the breast pump so just though that would be easiest. They are always still in the package if for some reason I have to take them back. Also for quick cleaning they make those steam bags you put in the microwave. I bought just a few for convenience.

lilchino4af

I'm a first-timer but I just bought the medela bottles. I also bought the breast pump so just though that would be easiest. They are always still in the package if for some reason I have to take them back. Also for quick cleaning they make those steam bags you put in the microwave. I bought just a few for convenience.

Ditto for me on all accounts.

RBXChas

I'm a first-timer but I just bought the medela bottles. I also bought the breast pump so just though that would be easiest. They are always still in the package if for some reason I have to take them back. Also for quick cleaning they make those steam bags you put in the microwave. I bought just a few for convenience.

The steam bags are great! I used those all the time even for non-Medela stuff. My sister gave me her dry sterilizer (because she never used it), and frankly it never got used.

M_lifts

my daughter never took to bottles and i tried every bottle under the sun! probably because i left it too late and caused nipple confusion. Bought tommee tippie ones last time so will probably do that again. Depends on where i can get the best deal i suppose.

chickybuns

How many bottles do you guys feel is needed? I am breastfeeding, so I guess it depends on how much I can pump to store. I currently have 7-5oz and 3-8oz bottles. I'm wondering if I should return the package of 3 5oz and get more 8oz. I know 5 will be fine for a while, but I figured at some point he might be eating more than 5oz at a time?

mellynat

How many bottles do you guys feel is needed? I am breastfeeding, so I guess it depends on how much I can pump to store. I currently have 7-5oz and 3-8oz bottles. I'm wondering if I should return the package of 3 5oz and get more 8oz. I know 5 will be fine for a while, but I figured at some point he might be eating more than 5oz at a time?

My kids never drank more then 4-5oz of milk at a feeding. They usually had about 4oz of breastmilk every 2-3hrs for the first few months. Maybe at around 10m they would drink 6. so I usually used the 4oz bottles. But considering u have a more of 5oz I'd switch one of the packs and get the 8.. each baby is different some can guzzle down a bigger amount of milk.

mormonmomma11

How many bottles do you guys feel is needed? I am breastfeeding, so I guess it depends on how much I can pump to store. I currently have 7-5oz and 3-8oz bottles. I'm wondering if I should return the package of 3 5oz and get more 8oz. I know 5 will be fine for a while, but I figured at some point he might be eating more than 5oz at a time?

My little man was a really good eater and was taking 6 ounces by the time he was four months. Then he moved up to eight ounces pretty quickly after that. We had a ton (probably 7 or 8) bottles for the first few months but then due to an unfortunate nipple mix up on an airplane that resulted in a full bottle being spilled over baby, myself, and dear hubby we moved down to two and got rid of all the other nipples/bottles. As long as you are willing to clean the bottles right away and not wait until you NEED the next bottle I think it's doable to just have a few. That's just my two cents though.

RBXChas

It's so funny you say this! Just this past weekend, I was visiting with my BIL and SIL, whose due date is about a week after mine. Their daughter is about to turn one, and my SIL just quit pumping about two months ago. They did not intend for her to get pregnant again this quickly, so she was semi-joking that she was not going to breastfeed this baby, that her boobs were still "tingling" from all that nursing and pumping!

Then I said, "Maybe you should pump exclusively," and she loved that idea. Later it hit me, why hadn't I thought of that for myself? Not that I don't think nursing is worthwhile, but I found it to be incredibly difficult for both of us. When it wasn't working, no one encouraged me to get on the pump until it was too late, and I had hardly any supply left. Despite my lack of a good supply, I still had a good relationship with my pump and didn't mind it *that* much. (I might feel differently if I were EPing, though.)

Anyway, point being, I've spent the last week looking for EP resources. I'm not sure if I will exclusively pump or breastfeed and pump, but I'd like to avoid the cost of formula this time. I think there's a lot to be said for EPing, and I agree that it's a bit unfair that it is so easily overlooked!

Edited for clarity

The best resource I found was a group on Babycenter (The EPing Mommas maybe? I don't remember). But they have a running list of "rules" to help you establish, start reducing the number of times you pump without losing supply, avoiding mastitis, saving time on cleaning your pumps, etc....

The hospital with my son SERIOUSLY messed us up on breastfeeding - they gave him a nipple shield because he didn't latch in the first 3 minutes and being a first time mom I had no idea what I was doing. This time I will try harder to get LO to latch naturally - because I do like breastfeeding... but if this baby has issues latching as well, I'd rather EP than be stressed and not enjoy the time I have with my baby. Breastmilk is breastmilk no matter how it gets in their little tummies.

Editted to add: I don't know you very well, but you seem fairly competitive (like myself) which was a really good thing for me while pumping. I made it a game to pump more each week than I had the week before - by the time I stopped pumping my little man had almost 2 months of milk in the freezer to drink

Guilty as charged! I could totally see myself trying to outdo my own output Might as well take advantage of the personality trait...

But thanks for the heads-up on some EP resources. I found some good info on the Ameda site, too.

RBXChas

How many bottles do you guys feel is needed? I am breastfeeding, so I guess it depends on how much I can pump to store. I currently have 7-5oz and 3-8oz bottles. I'm wondering if I should return the package of 3 5oz and get more 8oz. I know 5 will be fine for a while, but I figured at some point he might be eating more than 5oz at a time?

With my son, I didn't bother with the small bottles. You can always have an 8-oz bottle and only put 3 oz in it, but I didn't want to have to clean multiple small bottles (and make the switch out) when he was eating more than that. Honestly it wasn't all that long before he was drinking a full 8 ounces.

I think I ended up with 8 bottles, total. I started with four and then bought more as time passed and I got lazier with cleaning/sterilizing. (Not that I didn't clean them, but I didn't want to have to do it the second he finished a bottle.) The advantage to buying more over time is to break up the cost and also to take advantage of sales/coupons. However, if you have a good sale right off the bat (e.g., as I write this, Babies 'R Us has buy one get one 50% off online only for most major brands of bottles), it may be worth it to stock up.

Frankly I really just think it depends on how quickly you are going to get around to cleaning bottles. I always liked for mine to fully air dry before I had to make/fill another, so I preferred to have more, and I preferred to clean several bottles at the end of the day (I would rinse them in the interim) rather than as he used them.

chickybuns

Thanks for the advice, I'll probably take the other ones back so I have 6-8oz and the 5oz came with my breast pump. Another first timer question...does it matter a lot on the nipples? The 5 oz have slow flow that are for 0-3 months, and the 8 oz have medium flow that are for 4-12 months. I didn't know if I should buy more slow flow nipples for the bigger bottles?

RBXChas

Thanks for the advice, I'll probably take the other ones back so I have 6-8oz and the 5oz came with my breast pump. Another first timer question...does it matter a lot on the nipples? The 5 oz have slow flow that are for 0-3 months, and the 8 oz have medium flow that are for 4-12 months. I didn't know if I should buy more slow flow nipples for the bigger bottles?

Personally, I would want as many nipples (of each flow rate) as I had bottles. However, they are a pretty easy (and small) part to clean, so if you're not down with cleaning the entire bottle and its parts at any given moment, it would be fairly simple to clean and even sterilize just the nipple so that you can put it on a new, clean bottle.

My opinion is that you kind of have to figure out your own rhythm to these things. Everything will be rather chaotic at first, and then you'll settle into your own routine/schedule (as much as having a newborn allows). For me, that meant having lots of bottles with nipples for each stage/flow. For others, that means having two or three bottles on hand and no more.

So I had 8 bottles with 8 nipples for each of the three flow rates, which we used up until my son was a year old... As time wore on I did find it to be excessive and figured I could have gotten away with just 6. However, I was a WAHM and rarely went very far from home, so having lots of clean bottles on hand was a luxury. If I had traveled a lot or worked outside the home and was pumping and whatnot (or even formula-feeding), having more, complete bottles might have been a necessity.

chickybuns

Thanks so much! I currenlty have the nipples on the bottles, which are low flow for the 5 oz ones and medium for the 8 oz ones. I also bought 2 extra packages, I think 6 total of the medium flow ones. I kind of assumed by the time he needed more than 5 oz, he would use the medium flow. So many things to think about!

jamie31

I am a first time mom and honestly this slow, medium and fast flow has me confused. Are they supposed to be used for different ages and if so what are they?

I just had my baby shower and my younger sister got the playtex ventair fast flow. I plan on breastfeeding but will be working full time so bottles will be used by the sitter. Is the fast flow for older ages or does it not matter?

RBXChas

I am a first time mom and honestly this slow, medium and fast flow has me confused. Are they supposed to be used for different ages and if so what are they?

I just had my baby shower and my younger sister got the playtex ventair fast flow. I plan on breastfeeding but will be working full time so bottles will be used by the sitter. Is the fast flow for older ages or does it not matter?

Flow rates do matter. When babies are first born, they can really only eat small amounts, very slowly. It can take anywhere from 20-45 minutes (or sometimes longer) for a newborn to eat a couple of ounces of breastmilk or formula. The slow-flow nipples are necessary so that they don't get overwhelmed, which can cause a real mess. As they grow, they can eat more, faster. By the time my son could take an entire 8-oz bottle in one sitting, he could do it in about 10 minutes, sometimes less.

Born Free had stages 1, 2, and 3, and then I think they had some other additional fast flow one that we never got to because we moved away from bottles when my son was about a year old. Stage 1 was 0-3 months, stage 2 was 4-6 months, and stage 3 was 9+ months. Some manufacturers have a separate newborn nipple and then a 1-3 month nipple.

Keep in mind that some brands' nipples are supposedly interchangeable with some other brands of bottles. I never did it, but I've heard from others that with certain brands it can be done, say, if the bottle you are using does not offer a slow enough/fast enough flow for your baby, so you might not have to go out and buy an entire set of bottles.

mormonmomma11

When my son was about 5 months old my dr suggested that we move him back down to a slow flow nipple because he was spitting up a lot after eatings - but if we fed him less than the full 8 ounces he would scream because he was still hungry. I guess, his mind didn't understand that he wasn't hungry anymore and he was over eating (kind of like a lot of us - we eat more than we need because we THINK we are still hungry). We ended up moving back to a slow flow nipple (supposedly 0-3 months) until he was about 9 months. He still was a pretty fast eater - but it did slow him down and the spitting up was greatly reduced.

It's all about your baby - the age suggestions are not set in stone. Think about it like clothing sizes - even though your child may be 4 months old they may still fit into the 0-3 month old clothes... you wouldn't move them up to 3-6 month clothes just because that size is on the label, you'd want your baby to be comfortable and you'd put them in the right size for their body. For us, the slow flow nipples were the best solution for our little man until he was almost done with bottles - but for other babies they probably do fine on the faster flows.

RBXChas

When my son was about 5 months old my dr suggested that we move him back down to a slow flow nipple because he was spitting up a lot after eatings - but if we fed him less than the full 8 ounces he would scream because he was still hungry. I guess, his mind didn't understand that he wasn't hungry anymore and he was over eating (kind of like a lot of us - we eat more than we need because we THINK we are still hungry). We ended up moving back to a slow flow nipple (supposedly 0-3 months) until he was about 9 months. He still was a pretty fast eater - but it did slow him down and the spitting up was greatly reduced.

It's all about your baby - the age suggestions are not set in stone. Think about it like clothing sizes - even though your child may be 4 months old they may still fit into the 0-3 month old clothes... you wouldn't move them up to 3-6 month clothes just because that size is on the label, you'd want your baby to be comfortable and you'd put them in the right size for their body. For us, the slow flow nipples were the best solution for our little man until he was almost done with bottles - but for other babies they probably do fine on the faster flows.

I didn't know that about slower flow rates and spitting up. I'll have to try that!

But you're totally right about the age suggestions being just that - suggestions. Every baby is different. Some people introduce sippy cups pretty young, too (as young as 6 months), which adds even more variables in there!