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@Goldengirl: I love dr Browns for newborn because at that age gas is terrible and the parts are a tiny price to pay! But as the kids got older I eventually wound up with agent which I love because you can shake the bottle to mix it and it's no big deal, whereas with dr Browns it needs to be premixed before going in..
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We use Dr. Brown's and Lifestyle glass bottles. We like Dr. Brown's because all those parts also help prevent baby from collapsing the nipple. Also, the nipples tend to be less leaky than other brands. The nipples fit on the glass lifestyle bottles I use at home. The lifestyle bottles some with silicone covers arounds and have various covers for different stages of your child's life (sippy, snack tops).
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Just an idea, but you could skip bottles and attach single use nipples to the ready to feed formula bottles. Our hospital sent us home with a bunch and they were so convenient. After we ran out of nipples we simply poured the formula int our Comotomo bottles (would not recommend for exclusive FF or for daycare babies). The ready to feed formula doesn't require any water or mixing. The ready to feed bottles are way convenient on the go because they don't require fridge/insulation until opened.
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Dr Browns. DD had glass Dr Browns and glass evenflo but the evenflo caused a lot of gas. DS we has a mix of the glass and plastic Dr Browns. We had a mix of the smaller and larger bottles.
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@BabyTsMom: Can you explain the mixer to me? I don't really get what it does that's different than mixing it yourself, from reading the description online. I have really limited space so only need another appliance if it was super essential.
@2littlepumpkins: Oh, this is good to know! Why does it need to be premixed before going in the bottle? I always assumed you just add the water and the powder right into the bottle and shake... ?
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Will probably do some ready-to-feed at the beginning and on the go, but definitely not exclusively... costs twice the price and we'll go broke!
Thanks everyone for the advice! Seems there's a lot of love for Dr. Brown's after I wrote them off for the extra parts... I will have to reconsider!
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@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: glad the ready to go version worked for your LO. It made our LOs poop turn black when we tried it for 3-4 days. I did like the convenience of it.
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@Goldengirl: When I tried mixing the formula in the bottle or other container, I would end up with a lot of bubbles (=gas for baby) and tons of clumps. Maybe I'm not a good bottle-shaker. The formula pitcher is amazing because it mixes the formula so well, with no clumps and minimal bubbles. Also (and this was soooo helpful for me)- when you're exclusively FF a baby, they're going through 24-32oz a day at the peak of it. You can mix the entire batch at once, stick it in the fridge, and pour it into the bottle as needed. So I'd get up, mix a big batch of formula in the morning, and be set for the rest of the day. Amazing.
I would definitely think it's worth the $ and counter/cabinet space. -
@BabyTsMom: You've sold me!
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@Goldengirl: haha, yay! just keep in mind that in the early days, you need to put the blue wheel part of the mixer at the lowest end (towards the bottom of the pitcher), so that the wheel is at the water level. That way you won't get the bubbles or clumping. Then as your baby takes in more and more formula, you move that wheel up towards the plunger's handle.
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Another question... will I need extra nipples or are the ones that come with the bottles sufficient?
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@BabyTsMom: Yup, we have 4 formula pitchers for our twins. They are great. I got 2 used ones from Craigslist.
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@Goldengirl: I have extra nipples. I guess if you didn't have enough nipples, you could just wash the dirty ones. We wash once a day and usually everything gets washed. In those tough days, we can go two days without washing bottles.
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@Goldengirl: I'd get extra nipples, too. Also, they come in different flow levels, so you'd want to start with the slowest-flow (a 0 or 1, depending on brand) and move up as baby gets older.
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@Goldengirl: until your comment I never really did a cost per use analysis. I think we'll switch to powder and pitcher mixing too. Seems easy enough. I'm interested in the mix, store & then pour!
Agree with getting just a couple extra nipples. Right now LO is still on the slow flow at 3 months (tomorrow).
@bluestriped bee: really? I wonder why that happened.
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We have been BIG fans of the Lanishoh mOmma bottle for this baby! A lot of that reason was due to issues transferring between nipple & bottle - but with our first we used Avent bottles and the mOmma is great because it's just the two pieces really (no ring) and easy to clean!
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@bluestriped bee: @BabyTsMom: @Mrs. Lemon-Lime: What's the use of the extra nipples though, if you have to clean each bottle before the next use anyway... wouldn't you clean the nipple too? I.e. wouldn't there always be a clean nipple ready for every clean bottle? I think I am missing something!
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: It might not be so bad everywhere, not sure! But I did a price comparison based on the same brand with ready feed vs powder and it came out to pretty much twice as much. I had a to do a lot of math to get there though LOL! I could totally see getting hooked on the ready to go stuff though, seems so much simpler.
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@Goldengirl: I don't have extra nipples, no need since like you said I wash everything at once. But I did buy medium and then fast flows as they got older
Ready to feed is crazy expensive. It's helpful to have some on hand, in your diaper bag, when traveling, babysitters, etc but very $$ to do full time. I really like liquid concentrate formula - you add water, but it mixes really well and doesn't give me bubbles. Cheaper than ready to feed (though slightly more than powder).
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@Goldengirl: really, it comes down to when you don't have clean bottles. If you have 10 bottles but only 4 nipples. You have to wash the nipples twice before you use up the clean bottles. If you are always on top of dishes, it's probably never going to be an issue.
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@Goldengirl: I suppose you're right....though when you move up to faster flow nipples, you have to purchase those separately (but can only purchase the exact # of nipples for the # of bottles you have). Now I can't remember if I had extras! I think I did, though, just in case. I don't recall if I needed the spares on a regular basis though.
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@Goldengirl: each bottle came with it's own nipple 1:1 ratio. Over time the nipple loses it's integrity and that's when the extra ones come in handy.
ETA: so the extra nipples are more so replacement nipples. Eventually I will switch out slow flow for medium flow.
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@bluestriped bee: how do you manage to get way more nipples than bottles? We always had an even amount.
I definitely wouldn't buy extra. As an EFF mom you'll be consistently upgrading nipples to faster and faster flows. So you'll have to buy several sets as time goes on anyways. Not much point in buying extra newborn ones now.
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@ShootingStar: Thanks, this is what I'm thinking too. The idea of having anything extra just overwhelms me right now, even if it's something tiny!
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Coming back to this post now that I'm finally entering shopping mode... and still overwhelmed by choices! Is it smart to just start with one brand and if baby doesn't like it, switch brands later? Rather than having a bunch of different brands at the very beginning, knowing he/we'll probably end up preferring one and then the others would just be wasted.
It seems the Playtex brand are priced better than the others and BRU has them on sale now... so am thinking of just stocking up on some of those.
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@ShootingStar: oh, I forgot to respond to you.
So I got bottles in different sizes, some were used and some were new, so for example I might have 10 preemie nipples, 7 size 1 nipples and 5 size 2 nipples. I did have a lot more nipples and 2 & 4 oz bottles than 8 oz bottles that I'm using more. Though, we were feeding more often during those early days.I almost always have more bottles than nipples. Now, i'm fine with washing a dirty nipple real quick if I need one. Washing a dirty bottle takes a tiny bit more effort.
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@Goldengirl: If you do....I wouldn't open them all until you know baby likes them. You can return your stockpile if it doesn't work. Same goes for buying a variety of brands....you can return unopened boxes!
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@Goldengirl: i highly recommend the Playtex drop ins! Most days we were washing nipples only. I loved them!
ETA: if you are FF from the beginning, hopefully baby will.just take whatever bottle you present. But I agree, only open a couple to start with.
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@Goldengirl: I didn't give mine a choice. He's only used one of two bottles: Comotomo and the formula nursers w/ disposable nipples. Once we ran out of the disposable nipples the hospital gave us we poured the formula into the Comotomo bottles. All that to say I think you will be safe sticking to one brand.
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I had 2 separate LCs recommend playtex to me. I used them with both girls and I couldn't be happier with them. No leaking, my girls never had gas or colic issues, warming them was easy (drop assembled bottle into a mug of hot water for a few min, pull out and feed!) and the washing couldn't have been simpler. What's easier than throwing it away and then washing the nipple and ring? I would stock up on liners bc you go through those quickly. I have about 8 slow nipples and 8 medium nipples for when they were eating more frequently and then only like 2 or 4 fast ones. I didn't find that I needed as many shells because you can really just give them a quick rinse in between feedings.
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@meadow: I think there's a 45 day return policy so would be passed that since I'm due in November... so maybe not worth getting anything until right before even if the sale is good??
@SweetCaroline: @Mrs. Lemon-Lime: @Tidybee: I was looking at the Ventaire ones because I didn't love the idea of having to purchase the dropins every time they ran out and spending more money... are they a lot better though? Is it awful cleaning the bottles?
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@Goldengirl: the bottles are so cheap, I still think after 2 kids I will break even having to purchase the drop in liners. Washing bottles sucks and the liners are AWESOME. I can't say enough good things. You can do subscribe and save if you do Amazon prime.
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@SweetCaroline: do you never wash the bottles then? They don't get any milk leaking through? And do you do anything special to wash the nipple each time or just hot water and soap?
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@SweetCaroline: Also this review says you can't mix formula directly in them and need to mix in a separate container... is that true? And you can't warm them either?
http://m.babygearlab.com/Baby-Bottle-Reviews/Playtex-Nurser -
@Goldengirl: I guess I never saw the liners as a cost issue. They come in packs of 100. But I was feeding breastmilk so I also wasn't shelling out money for formula. I never washed bottles so I can't say if it sucked but I wash sippy cups now and I hate it. If I don't wash thoroughly enough, milk gets stuck and dried and then funky smelling.
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@Goldengirl: bottle cleaning is a chore, but it's not that bad. Some people put bottles in the dishwasher, but we don't since we rarely have use our dishwasher. The bottles I bought and the Ventaire you are considering don't seem to need a specific bottle brush. For me a quick rinse after each use then set aside the bottle until It can be washed with hot soapy water works. We only have 6 bottles, so we are constantly rinsing & washing them. About once a month I boil all the components for 3-5 minutes to sanitize them.
FYI I bought bottles that were touted as helpful for colic like your Ventaire and my baby was fine. However, if your babe does have colic talk to your ped about Probiotic drops. We are using them while the baby is on antibiotics, but the box says they are for colic too.
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@Goldengirl: usually that just means in the original form of payment...I'm sure you could get store credit (and buy diapers if nothing else...)
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I always heated ours,thats another huge pro I just remembered...they heat up SO FAST. We had a few regular bottles and came to hate them because they were so slow to heat for a screaming baby in comparison.
I never used powdered formula in them, but with the dr browns pitcher you'd have a perfect pair!
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Exclusive formula feeder here. Definitely get a formula mixing pitcher OR Amazon sells a handheld mixer for formula that works well and you could use a pitcher you already have. We mix all of our formula in the morning.
We use Evenflo bottles but when she was a newborn we really liked the Parents' Choice.
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@Finfan: Thanks! I'm definitely into the pitcher idea... although I also like the idea people have mentioned of mixing with room temp water so I don't have to warm! Not sure which method takes more/less time.
And I haven't even looked at those bottle brands, ah... so many choices!
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We used the cheapy gerber bottles in the beginning and he was fine with them until around 4 months and he decided he didn't like them anymore (we were also breastfeeding). I tried a few samples I had and he liked the Playtex nipples so we switched to those for the rest of the time
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@Goldengirl: parents choice is the Walmart brand. We had to buy one in an emergency and wound up really liking their small nipple size when she was a newborn.
I have formula fed two (healthy, full-term) kids and have never warmed a bottle. They both drank them straight out of the fridge, no problems.
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