Bottles: Which to Choose???

My son is 11 weeks old and has had spit-up/throw-up issues since he was born. We have tried many bottles (adiri and playtex drop-ins were the first two BPA free) We have had the most success with Born Free bottles. They are BPA free and don't have tons of parts to clean (in my opinion). My son still spits up but not nearly as bad. We bought them at BRU and the only bad part is when you buy a pack of three only one bottle comes with the venting system. You have to buy the extra ones separately. But they do give you a coupon for two free venting systems inside the bottle box. Hope this helps.

I used to use Playtex ventflow and boy there were 5 different parts to clean I think, what a pain in the butt. When the BPA scare came about I switch to Playtex drop ins and love them, I have 3 bottles and about 10 nipples and I only have to wash nipples every two days, which is so nice. I went to this link and got free bottles and just had to buy the nipples and drop in's. Send them to everyone you know so you can have more than one. http://www.playtexbaby.com/bpafree/info.html

S.,

I used playtex drop-ins for my daughters 21 and 18 years ago. I have an 18month old grandson. At my daughters shower and under advice of others, we ended up with all kinds of bottles.

Advent was one of them. My sister has a two year old and a one year old. She uses those. I just hate them. The playtex bottles were as easy and wonderful, even more so with the drop ins now, as they were 20 years ago.

We got rid of all the others and loved the ease of use and cleaning up.

Good Luck,
L. and Brittany

When I registed for stuff for my baby showers, I registered for (and received) the Avent bottles. We used those for the first 6 or 8 weeks for my daughter. At the time we did not have a dishwasher so I got to hate cleaning the bottles, plus I found that some of the bottles leaked...very annoying. Because my daughter was having problems with lots of gas, we decided to try the Playtex drop-in bottles that someone suggested to us. I HIGHLY recommend these bottles! First of all, MUCH easier to clean!!!! Second of all, it DOES help if your baby is getting lots of gas, because with these bottle liners, you force out all the air before you give the bottle to them, so they are at no point sucking on air, just the formula. Yes there is that added expense of buying the liners. But I find that you can use the store brand, and the bigger package you buy to begin with, the less you are paying per liner.

We used the Playtex disposables and drop in's with our first daughter. We loved the ease of use and how quick cleaning was - we didn't have a bottom to scrub at all! It was great. We started with them for our second daughter only to find out she had reflux and in order to keep the formula down, we had to add a lot of single grain cereal to the bottle - almost to a shake or slurpy consistency. The disposables didn't work real well with that concept. She was also a hard to burp, so it was recommended to use a vented style bottle, especially seeing that we had to enlarge the nipple holes some. We ended up going with a VentAire bottle - I think they were made by Playtex. Those worked really well for her as well, and I would consider using those again if we ever had any more children. Good luck!!

We used Avent,both the regular bottles and the drop-ins and loved them both! Good Luck!

I used the Drop-Ins with both of my children and I really liked them. I didn't warm up bottles for my son. When you have the baby and start them on formula at the hospital, they give you room temperature bottles and there is no need to warm them. So with the Drop-Ins I bought the jugs of nursery water and filled my bottles up ahead of time with just water and scooped the formula in when needed. I also had a great little divided container that you could measure out the formula for 3 bottles when you are on the go. It was a must have and I never had to worry about keeping bottles cold in the diaper bag either. If you are breastfeeding at all, the Gerber storage bags fit right in the Playtex bottles also. Hope this helps!!

T.

I like the simple glass bottles by Evenflo. They have worked well for us. I switched to them when our baby was about 5 months old.

The Born Free are vented and great! They are pricey, but I think it is worth it to support a company that only makes BPA-free bottles. I think that a definite con to the drop-ins is the waste associated with something disposable. Not very environmentally-friendly.

I highly recommend the drop in style. My now 4 1/2 month old had so many prior issues with Avent and all other sorts. To much gas. The drop in style allows you to get the air out, we never have bubbles. In order to make it for easy travel I do place my water in before hand, take a bottle of water or two, depending on how long you may be away and extra liners. I love my divided cups and I pre-measure formula. If it is again going to be a longer outing I just grab the can of formula and hit the raod. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I always loved the Playtex Drop-Ins, they are convenient and easy to clean. Plus, they make the liners in generic brand. I've heard from a few of my friends that the Avent leak, but I don't know firsthand. Good luck!

I used the Playtex drop ins for my son. Like some of the other posters, I used generic liners (Meijer). I nursed my son, and the nipples for the drop in bottles where the only ones he would use(when I went back to work). I bought TONS of bottles before I found out that these were the only ones he would use. They worked great for him.

Born Free are BPA, vented or whatever for gas/colic, etc. and they are awesome!

I used the Playtex Ventaire bottles and loved them!!

http://www.playtexproductsinc.com/infant/bottleFeeding_re...

Hi, we had lots of problems with my son and choosing bottles. He wasn't happy with any the we bought and used. He especially didn't like the avent bottles. My mom suggested the playtex drop ins. He LOVED those bottles. He didn't get as much air. So I would go with the playtex ones over Avent. Good luck

MAM brand has a great BPA free bottle and the bottom unsrews so it is vented and there are fairly inexspensive they are like 13 dollars for three.

S.

I believe the choices of BPA free bottles are limited at this point in time. I use the Born Free and they have worked great. I believe the Playtex Drop-In bottles are BPA free because of the liner (it is a non-rigid plastic). But I am not so sure Playtex's other bottles are BPA free. Playtex is a major manufacturer that is not necessarily "eco-conscious". Their liners are a pliable plastic which does not/never has required the BPA. Avent is another major brand that I doubt is BPA free (maybe they have changed their process??).

I used the Playtex Liner bottles 7/8 years ago for my first two and they are pretty easy to use and clean-up is an obvious breeze. Other bottles require a bottle brush.
I used Born Free this time around because I don't like the idea of using plastic-anything period! But if I had to, I wanted to at least choose a manufacturer that was educated and "based on" using minimal hazardous chemicals in their manufacturing processes. I still think the Playtex are easier to use, but I am still suspicious of the company and their claims. Since there was an alternantive this time around, I chose Born Free...but I'm sure the Playtex are fine.
By the way, she could be spitting up more beacuse of what she is drinking than what she is drinking out of. A lot of times, the bottle causes air/gas inside of the baby. That's not to say the spit up is not a result of it too...but if you are formula-feeding it may be the kind of formula that is causing problems. Just something to think about.
Good luck. I can't wait to "retire" our bottles in 2-3 months!

Playtex-I used these for my now 5 year old and thought they were a really good value. I didn't use the drop ins I used the walmart liners and they were a very good value. I have even loaned out my playtex bottles and when I got them back they still looked new.

I hate drop ins! I used Avent for my kids and never had a leaking issue. I also had kids who spit up a lot (!!!) and never found one bottle over another that helped with that issue. I found that to be solved ONLY by finding a way to thicken the formula until their tummies were able to hold the liquid down. For travel, I bought the formula single packs and threw some bottled water in the diaper bag...never needed an ice pack or anything.

~L.

My son absolutely loved avent. They're also easy to clean. Good luck!

I work in a daycare that works with infants. In my experience, the Playtex drop ins are nice, but when you push out the air, sometimes they slip off the rim and you end up wearing most of the milk. We've always had good luck with the Avent with the children.

The playtex linners are BPA free...but the bottles are not. Avent are not BPA free either (at least they weren't a few months ago). I use the Born Free bottles. They are vented, like Dr. Browns, but only have one insert piece. I love them.

When I have to make bottles on the go, I fill with HOT water (it cools by the time I need it) and then add the powered formula and shake.

I like the Playtex drop'ins since all you have to wash is the nipples mainly. You don't have to wash the whole dang bottle...

I used the playtex drop ins. The drops ins can be expensive, so look for store brands. I liked the pre-formed ones the best. Best of all, you can get more nipples and rings without the bottles and thats what you wash daily

I loved the Avent for my older kids when they were babies (this one refuses all bottles), but I don't think they're BPA-free unless they've changed very recently.

playtex drop ins, there great. Plus dr brown tooo much to clean!

Both my kids had spit up issues and I used the drop-ins. I loved them. The only down fall is you have to buy the drop-ins. Target brand is good and is the cheapest. Don't waste your money on the Playtex brand actual drop-ins. Another plus I liked is they only have three different nipple sizes as opposed to alot of other bottles that have like 4-6 different sizes. My kids did really good on them and they worked great for us. Hoped this helped.
Jacqui

S. -

We used Avent bottles with no problem. I like the fact that they're wide-necked, which makes them so easy to clean, and my son (who was exclusively breastfed) took to using them with no problem when the situation called for needing a bottle. He never got excess air to swallow, and I like the different nipple flows you can choose from. My son is a greedy little fatbelly, so he liked eating from the "2" flow nipple when he was a newborn. He's using the Avent sippy cups now with the no leak thingy and I can say they don't leak, no matter how hard he drops them. If anything, it may drip a bit from the part he sips from if he didn't empty it completely before he dropped it. A note of caution - when you wash them, after they've dried, wet the nipple and the ring a bit before you assemble them. It creates a better seal and in my opinion performs better. The directions tell you to do that anyway and it does make a difference.

Hope this helps!

Another vote for the drop-ins. They rock. We tried other bottles (including the dr. browns, avent, vent-aire, breastflow, etc.) and we liked the drop-ins the best. Target has a brand of the drop-in liners that are nice and less than half of the cost of the Playtex ones.

As for your second question... we breastfed (and I pumped at work) so I'm not sure even HOW to mix formula (I've never done it before so I'm not sure what the process is). I don't see why you couldn't just put the water in the bottles before-hand though and then just open, add the scoops of powder, close again & shake it up? Or, pre-mix it at home if you want? I used to pre-fill my bottles for daycare and the caps always fit tight and they never leaked (if that helps).

If you have any doubt, get some of the drop-ins bottles and then grab one or two of the Avent ones (which we didn't like much) for travel. I really don't see why the Drop-ins wouldn't travel well though. It actually seems like they'd travel better - especially if you buy a few extra nipples. The bottle "frame" itself doesn't even touch the milk so you could just bring extra bags & nipples and just one or two bottles.

I used Playtex dropins with my son and have nothing but good things to say. They even sell liners at walmart and target that fit the playtex bottles but aren't so expensive. As far as traveling goes, I used to put a liner in the bottles then add my formula and just bring water with me. All of my bottles had lids so it woked out perfect. Towards the end of our bottle days I actually started doing the same thing for home bottles. I would just add warm water when I was ready to feed him. Worked out perfectly for us.....

S. -

You might look at the MAM Ultivent Bottles. My daughter had reflux and was therefore VERY spitty. These helped for us. They are BPA free and they are vented. The thing I loved about them was that they were really easy to wash - even the nipple can be washed with a regular washcloth - you don't need a tiny bottle brush. You can also take them apart and put every part in the dishwasher (top rack).

My MIL found them 3 years ago now at a medical conference she was at and brought some home for us. I had to go to the company (actually here in GR) to buy more. Now, you can order online from Target (or you can probably still get from company).

Here is a link to the description of the bottles. http://www.sassybaby.com/category?cattype=category&ca...

J.

Hi S.,

I used Playtex. The kind with the drop in liner, not sure if there is a specific name or not. I always had a liner in them (the drop in type, not the liners those are a pain), and took baby water in a container, and had the powder in one of those divided formula holders. (they sell those a BRU too). The formula holder usually has three compartments, so get a couple. They are handy. Then you are good to go anywhere. I would mix a bottle as needed. No fuss, no muss. Hope this works for you as well as it had for me.

Enjoy your little one!!
Lisa J.

My daughter had a lot of spit-ups too. I used the Playtex Ventair Wide with my daughter and those worked well for her. I did not use the drop ins. My suggestion would be to buy one of each and see how well she likes it. My daughter didn't like Avent.

I use born free glass

Personally I stay away from a much plastic as possable. So something compleatly washable with out disposable bits like drop in sort of things. Were consuming so much oil for plastics that are just getting dumped in the sea.
Good luck finding the right one for you. A. H

I switched too - and Avent is the way to go - I am so glad with my choice.

We use the Avent Tempo bottles which is Avent's version of the drop in liners. We LOVE them. We used the regular Avent with our oldest (didn't have the Tempo back then), so I was thrilled to see them make a drop in. They are so nice. An added bonus is that if a bottle sits for a little while (rolls under a car seat, tossed under the pack-n-play, unrinsed from daycare), you don't have to clean a stinky bottle. Just throw out the liner and wash as usual.

They are just as easy as regular bottles to travel with. What you suggested works fine (fill with water & add powdered formula as needed). What I liked to do was put the powder in the empty bottle (no messy measuring while out-n-about) and keep a small thermos of warmed water or an 8-oz bottle of nursery water in the diaper bag. Then just pour in your water and shake. The single serving ready to feed bottles are great to. Keep them at room temp and just pour them into your bottle.

The reason I stuck with Avent even though they're a little pricier than playtex, is because they have such a wide range of flow choices for their nipples. That was a huge benefit to us. Also, you can use the Avent bottle warmer on the medium setting with their drop ins. From what I read, with playtex, you have to warm the liquid prior to adding it to the bottle.

The only down side of liners is that it's hard to tell exactly how much baby has drank as the liner collapses. So if you have any wieght issues or need to know exactly how much of that bottle she drank, then a rigid bottle would be better. Good luck to you!

I have used Born Free with my new daughter (now 6 months) I swear by them now. No little parts although there is one insert (to help reduce air) at the top of the bottle neck that needs to be put on before the nipple...It is very easy to put together and use though. My daughter has had no colic/gas issues. Check them out on-line.