Avent vs Medela

Updated on March 07, 2009
H.G. asks from Reno, NV
24 answers

Hello ladies! We just had out second child and are ecstatic! Without first we weren't able to nurse and did formula but this time we are breast feeding and things are going great! Unfortunately I will have to go back to work so I've started pumping and storing. I'm very committed toonly using breastmilk this time and plan on nursing when home. Does anyone know which are better bottles/nipples that will not interfere too much with nursing? I've done some online research which said avent newborn nipples or the medela nipples are best for breastfed babies. Any advice would be great or any experience with either would also be appreciated! Thanks!

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So What Happened?

Thanks to everyone for their insight! We decided on the avent bottles and nipples after the advice and doing more research. We did a trial of only one bottle by my husband and she took it well and resumed nursing at the next feeding without problem! I think we are going to give her one bottle every few days for the next week or two then one a day the week or so before go back to work. I seem to have an abundance of milk at the moment so I've been pumping and storing. I love having all you ladies here for help! Thanks again!

Featured Answers

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

"MAM" brand bottles, which you can get from www.amazom.com
It contains no BPA's and my son loved this bottle, and no gas bubbles accumulates in the bottle.

All the best,
Susan

1 mom found this helpful
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C.W.

answers from Los Angeles on

My daughter is super picky and I tried every bottle available. The only one she would take was the Avent. It really is super soft like the breast.

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A.L.

answers from Honolulu on

Hi H.,

I breastfed my twin girls and used both brands.... Both are great you can't go wrong with either.

I think avent is a little less expensive.
Good luck.

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J.V.

answers from Las Vegas on

My first daughter was solely breastfed for 9 months and would only use the wide mouth Gerber Nuk nipples. If you like the drop-ins, the nuk nipples fit them, just use a sealing disc under the nipple when transporting a filled bottle You can find them at Target. I would also recommend using slow flow nipples so your baby doesn't start to favor the bottle which is easier to drink from.

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S.B.

answers from Los Angeles on

My son, too, was exclusively breastfed for his first year and I went back to work when he was 10 weeks old. I swear we own at least one of every bottle on the market because he struggled with them all. Until I tried the Evenflo glass bottles. The nipples are smaller and he likes them so much, he's still drinking his milk out of them (and he's 17 months, now). Just can't seem to get him to take milk out of a sippy. But that's another problem altogether. Anyway, it was really trial and error for us, so my advise would be to avoid stocking up on a bunch of anything until you know which ones she'll take to. Congratulations on your newbie!

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M.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

Just make sure the bottle is BPA-free or use glass bottles. Also a word of advice from mother of 2 (28 months and 8 months) try to breakfeed when home and not pump. Pumping doesn't send the same signal to the brain to make more milk. At work there is not choice but when at home or out it's best to just breastfeed.

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H.A.

answers from San Diego on

Used Avent with DS and had no problems. As previous post stated, we also didn't introduce bottle until 4-weeks old.

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R.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

Get one that looks like a breast... so the wider bottles, vs the narrower ones. The only Medela ones I've seen are narrow and look like a baby bottel not like a breast.

The Playtex Drop-In Nurser was our favorite and they sell a one-step storage kit that lets you pump right into the drop-in liner and store it in the freezer or fridge until you need to use it. I really liked this becuase it made the whole process simple. Playtex makes the majority of their bottles in a "wide/breast like" size, you may just need to look for it... like the AventAirs.

The Advent bottels also worked well with us, just make sure you get the appropriate nipple so the baby can handel the outflow.

The Adiri are also great but pricy... but they look just like a breast and feel like it too. Simple to clean too.

Good luck.

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M.B.

answers from Los Angeles on

medela. those were the only nipples and bottles my DD would take, and it didnt interfere with her nursing either. i tried when she was about 6-8 weeks with a born free and she hated it. she wouldnt take a bottle after that, until i gave her straight from the bottle i pumped into (medela) and medela nipples. good luck ! :)

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T.C.

answers from San Diego on

My daughter is currently 8 months old and is still breastfeeding but dad bottle feeds her beastmilk when I'm at work 2 days a week!! The only nipples we have had luck with are Born Free-I think we literally tried every single nipple out there! Goodluck!!

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T.N.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hello Hellen I'm the proud grandmother of a now qne mo. and a half as of yesterday! I'm at home and caring for this God send. We here at home feed her primarily breast milk but this baby was born a little big (9 lbs and 3 oz.) and drinks mother's milk like there is no tomorrow or so it seems. we have come short on the amount of milk on the 3rd week and she has been regularly having at least one feeding of formula daily, except on weekend when mom is not at work. Our baby seems to be doing fine, since formula has a little more bulk for better bowel movements.
WE are using the medela everything and doing great!
Best of everything to yours!

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J.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

Both of my babies used Avent. My first gave up nursing and then I gave her the bottle. My second did both for a while. I do think it is more of the baby preference. I did not like the avent pump though. But my baby didn't like the medela bottle and I liked that pump better. I figured out that I could pump straight into the avent bottle if i removed the nipple (or that cap thing for storage) but kept the ring on the bottle for the pump to sit in and drop in the milk. I used a little masking tape over the pump attaching on both sides of the bottle. (make sense) This way I did not have to pour the "white gold" into different containers. The fat seems to stick to the sides a little, lowering the nutritional content. So I think you can use that pump with any bottle your baby choses. (if you needed any of that info) good luck!

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W.A.

answers from Honolulu on

Medela, Medela, Medela!!!

With my first Child I used Avent everything. Bottles, Breast Pump, Pacifiers..everything. I did love it but never knew better at all. The Avent bottles leaked all the time, but I didn't mind cause all I had to do was loosen and adjust nipple then re tighten again..no biggie,

Then my second child was born this time We got all Medela because of the whole BPA Free kick, Because at the time Avent hadn't come out with a BPA free bottle yet, they have since done so...Anyhow, We got the pump, and my Gosh was it so much better than the Avent we had previously. The pump was so much more efficient. The bottles were also fantastic. The nipples were so easy and my son took it without question. and it was so easy to pump right into the bottle slap on a nipple and there ya go. On the Go I pumped into the Medela bags for freezing. It was all so easy to switch from one to the next. After my son was 6 months and needed to be weaned due to mouth surgery we needed to switch him over to formula. No problem..we still used the Medela bottles and when the 5 ounces were no longer enough..all of our Medela nipples switched right over to the Playtex BPA free bottles and the Walmart BPA free bottles.Yay for us..the nipples stayed the same and he knew no better...Medela is now my best friend! Good luck to you.

P.s. Because you definitely will be going back to work, I'd start introducing the bottle as soon as possible. I have a few friends who didnt introduce bottles early enough and when it was time their little angels refused. My one friend has to leave her Job every 3 hours to rush home to breast feed then return..the other was forced to give up her job because baby wouldnt take a bottle at all. So go for it..Even my lactation consultant said there is no such thing as nipple confusion..they know where the good stuff comes from and no bottle can compare to the warmth, smell, etc of mommies body but if need be... the bottle will due as long as the yummy stuff is in it. I introduced bottles in the hospital with both my children and had no problems. Good luck!

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A.H.

answers from Reno on

We have used the entire Avent system: pump, bottles, nipples, etc. My daughter has been exclusively breast fed. We did give her first bottle of breast milk at 1 week to allow me to rest. After that, she didn't have another bottle for another 3 weeks or so. She has never had an issue with taking the bottle, but I also made sure that someone else fed her the bottle just so there wasn't any confusion for her. We also didn't give her a pacifier until she was 1 month old. It helps to get everyone's opinion, but ultimately it comes down to whatever your little girl likes, so you could always get one of each brand and see what she prefers! Happy feeding!

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L.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

I have used the Avent system. I think these nipples appear more like the breast and the system is easy to transition them to sippy cups, etc.

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S.B.

answers from Honolulu on

I had real success with the NUK line of nipples

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A.Y.

answers from Honolulu on

When LO was just an infant we couldn't get her take any bottle except for the Adiri Natural Nurser (http://www.adiri.com/) It's shaped and feels more like a breast, helps reduce gas/ colic and is BPA free ( A chemical that leashes form most plastics having the potential to cause cancer, diabetes, reproductive problems, and obesity)

I know they sell them at GPO but you can get them cheaper online. I hope that helps.

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R.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi H.!

Congrats and good for you for committing to BFing! My daughter is 13 months and has been breastfed exclusively (no formula). We use Dr. Brown bottles. We tried a few others when she went through a bottle strike, but came back to Browns. We used the preemie size nipple for a long time so that she would have to "work" at sucking on the bottle the same way she had to "work" for a let-down. We always switched to the next stage of nipple later than the bottle said for this reason.
Sidenote: She has always seemed to be satisfied with my production, but I have never been a great "pumper" - in order to keep a stock in the freezer, I had to pump more times than she normally nurses, and then frequently pump at night after she's gone to bed. It has been tough sometimes, but so worth it!

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Z.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

Good Morning H.,
I began feeding our baby breast milk from a bottle at 3 weeks. I used the BornFree bottles and my daughter responded well. I pumped with the Medela electric pump stored in the Lansinoh bags. One thing my doctor suggested is having her take the bottle from someone other than yourself at first. Since babies associate mom with breastmilk they sometime will not take the bottle from mom well. Once she gets accustomed to drinking from both bottle and breast you can begin feeding her with the bottle as well. I wish you the best!!

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J.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

When I had to return to work with my now 4yo daughter, we had a heck of a time finging a bottle that she would take. We went through 9 different ones and she finally took the Playtex nurser, but we switched out the nipples to the ones that look more 'life-like.' She did fine with those.

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M.D.

answers from Los Angeles on

I breastfed my first son for a year while working and used the Dr Brown's bottles and nipples. Had no problem with them.

This time around I'm using Born Free bottles and nipples for little boy number and two and it's going well...

I think the key is just to stick to something. You should also start introducing a bottle once a week starting when your baby is 5-6 weeks old so that they get used to it. If you wait too long, they'll reject it.

Good luck! Oh! And may I suggest, the Medela steam sterilizer bags and Medela wipes are great for cleaning the breastfeeding equipment! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!

-M

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B.K.

answers from San Diego on

i used dr.brown when i bottle feed my baby. no nipple confusion here! to avoid nipple confusion we just made sure to not introduce the bottle till 3 weeks.

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P.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi. I ended up using both kinds and also pacifiers. Luckily our son didn't get nipple confusion. When he was a week old we had to supplement with formula for a little while because he had lost so much weight. Though I nursed most of the time, I ended up having to continue to use some formula. Pumping didn't work for me, so when I needed a little break (to sleep, because he nursed every 1 1/2 or so and I was just exhausted) or go to the store, he needed something. Also, when I went back to work for about a month. We did mainly use Medela because of the orthodontic nipples, but as he got older we used the Avent. Good luck.

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M.G.

answers from San Diego on

My lactation consulted suggested Breastflow bottles. They're available at Babies R Us. My son absolutely loved them. They have a two part nipple and it really does seem like it's very breast-like. I switched over to Avents once he was old enough that it didn't seem to matter what he was using (sometimes he was drinking from a cup, etc.) because the Breastflows were more trouble to clean and stuff. I really feel like they were incredibly helpful for the first six months.

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