Best Baby Bottles

I love the "Breastflow Bottle" - available online and at Target. It has a 2-part design that requires both compression and suction be applied by baby - more like the breast. My 4 month old loves it!

I just wanted to tell you that I breastfed my little girl and around 4 weeks we introduced her to bottles. Be patient. Some days she would do very well with bottles and others she wouldn't go near one. I would end up breast feeding so she wouldn't starve. So just be patient. We tried numerous bottles thinking it was the bottle, but I think it was just her being so used to the breast. I don't recommend the NUK bottles, they say they are more like the breast, but she didn't like those at all. We still don't use them and she is 6 months now. We use the Dr. Brown bottles and those have worked very well. Good luck!

I agree with the other moms on here that suggested Avent. I had a colicky infant, and these bottles were by far the best at reducing air intake. They now make them BPA-free, which is an added plus.

L.,

My son took right to bottles while breastfeeding. We used Medela. He didn't seem to have any trouble with them. It is easiest if someone other than you give him the bottle for the first time. Great if your husband does it. They can usually smell the breast milk from the breast if you feed him and might reject the bottle. Good luck. It is good you are starting early. Your husband will love it.

S.

The Breast Flow System is closest to the breast. It is a double nipple system so he has to suck on it just like th breast for the milk to come out. This is the bottle I used when I brought my preemie home and he was trans from the hospital bottle to the breast. The only thing I did not like is that is is not BPA free...at least it was not a year ago. They might have changed the design by now. Def. good because the baby nurses from it just like your breast.

My 1st son I used Avent and my 2nd I use the playtex Nurser Drop Ins. They both worked very well for me being as each baby is different from another. My boys both liked bottles that had nipples bigger, more similiar than the smaller ones from breastfeeding. good luck!

Here are my 2 suggestions:

http://www.learningcurve.com/product/detail/Y4563A1?local...
(I used these the most.)
Or
http://www.adiri.com/

The thing you want to remember with any bottle is to use the SLOWEST flow...even as your baby gets older. In most women, milk flows from your breasts at the same speed as a slow flow bottle. Your baby has to work for the milk in your breasts. Using a fast flow bottle can cause nipple confusion. People often say that using a bottle in general causes nipple confusion, but that's not 100% correct. It's all about the flow.

Good luck on finding a bottle!

What I like best, esp if introduced in the 1st few months, is one of those red preemie nipples. The rubber (or whatever its made out of) is softer, more like the breast, and the holes in the nipple are smaller, so the milk (water, formula, whatever) doesn't come out to fast.
remember, she may be a great nurser, but your body has to get a good supply and demand routine established. Introducing a bottle at only 2 weeks is pushing your luck. I would wait till closer to 4-6 wks before introducing any pacifier or bottle.
Once the baby is older (like 4-6 months) and the nursing routine & your milk supply is firmly established, an orthodontic nipple is better for babies jaw development in the long run, but if introduced too soon, can lead the baby to prefer that nipple to yours, as the milk will flow faster, so she won't have to work so hard to get it. Stick to the red preemie nipple for at least the first few months.
Never "top off" a breast feeding with a bottle. If you eant dh to help feed, pick one feed of the day for the substitute feeding. Never more than one a day though, at least for the first several months.

Medela makes a nipple that is specific to breastfed babies. It gives their mouth a workout so they won't get lazy. They can be gotten from lactation consultants or likely at the hospital (but you'd have to ask.) They are cheap too. You just want to make sure that whatever you choose doesn't just drip into their mouth or your baby may become lazy at sucking (and even their jaw muscles can tone down.). Congrats and good luck!

We used the Advent Bottles, and they did fine with those, but there is another kind that my friends have used. Dr. Browns I believe the name is. Also on consumer reports many suggested First Years BreastFlow...all of these are going to be more expensive and will take time to get used to. Sometimes the cheaper ones work just as well, especially if he is a good eater. It didn't matter where it came from for my son...he just kept eating! Enjoy that precious baby boy!

Good morning, L.. Congratulations on the arrival of your little man!

I used the Playtex nursers with the drop-in liners with both of my children. My son had an easier time going back and forth than my daughter. But, every baby is different.

Best wishes!

I would look into Born Free or Adiri. I used the Born Free (I'm a breastfeeding mom). The Adiri bottles are more expensive, and, I did look into those, but, chose Born Free for many reasons - to include their high statistics for quality...etc.

The Adiri system has been sworn by on many breastfeeding moms because of the similarities to mom's breast, but, I haven't had any problems with the Born Free system - in then end, they are all synthetic nipples and don't work like a breast... so, that is one thing to think about - especially when it comes to cost. I also like the Born Free because their sippy nipples fit right on the bottles, so you don't have to buy new sippies when they are ready for that.

One of the main things is DO NOT use an orthodontic nipple. Your child may be OK with one, but, it could cause more problems with nipple confusion/preference because the orthodantic nipples are not like moms! And, I've always been told, and this has worked great for me, if you're going to continue nursing, to always use a newborn nipple - even if they are 12 months old. This makes the flow the slowest, and helps the baby to prefer mom rather than a bottle.

I got an Avent bottle in the mail when I was pregnant, so, I figured I would just try it once to see how it worked... I HATED it! The difference between air getting into my little one and leakage was like night and day between the Avent and Born Free. It was also not BPA-Free then (though I think they do make BPA-Free now).

I loved our Born Free bottles (and, at the time, they were the only brand besides Adiri that were BPA-Free which was a HUGE factor in my decision). There are many glass bottles that are completely chemical-free, but, I was worried about spending the money and then just breaking them, especially since I was planning on mostly breastfeeding and only putting breastmilk in the bottles when needed. Speaking of pumping... I love my Ameda DBL-Pump Electric "Purely Yours." Excellent reviews, and much cheaper than the Medela (which has equal revies). And, very easy to clean. And, I won't use anything other than Lansinoh storage bags - they work the best (though, I've not been able to find reuseable containers specifically for breastmilk).

Congrats on your new little one!

My first son took an Avent bottle along with breastfeeding. My lactation consultant recommended introducing the bottle at 3 weeks and to only introduce one bottle that week then two the next. I would pump extra milk in the morning about an hour before my son would wake. I did this every day and was able to build up a nice supply and he was able to get more hindmilk in the mornings. Also, have someone else offer the bottle while you are not in the room. The baby's sense of smell is strong enough to know that something better, you :), are in the room and that is what he usually gets.

Remember that breast milk cannot be stored for more than three months in the freezer so be sure to label everything. Another tip from my pediatrician and the lactation consultant was to introduce a sippy cup at six months as long as the baby was not reliant upon a bottle. Since I bottle fed only a couple of times per week, my son was off the bottle at six or seven months and on sippy cup of breast milk and the breast the rest of the time.

My second son refused the bottle and pacifier. It was frustrating but it was more frustrating when he would scream in hunger while someone was trying to coerce him to take the bottle.

In the end, both of my sons nursed well and grew steadily. I am pregnant with a third child and plan to try Avent again but will be open minded to other brands. I learned that each child is definitely different when it comes to nursing.

Good luck and don't stress over it. Drink your water and eat healthy and your son will get all he needs from you.

L.,

I like the Playtex Drop-in's . They have rubber and silicone nipples and the drop ins are handy when pumping breast milk into bags. I used the drop in bags to store my breast milk then when I needed a bag I just dropped it in the bottle. My son did very well with this bottle and that was the only kind of bottle I used until he was 10 months old and I weaned him to the cup. I guess it depends on your baby. Some babies are fenicky about bottle nipples. It's trial and error. Oh, and the good thing about the Playtex drop-ins is the clean up is easy.

Hi L.. Congrats on ur bundle! I, too, had a wonderful nurser & I used Nuby bottles. My personal experience was that a good nurser doesn't need fancy expensive bottles...it's the average or poor nurser that u don't want to cause confusion for. Nuby's do not have parts & pieces like some of the more expensive bottles do but the nipple is suction based. It's not just a hole that milk runs out of - so baby does have to suck almost in the same manner as nursing. Save ur time & energy & but the Nuby's!

Hi, L., and congrats on your new sweet, baby boy!
I breast fed both of my kids, and have known many other Moms who did the same. I can honestly say, that it doesn't seem to matter what bottles you use as long as there is a good breastfeeding pattern established first. With my daughter I used the Playtex nurser and she occassionally took it, but primarily nursed until she was 10 months old.
My son had some pretty serious acid reflux that kept him from lying down fully to nurse. We were forced to begin a bottle routine with him at about 3 weeks old. We tried several of the ones we had on hand and the one he became attached to right away was the Evenflo Comfi which is an angled bottle similar to the Ventaire. He continued to nurse at night (and some during the day once we got him some medicine) and did not seem at all swayed by introducing the bottle so early.
I know many others who have bottle fed their breast fed babies with Avent;I think it's a matter of finding what your baby likes and what works for you.
Best of luck to you!

I was looking for the same thing a couple weeks ago for my 6 week old. I read a LOT of reviews. I used the Breastflow bottles by The First Years. They were really great. They have a "let down" similar to the breast and we didn't have any trouble going back and forth from breast to bottle. I got them at Babies R Us and Target. Good luck!

Hi L.-
Congrats!!! I will guess that tons of people will tell you Adiri--- they are about $20 each. If you are local I can drop one by for you- my son would not take them. Beware though they were a serious pain to fill, clean and heat. We tried 10 different bottles (for a picky bottle-feeder- I waited too long to introduce the bottle and he went on a feeding strike when I went back to work despite pumped milk) anyhow- after much research and over $100 in bottles I would highly recommend one of the least expensive but long-lived on the market- Playtex Drop-Ins. They sell the nipple called NATURAL LATCH and that is key since in trials it most closely matched swallowing they are used to with Mom. Good luck!!!!

My daughter used avent. They were a little hard to find, I think easier now. Good luck.

I have a 6 month old that has been switching between breast and bottle since he was 5 days old. I use playtex ventaire bottles with the wide nipple. With my older son (who also switched with no problem) I used Gerber bottles with a wide nipple, unfortunately, they don't make those bottles anymore. I would recommend looking at the shape of the part that sticks out on top but also the bottom shape. I must've looked like a fool at the store checking out every nipple they had. I chose the playtex wide nipple because it was rounded like the shape of a breast at the bottom and has a ring of texture around it, similar to how a breast would feel. Good luck!

I would not recommend you buying a lot based on any one person's recommendation. Each baby is unique and has his/her own preferences. My breast feed boy would not take ANY of the expensive bottle that claimed to be 'best next to the breast', so I wasted a lot of money.

For what it is worth, in the end, the bottle that won out for us was the Playtex Drop In with a flat top nipple. I'll admit that I liked being able to toss the liner and not worry about cleaning the inside of bottles.

Best of luck to you!

Every baby is different. Dont feel frustrated if you need to try a variety of nipples. Try to borrow some to test out, be sure they are slow flow!

My son liked the Playtex rubber nipples like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Playtex-Drop-Ins-NaturaLatch-Latex-...

My daughter liked the Avent Silicone nipples.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Avent-Slow-Nipple-BPA-Free/...

For Breast milk storage, by far I preferred the Lansinoh bags:

http://www.amazon.com/Lansinoh-Breast-Milk-Storage-50%252...

Here is a tip, Freeze them lying flat, then store them upright, they take up less space in your freezer & thaw evenly in an instant.

You can just put them right into a Playtex nurser bottle!

Congratulations on your new arrival. Best wishes! Hope this was helpful!

P. : )

Congratulations on your new bundle of joy! When I worked at a daycare center with the infants the bottle that seemed to work the best was the Avent bottle. I would wait until your baby boy is 4 weeks old and nursing good. When you breast feed the baby has to work more facial muscles to get the milk. With a bottle they won't use as many muscles and receive instant gratification. When you introduce the bottle to early they get confused because they want the instant gratification. You might want to look into a support group in your area as well. It is a good way to meet other Moms that have children in area that may be close to your sons age. Good Luck and God Bless

I liked the breastflow. You will have to buy them online though. I could not find them anywhere. They are made by first years. You can find in at www.learningcurve.com/breastflow

L.,
We used Avent for all three of our boys. I am sure there are better products probably out there, but we had fabulous luck with them.
T.

I've found that the easiest transition was the playtex dropins with the natural nipple. I've suggested it to 2 of my friends that were having a difficult time with transitioning their bottles and they swore by these too. Good luck hope it works!

Breast flow is most like the breast. My son didn't want anything to do with a bottle, he only wanted the breast. I tried every bottle under the sun and the breast flow was the only one he would even think about taking. You can only find these bottles at babiesr'us. Good luck!