I am planning on exclusively breastfeeding but will need bottles for when we go out etc... With my daughter I just used a regular plastic evenflo bottle but this time around I would like to use BPA-free ones.
So my question is what ones do you recommend? I was thinking about just buying regular, good old glass bottles but then was told that the more expensive, specially designed ones are better to eliminate/reduce gas burping etc... Is it necessary to buy the expensive ones or do you think I could just go with regular glass bottles...simply because of cost
Thanks!!!
Hello B. ~ My almost 3 month old son is exclusively breastfed; I use the platex bottles w/the drop in liners when I need for him to have a bottle. I also have the playtex embrace pump which can be used w/the playtex bottle & liners very convenient. Congratulations!
I would personaly use the bottles with disposable liners. You use the plastic liners only once and then dispose of them. Liners come in a roll and you can take them with you along with a light plastic bottle and nipple. You just dispose of the liners. Each time you have a fresh new plastic liner. You have none of the problems of reusing the same plastic bottle.
I did the same as you...exclusively breast feeding and only bottles here and there. I used the glass ones, enjoyed them, and are still using them just to warm and mix her milk now. Like many moms have said the BPA free ones are on the market now too. I got the Gerber glass and didn't find them to be expensive.
Plastic is ok as long as they are BPA free. I believe Babies R Us is only carrying BPA free bottles now. Issued Born Free and loved them.
I just went looking at bottles after getting rid of the ones I used for my 2.5 yr old. Almost all brands of plastic now say BPA free. So check out the new Evenflow ones as they may not have BPA in them.
Congrats on your pregnancy.
We just purchased some bottles so I had my husband research which ones were rated the best. We purchased the MAM Ultivent which are great to prevent gas and are BPA free and easy to clean! We are extremely happy with them so far!!
I agree with Katie H all the way! Playtex Drop-in Nursers!
I would skip the bottles all together and invest in a good nursing cover. . .
I did the same thing, too! The Born Free bottles are worth the money! Once your baby becomes a toddler, they have a mipple that becomes a sippy cup! In the end it saves you money.
Good luck!
I carried my daughter in a sling, so no one knew when I nursed her in public. I used those the avdent bottles too, and would be going with glass as well now. I've seen some that have a rubber shock absorbent thingy on them. But I don't know if that would keep them from breaking if launched at the floor by kidos. But you could make your own out of a shrunken wool sweater if you have one on hand.
I think if you help hold the bottle right baby would get less air. You could start out with 1 of each and see what you like best. Then get more if you need them. I had way more than I ever needed.
Good luck, A. H
Check out the zrecs guide to safer children's products at www.zrecs.com. On the right side of the page, there's a pull-down menu where you can select "bottles" and it will give you a report where you can check out what bottles are safest. It also indicates the price range. I remember when my first was born, I wasn't sure what kind of bottles to buy. A more experienced mom gave me some great advice - to try out the cheapest brand first to see if they work well for your child, then only try the more expensive ones if the cheaper ones actually do cause problems with gas, etc.
I loved the Dr Brown bottles and have turned many friends on to them. They come in a wide mouth design which worked well for both of my children who were breastfed.
We really liked Gerber glass bottles. They are really nice and as an added bonus affordable! The only drawback is they are kind of heavy.
We also bought Avent BPA free bottles. They are kind of pain because they leak a lot where the Gerber bottles never leaked.
I think if I had to do it again I'd stick with the glass bottles.
B.; i would use regular glass bottles, i loved my glass bottles and im really happy to see them bring them back, most of the really nice expensive less gas bottles, are nice, but you usually have a lot of peices to wash, and hey whats wrong with gas we burb our babies anyway, some kids get gas with those bottles and some just dont get as much gas, gas it not a bad thing its only bad when it does not come out, ahahah any way, glass bottles are great , and they feel a whole lot cleaner, i used mostly plastic with a couple of my kids, but my oldest got glass bottles, they worry about plastic when over used, and put into the microwave, just be cautious and enjoy life, but glass is nice, D. s
I just had my second, and I exclusivly breastfeed. If you don't feel comfortable nursing in public using a blanket, (or nursing cover, or sling) it is pretty easy to find a cozy place wherever you go.
If you do feel it is best to bottle feed, I used playtex drop ins with my first child (because I was to emberressed to breast feed in public)and liked them.
Congrats
Well, they're still plastic, but we L-O-V-E-D the Playtex Drop-in Nursers. We tried 5-6 different kinds of bottles and we always liked those ones best. Some of the bottles (i.e. dr. browns & others) are just WAY too hard to clean. With the drop-ins, you can squeeze all the air out and it sucks the bag up as they drink so there's less air getting into their bellies. Target has an off-brand of the liners that work just as good as the name brand and are WAY cheaper.
I suggest you only get 1-3 of the kind you pick out though... some babies are picky about their bottles and you don't want to waste too much money on something your baby won't take!
EDIT: BTW - if you are going to pump (which I assume that's what you meant), the Lansinoh freezer bags are the best ones out there IMO.
The main thing to look for in your bottles is that they are BPA free - that is the chemical that is not good in the bottles.
A ban has been put in place for BPA which is the nasty chemical that is in the news, just look for plastic bottles that say BPA free.
Also, the platex drop in system is BPA free as well.
Hi B.,
I highly recommend the Dr. Brown's bottles. We used them with our daughter because someone recommended them to us. They are a little pricey, but very worth it. They are BPA free also. Good luck and congrats!
I've heard Born Free are the best. I'm pregnant with #2 and when I had #1, I used the Avent (which ended up being the worst offender with BPA - great!) - but this was before all the information about BPA came out. VERY frustrating. I plan to use Born Free with my next baby (I BF for the most part but, like you, want some bottles for when I'm out in public).
I am not convinced they (plastic specialty vented bottles like Dr. Browns etc...) make a HUGE difference, especially as you're not going to use them all the time. But if you're concerned about venting, try using nuk rubber nipples with the glass bottles, they have a built in vent and work with any type of bottle (except the ones that are bent like the playtex ones).
Best wishes!
Congratulations on your baby and the choice to breastfeed!!!
If you go plastic, make sure they are BPA free. That's the big no-no. If it doesn't SAY BPA free... it isn't.
I liked the Medela bottles. I exclusively breastfed and tried to do the bottle thing when we were out...but that didn't last long. Quite honestly, lugging bottles around was a pain. So I just nursed in public. Now, granted, we were living in Germany at the time and by the time we moved home my daughter was older and not nursing every 2 hours. But, if we have another child ... I plan to do the same.
I just found having to wash the bottles, pump the milk, blah blah blah was so time consuming and tedious. I'm a SAHM, so there wasn't a NEED to pump.
I know I know I know... people here can be very ..... stupid about nursing mothers. But, I could typically find a quiet place and we could do it undisturbed.
I think if you're not using a bottle regularly, then having the special ones to reduce gas isn't going to make that much of a difference. In addition, babies can get gas even if you nurse. My daughter has colic/gas issues and she hardly ever used a bottle. If you run into those problems....
MARVELOUS! Seriously. Miracle drops.
Good luck!
Playtex nursers are the way to go. You can get the drop in disposable liners cheap if you buy generic (Meijer/Target/etc.). I nursed my son exclusively and these were they only bottles he would use - original brown nipple. Good luck.
Evenflo does have a basic plastic bottle that is BPA and it is actually the cheapest one they have! We use Playtex DropIns though and I will never go back to anything else!
We started using Dr. Brown's plastic bottles, but switched to Born Free Plastic (BPA Free) when he was about 7 months old. They were easier to use, never leaked, and we had less gas problems. I highly recommend them.
You can buy plastic bottles, just make sure they are PBA free. It will say this on the label. I breastfed my daughter and had to use the Dr. Brown's bottles because she would get really bad gas when she had a bottle and the Dr. Brown's did the trick. Dr. Brown's also has PBA free bottles now.
