This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Avent.
Being brand new to this whole mom thing, I was at a loss when it came to picking out bottles. Even though I had always planned to breastfeed, I also knew that it wasn’t practical to never bottle-feed. I knew I’d be going back to work eventually (hopefully later than sooner), and like a lot of first time moms, I agonized over all of the horror stories I’d heard about breast and bottle feeding.
Nipple confusion!
Don’t give her a bottle too early!
Don’t give her a bottle too late!
Don’t stick a pacifier in her mouth or she’ll never nurse.
And so on and so on.
I scoured magazines for reviews on bottles. In the end, I bought a variety, all with different types of nipples and bottles, figuring that with my luck my baby would take none of them.
It turned out that when Sophia was born, she was jaundiced, and my milk wasn’t coming in. So all of my best intentions to strictly breastfeed from minute one were out the window when we had to supplement with formula.
Sophia ended up taking every bottle we’d shove in her mouth. It didn’t matter what nipple was attached. She’d finish off ounces of formula in minutes. The problem we came across wasn’t that she wouldn’t take a bottle, but a few of the leading brands we tried resulting in everything she ate coming back up. Or, a few of the bottles had about ten different parts to assemble and seemed more like a puzzle than a feeding device.
I know cleaning a bottle isn’t a big deal, but seeing that I’m lucky if I get a shower every other day, the last thing I want to do is spend a lot of time cleaning out cracks and crevices of weird funky device bottles. Even if they promise to reduce colic and bring about world peace.
I was thrilled when I was chosen to review the Philips Avent bottle, one I had wanted to try but couldn’t find in my local Wally-mart (we live in the boondocks). I’m still mostly nursing Sophie, but occasionally she will feed from a bottle if we go out for an evening or if I let someone else feed her (and there are always willing volunteers).
The first thing I noticed about the Avent bottle is that the opening is nice and wide, making it easy to fill with milk or formula without spilling. Yeah, been there, done that with other bottles. The curves of the bottle are such that you can use a regular scrub brush to clean them; I used a brush that is specifically designed for bottles and it worked great.
Most of these brands have their “no colic, no gas bubbles” promise, and Avent is no exception. What makes them different from other brands is that their “technology” is built into the nipple, not the bottle or some other mechanism that sits inside the bottle, which means less parts leading to less to clean.
When Sophie feeds from this bottle, I notice she sucks much more slowly, more like she does when she’s nursing. This isn’t to say that she’s working harder, because I don’t think that’s the case. I don’t know if this is possible, but it seems she feeds on this nipple much more like she does while nursing. A 3 oz. bottle took her about ten minutes to eat, which in another bottle, would usually be consumed in half the time. I’m no expert at bottle feeding yet, but she seemed quite happy afterward, no bubbles or spit up episodes. Maybe taking the bottle more slowly helps with this.
I didn’t have any trouble with leakage, though I do wish the cap that comes with the bottle would seal a bit more tightly and prevent possible leakage from the nipple if the bottle is tipped over. Then again, I have yet to encounter a bottle that does this. I guess I’ll just keep that on my bottle wish list.
We’re going to be bottle feeding a lot more as I start going back to work, and I’m looking forward to using this bottle system, upgrading the nipples as Sophie gets older. You can find out more about the Avent bottle at the Avent Official Site.
You can read more reviews on the Avent bottle on the Blogher Roundup page, and enter to win a $500 Visa gift card from Avent.
What are your experiences with bottle feeding? Do you find they’re all the same or do you favor a particular brand? Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments.
I used Avent bottles from the get go with my daughter, I was going back to work at 9 weeks and at about 3 weeks started introducing small amounts of formula and a bottle at the end of her feedings. We used Avent and then Lucy got thrush and wouldn’t take it any more. We tried breastflow, soothie and playtex drop in system. She hated all of them ( I did too, too many parts to clean or drop ins to buy). Thank fully around the time she went to day care at 9 weeks her thrush was gone and she took her Avents again. I have had some issues with the bottles being hard to clean in the dishwasher but that is too be expected, it isn’t the same as hand washing. The nipples leak A LOT when they tip upside down, regardless of the stage of nipple in the bottle. But Lucy drinks slowly, never has gas or spit up issues. I only wish that the Avent BPA free bottles would have been out a year ago in the availability they are now. Maybe for the next baby I can spring for BPA free bottles.
No I do not think they are all the same.
With my first child I used Johnson & Johnson.
And with the second I used Avent.
The second one was much more content after feeding.