how did you choose bottles?

lytedark

baby bottles that is.

there are like... a BAZILLION!  i'm planning to EBF but want to pump to allow daddy to feed and expecting that i will have to (sadly) return to work in some capacity, i want baby to still get mommy's milk so bottles will be a necessity.

how do you choose BPA-free plastic over glass?  and then once you do that, how do you choose WHICH to get!?  is it a 'get a few diff ones and figure out what works for your baby' kind of thing or are bottles a more 'one size fits all' sort of dealie?

thoughts?

hamilton.ja

we chose bpa free plastic just becuase i couldn't find a glass one that would take the nipple I suspected DS would like - the NUK style with a flat edge. We bought a bunch of different kinds in singles and tried them all. He never took a single one.

This time around I'm going to try Odiri/Adiri (can't remember the sp?) I got some on Woot or Schnoops or somewhere for a steal and have been saving them since before I even got pg.

If I was going to be using them all the time I'd probably invest in glass but for our needs just a couple of plastic were fine. 

Lotte134

lytedark:

is it a 'get a few diff ones and figure out what works for your baby' kind of thing 

This.  Your baby generally does the choosing.  Some babies aren't too picky but it seems like most prefer a certain kind of bottles and you really don't know until you try.

We ended up using Born Free and have both glass and BPA-free plastic (nice when DS was older and liked to carry his bottle around and throw it when he was done!).

papagena

I didn't want glass, because I'm a klutz, and no matter what anyone tells me, I'm not going to believe that I'm incapable of causing nicks in a glass bottle.

We picked Born Free, partially because we could get them locally, not all bottles were BPA free at the time and we knew that these were, we liked that they held quite a bit, but weren't huge, so we could use it when he was tiny and didn't need a lot of milk as well as later on when he needed it filled without getting more bottle sizes, and when we tried them with DS, they worked well for us, so we got 4 of them and were good to go.  That's as much thought that went into our purchase.  I'd get maybe one that you think you'd like, or perhaps two, and wait.  Some babies don't take to certain bottles, so no need to over-analyze bottles too much until you know if yours is a picky one.  Good luck!

tmp-214118062502913

I stalked message boards and Googled my butt off and decided to register for a variety.  I chose to not go with glass because I am the biggest klutz in the entire world and my entire house is slate tile or hardwood floors and the combination scared me.

So I received at my shower 6 Dr. Brown's 8 oz. bottles, 3 Avent 4-5 oz. bottles, 3 4oz. Gerber BPA free cheapies and 3 10 oz. Nuby bottles.

We started with Avent because they were the smallest... and we pretty have stuck with them.  I sold the Dr. Brown's bottles on CL because they are mightly complicated if you don't have an issue with reflux.  Our second favorite are the Gerbers - cheap and get the job done.  The Nubys ended up being the bottles I take with me to work to put pumped milk into.

At 11 months, DD still doesn't want more than 5 oz max per feeding so the original Avent bottles are still perfect.  We just bought new nipples when she got up in age.  The bottles are a bit testy - the nipple needs to be jsut so in the cap and you can't screw the cap too tight or it will leak.  But once you get the hang of them, they are pretty nice to hold, wash and wear great, DD prefers the nipple of them to any other bottle, etc.  I also like that they work with my Avent Isis manual pump (which I adore). 

Just like CDs, each baby is different.  Best to try a variety of the best-rated ones, don't spend a ton and just like CDs it's not hard to sell those that are not used (or pass on to another mother).

lovebook

We chose glass.  The born-free glass bottles.  The vent system seems to really  help reduce the amount of gassiness in our lo.  Of course, we've only used that bottle so have no comparison BUT our 1st babysitter switched to our bottles for her kid 'cause she thought they were so much better for gassiness than what she was using.  I wanted glass for a lot of reasons but here are my top 3: 1) longer lasting so will last for next kid, 2) less oil used to produce them, 3) wear really well and super easy to clean/sterilize

sommerrayne

I refused to use plastic regardless of "BPA FREE" or not. So then I was down to all of the glass options which are very few compared to plastic.

I wanted all glass and am not a millionare so I opted for the Evenflo (you get 3 for like 6 bucks or something cheap) AND they fit PERFECTLY on the medela breast pump which I found out afterwards but a lot of people buy them for this reason.

I've also heard that there are also different nipples (different brand) you can use on them but we used the ones that came with them until they switched them to silicone and then I just bought more latex ones. I also refuse to used silicone.

ETA: I never gave her an option between bottles and maybe I lucked out that she "liked" (not that I think she liked or disliked it - it was just a mode to get food and it was faster than working at the boob so there was no objection) the one I chose. I did, on some nipples, have to toss and use a different one from the same pack because the holes weren't uniform but I think that's the same for all brands - they're made by a machine - there's bound to be a margain of error.

smurfetteinred

I know that some people have issues getting their kids to take a bottle nipple but the way I always figured is that my mom's generation only had a couple of choices and they did just fine getting their kids to take a bottle. My mom used the evenflo glass on us and they are still the cheapest option out there (3 pack for like 5 bucks) so that's what we got. I only planned to use the occasional bottle like you and I figured that we'd start with those and if we had a problem with it then I would worry about trying other bottles then. This way if they didn't work I'd only be out a few bucks rather than 20 bucks on different 'fancier' bottles. Both my kids have taken them no problem and I love them. They're really durable (dropped them on ceramic tile and they haven't broken) and I don't have to worry about any chemicals in the plastic (because let's be honest, it's bpa today but what will it be tomorrow). And when we needed to get bigger bottles it only cost us 5-6 bucks to do it.

smurfetteinred

Oh and ditto sommerayne that you can use different nipples then what comes with the evenflo bottles. Noel went on a bottle strike for a couple of weeks around 6 months old and among a bunch of other things we tried a couple different brands of nipples that fit the bottle. In the end it just corrected itself but that option was out there.

tommigirle

smurfetteinred:

I know that some people have issues getting their kids to take a bottle nipple but the way I always figured is that my mom's generation only had a couple of choices and they did just fine getting their kids to take a bottle. My mom used the evenflo glass on us and they are still the cheapest option out there (3 pack for like 5 bucks) so that's what we got. I only planned to use the occasional bottle like you and I figured that we'd start with those and if we had a problem with it then I would worry about trying other bottles then. This way if they didn't work I'd only be out a few bucks rather than 20 bucks on different 'fancier' bottles. Both my kids have taken them no problem and I love them. They're really durable (dropped them on ceramic tile and they haven't broken) and I don't have to worry about any chemicals in the plastic (because let's be honest, it's bpa today but what will it be tomorrow). And when we needed to get bigger bottles it only cost us 5-6 bucks to do it.

 

could not have said it better! 

SapphyrEyes

We used the BPA free plastic because I couldn't really get glass in the stores I was shopping in.  And we used the Adiri Natural Nurser bottles when DS would take one. 

lytedark

smurfetteinred:

They're really durable (dropped them on ceramic tile and they haven't broken)

are you serious???  like from a standing position you dropped it?  wow.  that's really my main concern with glass is dealing with the mess of shattered glass when (and i do mean when because really between me, dh, and an eventual mobile kid i know it's bound to happen) but maybe 'dropping' doesn't have to mean 'breaking'???  cuz that'd be huge!

heleneau

i used glass evenflo bottles.  i've never had one break (i've even dropped on pavement and concrete) they also make covers for them if you have that fear and can find some hand made on etsy.

they are easy to hand wash (we don't have a dishwasher) and don't have a million pieces.  the only thing i wish is they made a 10 ounce bottle because 8 ounces it hard to shake (we are on babys only organic formula).

Hippinski

Call me crazy but I just didn't panic about bottles.  We bought a few, tried them and ended up going with the Playtex Nursing System for Ryan.  With Kate we tired a few bottles but she didn't take them and seeing that I'm a SAHM I didn't panic or try a million different kinds.

I also think that parents can really over think things.  I honestly don't think the kid cares if you have the best of everything.  They just want you.