BF mom's who used the Medela bottles

financialdiva · August 2012

With DS, I used to pump into the medela bottles and then move my milk into the Dr. Browns bottles. After 14 months of BFing, I tossed all his bottles and pump parts and will be buying new for this LO. I'm thinking of just using the medela bottles this time around (unless this LO has issues taking that bottle and prefers another). Has anyone done this? Doesn't this seem like this would be soooo much easier then moving everything into another type of bottle? Or am I missing something and this plan is doomed to fail?? LOL.

MrsWindyCity · August 2012

You can use Dr. Brown's bottles right on the pump (assuming you don't mean the wide neck ones). I did that a lot. I didn't like the Medela bottles for drinking - they had a weird suction and got a lot of air.

rockychryslerb2010 · August 2012

My son has only ever had the medela bottles, and he uses them just fine. I pump into the bottles M-Thurs and only need to use bags for any extra I pump during the week and whatever i pump on Friday (for freezing). I have had to buy extra nipples (I have an adorable puppy that loves pacifiers and nipples) but DS still uses the same flow nipple the bottles came with. It might be my son, but he can down a 4-5oz bottle in 5min, so I have never had a reason to switch to faster flow nipple. He does collapse the nipple, but again, he drinks so fast that I think it is good for him to stop and let the nipple expand again.

mrambo3 · August 2012

rockychryslerb2010:

My son has only ever had the medela bottles, and he uses them just fine. I pump into the bottles M-Thurs and only need to use bags for any extra I pump during the week and whatever i pump on Friday (for freezing). I have had to buy extra nipples (I have an adorable puppy that loves pacifiers and nipples) but DS still uses the same flow nipple the bottles came with. It might be my son, but he can down a 4-5oz bottle in 5min, so I have never had a reason to switch to faster flow nipple. He does collapse the nipple, but again, he drinks so fast that I think it is good for him to stop and let the nipple expand again.

All the bolded.

financialdiva · August 2012

MrsWindyCity:
You can use Dr. Brown's bottles right on the pump (assuming you don't mean the wide neck ones). I did that a lot. I didn't like the Medela bottles for drinking - they had a weird suction and got a lot of air.

That is true, but Dr. B's had so many parts, plus they didn't fit very nicely into my medela cooler, LOL. I guess we will have to wait and see.

aglenn · August 2012

Like a couple of the pps, both of my kids have used the Medela bottles and the stage 1 nipples exclusively. Why complicate life unless there is a reason? Some babies are particular to certain types of bottles or whatever, but the Medela ones work fine for us.

superned · August 2012

aglenn:
Like a couple of the pps, both of my kids have used the Medela bottles and the stage 1 nipples exclusively. Why complicate life unless there is a reason? Some babies are particular to certain types of bottles or whatever, but the Medela ones work fine for us.

Ditto (at least for DD#1).

It seems like a total pain to have to wash another whole set of bottles if you don't have to.

tosababy · August 2012

We used the Medela bottles (old style) exclusively for two kids. I figured I'd branch out if there was a problem with the Medela ones, but my kids took them fine so there was no reason to spend money buying others.

Go for it!

kristinc01 · August 2012

I started pumping into the medela bottles and then trasfering to the Playtex dropins. When my daughter was about 9 months I decided to buy the medela nipples. You can't buy just the collar (ring part) separately from the bottles that I could find (well you can but I think its like $5 on amazon) so if you have the bottles and just want to buy the tops you can buy a 3pc set called the spare parts kit (cheaper than just the collar and comes with some extra lids as well). I read reviews on the product and a lot of people complained about the collar not being very sturdy and breaking easily if the baby drops/throws the bottle often. It's only been a couple of months and I have had one of the collars break already when I never had this happen with other bottles - so just be aware to maybe buy more than you were planning.

Kmhsswim · August 2012

My DD took Medela bottles until 1 year (when we transitioned to a sippy) with no problem. I figured I would start with those since I had so many for pumping and switch if needed. She did great.

cecilyandgautam · August 2012

I pump directly into the Evenflo glass bottles - they attach to the Medela pump parts perfectly. The evenflo nipples seem to hold up better than the medela ones - my daughter keeps collapsing the medela ones

JennJenn613 · August 2012

I've used the Medela bottles exclusively with both kids. However, I need a few more bottles so I'm ordering cheap Gerber ones to pump into. Kind of the opposite situation...

As for Medela nipples collapsing, I found they only did that for me if I tightened the collar too much. You really don't need to crank on the top to get a good seal.

KCD053109 · August 2012

JennJenn613:
I've used the Medela bottles exclusively with both kids. However, I need a few more bottles so I'm ordering cheap Gerber ones to pump into. Kind of the opposite situation...
As for Medela nipples collapsing, I found they only did that for me if I tightened the collar too much. You really don't need to crank on the top to get a good seal.

Very interesting; I know DS's sitter has complained about him collapsing the nipple and consequently asked for a faster flow nipple (denied this request). I don't know if he stills collapses the nipple? will have to ask.

1026pumpkin · August 2012

I first offered my son the Medela bottle/nipple because they came with my pump. He took it just fine, so that's what we used for his entire first year! That said, he never took more than 5-6 oz at a time, there are some kids out there that drink really large bottles and I don't know if Medela makes the larger sizes or if they fit into the coolers.

You might be able to pump directly into other bottles, though-just see if they have the same threads at the top. The only issue is that they might not fit into the Medela cooler if you want to be able to store everything in your pump bag.

All of that washing/sterilizing was a PITA- I wouldn't want to transfer milk and have twice the cleaning if I were in your shoes.

saraboston · August 2012

I bought so many different kinds of bottles and DD ended up liking the Medela ones best. It's definitely easier with only one bottle to wash--pump, throw a nipple on it and you're done!

onlymeggan · August 2012

We used Medela and Avent bottles and will use them again for the new LO. I pumped into the medela and did frozen BM or formula in the avent (I couldn't always keep my supply up with my 10 lber's demand) I'm hoping the BFing will go easier with the new baby but only time will tell.

MammaBear81 · August 2012

wW used the medela bottles with the "calma" nipple. I had to order it from the UK amazon site, and they are pricey, but I was able to pump right into the medela bottles and just pop on the nipple to feed.

https://www.medela.com/IW/en/breastfeeding/products/breastmilk-feeding/calma-feeding-device.html (I don't know why I can't make it clickly)

pitterpatter129 · August 2012

Didn't read all of answers, but I just used my pump bottles (Medela, Gerber, Parent's Choice brands) and Gerber nipples. The Gerber nipples had the slowest flow I could find and were cheap. Worked out great.

emberlee3 · August 2012

DS used the Medela bottles for almost a year. DD is using them now, too.

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