I plan to breastfeed (and later, when I return to work, to pump) and I'm buying the Comotomo bottles. They're supposed to be great for babies who get both.
If you're formula feeding, Dr. brown is a popular choice and good at reducing gas troubles, I've heard.
I have a few freebies from maternity stores &target, avent natural & munchkin latch. I plan to try each and whatever baby likes I'll buy more of. If baby doesn't like either than I'll buy 1-2 of different types until we find what works, then stock up.
I've got some freebies of Avent too but I'm planning on trying Playtex Ventaire. They have a 4 nipple variety pack so you can test which one baby likes and then stock up without having to buy all new bottles.
My daughter ended up not being picky. I had tommee tippee, advent, and medela. She didn't care which. I ended up favoring advent bottles since she didn't care. I'll get a few of each this time around as well.
As pp have said, grab a few different ones since baby will likely decide what it likes best. I would avoid the large sets until you know what brand you'll be sticking with. I personally bought Dr Brown's and Tommee Tippee. I'm glad DS hated the Dr. Brown's as they have a lot of pieces and are a pain to clean, although I hear they are great if your LO is colicky. My DS ended up loving the Medela bottles that came with my pump and that's all we ever used.
Infant room teacher here: Do not buy playtex vent air! We have soooo many issues with them leaking ALL THE TIME at work! It's super frustrating. Think of all that lost work from pumping or money from formula! One of our parents just replaced her entire bottle stash because she was so fed up. On the other hand, I love Playtex drop-ins. That's what kind I used with ds1 and will again for ds2.
"As soon as I saw you I knew an adventure was going to happen." ~Winnie the Pooh
It really depends on the baby. I wouldn't stock up on a bunch of the same type until you know if the baby will take it. We had a lot of success with Born Free and the Dr Browns. Tbh, I much preferred the Dr Browns because they really did help with the spit up. It didn't have that many extra parts, and for the reduction in spit up, it was really worth it for us.
Also, when you do stock up, don't stock up on small bottles. Your baby will eventually drink more, and you'll need to buy a whole new stock of bottles.
My son was a nicu grad and did not Learn to latch. I pumped exclusively for ten months (my milk dried up). We tried so many bottles and the only one that worked for him was dr browns.
My son only liked one kind of bottle by evenflow, and then evenflow quit making that bottle and it was miserable. Not really advice I guess...I would say stay away from anything that's not a popular or easily accessible brand/style, lest your baby latch onto that type and then you are stuck if it's tough to find/discontinued.
My daughter was breastfed, but when I gave pumped milk she preferred Tommee Tippee. Each baby is different though so I wouldn't recommend buying a ton of one kind.
Gonna breastfeed, & use comotomo with pumped milk. Also, a friend is giving me her brand spanking new avent bottles & accessories, since her baby didn't use them all. I think I'm going to store using NUK bags
I'll be primarily breastfeeding, but I did register for the glass Avent bottles. I'm paranoid about plastics, even BPA-free, so I really hope baby goes for the glass. It won't be a huge issue either way, since I'll be a SAHM, but I assume I'll hire a baby sitter from time to time, so FX that the glass will work in a pinch!
We had good luck with Dr. Brown's. They do have a lot of parts but it's not that big of a deal to clean them. They helped with our fussy/gassy baby as well.
I have heard Tommee Tippee are the best from many people. We used Dr. Browns with DD and they seemed to work great from a reflux perspective, however, they are the worst for cleaning. There are so many freaking parts.
Playtex Ventaire Wide mouth is what we went with. mid-price point and not too many parts, but still a vented bottle. My kids would collapse the nipples on fully sealed up bottles.
I EP'd for #1 and BF & pumped for #2.
This bottle worked well for both my kids. I will try them first for #3 and make adjustments if needed.
every baby is different. some do perfectly fine with cheapie evenflo basics and some need something more breast-like to be able to go back and forth. some moms like to have the "best" and most expensive thing out there, some are fine saying they got life to work with spending less.
my advice is to start with a few bottles from a mid-price point and see if they work out. if not, then get fancier.
Re: Bottles
If you're formula feeding, Dr. brown is a popular choice and good at reducing gas troubles, I've heard.
Eta: link didn't work. Just use search and change the parameters.
BFP #1 4/10/12 D&C 6/5/12@ 12.5wks EDD 12/17/12
BFP #2 9/10/12 CP 9/19/12@ 5.5wks EDD 5/21/13
BFP# 3 12/3/12...Lukas James born 8/15/13
BFP# 4 8/4/14 EDD 4/13/15
Learn to latch. I pumped exclusively for ten months (my milk dried up). We tried so many bottles and the only one that worked for him was dr browns.
Little West #1: Born May 23, 2013
Little West #2: Due April 15, 2015
2U2 Fossil Mommy
Playtex Ventaire Wide mouth is what we went with. mid-price point and not too many parts, but still a vented bottle. My kids would collapse the nipples on fully sealed up bottles.
I EP'd for #1 and BF & pumped for #2.
This bottle worked well for both my kids. I will try them first for #3 and make adjustments if needed.
every baby is different. some do perfectly fine with cheapie evenflo basics and some need something more breast-like to be able to go back and forth. some moms like to have the "best" and most expensive thing out there, some are fine saying they got life to work with spending less.
my advice is to start with a few bottles from a mid-price point and see if they work out. if not, then get fancier.
_________________________________________________________________
DD 7/2010, DS 3/2012, #3 due 4/24/2015