April 2020 Moms
Kathryn0903
member
Did you formula feed or supplement?
Any brands?
Tips for bottles or bottle accessories?
Did you use a bottle warmer?
As we get in food stuff, what do you reccommend as far as purees or did you do baby led weaning?
Favorite plates/bowls/bibs/utensils?
For FTMs:
Any questions about formula feeding?
Questions as you move into food?
To view the upcoming PSS schedule, see here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j7iBv8rbDsTBMXAK7R3NWhG-619XNbpdNza2uci0iYs/edit#gid=0!
Next up: Toys
Options
Product Spotlight - Formula/Food Stuff
Kathryn0903
member
Each week we'll spotlight a new category of product. Feel free to comment on threads like these throughout your time at the board, not just when they're in their week in the spotlight, if you discover something new OR are new to the board. This week it's.... Formula/Food Stuff!
FTMs are encouraged to ask questions & STM/+s encouraged to share their knowledge based on experience. You can use any or all the prompts relevant to you below to share info in an easy-to-read format. Pictures/screen grabs, if put in spoilers, are welcome!
For STMs:Did you formula feed or supplement?
Any brands?
Tips for bottles or bottle accessories?
Did you use a bottle warmer?
As we get in food stuff, what do you reccommend as far as purees or did you do baby led weaning?
Favorite plates/bowls/bibs/utensils?
For FTMs:
Any questions about formula feeding?
Questions as you move into food?
To view the upcoming PSS schedule, see here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1j7iBv8rbDsTBMXAK7R3NWhG-619XNbpdNza2uci0iYs/edit#gid=0!
Next up: Toys
Re: Product Spotlight - Formula/Food Stuff
Any brands? We liked Similac Pro Sensitive. Seemed to work out well for my refluxy child. One thing I was not aware of earlier was that powder formula isn't supposed to be used till a month in, so be aware of that.
Tips for bottles or bottle accessories? We liked the Dr Browns bottles and the Avent bottles. The Dr Browns bottles have a lot of parts to clean, but they're supposed to be good for gas. We had a bottle sterilizer, but honestly didn't use it much after DS was a few months old. Definitely get a bottle brush. A regular sponge won't reach into the bottles.
Did you use a bottle warmer? We used a bottle warmer, but didn't get bottles too warm as I wanted my child to still be ok if there was ever a problem and his bottle couldn't be warmed. I definitely reccomend a travel bottle warmer. We had a tommee tipee brand that basically looked like a huge thermos. Very helpful for giving bottles on the go.
As we get in food stuff, what do you reccommend as far as purees or did you do baby led weaning? We did purees, but wish we had tried more table foods earlier on. My child struggled with table foods after switching off of purees and I think he had problems with textures likely due to us not being adventurous enough with table foods. As far as purees, we liked Gerber brand, but probably any brand is good.
Favorite plates/bowls/bibs/utensils? As far as plates/bowls/utensils we really liked Munchkin brand. For bibs, I recommend the plastic wipe off kind. Much easier to deal with. Also, the silicone place mats are nice to stick on the table and be able to wipe clean later.
Any brands? N/A
Tips for bottles or bottle accessories? For my first two, we used Dr. Brown’s Original Wide Neck. My son rejected the bottle so we ended up going to a sippy at 10-ish months. My daughter did just fine. The older version of Dr. Browns had so
may pieces, definitely a downside. I will be trying the Boon Nursh this time around.
Did you use a bottle warmer? Yes, I really liked it but it’s unavailable now. It could heat specifically for breast milk which is what I needed
As we get in food stuff, what do you reccommend as far as purees or did you do baby led weaning?
Favorite plates/bowls/bibs/utensils? Did purées with my first and BLW with my second. My first is an impossible eater and my second will try and eat about 95% of things given to her. DS has other
food issues but definitely think BLW leads to better more rounded eating so we will go that route again.
Natural BFP Feb 2017. DD born Oct. 2017
Natural BFP Aug. 2019, EDD April 2020
Tips for bottles or bottle accessories? We used Avent bottles. We also tried Nuk, but he didn’t seem to like them. The Avent he had no problems with. We switched to sippy cups around 11 months and to regular milk at a year. He did great with both transitions. I recommend getting a really good bottle brush. You may have to try a few to find one you like.
Did you use a bottle warmer? No. He didn’t seem to mind room temperature formula. I did use the Avent warmer for the few bottles of breast milk, because he didn’t like that ice cold.
As we get in food stuff, what do you reccommend as far as purees or did you do baby led weaning?
Favorite plates/bowls/bibs/utensils? We did some purees and then switched to soft foods and moved on from there as he got more teeth, etc. I would definitely get a bowl that could suction to the table. Really helped with spills. I like the bibs with the pocket to catch food, but I basically just used any bib I could find.
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Me 34 DH 34
PCOS
Baby number 2 due 4/11/20
I definitely recommend baby-led weaning. DS is a bit picky at 3 but definitely eats a lot of grown up things and different textures.
I love love love the Squeasy silicone pouch for smoothies and purees.
Any brands? Enfamil Gentlease, we used the Medela bottles, DD2 was picky and wouldn't use anything but the Medela ones
Tips for bottles or bottle accessories? If you're going to use breast milk in a bottle invest in a gallon of vinegar and soak the bottles in vinegar and dish soap before throwing them in the dishwasher. Breast milk is super greasy and there would still be a film in the bottles even after a sanitizing cycle in the dishwasher if we didn't soak them first.
Did you use a bottle warmer? No, we would heat a coffee cup of water in the microwave and throw the bottle in there for a minute.
As we get in food stuff, what do you recommend as far as purees or did you do baby led weaning?
Favorite plates/bowls/bibs/utensils? We did baby led weaning and puree pouches. I second what @coaster102516 and @mysteryship have said, the BLWing makes a difference. SD's pickiness and resistance to new things compared to what and how DD1 and DD2 eat is night and day. They both ask to try very adults foods we're eating. The best bibs are old worn out receiving blankets!
-Bottles- we did Dr. Browns- again we had issues in the beginning that required nipple specializations that only worked with Dr Browns- but they were great.
-Warmer: Nope- my kid wanted it straight from the fridge or room temp which made things way easier. Hoping this kid goes that route too.
-Puree etc: Kenz had throat stuff so we had to go the puree route but will probably go that way again anyway.
Really a lot of our stuff ended up dictated for us bc of medical need- but worked out in the end, so we'll start out doing the same and go from there.
1 infant loss
8/17: Our daughter was born
8/18: Our daughter kicked open heart surgery ass
2/19: We lost our son to Prader-Willi/Paradoxical Vocal Cord/ Noonans at 6wks old
4/26/2020: EDD for baby #3!!!
It does make one hell of a mess, and you have to be aware of the difference between choking and gaging,a not freak out. I think it's great for independence, too.
We used ezpz plates. They stick well and are easy to clean, but they absorb the smell from the dishwasher 😑. Had to switch to seventh gen dishwasher pods. The oxo plates/bowls that stick were handy too when he got older.
I used Medela breastmilk bottle soap or whatever on the bottles before we cleaned them. It removed all the icky film @KFrob was talking about.