Best Bottle for Breastfed Babies

Updated on August 03, 2012
J.L. asks from Pittsburgh, PA
13 answers

I still have quite a while to figure this out (not due until March), but I figured I would start my research. I am pregnant with my third child and I do plan to breast feed. However, I also want to pump and allow other people to feed the baby also. With my first two, I always said I would do that, but it was just much easier to put them to my breast and then we found it difficult to go anywhere because the babysitter could never feed the baby. Also, I'm not comfortable nursing in public, there's always that one jerk staring at you like its a peep show! Anyway, I was wondering which bottles worked for your babies, which ones were a good transition for them. Thanks for your input!

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V.T.

answers from Washington DC on

Talk to a lactation consultant. The one at my hospital told me of 3 bottles whose nipples are most like a breast. I don't remember 2 of them because she told me the Playtex drop in nipples were close to the breast and that is what I had at home. I've since passed them on to my sister. Her son is 2 weeks old and isn't having any problems between the Playtex and the breast. What I love about the Playtex is they are easy to clean and don't have all the valves and stuff that Dr. Brown, Avent and Born Free had.

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D.S.

answers from New York on

We recommend Tommie Tippie bottles to the mom's at my daycare. The babies seem to take to them right away. Good luck!!

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J.S.

answers from Columbia on

We (my wife) just switched to pumping breast milk so that she has more freedom, and so I can take some of the night feedings.

She tells me it's the greatest decision ever. Baby still gets breast milk, and she gets to have a girls night, or go to the office, or sleep. Ok, enough pats on the back.

We're Dr. Brown's fans. Used them on both boys, minimal burping and gas. We tried the large round ones that are supposed to closer resemble an actual nipple - lot's of air intake.

And while Dr. Brown's has more components (two pieces inside that are the anti-air intake) - washing is still in the dishwasher.

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J.M.

answers from Chattanooga on

I never used a special bottle for my DD. I gave her the old-school cheap bottles and nipples. They worked just fine for her.

I actually exclusively pumped for a few months, because I had a really hard letdown, and my DD had reflux... so she would choke and get sick if I put her straight to breast. When she was 3 months or so, I reintroduced her to the breast and she had NO issues switching back and forth.

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D.C.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I don't think there is one right answer to this. My only strong opinion is to use a wide-mouth bottle. I went back and forth a lot (daycare) and when the baby used a narrow-mouth bottle too much, he would get lazy about latching, and want to have a narrow latch - ouch for me! This didn't happen when I stuck with wide-mouth bottles.

Also, start with slow-flow nipples, and unless your baby complains about them, stick with them. No need to change as they get older. The slow-flow ones are a bit more work for them - just like nursing is a bit more work.

We used the Nuk and Avent wide mouth bottles, both were fine. Neither of my babies rejected the bottle at all, but I started both with 1 bottle per day (actually, per night, so Daddy could experience the joy of middle of the night feedings too) pretty early on - in the first few weeks. I would pump first thing in the morning when I had a lot of supply and then freeze it, so I always had extra breastmilk to put in a bottle when I needed it.

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E.G.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Neither of my girls were picky, we used either Medela or Avent bottles. I agree with the feedback you've gotten though. Don't buy too much yet, besides, you'll probably get a few free samples. I know we did when my youngest was born.

Good Luck with your pregnancy!

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D.B.

answers from Fargo on

We love Dr browns. It seems to be closest to mimicking breastfeeding and we've n nit had any confusion problems with my last 2 like I did with my first. I'd highly recommend. They are a pain to clean, but well worth it.

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J.T.

answers from New York on

Dr. Brown's worked best for us...

They were a bit of pain to clean, but well worth it. My husband was able to feed our daughter too!

I plan on using them again when my son is born in October. Not looking forward to the pumping but, what can ya do...

M.B.

answers from Tampa on

when i give my daughter a bottle, i use tommee tipped. she never has any issues with it.

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L.D.

answers from Dallas on

The medela bottles are nice because you just pop the nipple on the bottle you pumped into - so you dont have to do as much bottle cleaning. HOWEVER they are not great bottles. The nipple isnt great - and they sometimes leak a L..

I used the Aventi bottles and they worked fine.

Don't invest a whole lot of $$$ until the baby is here. My niece used the Aventi bottles. Her L. sister refused them and my sister had to try 6 or 7 different kinds until she found one she liked.

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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

Depends on the baby, honestly. My friend used Tommee Tippy. I used Medela (wide, when they came available). DD wouldn't use Avent or Playtex. I ended up giving them away.

I was really nervous about nursing in public and a friend got me a Bebe Au Lait cover. They are really great, IMO. I ended up buying more (ended up with 2 Bebe Au Lait and one imitator that soon became relegated to the spare bag). If you drape it over one shoulder (on the side you are nursing) they cover well and have a pocket for pacifiers or nipple shields, should one be needed. Imitators are too small and don't offer the coverage I wanted.

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M.K.

answers from Dallas on

YDD likes Dr. Brown bottles, ODD liked Avent. Dr. Brown's air vent channels the air away from the breastmilk, which supposedly preserves vitamins and whatnot. No idea if that's true, my kiddo just preferred that bottle/nipple. Plus, Dr. Brown's newborn flow was the slowest I could find - everything else flowed too quickly.

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M.S.

answers from Portland on

Both of my kiddos would only use the Playtex Dropins with Latex nipples. They absolutely refused silicone. I think you should wait and see what you new one likes; same with pacifiers.

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