Bottles for breastfed baby?

[minkajane]

I'm trying to figure out which bottles to get for my little one due in April. This is what I used with DS and he did fine switching back and forth. I was thinking of trying something more like the breast with this one, so I registered for these, but I noticed today that it got some bad reviews for milk getting stuck between the layers and the inner layer cracking. I definitely don't want to waste breastmilk! Another thing I'm thinking of is glass. Does glass have any benefits over BPA-free plastic?

[Dena]

We have been using the Dr. Brown's glass bottles for our twins. I really like them. I don't know about glass having benefits over plastic, but I personally would rather drink from a glass than a plastic cup. Of course, the nipple is plastic anyway. But, glass would not crack like plastic can - though it can chip and shatter.

At any rate, we have had absolutely zero nipple confusion, and we have used these from day 1 (they are five months now). In fact, if anything, the babies seem to be more attached to nursing now than ever.

[moonjunio]

I used the breastflow bottles and they were great. I worked full time starting 12 weeks after birth and nursed as much as possible, so it was important to be able to switch back and forth every day.

The tops have little squeezy tabs so you can let any milk flow back into the bottle. Of course you can't really save it since it's already been used, but you can reuse it after a pause in feeding. I never felt like I was wasting milk.

The inner parts did crack a bit but only after heavy use (same three bottles used for every daytime feeding). I think if you get a good brush like the Born Free set that uses plastic and foam instead of the Munchkin ones with twisted wire nipple brushes, that will make a difference. I had the Munchkin brush at the time and I think they lasted 6 months each maybe. I had bought the big set (the one with tall bottles too) so I ended up using those tops for replacements. Never did need the big bottle size, because by that time you can use sippy cups.

Anyway, I felt it was definitely worth using, I even noticed her opening her mouth wider after she started using the bottles, so if anything it was helpful for the nursing latch :-)

[octobermom]

We did the BF at first but I ditched them pretty fast we had issues with milk getting trapped they were just a pain.. I ended up having the best success with the playtex ORGINAL nursers (cause they don't melt in warmers) with the rubber nipples...
However we went around 2 weeks bottle free and after that she flat our refused to drink from one so we did breast only from 10 weeks on. so take that for what its worth.

Deanna

[OneWithTwo]

I use the wide neck Dr. Brown's bottles and I LOVE them
http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Browns-Natu.../dp/B0000936M4

My son was bottle fed for the first 6 months of his life. These bottles helped get his mouth open like a latch would and the flow is slow...he has taken to breastfeeding now, and still has 3 bottles a day.

[MommyMad]

Our son is 10 months and we're still using Breastflow. I really like them. The only snag was that they occasionally leaked. I think the leaking occurred from microwaving to sanitize them. I no longer microwave them and there hasn't been any issues.

[andlee]

Thirding the Breastflow. We had serious issues getting DS to take a bottle, and now he takes those like a champ. With other bottles it seemed like he would choke because the milk came out too fast.

[jdg]

I'm using the Born Free bottles with my daughter. Never tried the Breastflow, so I can't comment on them. You asked about glass vs. plastic and so I thought I'd give the reason I chose plastic - I prefer to pump hands-free, also prefer to pump directly into the bottles that I use to feed with, and I'm afraid the glass bottles would be too heavy to use for this.

[somegirl99]

I have the Born Free glass bottles and so far they have worked well for us.

I have BPA-free plastic water bottles for biking, and after the water has been sitting in them for a couple of hours, it picks up a funny taste, so I don't feel comfortable using plastic baby bottles.

[kcstar]

I use the Breastflow bottles and they have worked fine for our family. I was hospitalized and had to pump-and-dump when DS was 6-8 days old, and then returned to work at 8 weeks. He never developed any nipple confusion.

He still uses the Breastflow for water, three years later.

[WildinTheory]

I've tried a bunch with my daughter. I first tried a bottle when she was about five weeks. My DS never took a bottle and I'm really enjoying the fact that once or twice a week I can run out and do a few errands or get a massage and be gone for a couple hours. At any rate, we have Dr. Brown's and Breastflow. She takes both equally well. They have a slow enough flow that she doesn't choke. I found the Playtex drop-in system was waaaay too fast a flow for her but the Dr. Brown's and Breastflow both work well.

[detroitgirl77]

I just had my 3rd child and all of my kids have used standard mouth bottles with evenflo nipples with no problems. Anthony, my 1st preferred the silicone nipples and my 2nd Bryant liked the latex nipples. My new little girl Carisma is taking the silicone nipples just fine. With both boys I tried different bottles, including the born free, avent and breast flow and they hated them.

[sk8boarder15]

My sister used medela bottles with my nephew for when I would watch him and I HATED them. They leaked so bad!! I bought Bornfree for my LO who is due next week (stalking the parenting threads in excitement) but I won't have a review on them for sometime as I won't use them untill a few weeks after he is born, they just had lots of good reviews!

I chose glass, just because there is no way to stop at least some of the chemicals from plastic breaking down and getting into the milk. I have a few BPA free bottles that connect to the pump, but I really really feel better about glass. Also glass lasts much longer and can be used through a lot more babies!

[mimie]

We have had great luck with the Medela bottles. DS has always taken one easily, they don't leak, and I already had a bunch that came with my PISA and my Medela manual pump.

The other bottle we tried was Gerber NUK. The flow was too fast and DS would choke.

[JudiAU]

I think the new meddle nipples work well. I prefer the old straight sided bottles for pumping because they are easier to clean and the glass for feeding. No breakage issues here Saves hassle to pump milk I ti the bottle directly.don't buy a lot if anything though...

[marinak1977]

another vote for Breastflow here. DS has been using these since he was about 5 weeks old and I never had any issues with nipple confusion. There is a little bit of milk trapped in the nipple sometimes, but it's a very small amount.

[laughingfox]

MAM are the only nipples that DD2 will take at all. When we were still going back and forth, I was worried her latch would regress, but it didn't.
I've heard that MAM, Avent, thinkbaby, Pura, Born Free, and Dr. Brown's wide nipples/bottles can be used interchangeably. That way, you can try other brands of nipple with the same bottle and see what works before investing in more bottles.
(MAM and Avent are the only ones I have personally used interchangeably.)

If I had it to do over again, I'd start with Pura bottles, since they're compatible with so many nipples, and since they're stainless steel (no odor/chemical issues like plastic, no breakage issues like glass).

[Dov'sMom]

We just use the Medela bottles I pump into. No leaking at all. We started out with the newborn nipples, but one day the caregiver gave him a normal nipple and he didn't care. He transitioned just fine to sippy cups (uses both now, bottles for milk and cups for water with solids) -- grabbed his brother's cup one day and drank.

[Dov'sMom]

Oh, and no problem whatsoever with nursing except that he thinks he can grab my nipple and stuff it into his mouth when he stands up in bed -- ouch!