Playtex Drop-ins or Avent Disposable

[nywifey]

Which one would all you veteran moms recommend? I don't know which is actually a better bottle system. Playtex offers 4oz bottles w/4oz liners and the liners are ready to drop in. Avent only comes in 8oz w/8oz liners in a roll. Which one is actually easier for Mom, yet better for baby? One friend of mine uses the Playtex because the initial start up of the system was inexpensive. An other friend swears the Avent makes a difference in gas intake. I'm parcial to Avent since the Fields' recommended it. But I'm wondering just how easy are those liners? How cumbersome is it to feed an infant with an 8oz bottle? I'm thinking of purchasing the Avent Disposable System, but starting out with the Newborn 4oz Reusable Bottles at the very beginning. Any thoughts or tips would be appreciated!

[jdhauer]

I haven't tried the Avent bottles but because my daughter has gas problems, we've tried the Johnson & Johnson Twist 'N Lock, Playtex Drop Ins, regular Gerber bottles with various nipples and the Playtex Vent-Aires.

The problems we had with the Drop Ins were:
1. Daughter hated the nipples. Healthflow nipples can be used with the Playtex system and we tried four different types unsuccessfully.
2. Don't use the 8 oz bottles with built in burper with a newborn. You'll throw away the last two ounces at least.
3. My fingers were too short to successfully push the bag up on the 4 oz bottle.
4. I found the drop-ins messy when I was disposing of them. Isn't the point that you don't have to wash the bottle? I always ended up with formula all over the actual bottle and would have to wash it.
5. I had trouble measuring the formula using the bottles becuase the drop in's measurements weren't aligned with the bottle's measurements. I ended up using a separate measuring cup to measure out the water.

Using the Twist 'N Lock, we had the same nipple issues plus leakage.

Currently, we are successfully feeding my daughter with the following method:
1. We use the Gerber bottles to measure and shake the formula.
2. We feed using the Playtex Vent-Aires. We pour from the Gerber into the Vent-Aire which reduces the amount of bubbles that would be present if we mixed the formula in the Vent-Aire itself.

Be warned that the Vent-Aires are a major PAIN to clean. It's been well worth it in our case since our daughter is much more comfortable. I hear that most babies are not so difficult.

My advice: try whichever is more appealing to you but don't buy too much. You may have to replace and you can always buy more bottles/liners after the baby is born.

[rebwal]

I also haven't tried the drop-ins because of gas problems. Unfortunately, no matter what, I think you're just going to have to experiment with what your child likes. Only buy one or two of each type of bottle you want to try and then once you find one that works well, invest in it. I was told that since I was nursing, when I switched to a bottle I HAD to go with the Avent because it was most like the mother's breast. Well, when my daughter turned 4 months and was only drinking 2-3 ounces from each bottle, the doctor was concerned. I switched to a different bottle (Gerber New Traditions with the flex nipple) and now my daughter is easily drinking 6-8 ounces from each bottle.

[EmmasMommy]

My daughter is 5months old and was a preemie (5 weeks early) so she has been on formula since day 1. I agree with the other posts, to not invest a lot into one brand of bottles, b/c you will find that you will have to "experiment" to find which system works best for your baby.

Until Emma was about 1 1/2 months old, she was happy with your run of the mill bottles without the disposable liners. (Of course she was only taking about 1 -2 ounces of formula at that time). Once she became a more aggressive eater, though, she was becoming very gassy using those bottles, b/c she was swallowing so much air. Since we received the Playtex Sampler System as a shower gift we gave those a try. And we are still using them!

The drop in liners are MUCH easier to use than the ones on a roll. You can drop them in with one hand (a must if you are holding baby in the other arm!) I did have some problems with a batch of the drop in liners leaking-turns out we had a "bad batch" and Playtex was really good about sending us a replacement box. The only complaint I have about the Playtex bottles are that now that my daughter is eating 8 oz at a feeding, the 8oz Playtex bottles are not big enough to mix a bottle without making a HUGE mess. (IMHO Avent is not worth the $$$$-they are MUCH more expensive!)

[sarsah]

I bought both the Avent disposable & reusable bottles (they have a starter set that combines the two) thinking I would like the disposable ones better. I ended up going to exclusively using the reusable bottles. The disposable bottles tended to leak more and the liners sometimes melted in the warmer. It was just so much easier to wash the reusable bottles in the dishwasher (my has a steralizing cycle).

I had no problem feeding 4oz in the Avent disposables, but just preferred the reusables over the disposables. Also the Avent accessories (handles, sippy cup tops, etc.) only fit on the reusable bottles.

I have no experience with the Playtex bottles.

Sarah.....

[Jenfed]

Sarah-

Which bottle warmer do you have? Is it the Avent warmer? I am wondering if the Avent one is good.

-Jennifer

[ksummy]

I would recommend the Parents Choice disposable bottle you can find at Wal-Mart. It is very similar to Avent, but much cheaper. It has the drop-in liners, which I really like. I have not had any problems with them leaking. I tried the Playtex bottles and did not like them at all. They leaked easily and the bags were difficult to push up.

[sarsah]

I have the Dusk to Dawn warmer and would not recommend it. I bought it becuase it was much cheaper than the Avent one.

Sarah....