Dr. Brown Bottles

[ttb06]

I am a first time mom due in August and need advice on bottles. I plan to breastfeed but will probably be pumping most of the time.

I was going with Avent until I started hearing lots of good things about Dr. Brown bottles. Can anyone give me feedback on the pros/cons of these two lines? Are the Dr. Brown's compatible with the Medela Pump in Style breat pump? Is the wide neck or the narrow neck better?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[rachelfran]

we used the dr brown bottles in the beginning because are son was somewhat colicky - i don't know if they worked because we were trying everything- it only lasted 2 1/2 months so I don't know if it was colick at all - at that point we switched to avent bottles...
The Dr. Brown bottles are a huge pain to wash - there are numerous pieces to clean - I was glad to go back to normal bottles.
I think the pumps require standard bottles - not the wide neck ones - but i'm not certain about that -

good luck!

[Melanie]

We use those. I strongly suggest the wide-neck since you are breastfeeding. We used the regular and it (along with newborn sized pacifiers) caused problems with breastfeeding. Unfortunately the wide-neck won't fit your breastpump so you do lose a little bit of milk when you transfer it from the breastpump bottle to the feeding bottle.

Yes, there are a lot of parts to clean, but I still recommend them b/c it is all about your baby's comfort. Gas pain is so terrible for them.

In any case, just make sure to use wide-neck style like the Avent no matter which bottles you choose.

Mommy to Little Jonah

[mspacman]

Since your baby is not yet born, don't bother buying those expensive Dr. Brown's bottles unless you find that you need them. Most babies don't have colic (thank heavens) and for occasional gas, first try simpler and cheaper remedies like gas drops or altering your diet. Garlic and hot spicy foods were the two biggest culprits for me.

[opus]

Before my daughter was born I was fully stocked in (wide) Avent bottles (having read they were the best. I planned on being a breastfeeding mom, but wanted her to use Avent bottles/nipples for expressed milk. Well, long story short, we found that Avent was just as 'gassy' a bottle/nipple as any other. We went on the hunt for something better and found Dr. Brown's. My daughter much prefers the nipple and REALLY does not have the gas with this bottle. It was such a relief and WELL, WELL worth the money and extra time on the bottle cleaning. I found the wide mouth Dr. Brown's were the ones for us, not the narrow. I had read several complaints about the Dr. Brown's bottles leaking and found that to be true for the narrow bottles, but not the wide neck bottles. If you should buy both and compare, you'll see the inside component of the bottle fits differently on the narrow than the wide; it fits more snuggly on the wide. I have not had any leaking problems with the wide neck Dr. Brown's. The only place locally I found the wide neck bottles was at Baby Depot (Burlington Coat Factory), by the way.

You mentioned the Medela pump. I also use that. Because I was well stocked with Avent bottles, it was cheaper for me just to store in those and transfer to the Dr. Brown's for feeding. I simply transfer the milk to the Avent 4oz bottles for freezing, thaw the milk in the Avent warmer and then transfer to the Dr. Brown's for feeding. I suppose you could simply store the milk in bags or the Medela bottles and save some money there if you haven't already invested in Avent like I did.

(By the way, regarding heating, I love my Avent Bottle Warmer. It is so light and compact.)

Anyway those are my thoughts on Dr. Brown's. Sorry it was so long. Bottom line: I am a huge fan. Please feel free to email me if you have any specific questions if/once you actually get the bottles.

[daisymommy]

I am planning on using the Avent Isis pump with the 4oz. breastmilk storage containers to freeze/store my milk in (baby #1 is due in August). My questions for your are: How long can breast milk be kept in the fridge before it goes bad? what about the freezer? Also, I see that you warm your Avent containers in the Avent warmer...does that harm the nutrients at all in the milk like microwaving does? Do you thaw it out in there as well as warm it up too? How long does it take? Please tell all! I'm clueless as to how to properly store, freeze, thaw and warm my milk. I'd like to pump& store it in the Avent containers, then pour it into Playtex disposable bottles for baby's use. Thank-you for your help!

[Melanie]

When in doubt, ask the expert: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/T026900.asp

I use the First Years Express warmer...and love it. Watch out for the playtex disposables, don't use that funny little nipple they all come with, that's very bad for breastfeeding. No surprise as to why the formula makers give it away in the diaper bags at the hospital. I do think I saw that they have a nipple to mimic the Avent-type, now, though.

>I am planning on using the Avent Isis pump with the 4oz.
>breastmilk storage containers to freeze/store my milk in
>(baby #1 is due in August). My questions for your are: How
>long can breast milk be kept in the fridge before it goes
>bad? what about the freezer? Also, I see that you warm your
>Avent containers in the Avent warmer...does that harm the
>nutrients at all in the milk like microwaving does? Do you
>thaw it out in there as well as warm it up too? How long
>does it take? Please tell all! I'm clueless as to how to
>properly store, freeze, thaw and warm my milk. I'd like to
>pump& store it in the Avent containers, then pour it into
>Playtex disposable bottles for baby's use. Thank-you for
>your help!

Mommy to Little Jonah

[daisymommy]

Uh-Oh! Which "funny little nipple" are you refering to? The one with the wide base and right in the middle has a poker straight nipple, slightly rounded on the top? I thought that one (do they call it "Flex Action?) looked most like a real breast. What problems did you have with this? I want to use Avent if DS (due August 17) will take them. I love Avent's interchangeable line..but figured Playtex looked like what a baby would go for. Thanks for your help!

[shnewell]

We use the Dr. Brown's narrow bottles and love them. I am still breastfeeding my baby (4.5 months old), but since I'm back at work now I send expressed breast milk with him to day care. Many people I know also love the Avent bottles. You'll just have to find out what works best for your baby.

The wideneck bottles are not compatible with the Medela Pump In Style, which is also the pump I use. I think Avent makes a converter kit that may also work with the wideneck Dr. Brown's, but I'm not sure of that. What I usually do is pump into the Medela collection bottles that came with the pump and transfer to Dr. Brown's when I get home. If all the Medela bottles are dirty, then I pump directly into 4 oz. narrow Dr. Brown's bottles. This works fine, but I like the Medela bottles better because they hold 5 oz. rather than 4.

Good luck!

Shayne

[wen]

I have used both Avent and Dr. Brown's bottles. The Avent bottles made my baby gassy, whereas I have absolutely never had any problem with Dr. Brown's bottles and I would highly recommend them. Yes, they can be a pain to wash, but they are not impossible and it's easier to wash a bottle than to deal with a gassy baby. Besides, you can put all the parts in the dishwasher - so it's only a pain if you insist on hand washing them.