Help - Dr. Brown's bottle question/best bottle for gassy baby

[goldiegirl]

Hello all,

We are using Dr. Brown's bottles as a suggestion from our pediatrician because my daughter is pretty gassy. (This on top of special formula and Zantac for reflux) She also really took to the Dr. Brown's nipple compared to other bottles we tried (Evenflow Elite). However, I've noticed two disconcerting things about the bottles and was wondering if anybody else experienced this or could tell me if I'm doing something wrong.

1) Although I SECURELY snap the nipple into the collar and am always holding the bottle correctly to allow the insert to reach air and have the nipple full (no air), I ALWAYS see clusters of tiny bubbles around the edge of the nipple when my daughter is drinking her formula. This even when the rest of the formula is not bubbly in the bottle. The company customer service told me I must be holding the bottle wrong, but I'm not. I don't want her to drink these bubbles because she's gassy but I can't seem to avoid them. Anybody else experience this?

2) I just noticed that some of the nipples and inserts have a slightly brownish tinge after I washed them in my dishwasher (top rack) more than 15 times. I'm worried about chemicals from the nipple or insert materials - what could this be? Should I completely discard these and is this normal?

3) Last of all...what are some other good bottles for gassy babies besides Dr. Browns? I would LOVE to use the Playtex bottle with the inserts but not sure if that's the best bet.

Sorry so long and thanks in advance for your help!
Stacy

[steph2003]

We use Dr. Brown's because they helped our son with gas & also he was able to grasp those nipples better than the Avent ones. To try to answer your question - I have not seen tiny bubbles around the edge of the nipple but with that said I don't know that you can eliminate *all* bubbles with any bottle...or maybe I haven't experimented enough. I do find pre-mixing the formula & letting it sit for awhile in the fridge before I fill bottles helps to cut down on bubbles in general.

I haven't experienced the brownish tinge you are referring to, but then I wash all my nipples by hand in extreme hot/soapy water. I don't know if that is the *right* way to do it but that is what works for us.

The only other bottles we tried were Avent - I know many people swear by those for gas as well but I think mostly it is trial & error with your baby to see what works best....unfortuantely that can be a tad frustrating & probably not what you wanted to hear! If it is any help my son is much less gassy now after the 4 month mark so the Playtex bottles might work for your daughter when she is older & not so gassy.

I hope I helped some!

[babymama]

I've used Dr. B's for 7 months now and have noticed some small bubbles.
There are usually LOTS of bubbles if I shake the bottle to mix in powdered formula. Like the PP, I've noticed less bubbles when I leave the bottle out for a bit before offering it to DS.

I haven't really noticed any coloration on the nipples from the dishwasher. You could always replace the nipples every 3 or 4 months or so. We haven't noticed any problem with ours and I've added new nipples to the rotation, but not tossed any out thusfar. We use the dishwasher and handwash the bottles (probably about 50/50).

I don't have any experience with Playtex, but they seem to get good reviews from these boards. My son was extremely gassy from Avents, and we saw a big improvement when we switched to Dr.Bs.
Good luck!

Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03

[goldiegirl]

thanks to both of you. hopefully it's just our dishwasher. i'll stick with the bottles and get some new nipples. thanks!

[Liz J]

The only time I've seen bubbles around the nipples is right after shaking the bottle when mixing powdered formula and like the PP have mentioned, if you let the bottles sit in the Fridge for a while, it will definitely help.
If you have to give your DD the bottle right after mixing, one thing that helped us reduce the bubbles significantly was putting Milicon Drops in the bottle. It's amazing but they seem to disappear almost instantly. My DD was always very gasy and also had reflux and this helped a lot. (of course every baby if different so you may have to experiment.)
As far as the Brownish Tinge on the nipples, I've never noticed this with ours. We always wash our with hot soapy water so, I don't know if that makes a difference but if I were you, I'd probably buy new nipples.

Good luck!

Liz
Mom to Emily - 1/2004