We went through a lot of different types of bottles before we found the right one. When I first started pumping, I was still trying to nurse, so we picked bottles that were supposed to be compatible with nursing. We first used the Medela bottles with the wide base nipples. We actually used the small 2.5 oz Medela storage tubes with the nipple attached at first. These worked great when our daughter was only eating ~2 oz per feeding and her stuck wasn't that strong. I always hoped that we would be able to transition to nursing, so we put up with these bottles for quite a while even as she started taking a lot more milk. While the bottles were convenient because I could pump directly into them, the nipple always collapsed and our daughter was having a lot of spit-up and gas.
Some other bottles that we tried in the mean time were The First Years Breastflow bottles and Adiri Natural Nurser. I did not like the Breastflow bottles because we seemed to lose a lot of milk in the nipple parts which was incredibly disappointing when I wasn't pumping very much in the beginning. Our daughter was never able to latch onto the Adiri Natural Nurser; I think it was too much like a breast and by the time we had tried this bottle she had developed a pretty severe aversion.
When my daughter was about 2 months old it was pretty evident that nursing was not going to work out and that I would be EPing to provide her with breast milk. At that point, we decided to switch to a bottle that we thought would minimize spit-up and gas regardless of whether it was "compatible with nursing" or not. We ended up purchasing Dr. Brown's bottles because our neighbor had used them and swore by them. Although there are a lot of part to wash, I have to admit that I really like these bottles. Our daughter was able to eat a whole extra ounce at each feeding immediately after switching to these bottles. I think it was because she wasn't filling up on air!! Additionally, she had a lot less spit-up, burping, and gas.
These bottles were also great because I could pump directly into them. I have head that the Advent bottles are good and a bit cheaper, but I was swayed by the ability to pump directly into the Dr. Browns bottles.
I love the Dr. Brown bottles! We tried the avent bottles and the tommee tippee bottles while my daughter was still in the NICU, but nothing has ever worked as well as the Dr. B.
ReplyDeleteHow do you pump directly into the Dr. Brown bottles? Can you do it with the wide neck bottles? I love Dr. Brown's!
ReplyDeleteSarjobran - I just screw the 4oz Dr. Brown bottles right onto my Medela Freestyle (I assume the larger bottles would work too). They fit right on! Much more convenient than pumping into the Medela bottles and then having to transfer everything over after the fact.
ReplyDeleteI don't have the wide bottles, just the regular size. I think there is an adapter you can purchase to pump directly into the wide-mouth bottles though.
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