Blake and I registered last weekend. To my surprise, we had a blast and were not really overwhelmed at all. We agreed on just about everything and kind of knew what we were doing. Our only question and frustrating moment was the bottle aisle. There are so many varieties of bottles!! We went ahead and registered for Dr. Brown's, but then we went back to reconsider when I realized how many parts that make up a Dr. Brown's bottle. Then, I just got more confused. Do we want drop-ins? Do we want Avent? We decided to just keep Dr. Brown's on the registry and figure it out once we get some expert advice.
So, here's my favor that I ask of you: If you have some advice on either what bottles are great or which ones I do NOT want to use, I would really appreciate it. I plan on nursing, but I'm hoping to pump as well. Speaking of which, if you have advice on a good breast pump, that would also be much appreciated. So, please help in any way that you can! Thanks!!
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Each of our kids would only drink from a certain type of bottle, but they were all different. It was like we were on a special bottle quest, only it took AGES to figure out and by then you were too tired to feel relieved. I have a WHOLE BIN of bottles in the garage, lol!
Gwennie was the hardest, but we finally figured out that the playtex with the drop-ins was the ONLY KIND that worked for her.
As far as pumps, I prefer the AVENT. It is a pain to clean and put back together each time, but you get used it. And only one of our kids would use the actual advent bottles. UG!
Jalee
Not that I have much expertise in this, but after babysitting siblings and other relatives, I DO know that the ones with the drop in's are SUPPOSED to be helpful with limiting the air that the baby takes in when drinking, reducing the vomit factor a little. BUT it does seem expensive buying all those liners. OR you can breastfeed, pump AND make Blake use a "Manary Gland" (like in Meet the Fockers) heehee
Personally...that's what I would do! ;)
if you are pumping full time i would say medela pump in style. it has some really great features. check with your insurance company because the medela rep at Babies R Us said that some insurance plans cover them. As for bottles, we used drops in for Kels. They were easy to clean but a little more spendy. And my son would not take a bottle for anything, so I was strictly nursing for a whole year. What a pain!
Hey there! So obviously I don't know THAT much about it yet but I have talked to some people that used Adiri and have read up a lot about them and have decided that these are the ones we are using... http://www.adiri.com/ I've only been able to find them at Babies R Us. Good luck :)
Like Jalee all my kids had different likes and dislikes of nipples. The closet to the real breast is Playtex with liners. And easier to clean. When I stored breast milk, I pumped and just poured it into the bag in the bottle, popped it into the fridge or freezer, and heated it in a steal bowl with warm water when I needed it. As far as pumps..Avent is a good one.
If you're going to nurse for the most part I wouldn't stress about bottles too much. I just have some Evenflo ones. Not that I'm an expert with having 1 child that is 6 weeks, but I think it's more of 'when' you introduce the bottle more than what type. I was paranoid about 'nipple confusion' but still introduced it when she was only a few days old (not counting having to give her a bottle her first night in the hospital bc she was nursing non-stop, and I was so sore)... Same with pacifiers. I think it's mostly whatever you give them first (BUT, I'm sure kids still like certain types better, and maybe you'll have to try a few different things before you find what he likes).
I thought I would use a bottle a lot more than I do, but once you get the hang of breastfeeding, it's really a lot easier to just nurse (in my opinion).
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2919698
I have a Medela Harmony hand pump bc I didn't want to spend the $$ on an electric one and then never use it. I LOVE it. Works pretty fast for a hand pump (so I've been told). Easy to use, clean, etc.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2409078
Stick with the nursing though... you'll probably want to call it quits in the first little bit, but it gets better each day :) I would DEFINITELY have some of this on hand - http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2668339. It save my life. Best stuff ever. Be religious about using it after every feeding, and you'll be so happy you did!
Good luck!
All five of my kids...and coming soon, number six...used the same bottle. I've always used the Playtex ones w/ the silicone nipple and the drop-ins. In my opinionk, they are the easiest to clean. If you are on the go, all you need to do is throw the liner away and rinse out the nipple...no need to wash an entire bottle. I was thinking of changing this time around...but decided why fix something that's not broken?? :)
Good luck!
Like a lot of other people said.. I think it kinda depends on the child. With Porter and Phearson we used the Avent bottles. With Tav we have to use the Dr. Brown bottles because he has reflux and other feeding issues. I say...
Don't buy too many bottles at first, you may even have to try a few different kinds to find out what works best for you and your baby. And if you do get a bunch from others you can always retun what you dont want or need.?
We've gone the bottle route recently and are using playtex drop-ins because of the convenience. You can buy liners in the Parent's choice brand (walmart) cuz they're cheaper and the same thing. With two babies I really have no time to wash bottles, so the drop-ins work the best. AND, you can buy one or two bottles and just a bunch of nipples. Actually, I have 8 4oz drop in bottles that I got from craigslist that I can mail you. You can buy your own nipples and just sterilize these "shells" if you're interested. We are using the 8 oz. bottles now, so I don't need them. You can also check out your craigslist for drop-in shells. I would still buy your own nipples.
Dr. Brown's are fabulous for reflux, but if your little one doesn't have it then it's just a hassle. All babies spit-up and burp but reflux needs special attention, so you might wanna hold off on those.
I never used avent, so I'm not sure about those.
As far as pumps go, if you end up pumping exclusively you definitely want to rent a hospital grade pump. I rented from our hospital (Ameda pumps) and from babies r us (Medela Symphony). You double pump and it helps you get more milk.
If you are going to pump once a day for one baby feeding or a couple times a week, a hand pump like the medela harmony would probably be sufficient. I have not used any avent pumps, but my friends LOVE the avent isis manual pump because it is a flexible flange. I believe the medela harmony is flexible too.
Breastfeeding is truly awful in the beginning :-( I wish someone would have told me that, so I feel like I should let you know. I wish I would have seen other women breastfeed or practiced holding a doll or something like that. Maybe my experience is different since I had twins. It was twice as hard in some respects.
I would recommend you visit the mother's lounge at church during sunday school and observe the women there and ask them all sorts of questions or just ask their advice. There are some good books available too that they might be able to loan you to definitely read beforehand. I tried to read breastfeeding books after my babies were to figure out what the heck i was doing and it was hard to find time to read!!
Definitely I would recommend the "My breast friend nursing pillow" over the boppy since the boppy isn't stable and the babies slip down in the front. You'll want lots of lanolin cream, but use sparingly since it can clog you up.
I pumped for the first six weeks and tried to feed babies a couple times a day. They were really small so it was hard. Once they were bigger I did go to exclusive breastfeeding for 3 months. I'm just now starting to cut back again and go to bottles.
I was really emotionally charged about breastfeeding when they first came home. I felt like a failure that it wasn't working. Then, when it started to work and I was just breastfeeding, I felt like I would be a terrible person if I ever went to bottles again. now I'm doing bottles and I feel guilty for not breastfeeding. It is all so stupid. Do what works best for you guys. We've decided bottles because it's what we need right now. My babies will be fine. My sister in law breastfeeds until her kids go to nursery and they are sick ALL THE TIME, so really, I feel like breastfeeding won't make your babies immune to sickness. That was my big worry; that I wasn't giving them the healthy immunities they needed.
Well, time to end this novel of a comment, don't you think? Let me know if you have any questions. I wish I would have known all this before I had my boys. I was so naive thinking that we would just throw the babies on me and we'd all know what to do! Ha!
P.S. as far as 'nipple confusion' i think it's actually just the fact that milk comes faster from a bottle so babies start to prefer that and don't learn to suck properly at the breast because of it. If you can just breastfeed for the first 3 weeks, then they would go between bottle and breast better (in my opinion). A baby can learn anything, though. My boys got bottles day 4 until 6 weeks, then we somehow learned to breastfeed (lots of lactation consultants helped) now they love their bottles just fine too. So who knows :-)
You don't even need bottles, just give him the boob and then go straight to a sippy cup! See, I just saved you money.
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