I have breastfed two of my three babies but all ended up drinking formula within a few months. I know it is possible to breastfeed and work but it just wasn't for me. For all three of my children, I have used these Avent bottles and have been generally satisfied.

THE BOTTLES

The bottles are pretty simple. You get a bottle, ring and nipple. The bottles are either small for 4 ounces or large for 8 ounces of formula. To be very technical, the large bottles hold 9 ounces but most formula is measured in increments of 2 ounces. As a practical matter, you will probably never fill this bottle over the 8 ounces.

The nipples come with various flow rates. The amount of flow is determined by the number on the nipple. Number one nipples are for newborns and have the slowest flow. Number two nipples have three holes and are for older babies.

You can find these 9 ounce bottles sold separately or in packages of 2, 3 or more. When I did a web search, it was amazing the variety of packages they come in. What was a bit more frustrating for me was that it was hard to find the 9 ounce bottles that come with number 2 nipples. It seems most packages come with the number 1 nipples. I think my mistake was buying a bunch of the 4 ounce bottles when my baby was three months old. I only really used them for a couple of months and the larger bottles would have worked fine with a small baby. As a result, by the time baby was 4 months old and I was already looking for bigger bottles and number 2 nipples, I had a hard time locating what I wanted all in one package. I finally found a three bottle set with number 2 nipples at Toys R Us. If you already have a lot of number 1 nipples and your baby is over three months old, pay attention to the packaging to make sure you are getting the right flow on the nipple for your baby. You can buy the nipples without the bottles, but they cost about $4 for two and that can really run up the cost of these bottles.

My other piece of advice is don't necessarily rely on Advent's guidelines on when to switch nipples. Take cues from your own baby. My oldest baby started with the number 2 nipples at 3 months. My youngest baby couldn't handle the increased flow until 5 months.

OUR EXPERIENCE

Well, to start with, we have used these bottles for three children so we must like them. The bottles are easy to assemble. You pull the nipple into the ring and screw the ring onto the bottle. Each bottle also comes with a plastic cover for the nipple for storage and travel.

I originally purchased Avent bottles because the wide base of the nipple is supposedly better for mixing breastfeeding and bottle feeding. At around 3-5 months, I mixed bottle and breast feeding for two of my children. It is hard to tell if the nipples on the bottles made this any easier. The second my first child tried the bottle, her interest in breast feeding practically disappeared. My third child preferred breast feeding more and resisted the bottle. I used the same techniques on both and they had very different reactions so I suppose each baby will have their own opinion on the breast and bottle mix.

None of my children had colic or were gassy. We burped them after most feedings and they were fine. I can't really say that these bottles increased or decreased baby's gas.

My biggest gripe about these bottles is leaks. Some bottles do leak and sometimes they leak quite considerably. Sometimes a ring is faulty and must be thrown away. Sometimes there is no discernible cause and we just pour the formula into another bottle.

Another smaller gripe is that the bottles have a wide base that doesn't always fit into cup holders such as the cup holders on certain strollers. If you are going to buy these bottles and a bottle warmer, make sure the bottle warmer can accomodate this wide bottle.

A nice upside to these bottles is that there are lots of complimentary products. These bottles are designed to fit with breast pumps and can turn into sippy cups.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION

Overall, I really like these bottles. They have worked well for all of our children and I can definitely recommend them.



NEW BABY? HERE ARE SOME BABY PRODUCTS I HAVE REVIEWED:

STROLLERS: Maclauren Techno Stroller; Graco MetroLite LE Stroller; Cosco Eddie Bauer Lightweight Stroller

GEAR: Skip Hop Diaper Bag; Evenflo Snugli Baby Carrier; Infantino EuroRider Baby Carrier.

SLEEPING: Pali Sabrina Crib; Sozo USA bedding.

SOOTHING: MAM pacifiers; MAM pacifier keeper.

NURSING: Bravado Nursing Bra; Lansinoh lanolin; Lansinoh nursing pads.

FEEDING: Take & Toss Infant Spoons; Nuby Sipper Gripper Cup; Dora the Exporer Insulated Straw Cups; Playtex Sipster Spill-Proof Cup.

BATHING: The First Years Bath Tub/Bath Seat Combo; California Baby Super Sensitive Shampoo & Bodywash.

BABY BOTTOMS: Burt’s Bees Diaper Ointment; Desitin Creamy; Balmex; California Baby Diaper Rash Cream; Weleda Diaper Care.

BABY SKIN: Mustela Hydra-Stick for lips and cheeks; Burt’s Bees Apricot Baby Oil.

TOYS: Tiny Love Symphony In Motion Mobile; Soft Teething Beads; Sassy Teething Wing Butterfly; Lamaze Clutch Cube;
Lamaze Freddie the Firefly.

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS: Baby’s Here Birth Announcements.




Recommended: Yes