Baby coming soon! and there are too many choices!?

Question

okay...I am being induced on Thursday, and I am planning on bottle feeding, I am stuck between 3 bottles, and 2 nipples...so I was hoping you guys could give some opinions:
bottle choices are: Advent, Dr Brown, or the playtex ventaire
and then of course which is better...standard nipple? or the natural nipple? and then there are the endles and endless choices of formula....but which one is best? I'm leaning more towards Carnation Good Start, but they have the Iron fortified, then the iron fortified supreme with DHA and ARA, and now the Natural Cultures with Dha and Ara, (apparently the new one helps to promote a healthy immune system, but it doesn't state if its for babies with and unhealthy one or all babies) please help! and please no comments on breastfeeding, I've already struggled with this, I tried with my first child and while it may be TMI, the fact of the matter is...I basically lost my right nipple due to her feeding on it.....

the last straw was when I tried to pump and saw blood from my nipple mixing with the breastmilk...I am not going through that again.

I know everyone is saying that the hospital will start the baby off on enfamil or other formulas, but the hospital I'm going to allows the baby to stay in the room with you, in fact they encourage it, and so I was actually planning on bringing my own bottle and formula to the hospital so there was no nipple confusion between the hospital's bottles and the ones I choose, same with the formula, now I'm worried that maybe they won't let me?....I'll have to ask,


Veronica...I have to know...whats with the popsicles?

Answer 1

I was using Advent bottles and they tend to leak....drives me crazy!!! I told my husband today I am going to buy all new bottles! My son does like the nipples on them though. I had originally used Playtex Drop-Ins, they also have pros and cons though. I hear good things about Dr.Browns and Ventaire. The silicone nipples seem to last longer, my son doesn't seem to have a preference of one over the other.
As far as formula I use GoodStart Supreme with the DHA and ARA. I have used Enfamil and found it smells like garbage, is kind of frothy and makes my son burp a lot more. I also feel like its not as filling, he drank a lot more of it. I am just starting to use the GoodStart with the Natural Cultures.
The hospital I delivered at gave me a choice of any formula I wanted.
Good luck!!!!

Answer 2

First of all, don't let anyone guilt you into breastfeeding. It's your decision, and no one elses.

I bottle fed my daughter, I used Advent bottles and nipples, exclusively. she never had colic or upset stomach, or anything. I also used Carnation Good Start formula. The thing I liked best about it was when you were shaking up a bottle, as soon as you stopped shaking, all the bubbles were gone. The other formulas got pretty foamy. I didn't want my kid drinking all those bubbles. It was also cheaper than the other brands. But, my sister raised her kids on the walmart brand of formula. Her pediatrician told her they were identical to the name brands, so why pay more? Her kids seemed to grow up just fine. But, with too much iron in the formula, the baby's poop will be hard. Your baby may have problems with bowel movements. I think my daughter had that problem (it was 6 yrs ago, I cant' really remember), and I put her on the Carnation Soy based formula for a little while. But eventually I went back to Carnation regular.

Answer 3

well.. we have all three.. but i don't know if you're talking about Avent.. i havent seen aDvent.

Anyways, we have every other bottle they make. My son finally decided he likes Playtex Drop-Ins with LATEX nipple.. after 4 months of struggling.

my suggestion is to buy 1 of each kind. this is why they sell them separate. Try each and see which one baby takes to better. Even though the nipples say "Slow" and "stage1" on every starting bottle, the flows are actually all different!!! ( Dr. Browns are faster )..

as for the shape of the nipple, again, up to your baby. Ventair Wide and Drop-ins can share nipples, they are same size, but ventair are harder and dropins softer. Since your baby isn't being breastfed at all, it makes no diff. which one you start with ( if you did start off breastfeeding, soft wide nipple would be best, or it was in my case )

As for formula, start with any milk-based. So if you're liking the idea of Good Start, go ahead. If that doesnt work, try Enfamill or Similac milk based before trying Soy, or hypoallegenic. I've heard of the Natural Cultures, but don't know anyone who uses it, it's pretty new.

Also, the hospital will start you off with formula. So see what they give you first, before buying some. They may think your baby should be started off on something thats gentler for her stomach.. or she may be fine on regular.. so don't buy any yet.



Good luck!!.. i was induced also.. interesting experience. i'll never eat popsickles again..

=]

Answer 4

Go with the Playtex drop ins (they're so easy, just throw away the insides and wash out the nipples & Nestle Good Start Supreme.

The Dr. Brown bottles have so many parts it's not even funny. My sister really liked Avent, but I don't want to deal with cleaning the bottles

Answer 5

It's no longer called Carnation. It's now Nestle Good Start. The new one, Good Start Natural Cultures, is a great formula.
It has Comfort Proteins which my babies found really easy to digest, and it has DHA and ARA. And the big difference is that it has Natural Cultures for baby's immune system and it is the only formula with them. It is not just for baies that are unhealthy, it's for all babies who are not breastfed.

Answer 6

I love playtex drop ins. They are so easy because you don't have to sterlize. They are also nice because you just wash the nipples and rings and drop another bottle liner in the bottle. As for formula I like enfamil with iron. When my daughter was in the NICU they gave her enfamil in the ready to feed jars and they are really nice. You might ask your doctor what formula they would reccommend and sometimes they even give away samples. I like the natural nipples but the silicone ones are nice also.

Answer 7

I love the playtex drop ins too! I used them with both of my kids. They are so simple and my kids don't have alot of gas either.

As for the formula, don't stock up on one single one before the baby gets here. Finding the right formula may be like finding a needle in a hay stack. After I stopped bfing my oldest at 3 weeks she was on 5-6 different formulas until we found the right combination (it was Similac Isomil with rice in her bottle for reflux). My second was on Good Start then Similac Advanced because Good Start was too thin for her. Try what you want first, but then you might have to change.

As for the nipples, again, that may change too. My oldest had to use the Playtex with the Y cut in them for the rice, but they stopped making them :( I like the Playtex Fast flow (slow flow for newborns). They are the clear ones.

Good luck and congratulations!

Answer 8

Breastfeeding is a personal choice... My youngest would roll her lips in and you wanna talk about pain.!!!! I would try the Avent bottles. But i have to say that you an try any bottle or nipple you like but if the baby doesnt like it,,,, she wont eat. My oldest daughter finally decided on the clear, flat ortho preemie nipples. And that is what i used with the other three... Good Luck and dont worry too much....

Answer 9

It is your choice to breast feed or not !!! I liked ADVENT over Dr. browns because Dr. browns were difficult because they have tons of pieces and right now you might not care but you will!! lol.... I like carnation because it is a good formula to start on and it is tolerated VERY well!! Just remember the hospital will start them on the enfamil regular so you might want to see if that works then if it does stick with it.

Answer 10

We bought the evenflo bottles that come in the three packs with the silicone "old fashioned" nipples and all three of my kids loved them. All you have is a nipple a bottle and the ring around the top. Easy to clean and we never had excessive gas problems with any of them. Good Luck and congrats!