Navigating the Land of Bottles

Choosing a bottle can be difficult for a novice.  I know when I first walked down the bottle feeding aisle at Babies 'R' Us I was a bit confused and bewildered at all the choices.  Reading all the reviews didn't help either, so many conflicting stories about leaking, tummies full of air....I could go on and on.

I tried a few brands and found one that worked for US.  All of you other Mommy's out there, please feel free to comment.  Let's get some more info out there for the other bewildered folks.

Avent

I started with Avent because I saw the most convincing positive reviews.  I found that the flow of the slowest nipple option was just too much for my daughter.  Most of the formula ended up all over her and not in her stomach. 

Dr. Brown

The bottles worked alright.  They reduced air intake and were slow enough for Abby to keep up.  However, cleaning the various pieces and parts was a real pain in the butt.  I would highly recommend these for babies that are very sensitive to air.  They work great!

Playtex VentAire Advanced Wide

Unlike the first generation of VentAire, these have basically no margin of error.  The disc at the bottom of the old bottles was replaced with a female device the is place on the male device that is built onto the bottle.  There is no risk of placing the device wrong and causing leakage out of the bottom.  The nipples were slow enough for Abby to keep up, didn't cause her grief with air in her stomach, very easy to clean.  Playtex also makes VentAire in Crystal Clear form, which is BPA free ( for all you moms that care about that sort of thing).

My best advice to new mothers is NOT to register for tons of bottles.  Usually it's a trial and error process.....kinda like formula......and really, parenting in general.

Similac v. Enfamil v. Generic

There are a ton of choices when it comes to formula.  I've used Similac (given to me for free at the hospital), Enfamil,  the Kirkland brand from Costco, and the Target brand.  

Before I tell you my experience with them, I want to give a little disclaimer.  This is just MY experience with them.  Ultimately it comes down to using what works best for your little one.  My daughter uses just the regular old formula.....not soy or anything like that.

We started out with Similac because samples were given to me for free at the hospital when my daughter was born.  We had no physical problems with the formula.  My daughter tolerated it very well.  However, we did have a lot of problems with globs of the powder getting stuck in the nipple of the bottle, or at the bottom.  Also, the powder itself was normally quite clumpy in the can making it a little difficult to make sure we were getting an accurate amount of powder for the formula.  I would buy the pre-mixed bottles for when we were on the go.  These bottles were GREAT because we were using 6 0z. bottles at the time and the premixed either came in the 8 oz minis, which you could attach a standard sized nipple (although not the Playtex VentAire nipples as they are designed differently than most others) to if you were so inclined and they had a screw top lid to store any excess formula.  The bigger bottle of pre-made formula was much the same in that it comes in a plastic bottle with a screw top lid.

We then switched to Enfamil after being given a few free cans of it from a friend.  Enfamil was a bit more granular in nature.  I didn't have the clumping problem that I did with Similac, nor did I have a problem with clogged nipples or clumps of formula powder in the bottom of the bottle.  My daughter tolerated the formula quite well.  The pre-mixed Enfamil formula actually comes in cans.  By the time we made the switch from Similac, my daughter was using 8-9 oz. bottles that can accommodate the full can.  It would be a bit less useful for those moms using the smaller bottles, so I always recommend just buying the bigger bottles in the beginning if you're planning on using Enfamil.  The company also sells pre-measured powder formula packets.  Those are GREAT for a diaper bag.  I highly recommend it.  

The Kirkland brand of formula at Costco looks and acts exactly like Similac right down to the clumpy mess that it makes.  While it is a very good value for the price, I haven't bought more simply because of the mess that it makes.  However, if you're feeding your baby Similac and want to save some money, get yourself a Costco membership and stock up on this product!  The savings alone will make the membership fee worth it!

The Target brand was basically the same as the Kirkland brand.  It looks and acts exactly like Similac with a savings of almost half!  It's great if you're in an economic pinch and need something to get you through until payday!

Sorry if the writing is poor.  My daughter is crawling all over the place and it has literally taken me all day to finish this!

I also wanted to add that if you use Similac or Enfamil, you can go to their websites and sign up for their clubs.  As a member of these clubs, they will send you $5 off coupons practically every month.  Every little bit helps!

My Story

My journey to formula feeding seems to be pretty common.  I had every intention of breast feeding my daughter for at least the first six months of her life.  I bought books, talked to my breast feeding friends and thought I had a good grasp on the whole thing.  How hard could it be?  Women have been doing this since the beginning of time! 

Then it came time to put all of my knowledge to work.  

The first few weeks of motherhood are rough, especially for brand new mothers.  I exclusively breast fed my daughter for the first two weeks.  She never seemed to get enough to eat.  Because she kept losing weight, we kept having to take her to the doctor (Something that made me cringe!  Do you know what kind of germs lurk in medical centers in the middle of winter?!).  Eventually it got bad enough that she became dehydrated, and lost over 10% of her body weight.  She faced hospitalization because I absolutely would not consider supplementing her with formula.  I finally agreed to temporarily supplement with formula.  I felt a tremendous sense of guilt and failure for doing so.  I couldn't provide enough milk for my daughter to stay hydrated, let alone gain all of the wonderful nutrition from it.  In the following weeks I did everything breast feeding mama's are supposed to do when they have trouble.  I contacted lactation consultants, saw nurses, La Leche League, and re-read the books.  Nothing seemed to help.  My supply just wasn't enough for my daughter, and I had to make the command decision to switch permanently to formula.  As soon as I did that, the most amazing things happened.....she slept through the night....she smiled.....she was a happy, well-fed baby.  

However, I felt the need to hide how I was feeding my daughter.  My husband, mother-in-law, and friends were all pro-breast feeding.....and some even went as far as saying that formula was bad or poison for babies.  I couldn't tell them that I thought I had already failed my daughter by not producing what she needed.  Eventually I came to the conclusion that I should not feel shame for giving my daughter what she needed through means other than my body.

Now, my little girl is crawling, babbling, laughing, curious, beautiful.....all of the things that children SHOULD be.

I needed support in those early days.  There was none to be found. 

Let's change that!

Very First Post!

Hello all!

This has been a long time coming. 

 I always thought I was alone in wishing there was support for Mother's making "the switch" from breast feeding to formula feeding.  After a particularly rude run in with a few breast feeding bullies on a message board I frequent, I decided to start a thread of my own, dedicated solely to supporting Mom's who formula feed their children.  18 pages later, I felt empowered to get the message out to the masses!  We are mothers feeding our children!  We shouldn't feel bad about giving our little ones the nourishment they need!

This blog is dedicated to giving information and support for Mothers who formula feed.  Keep checking back for updates and information.