Not BF- best bottles??

[lennyisnuts]

I am currently 5 months pregnant and due to complicated auto immune disease will not be able to breast feed when baby is here due to post partum flare ups and medications. It's been a bit of an emotional subject but I am now at peace with the idea of formula feeding and have started doing a bit of research into the best bottles etc.
The problem I have is there seems to be SO many different types and fancy preparation gadgets that I'm not sure are with it or not?
What bottles have other people uses and has any got the Tommee Tippie perfect prep machine that people seem to rave about? Is it really that good?
Thanks!

I have quite a few different brands but my newborn only likes his
"Mam anti colic bottles" and the "NUK anti colic bottles." He wont drink from any others, Havent tryed the prep machine but i do want one as heard good things about it.

www.mamonlineshop.com/acatalog/FB0401-Anti-Colic-160ml-1pk-2017-NEW-DESIGNS-493.html#SID=23

The prep machine is a godsend at 3am! I don't use mine anymore (DS is 4months, sleeps through and has milk like clockwork everyday) but I am keeping it in the cupboard for any time he decides to break 😂
I use Tommee Tippee bottles and have never had a problem. A friends baby hated TT ones and only liked MAM bottles. Sometimes it's just finding what baby likes.

Dr Brown bottles for me - recommended by another mom who fosters she said that none of her babies had ever had colic and she felt these were the best - I agree had I colic issues with baby - great bottles highly recommend. Yes to the perfect prep as well so long as you clean it regularly and use the TT filters you will be fine. Good luck!

As a nanny, I always found Philips Avent to work best with all babies I’ve cared for. And in contrast, I’ve never had a baby who liked Tommee Tippee ones!

MAM bottles are brilliant because you can sterilise them in the microwave in 30 seconds, and my daughter took to them. Also the Medela Calma bottles - very expensive but baby didn't bat an eyelid when given one at 10-ish days old, so I think their claims about mimicking BF might have some merit.

If I end up FF again I'd definitely invest in a Perfect prep machine

Really depends on your baby’s mouth! My first son had an incredibly high palette (as well as tongue tie) so a lot of bottles didn’t work for him as well as others. Other babies have a much smaller mouth so it’s easier to suck, but teat the wrong shape or size. Sorry!

Yes to perfect prep, we have 1 upstairs and 1 downstairs 😄

Whatever bottles you buy, only get a starter pack of a couple of bottles. In the early days you'll be able to wash & sterilize quickly enough and you won't waste money if baby doesn't like them. I've used MAM bottles (although they take 3 minutes to sterilize in the microwave, not 30 seconds as PP have said). You don't need a separate sterilizer too.

The perfect prep is great, really useful for the middle of the night. You can replicate it by having cooled boiled water ready each day and just putting a small amount of hot water in the powder, then topping up with cooled water. The prep is less fuss though.

I'm another 1 who had 2 perfect prep, upstairs and in the kitchen.
Dr Brown bottles.

Wow thanks so much for advice- looks like the perfect prep machine is a winner!
I do like the sound of the MAM bottles but I think a good idea just to get starter pack to begin with!
Thanks so much everyone

A word on the mam bottles - they come apart completely and I'm getting very annoyed about leaks!

I've got TT and Dr Brown's from DS. He had reflux so we switched to the Dr Brown's ones and had no issues. Went back to TT when he grew out of the reflux as they were less faffy to clean.

I have DD now, she's 7wks. She's such a messy drinker, it's so frustrating! Have tried the TT and Dr Brown's bottles but have ended up with Mam's as she seemed less messy with those. And she's still going through a muslin a feed. Sigh.

I wish I wasn't using the Mam bottles tbh! Have bought 5 now though so determined to get use out of them!

Definitely the MAM bottles! They are awesome! We got the tiny one free on our boots card and they were the only ones my daughter took too and she is now 5 months (as an aside sign up for the boots baby club you get some brilliant offers). MAM recently did an ambassador thing where they sent out free products too which was brill.
I also recommend the perfect prep machine, it has been great in the middle of the night.

We had TT with first and Dr Browns with youngest. TT ones are cheap, but they really didn't last. With Dr Browns they were still in good condition when we got rid of them. I honestly don't think either of them make a bit of difference with colic, reflux etc.

Mam self-sterilising bottles and perfect prep machine for us! Used Aptamil formula but changed to Aldi mamia which was also great (and cheap!). Used ready made aptamil for ease out and about.

I beat myself up a lot about breastfeeding not working out (due to illness) and got very emotional about it. Which was silly actually, because DS is now 1 and a very happy, healthy little boy, thank goodness. Formula feeding is perfectly acceptable, I wish I hadn't wasted so much time getting upset about our failed breastfeeding experience.

Another vote for the MAM ones. My DS has reflux and the MAM ones really helped.

Plus I didn't have to buy a steriliser because they just go in the microwave. If I went out to a friend's or relatives house I didn't need to take loads of clean bottles with me. I could just wash and re-sterilise the same one using their microwave.

@toasterstrudle
I have cried the past week (especially since the breastfeeding programme the other day) about not BF but the reality is if I BF and don't take the drugs I need to take then I could become critically ill or die and that would be so much worse for baby than not BF. Since I've realised this my whole perspective on formula feeding has changed and I feel very lucky that it exists and gives me the opportunity to enjoy the early stages as much as possible!

Yes sorry, it's 3 minutes not 30 seconds - it just feels like 30 seconds when you initially persevered with a steam steriliser that seems like it takes FOREVER with a screaming hungry baby :-)

Not sure if they still do it but when I joined Boots parenting club, you got a voucher for a free first size MAM bottle. But on Amazon the packs of 3 are very cheap. However make sure the taller MAM bottles fit in your microwave! I turned up at a friend's house and couldn't sterilise because they didn't fit! Bit of a rookie error.

Echo pp thoughts on FF - wish I hadn't wasted so much brainspace beating myself up about doing it, we combination fed but should really have just gone to 100% formula. It saved my sanity (and my nipples), and tbh my baby preferred it! She only breastfed to humour me by the end.

We use MAM anti-colic bottles for expressed milk- have to say they've been really good for us as DS had no colic issues, accepted the teat easily and the ultimate bonus is that you can sterilise these bottles in a microwave without the need for special bags or prep beyond washing them. Would thoroughly recommend them.

Has no one else had trouble with their MAM bottles leaking?!

Are you making sure the white ring is pushed down properly and the thread is clean? If there is water underneath the white ring that'll drip out but otherwise no (except when DMIL was babysitting and didn't realise the bottom unscrewed. She lost 5oz of EBM - SO glad I did more than needed and I wasn't there, probably would have cried).

If definitely go for anti collic bottles and get the perfect prep machine. It’s a safe and easy way to get the milk to the correct temperature and ensure that the powder is sterilised. It’s a life saver at 3am! Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!

Yep I've been doing that! I must not have done it properly..since I've been vigilant it hasn't happened for a while. Surprised no one else has mentioned it though, it's VERY annoying!

Maybe you have faulty bottles?

I use MAM bottles for my 6 month old. I haven't really had any issues with them leaking thankfully.

As bobbiepin said, only time our MAM bottles leaked it was because of our error... also expressed breast milk and I did cry!! (But have never done it again!!)

Just to add to the debate I went to an NHS ante-natal session the other day and they advised against the perfect prep due to hygiene concerns.