Like everything else for baby, there are many choices in the bottle arena. Many people talk about Dr. Browns bottles, how they are great for gas and just all around wonderful bottles. Personally, I don't get it. There are 5 parts to each bottle: nipple, lid, bottle itself and a two piece vent system. You need a special little brush to clean the vent system. Also milk gets inside the inner tube and if you don't open the bottle to drain the milk, it leaks. I have tried several Dr. Browns including the 4oz, 9oz tall and 8oz wide. They all have the same problems. Why did I keep buying, you ask? Well, the 4's are a waste of money in my opinion. Yes, when the baby was little he only needed 4oz at a time, but that stage passed after a few months and now the 4oz-ers are packed away. There is no reason why you can't buy the bigger sizes and just fill them half way. Incidentally my nanny does not like the Dr. Browns either. She has been a nanny for over 30 years so she knows her stuff.
The other bottle I use is Born Free. I like it a lot better, the leaking problem is not there. It too has 5 parts to clean but the flat vent system is very easy to deal with both washing by hand and in the dishwasher. No special tools needed.
At this point in the game, with the baby approaching 8 months, I won't be trying anything new in the bottle arena. I do recommend stocking up on bottles so that you are not washing them constantly, and again, avoid the smaller sizes. They are a waste of money.
Of course don't make the same mistake I did (see previous post on things I've learned along the way). Buy some dishwasher baskets as soon as possible and throw all bottle parts right in there on the sterilize cycle! It's 2010 people!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Things I Wish I Knew
It has been months since I've had time to post. Working full time and taking care of a baby is hard! I have a lot of thoughts about the whole issue but I always have them when I don't have time or desire to put them down. Thus I find myself typing this during the last ten mintues of work, while I sit at my desk and pump.
Sitting at my desk and pumping is NOT FUN. Pumping while working in general is a nightmare. It's very hard to find two consistent opportunities throughout the day, let alone in private. I have found myself pumping in front of my boss, my coworkers, my MALE coworkers at times, and currently right at this moment in front of one of my female employees. Thankfully she is across the room and I am not exposed in any way. I have also been walked in on by various people on many occasions. Throughout all this, during the past 5 months or so of doing this, I have only managed to forget my pump once and my flanges twice. One of those two times was today. So I sit here pumping one side at a time, with the spare flange that I bought last time I forgot my flanges, to keep in the office for just such occasions.
Pumping one side at a time brings me full cirlce to the topic of this post. When I first started pumping I was doing one breast at a time, for like an hour every night. What!?? I even have a double pump. I was doing one at a time because I didn't want to hold both flanges at once. Eventually before going back to work I bought some stupid Pumping Pal contraption that hangs around your neck to hold the flanges up. Not comfortable, not convenient to carry around. Finally one of my friends found out about this craziness and .... DUH.... PUMPING BRA! Hands free! Two at a time! Can't live without it, especially now that I pump four f$%*& times a day!!!
Another thing that I slap myself in the head about: dish washer basket. For MONTHS AND MONTHS I was washing nipples and odd bottle parts by hand. It never even occurred to me to buy a contraption to use in the dish washer. Dish washer baskets are cheap and fit many nipples, spoons, tiny little lids, etc. Now the only things I wash by hand are lids, because they take up too much space and fit together in such a way that they don't all get clean. I still absolutely hate the whole bottle washing process, what with all of the parts to each fancy bottle. On average my bottles all have five or more parts: Born Free for example have lids, nipples, a two piece vent system, and the bottle itself. However the baskets really do help. One Step Ahead is a great catalog and they have these little mesh bag type things that fit a lot of various parts, pacis, etc.
And now it's 4:02 and I'm out of time!
Sitting at my desk and pumping is NOT FUN. Pumping while working in general is a nightmare. It's very hard to find two consistent opportunities throughout the day, let alone in private. I have found myself pumping in front of my boss, my coworkers, my MALE coworkers at times, and currently right at this moment in front of one of my female employees. Thankfully she is across the room and I am not exposed in any way. I have also been walked in on by various people on many occasions. Throughout all this, during the past 5 months or so of doing this, I have only managed to forget my pump once and my flanges twice. One of those two times was today. So I sit here pumping one side at a time, with the spare flange that I bought last time I forgot my flanges, to keep in the office for just such occasions.
Pumping one side at a time brings me full cirlce to the topic of this post. When I first started pumping I was doing one breast at a time, for like an hour every night. What!?? I even have a double pump. I was doing one at a time because I didn't want to hold both flanges at once. Eventually before going back to work I bought some stupid Pumping Pal contraption that hangs around your neck to hold the flanges up. Not comfortable, not convenient to carry around. Finally one of my friends found out about this craziness and .... DUH.... PUMPING BRA! Hands free! Two at a time! Can't live without it, especially now that I pump four f$%*& times a day!!!
Another thing that I slap myself in the head about: dish washer basket. For MONTHS AND MONTHS I was washing nipples and odd bottle parts by hand. It never even occurred to me to buy a contraption to use in the dish washer. Dish washer baskets are cheap and fit many nipples, spoons, tiny little lids, etc. Now the only things I wash by hand are lids, because they take up too much space and fit together in such a way that they don't all get clean. I still absolutely hate the whole bottle washing process, what with all of the parts to each fancy bottle. On average my bottles all have five or more parts: Born Free for example have lids, nipples, a two piece vent system, and the bottle itself. However the baskets really do help. One Step Ahead is a great catalog and they have these little mesh bag type things that fit a lot of various parts, pacis, etc.
And now it's 4:02 and I'm out of time!
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