Tippee Bottle, 5 oz, 3 Count

With the birth of our second son, my husband and I had developed a few preferences about bottles after our experience with our first son; namely that they be easy-to-clean, 3 parts or less (i.e. bottle, nipple, ring), not leak, and vent easily to prevent nipple collapse. Of utmost importance though, was that our child be as comfortable with a bottle as well as the breast. We used the Playtex Drop-In Nursers with our first son, and although he seamlessly went bottle to breast with them, we didn't want to continually have to buy the liners with our second son. Our second son, unfortunately, had a tongue tie and a slight lip tie at birth but successfully breastfed for 6 weeks in light of it. At 6 weeks we had his tongue tie snipped by our ENT to relieve some of the nipple pain I was having, but we agreed to leave the slight lip tie alone, as it was not causing problems at the breast even though his latch was still a bit shallow, with time it would stretch to normal. Never did we dream that his insignificant lip tie would get in the way of transitioning him from breast to bottle. When it came time to transition him to a bottle for daycare and my pending return to work, we tried what we had on hand, leftover from his big brother's weaning stage; cheap, basic, Gerber and Parent's Choice bottles, which ended up being too fast for him even with a slow flow nipple. We then tried the Avent Classic I had received as a free gift with a Motherhood Maternity purchase while pregnant... it was a good bottle, with a decent slow flow, but we could tell our son wasn't crazy about it, nor was I crazy about the added ring to clean. So late one night I logged on to Amazon and ordered all the bottles recommended for breastfed babies, that fit our standards of few parts, easy-to-clean, etc. We ended up trying several brands: MimiJumi, which I loved for being a 2 part bottle and really looking "most like mom", but my son had issues with his tied upper lip curling under when he latched on to the MimiJumi nipple. Ironically enough, he accepted the MimiJumi prior to having his tongue tie clipped, so maybe it is good bottle for tongue tied babies or babies with a textbook perfect latch? Next we tried the Lansinoh mOmma , as it also looked "most like mom" and I had high hopes for it's silky soft breast like nipple, but like the MimiJumi, his tied upper lip would curl under, so it's another bottle I would only recommend for perfect latch babies. We then moved on to trying the Nuk Trendline and Mam bottles, reputed for their extremely slow flow, which I think is great for pro-formula caregivers who consistently overfeed breastfed babies, but they ended up being too slow for my son, who had already adjusted to my strong letdown at the breast. I also wasn't crazy about the Mam being a multi-part bottle, with the venting system on the bottom - there was too much risk of water leaking into the bottle if you choose to warm the bottle of milk sitting in hot water. So on we moved to the Medela breastfeeding bottle, which is basically a standard bottle with a standard nipple, perhaps a bit longer than Gerber nipples, and we found them to have the fastest flow of all the bottles we have tried (surprisingly!), they drowned our little man in milk. So with some trepidation I pulled out the last bottle I purchased to try, a Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature bottle, before I was going to throw in the towel and purchase the Playtex Drop In Nursers and set myself up for a year of buying liners..... I couldn't have been more pleased to see my little man take to the Tommee Tippee as easily as he did the breast! I was so relieved, so thank you Tommee Tippee for making a hassle free bottle that breastfeeding babes with not-so-perfect latches will take. I have since bought two of the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature newborn starter sets for my son, and I am equally impressed with the bottle brush and formula dispensers (that fit right into the bottle) that were included with my purchase. Although I breastfeed primarily, I am not such a breastfeeding Nazi that I won't give my children the random bottle of formula, so the little formula dispensers that fit right in the bottle, make giving a formula bottle on-the-go nearly as easy as popping out the boob! I am truly impressed with the Tommee Tippee brand, although my guy wouldn't take the free paci included in the newborn set.. he's given me another run for my money there, he prefers the old style "most like mother" Playtex Binky. Had a few leftover from his older brother that he latched on to, before I realized they have been discontinued, and the remaining stock is selling for $30-70 on Amazon and eBay. Gads! I can't win with this child... it's going down in his baby book as my most expensive breastfed baby.. HA HA! But again, Tommee Tippee is the best in my book!