baby bottles (aka stupid f'ing Avent) archived

You know it's never a good sign when a baby bottle company has to include "how do I keep your bottles from leaking?" in its website's FAQs, but there's Avent for you. I used them when my daughter was an infant and remember having occasional bottle leaks but nothing like I've had the past two months with my son: I am apparently incapable of making a bottle that doesn't spew as soon as you tip it back to upright during a feeding.

The general concensus seems to be "don't tighten them too tight", but for me it's a fine line and the opposite of too tight is too loose, which also leaks. I also don't believe that I should have to search for the plastic nipple's "sweet spot" when my infant is crying, my toddler's chasing the cat, the dog is peeing on the floor, and I'm trying to get a bottle ready using just one hand and half a brain. As a result I've had leaks galore -- when it's formula I resent having that sticky stank smelling stuff all over the place, but when it's breastmilk I feel like I'm spilling liquid gold.

So, I've got two main questions:
(1) Have other people had this atrocious experience, and if so is there some hidden skill to this that I haven't yet uncovered?
(2) Even though I've got a pantry full of Avent bottles and accessories, I'm thinking of scrapping it all and starting fresh with a new brand. We're going on vacation later this month and I can't stand the thought of me leaving sticky puddles all around the tourist attractions for an entire week. Am I going to have to test a few new brands before I find one my son will take to, or do kids adapt to this stuff pretty easily? And either way, are there any specific brands I should look into?

I'm going back some 4 years since i've used Avent but I only ever used them and loved them. Yes, I did get leaks until I found that if you put the top on, rotate it in the opposite direction a half a rotation (I think I remember hearing a click, or maybe not!!) and then turn it the right way until it tightens. but don't "overtighten" it. When doing it this way they never leaked again.

I hope this helps.

Don't ask me why I started doing this, but it definitely worked for me.

Blue, We use Avent bottles/warmer/sterilyzer and have not had a problem these last two months. With my luck when it comes to any consumer product(95% bad), we soon will have an issue. I almost wish that I had missed this thread now. Just asked Mrs. Foley if she has had a prob. with bottles. She said no.

NOW I AM SUCKED INTO THIS (No pun intended). KEEP ME POSTED

We had the pantry full of Advent crap that we gave up on for our boys. I hated them beyond belief personally. We found the playtex nipples that go with with the disposable bags to work great for us. Those nipples were readily accepted and we had no "breast nipple rejection" issues ever - both boys would happily feed from boobs or bottles interchangeably.

Only very occasionally would I get a leak with this system, and usually it was solved by simply taking the cap off and putting it back on.

I forgot how much I hated those Advents.

Avent worked great for my first son, but #2 refused any kind of bottle except Dr. Browns. Since he was mostly breastfed we only bought a few of them. He's completely weaned; if you want to try them (and keep them) just let me know and I can drop them off or leave them out for you.

Its been over 6 years now but I used the Aevnt system with my son and loved it.

I also have a bagful of 8 oz Dr Browns that a girlfriend gave me. I have had no issue with the Avent, but we are still using the small 4 oz bottles, not the the 8 oz.

If you try Amie's and decide you like the Dr Browns, you can have our bagful, too.

good luck!

I have the same problem and do exactly what SOParent said to. You have to unscrew, 1/2 a turn counterclockwise, you hear a click but also feel it settle into the groove, then tighten. If it makes you feel any better, I too have had lovely formula leaks all over the baby, me, rug, sofa, etc....Always really nice when you're not home and the smell lingers on you throughout the day! Baby is 8 months, and used to them, so I just try to remember to be sure they're on right.
Must admit, I am very glad that I am not just spastic and that it is a real problem!

I also had problems with Avent bottles leaking, and I don't understand why they remain so popular when there's such an obvious flaw.

We've been using the Platex drop-ins. I hate the idea of the additional waste created with the liners, but I don't have to wash the bottles out as thoroughly, so maybe it saves some hot water. I know Pathmark and Target both sell generic version of the liners.
One problem is that it's hard to tell how much baby has eaten, because of the way the liners collapse as they eat (and I don't think it really reduces gas).

Ah, I just caught this thread after making a leaky Avent bottle. I find that it leaks when using formula but now that the baby is drinking whole milk (we're out today), I almost never have a leak. Sometimes the formula gets stuck around the rim of the bottle so I wipe it clean and do the little trick that SOParent and zippy use. Good luck!

Another vote for the playtex drop-in system. Both of my breastfed boys had no problems going back and forth.

srp--the easiest way to tell how much baby has eaten is to turn the bottle upside down to check how much milk is still in the liner.

Thank you everyone! This was definitely a 1-AM-sticky-hands-just-spilled-formula-everywhere-and-losing-my-mind kind of post, I'm glad it's not just me who's flinging formula, and lord knows my son is plenty skilled at making messes on his own, he doesn't need me adding to it all. Last night I pictured trying to tolerate this for another year or so and realized it's just not worth it, it's time to make a change!

SOParent & zippy -- I know exactly the technique you mean because my partner has totally mastered the backward twist but I never get the same result! Even with my daughter I remember countless times I'd hand him a wet, sticky bottle and go "YOU do it!!". But with our son even he has trouble getting that magic touch.

Matt -- I hope you don't fall into the Avent curse (and I hope I haven't jinxed you). I learned this morning that if you google "avent leaks" you'll see that this is an extremely common problem, I agree with srp that it's hard to see why they're so popular when so many reviews involve the fact that so many variables seem to cause the leaks. Are you using the bottles for formula, or for breastmilk? Because I think wbwallflower may have helped partly crack the code about why some of us have had problems and others haven't, as well as why I'm having so many more problems this time around than last time. I definitely have more problems with formula, and we're using a different brand this time than last time. My daughter would only drink Bright Beginnings, which I remember feeling more powdery, but my son prefers Similac, which seems grittier to me and would definitely contribute to the problem more if it's on the rim of the bottle. This would also explain why it seems like the leaks are always worse when I'm in a rush -- I had chalked it up to Murphy's law, but clearly that's when I'm more likely to spill the powder and contribute to the leakage.

Thanks also for the recommendations on the bottles. I'm tempted by the Dr. Browns because I've heard such good things about them but I think I'll start with the Playtex -- we have yet to find a good solution for the hard water residue in the dishwasher (that's a whole other MOL thread, literally) so now I'm re-washing all the bottles after they're washed to get the filmy white crud off. Maybe I can kill two problematic birds with one stone by switching to the disposable liners.

just wait until the fun of leaking sippy cups...nothing like spilled apple juice in a hot car

and if you were breastfeeding, there would still likely be 1am leaking! :shamed::wink:

oh - have you tried Glass Magic? small green box, Kings etc.
works for us...suggested right here on MOL

After leaking baby bottles and sippy cups you get giant spilled glasses of chocolate milk on the TV room rug!

Because they were always allowed to drink milk out of a sippy cup while they watched a video, they expect to drink milk out a plastic cup (no top) while they watch a video now. My 6 year old has spilled oh so many times I want to scream!

Glad or Ziplock made these sort of semi-disposable cups about 5 years ago....they have been discontinued unfortunately. They are a regular sized cup with a plastic snap-on lid and a gasketed hole to slide your own straw through. Pure genius for the 4-6 year olds. My last lid to the cups bit the dust last year - I am so sad.

Trust me, the joys of sippy cups are not lost on me. My daughter's on 22 months old and somehow we got her living a life where she uses a totally different cup for every possible fluid: a straw cup for her water, one size avent sippy for her juice, another for the water she takes to bed, and a totally different kind of cup for her milk. Her father's eager to add a no-top cup to the mix soon, but that's because he's not home with her all day -- he's the same guy who was eager for her to start crawling and walking since he didn't appreciate the simple beauty of being able to put a child down somewhere for a minute and have them still be in that same spot when you get back.

I'm also all too familiar with the 1 AM leaks! That's one of the things that bugs me most about the Avent bottles -- bad enough to get stinky formula all over me and him, but if I'm going to spend the time pumping then I want every molecule of every ounce of breastmilk going in that baby! So many times lately I've had the bottle swaddled in a cloth diaper to catch all the extra ooze, and that's just sort of sad.

I keep looking for Glass Magic but haven't seen it at the store, I'll have to recheck that other thread and see where specifically I should look. Vinegar helped, but not for long, as did the Jet Dry dishwasher cleaner.

Once we learned not to overtighten, we stopped having so many problems with the Avent, and still use them for our twins. But you'd think the company would come up with a better solution.

One thought...are you using the same nipples that you used for your older child? If so, you might try new ones (our kids are 7 years apart, so we bought all new nipples).

Best of luck. If the Avents don't work for you, give 'em to a shelter and start over. Life is just too short to hate babybottles!

Actually, for my first child, we used avents at home, and used playtex drop-ins for a couple of long air trips. With the twins, we haven't been brave enough to fly yet, so haven't done that, but our babies drink from at least 4 different kinds of bottles, thanks to gifts, freebies, etc. They all work.

We started with Avent bottles with my son, but he hated every kind of bottle/nipple, so we didn't stick with them for long. But we did have the leakage problem. Now that our much more agreeable baby #2 is here, the problem is back. My husband (who gives the bottles) seems to have mastered the tightening trick, but the times i prepare the bottles for him, i have to test it over and over again until it doesn't leak. I didn't know about the half-twist - i hope that's the trick for me!

And btw - with my son, we did finally settle on the Playtex drop-ins, but i also didn't like not being able to tell right away how much milk was in them. And after my son grabbed the bottle from the daycare provider's hand and spilled breastmilk all over the floor the first time, i wasn't so fond of them anymore. I really want to stick with Avents because they're easily transportable (unlike drop-ins, which i'd never trust pre-filled in an insulated bag), and there aren't as many parts to wash as Dr. Browns.

I did replace the old nipples since the first batch were used by my daughter and then by my nephew, but it didn't seem to help. So, we tried the inaugural run with the Playtex drop-ins while I was out yesterday and couldn't be happier. The baby accepted the silcone nipple even better than he had with the Avent (no more gumming it or pushing it around with his tongue before finally giving in and suckling), and I acted like a complete idiot over the stupidly simple joy of having a leak free bottle. You'd think from my reaction that a bottle that screws shut and actually holds liquid in is some sort of magical space age technology, but it's such a relief to know we can grab a bottle on the run and not end up wishing we'd brought a roll of paper towels with us as well. Another bright side is that our daughter can add "bottle shaking" to her list of things she does to be a helpful big sister now that we know she won't end up spraying the house with formula when she does it.

I can see that it's sort of a pain to see how much is left in the bottle, though I did also see a model that included a little push up bottom on the bottle so you can compress the plastic as it empties, maybe I'll add that to my nice small collection of Playtex stuff now that I can put the dozen Avents in the donation pile.

And when they're all grow up you get full glasses of red wine spilled on white carpet........

(no human children in this house, although Mr. Tabby 's balance with the wine goblet can cause messes! )

Obviously, I'm coming in late here, but I'm also throwing in my vote for the Playtex. Used it for #2 and #3 and really loved it. Certainly cut down on the time and effort of washing bottles all the time. Once you get the hang of them, it's not that hard to tell how much baby has taken. In no time at all he'll be drinking them dry, so there won't be any trouble gaging how much he's had then. I also found they traveled well--particularly since it's a heck of a lot easier to pack a bunch of the inserts and a couple of bottles, than it is to pack a bunch of bottles. I had a couple with push-up bottom and found them to be kind of useless. But it you're in the mood for a new gadget, it certainly can't hurt.

Hhhmmm, you have me very tempted to get a trial Playtex Drop-Ins...

I do miss that Avent was the only bottle company I knew of that made an 11 ounce bottle, which was nice for long days out or especially gluttonous children, but we're now a couple of days into the switch and still loving the Playtex (plus with only a few bottles and a box of liners there's way more space in my kitchen cabinet now). Give them a shot zippy -- my son's only 2 months old so I'm gonna end up adding bottles and liners to my collection anyway, if you try them and don't like them I'll gladly buy your leftover stuff. You can't lose! :wink:

My son is almost 9 months and a glutton. I am thinking I may stick it out for him. All of his bottle are 8 oz plus... but when it comes time for #2, the Avents are going to charity and I'll try the Playtex! We'll see. I get into a buying fugue state in Babies R Us and purchase all kinds of crap I never knew I needed, so I may end up with the new bottles anyway!

I wondered if you'd go for it with an 8+ month old, but I just saw a 3 year old drinking from a bottle when I was at the pediatrician's office last week so if you also had some long term plan to send your kids to college drinking out of Playtex drop-ins, I certainly wasn't going to judge!

We have one playtex bottle with the push-up bottom. We normally warm bottles by plopping them in a glass of warm water. That particular bottle doesn't fit in a normal glass, because of the button, so I almost never use it.

To college with a binky and a bottle and his mum to take care of him!

"I get into a buying fugue state in Babies R Us and purchase all kinds of crap I never knew I needed, "
:rolling:

so true!

of course, we really DON'T need all that crap, but I can't help myself, either!

I know that feeling. My obsession was with strollers. At one point I think I may have had 4 or 5 at once.

I feel better knowing that I am not alone

We used Avent for about two days before realizing they were poorly designed. We switched to another brand, but I'm blanking on the name right now.