Medela Breastmilk Bottles: Freeing Nursing Mothers Everywhere!

Being a nursing mom doesn’t mean you can’t leave baby at home every once and awhile—you gotta get your hair done and shop sometime! To make these quick getaways stressfree, look for the best feeding products like Medela’s 8-oz Breastmilk Bottles ($16.99 for set of 3).

Older babies will find them particularly comfortable: Not only are the bottles larger, but the flow is slightly faster. Even better for mom, the bottles attach right onto the company’s breast pumps so you can use them to store milk. And the set—which includes three bottles, nipples and travel caps—is 100 percent BPA-free!

– Kristen

Comments

elen on December 6th, 2009

these are the worst choice ever for nursing babies (especially under a month) since they aren’t even remotely like the breast, love their pumps but hate their bottles

mrsh on December 6th, 2009

elen – I had heard that. I know someone who had to pump for a short while in the first two-months, because she was going to be unable to nurse. She used these bottles, assuming they would be good having come with her pump, and the baby ended up with nipple confusion and was never able to properly latch onto the breast again. She ended up needing to bottle-feed him and was very sad about it.

UggaMugga.com on December 6th, 2009

Elen, I was just coming to add that same comment!

These are not good for breastfeeding mothers. There are so many other brands out there that mimic a breast/nipple so much better! I love my Medela pump, but would never use these bottles…or recommend them for anyone who nurses!

marfmom on December 6th, 2009

I hate the headline: “Freeing Nursing Mothers Everywhere.” Give me a break. Yes, there are days I felt tied down while I nursed my son. But now that I’m formula feeding him, I find that much more cumbersome than nursing was.

Don’t get me wrong, I pumped plenty when I was breastfeeding, especially months 2-4 when I was still getting the hang of breastfeeding in public and didn’t feel comfortable doing so. I just take issue with ads that make breastfeeding seem difficult or cumbersome.

Mags on December 6th, 2009

Amen, Marfmom! I also resent the notion that the only reason a nursing mom might leave the house sans baby is to get a hair cut or go shopping.

fuzibuni on December 6th, 2009

the reviewer is right… these are best for older babies because of the faster flow. but they are also better for babies who are exclusively bottle fed due to the nipple type.

sml1771 on December 6th, 2009

My Wife purchased the Medela breast pump once my son was born this past July. So needless to say we also purchased several of the Medela bottles. We didn’t have much luck with them to be honest. The faster flow made a mess all over my son’s face and chin whenever we fed him. Also, we tried buying different size nipples but quickly found out that Medela no longer made the specific size nipples for our bottle (they switched to a new wider size). So in order for the new nipples we bought to fit, we would have had to purchase all new bottle rings for the nipples to fit/screw into (we called Medela, they said they would send us new rings, but they never did). I hate to say it, but we were both sorry we made the decision to use Medela. We have since switched to Dr. Brown’s and have had great success. If anyone is interested in purchasing some slightly used Medela bottles, I’d be more than happy to sell them.

Ana M. Hill on December 6th, 2009

1. Breastfeeding mothers are not not tied down, stuck, or enslaved. They do not need to be “freed”. Seriously…
2. Faster flow is NOT a benefit to babies. It contributes to flow preference, loss of the breastfeeding relationship, and eating way too fast. Babies (even older babies) benefit from slow flow nipples when they must use bottles for whatever reason.

MontanaMomma on December 6th, 2009

Can anyone recommend a good bottle for breastfed babies? I have struggled with various bottles through all three of my children on the nights we leave them with Grandma. Even the slowest flow nipples are way too fast for them. I think the problem is that they have to work for the milk when nursing and are used to sucking with such power that they end up choking. My latest bottle attempt was actually the new Medela bottles. I had high hopes because I like the Medela pumps, but just like the above posters, I had terrible luck with them. I’ve also tried the Adiri Nursers, Mam bottles, Momo, Born Free, Green to Grow, and the Dex MilkBank bottles.

MontanaMomma on December 6th, 2009

One more thing I wanted to mention. Like a few people stated before, nursing moms are not captives and don’t need to be freed! I actually feel more free as a nursing mom. Perhaps others feel freer as bottle-feeding moms, but I hardly think that nursing moms are in need of liberation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to be able to leave the baby once in awhile, secure in the knowledge that they will have pumped milk available to them. I just don’t think it’s accurate to portray nursing mothers in need of freedom from their babies. I realize we all have unique circumstances to contend with, however, I wouldn’t want to be separated from my young infants any longer than the space between feedings anyway. They are tiny infants for so short a period of time and for me, it’s a sacrifice worth making to be close by for the first few months.

marfmom on December 7th, 2009

MontanaMomma, my breastfed son had good luck with the Avent bottles. They come BPA-free now too. They didn’t appear to cause much gas and he had no problem going between them and the breast.

Tyd on December 7th, 2009

MontanaMomma, I also use the Avent bottles for my breastfeed son but he can’t handle the teats on them. I bought the Pigeon newborn teats (wide size to go with the Avent bottles) and he’s been using those for months (8 months old at Christmas) now and they work really well for him.

MontanaMomma on December 7th, 2009

Thank you for the bottle feedback. I actually tried Avent with my first child and had moderate success. Maybe I will try them again. I am not sure where to find Pigeon bottles. Do you know if they are available in the United States?

Has anyone tried the Breasflow bottles made by The First Years/Learning Curve? I’ve heard these are pretty good but have been hesitant to try because I’ve also heard that so many of the others I’ve tested were good too! It’s nice to hear real-life experiences. All three of my children have been solely breastfed and would never take a pacifier, so I think it’s got to be a really excellent mimic of the breast for them to take it!

Caroline on December 7th, 2009

What a load of rubbish! Just because you’re a nursing mother doesn’t mean you need to be ‘freed’! How about taking your baby with you to the hairdresser or shops??? For goodness sake, I took my babies everywhere with me with no problems.

molly on December 7th, 2009

I am a nursing mother and I do not feel a need to be freed. I feel free to nurse and I am happy about it. I dont feel tied down, but I feel happy and lucky to have a baby. ANd if I need to go out, she usually goes with me. She even goes to the university with me ! This article ticks me off the wrong way.

As for the bottles, its actually not the problem of the bottle but the nipple. To those above, you need to select the nipple that is closest to your breast nipple. We used these bottles from the very start and we had a great success. I tried other bottles (not that i felt a need to experiment but we were getting them as gifts) and baby didn’t like them at all. Medela’s nipples are somehow comforting for my baby. The other nipples have round shape and baby doesn’t like them, she pushes them out of her mouth and lots of stuff leaks out.

dd on December 7th, 2009

To Montana Momma: I used the breastflow bottles with great success…I had to start supplementing my daughter at 2 weeks and she took the breastflows immediately. We tried an Adiri and she wouldn’t even latch to that. I was able to continue nursing her while supplementing probably 90 percent of her intake, so no nipple confusion for her. They can be a pain to clean but I am so thankful for these bottles.

eternalcanadian on December 7th, 2009

Caroline, why would anyone take a newborn to a hairshop when there’s all those chemicals and stuff floating around? My eyes water and I start to wheeze whenever I smell the haircolour and permanent solutions. Never mind the nail stuff. If I, as an adult with almost no allergies, have those kind of breathing problems in a hair salon how would that affect a newborn with a brand-new immune and breathing system? No, I think it is best to arrange for someone to look after the baby when one is at the beauty salon.

SweetDiva on December 7th, 2009

Children under the age of 6 probably shouldn’t be in a salon at all. There are chemicals used and the fumes can be very irritating for young lungs. In addition, there are all kinds of electrical cords to trip over, hair and clips on the floor to eat, and hot iron cords to pull and scald a kid. Not to mention that a salon experience should be relaxing. While you may be fine with your child, other clients do not want to hear your fretting baby or chatty toddler.
My grandma used to own a salon and unless a child was getting a service, children under age 15 were not allowed. Too much risk. Basically most salon owners would rather you leave baby at home.

Karen on December 7th, 2009

Funny – I was a nursing mother for almost 2 years and didn’t need bottles to get my hair cut or to shop. How ever did I survive?

Maybe you should consider the ethics of continuing to promote the misinformation about breastfeeding tieing a woman down.

Caroline on December 8th, 2009

If you don’t want to take your baby to the hair salon, how about popping around in between feeds, or having someone come to your house?

Interfering with a breastfeeding relationship in order to have your hair done seems a strange way of prioritising.

MontanaMomma on December 8th, 2009

There are other things nursing moms aspire to accomplish outside the home beyond shopping and getting our hair done! I’ve never had an issue nursing the baby, then leaving for a couple of hours, and if I had to be gone longer, returning home for twenty minutes to nurse again. It’s really not that difficult.

The pumping option for us has always been specific to date nights, when we would prefer to have a solid two to three hours to ourselves. I’m going to try the Breastflow bottles. Thank you dd #16! I just ordered them on Amazon with two day shipping in order to have them ready for Friday night! Crossing my fingers that they work better than the Medela Breastmilk bottles, or the slew of other bottles I’ve tried.

Kimberly on December 8th, 2009

This is the most ridiculous post I’ve ever seen!!! It only promotes bottle feeding, not breastfeeding. Breastfeeding moms are certaintly NOT tied down just because they are breastfeeding. Bottle feeding is a million times harder then breastfeeding and there are a million ways for women to nurse in public, completly covered and embarassment free. Formula is the worst thing you can feed your baby. Not only is it NOT regulated by any type of committee (like FDA), formula companies use algae and plant fungus to grow the probiotics they put in the formula. Using bottles is just a stepping stone for a women to stop breastfeeding and add formula to her baby’s diet. Awful!!! If you google Medela’s products, you will find that the majority of the breastfeeding community is very aganist Medela due to this reason: targeting breastfeeding moms to use bottles.

MontanaMomma on December 8th, 2009

I breastfeed. Let’s just get that out of the way. Obviously, I believe it to be a superior form of infant nutrition. At the same time, I realize that formula can be a necessity in some circumstances and I am not going to judge a mother for using it. I don’t walk in anyone’s shoes but my own. I do take major issue with formula itself, and the companies that make it. As Kimberly #22 said, formula is made in ways that most of us would cringe to know. It’s not good stuff beyond its capability of sustaining life. One can eat an apple or they can take a factory synthesized vitamin containing all the nutrients that an apple contains. Obviously it is preferable to eat the apple. And just like all vitamins are not created equal, neither is all formula.

There is no standard to which formula companies are held in synthesizing the nutrients it contains. Many different methods are used and some are questionable in nature. The vitamins and minerals that occur within our food naturally are different from the vitamins and minerals contained in formula and synthetic vitamin supplements. Whole food based vitamin supplements contain vitamins and minerals derived directly from food, for example, beta carotene, versus Vitamin A Palmitate. Formula is not whole food based. It is a collection of factory synthesized vitamins and minerals and food derived nutrients. Even the milk that formula contains is not the same as the milk that comes out of a cow, it is a synthesized milk product originally derived from cow’s milk. These companies are not bastions of morality, integrity, or thoughtful compassionate caring for our kids. They are looking at their bottom dollar and what is cheapest to manufacture.

We all know nowadays that eating foods in their “whole” or simplest forms is superior for health in major ways. My wish is that infant formula companies would create breastmilk replacements in ways that are more like the real deal by using whole foods and whole food derived vitamins and minerals. It might cost more, but aren’t our children worth it?

Check out these links for some more disturbing information about formula:
http://www.truthinlabeling.org/formulacopy.html

http://www.westonaprice.org/children/msgformula.html

Here is a list of common ingredients in infant formula:

Enzymatically hydrolyzed reduced minerals, whey protein concentrate, palm olein, soy, coconut, high-oleic safflower oils, lactose, maltodextrin, patoassium citrate, calcium phosphate, calcium chloride, salt, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, potassium iodide, soy lecithin, mono and diglycerides, inositol, choline bitartrate sodium ascorbate, alpha tocophyeryl acetate, naicinamide, calcum pantothenate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, phylloquinone, biotin, vitamin D3, vitamin B12, taurine,
L-carnitine

DeeDee on December 9th, 2009

I breastfed two children, both of whom came with me everywhere I went. I continued to breastfeed for 2.5 and 3 years. I did not feel the need to be away from either child for extended periods and would actually feel MORE stressed being away from them. For me it was liberating and freeing to be able to breastfeed anywhere, anytime, in public and private, and DARE anyone try to tell me not to! When I returned to work I did use bottles for my caregiver to feed the children expressed milk with. I used regular cheap bottles with regular cheap bottle nipples. Neither child was keen on the bottles as they both wanted the real thing straight from the source. I took the girls with me shopping, to the hairdresser, to doctor/dentist/optometrist appointments, and even took the oldest with me on a conference! No regrets, no difficulties, just really solid close relationships with them years later.

Melinda Freer on December 10th, 2009

I breast fed all four of my children and never felt restricted in any way. If anything, breastfeeding was a convenience because I never had to fuss with bottles, nipples and such. I enjoyed every moment I spent with my babies. Only when I returned to work did I have to introduce some bottles during work hours. It is very convenient when shopping, visiting etc. to be able to breast fed as needed (with blanet discreetely covering my breast)and not have to play around with bottles, etc. Bottles are the real inconvenience.

Jessi on December 13th, 2009

I would like to know what is BPA-free? I could look it up, but I am not in the mood. Had a LONG day! lol

Karen on December 20th, 2009

I took my 7 week old to the salon with me. I made an appointment for when it wasn’t busy (to minimise disruption to other clients). She had a lovely time getting cuddles off the staff, and they let me use a treatment room to nurse her (it was my first time feeding out and about). They told me I’d be welcome to feed her whilst my hair was being done, and they had lots of ladies who breastfed under their gowns in the salon. It was much more relaxing having my daughter with me, than leaving her at home and worrying that she was hungry!