Dr. Brown's Bottles or Playtex Drop-in Bottles?

Updated on January 05, 2010
K.P. asks from Hamilton, OH
15 answers

I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts about which kind of bottle is better....Dr. Brown's or Playtex Drop-ins? I am thinking of nursing the baby, but I still want to have a bottle to use.

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M.B.

answers from Indianapolis on

We used Dr. Brown's for quite a bit but really didn't see the benefit of the fancy insert. We ended up buying basic rings to fit the nipples and just used the bottles. We wanted the benefit of the glass bottle. The inserts were tedious to clean as well. The Dr. Brown's nipples were the only ones my son would use though so that was a necessity. Good luck!

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S.D.

answers from Indianapolis on

Figure out which pump you will use first, then find bottles that attach to the pump so you can pump directly into them and transfer to bags if you need to freeze them. The type of bottle really doesn't matter, what you need to look for is the SLOWEST low-flow nipple you can find. Nipples that hardly drip until sucked on will make a nursed baby work for the milk so they don't come to prefer an easy bottle over working at the breast.
Go to a La Leche League meeting and ask the other moms what types they like. LLL encourages moms to go while pregnant to get info for the best start at nursing possible, so you won't feel out-of-place if you go now before having your baby:) Check www.llli.org to find a local chapter.
Good Luck!

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D.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

I personally believe that the best bottle to use is the one your baby takes to. We've used all of those recommended. Our son loved the Drop-Ins (Target brand liners work as well as Platex) as did our daughter. We used plenty of Avent and Dr. Brown's as well (Burlington Coat factory is a GREAT place to get bottles and supplies). But, the drawback to Dr. Brown's is that they are difficult to clean. If you're working and tending to one or more children, it can be a pain to balance the time of all the components.

I'd recommend getting one of each kind that you're interested in and seeing which your baby takes to. Also, if you are nursing, it will be difficult for the baby to take a bottle from you initially. They know the scent of you while you're nursing and get confused by the bottle. We were advised to have either the father or someone else introduce the bottle to help with the transition.

Good luck. If you are able to nurse, you're doing something wonderful for your baby. Even when I nursed our son for the first year, I still had bottles available for pumped milk during the day when I was working and when we were out in public (and I didn't want to deal with nursing).

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L.C.

answers from Cleveland on

Dr. Browns. I would always worry about running out of the inserts! My 14 month old did very well on the the Dr. Browns.

Good luck with your 4th!!!

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J.N.

answers from Dayton on

I actually used both and preferred the Playtex drop-ins by far! The MULTIPLE parts on the Dr. Brown's are very difficult to clean (even with their special brushes). I hand washed some and used the dishwasher some too. My son did fine with the Playtex ones. I used the generic brand molded liners (from Walmart or Target) and never once had one leak or anything. I also feel they are more sterile b/c the liners are pre sterilized and you pitch it after one use! The only thing to make sure is clean/sterilized is the nipple, ring and lid.

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E.W.

answers from Kokomo on

I would go recommend going with the Dr. Browns bobttles. They dont allow air bubbles. My daughter loved them. She is now 6 yrs old. She was really caulicy(sp) so that really helped. I was happy with the way the work. I would have liked to nurse my daughter but she was taken to the NICU. Shes prefectly healthy now though.

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J.M.

answers from Canton on

I have also tried both. I liked Dr. Brown's at first, but after awhile I noticed that the thin tube that goes into the bottle was gunky. No matter how much you washed it with the tiny brush, it was never clean. I switched to Playtex and had a lot more free time and was very happy! Don't use the drip-in's, though, they can fall through. Store brand fold-over liners worked wonderfully!

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R.S.

answers from Indianapolis on

I used them both and actually prefer Dr. Brown's because they tend to be cheaper than buying the drop ins all the time. Dr. Brown's is now BPA free and that was my concern back when I was bottle feeding so I had switched over to Playtex drop ins for safety reasons. Every baby is different, so they may not take every bottle you try! Good luck!

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A.C.

answers from Cincinnati on

I used both when my son first began bottle feeding, and I didn't like either. The Dr. Brown's have tiny little parts that take real time and attention to clean, and the drop-ins are expensive and wasteful. I recommend you consider Avent bottles, which helped prevent gas without multiple tiny parts, or the Playtex that are not drop-ins. My son never had problems with gas on either of them. In any case, I would go with the wide-nipple instead of the regular size since you will be nursing as well. My son was much more willing to take the wide nipple; my ped. said it's because the latch more closely resembles the breast. Good luck.

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B.B.

answers from Indianapolis on

Definitely Dr. Brown's. With our first, we ended up getting playtex bottles as a shower gift and thought, "We'll just use those..." We got home, and she literally would not drink from them. My husband immediately ran out to the store and got Dr. Brown's bottles, and she took straight to it.

We used Dr. Brown's bottles for both of our daughters, and never had issues with colick (sp?) and while we had to use mylicon some times, it wasn't often.

The parts can be run through the dishwasher too. (Be sure to get one of those baskets to put in the top rack of the dishwasher.)

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D.H.

answers from Cleveland on

My baby loved Dr. Brown's bottles. I chose not to use Playtex Drop-in bottles because of the waste and expense. I hated the fact that every time my baby had a bottle that yet another piece of environmental contaminating plastic was going into the landfills to help ruin resources for my baby's future. Another bottle that my baby liked was the inexpensive Gerber bottles (found at Target) that are about $1 each and are BPA free. They come in packs of three and in two different sizes. They're easy to clean, have different flow nipples available, and my baby actually liked those bottles than some of the other ones I tried.

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S.H.

answers from Huntsville on

Definitely Dr. Brown's!!!

We started with the Playtex Drop-ins for my daughter and she was so gassy & uncomfortable. Then we discovered the Dr. Brown bottles and the difference was amazing! They are kinda like hi-tech baby bottles to me! haha They are specially designed to allow the proper air flow.

And if you ever do formula, my sister loved the Dr. Brown formula mixer.

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S.C.

answers from Fort Wayne on

I loved the drop ins. Don't get the bag type inserts though. Get the ones that are formed. With my 2nd daughter we use the Soothie bottles. They're the only kind of nipple she will take. BUT...breast is best. If you breast feed, there's no need to worry about having bottles, at least right away. That's one of the purchases you can hold off on.

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C.B.

answers from Columbus on

Honestly - my favorite by far have been the cheap Wal-Mart brand.

I used the Playtex Drop-Ins for awhile but got really sick of spending money on the liners. And once a liner fell out... when I was sitting on the couch. Breastmilk all over the place - that was no fun to clean up. I also didn't like the nipples - they were always getting clogged and the flow never seemed adequate for my son, even though we switched to different ones. And I hated the caps for the bottles - could never get them off easily.

I haven't had any of those problems with the Wal-Mart ones - and they were only like $4 for 3 or something way cheap.

I don't personally have any experience with Dr. Brown's though I have heard complaints from friends who use them about how expensive and how heavy they are.

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T.V.

answers from South Bend on

I nursed also and also used a bottle. I loved Platex but hated the expense of using the liners. I found a bottle called the insulator by Platex! I picked one up at Krogers once and loved it but I couldn't find any more later. I finally found them online through platex and you can order them. They are wonderful and you can easily wash them. I found that they were more like my breasts and the baby went back and forth from breast to bottle easily! Check it out, it was well worth the time it took to find them! Hope this helps!

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