disposable bottle liners

[Stacie:Emma&Josh Mom]

Does anyone use the disposable bottle liners?  I got a few today to try out and see if ds gets less air from them.  We're currently using Avent hard bottles and I've tried a Dr. Brown's bottle which he also gulped.  He's just so hard to burp and gets so much air when drinking.  Thought it wouldn't hurt to try.  My question is how do you mix and heat the formula.  With his hard bottles, we warm the water in the microwave, but just to about room temperature, not warm, and then add the formula, shake it up and it's good to go (with some Mylicon for prevention and to reduce the bubbles in the formula).  How do you do that with the disposable ones.  Can you shake the formula up in them?  Do you have to pre-mix the formula? 

[home alone]

I also tried all the bottles you tried and more and found that the platex nipple + bottle worked best for my lo who had reflux.  Anyway, yes I mixed the formula in a hard bottle.  It's a bit of a hassle since I wash the liner and re-use it couple of times.  Formula heats very fast though.  Don't microwave but put it into a cup of hot tap water after mixing.

[ry,cait&alex]

I use the liners, and just an FYI, Walmart ones are worth the money you can save over the Playtex.  We buy gallon water for Cait and I keep them in the pantry, so anytime she has a bottle it is already at room temperature.  And we have done this since the day she came home from the hospital.  I pour up the 6oz of water then add my 3 scoops of formula to that, snap the lid on and shake shake shake...shake shake shake...shake your booty!!!  Um...sorry.

Every once in a while I will "heat up" an unfinished bottle.  I take the nipple off and pop the bottle with liner/formula in the microwave for about 20 seconds.  I dont' do that often though since we aren't 100% sure what kind of "stuff" the liners might be releasing into the milk.  (I'm not paranoid!!!  )

All in all....not a whole lot different then real bottles.  We did real bottles with Ryan....what a fool I was!!!!!    IF we should go with #3...it will be liners all the way, baby!!!!  Hope that helps.

b

[Mom2katiebug]

I have a whole buch of Avent bottles collecting dust in the closet.  DD was SO gassy when we used them.  She could  clear a room - possibly a small house!  Switched to Playtex with liners and it cut it in half or more.  We tried a few things with the bottles...we would premake the formula and then submerge the bottle/liner in a tub (measuring cup or small bowl) of hot tap water to warm.  This worked well for the 4oz. bottles but not for the 8oz.  Too much formula and it would take several refills on the hot water to get warm.  Not fun with a screaming baby.  We're currently doing the mix on the go which is fabulous!  6oz. + 3 scoops and shake, shake, shake.  Very quick and easy overnight and you don't have to worry about keeping cold when you're on the go or trying to warm a bottle on the road. 

And, I found a great product where you can premeasure your formula into these little packets.  They too are disposable and they lay flat so they easily slide in your diaper bag.  When you need a bottle, you tear the bottom and dump it in.  Very convenient.  They're made by The FIrst Years and are called Formula One Shot Bags.  I found them at Target.  DH and I sit and scoop while watching the TV and before we know it we have a weekful of packets.

My big complaint right now is that I can't get more than this in the bottle.  So, if I want DD to have 8oz I have to mix in another container and pour in (try doing that with sleepy eyes).  Or, what if she wants 10 oz to drink.  Then I have to refill or use 2 bottles.  Not so nice.  I wish Playtex would make a jumbo bottle that would hold 12 oz or something so there's more formula and room to shake. 

Haven't tried Walgreen brand liners, but did try Alberston's and didn't like them at all - especially for the small bottles.

[ry,cait&alex]

Casey, I have never seen the bags your talking about, I will have to look for them!  We have the tri-cut hard plastic formula holder that looks like a piece of tupperware.  The lid is extremely hard to get off, so I may look into that for these last two months (woohoo) of formula feeding!!  Thanks!

[Stacie:Emma&Josh Mom]

So you can shake the bottle liners to mix them?  I've only done 1 bottle so far so I haven't tried it yet.  And do you all use the pre-formed liners or just the regular ones?  Does it matter?  Can you use the same bottles for both liners?  I only bought one bottle to test them out and there were so many options I couldn't figure out which ones could use which liners or if they all use them both.  Any difference between the liners except price?  That's good to know about Walmart, will definitely check that out if we use the liners for sure.  And good to know about those formula packets.  I have a formula divider thingie, but it takes up more room in the bag and packets would be easier, if they're not too expensive since you have to keep buying them, just like the liners.  But if it works better, I'm all for it.  Seems like he ate better from the 1 bottle I tried this morning.  Not as much gulping.  Do you all have the bottles with that push up part to help "burp" the bottle or not.  If not, how do you get the air out of the liners?  Sorry if these are all silly questions, but I've just never used the liners and want to make them as air free as possible since we're having so many issues.  We're even on the hypoallergenic, expensive formula and still having some issues.  I think he just has a lot of burps and they get stuck and hoping this will help.  After posting this, I did think about just using room temperature water.  We usually get it out of our filtered water dispenser on the fridge, but I could always do that the night before or something like that so it gets to room temp for the next day.  And good to know that you can nuke the liners if you need to once in awhile.    I agree you don't know what's leaking into the milk and yet sometimes you need a quick method that probably isn't hurting anything.  

[ry,cait&alex]

I used preformed.  Why work any harder then necessary??  And from what I understand, you have to fold the flap over at just the right spot so that you get the "full" use out of your 6oz.  But, as I said, I haven't used those, so I am just going on heresay.

Yes, you can use the same bottle for both types of liners.

I think initially, the walmart brand smell more "plasticy" But once you get past that, and use them a bit more, you don't notice it. Plus, you pay something like $6.00 for 50 liners of Playtex and $5.00 for 100 liners of Walmart brand.  You do the math.......AND I am NOT one to use house brands very often....but in this instance I def. do!!

We had one of the "push up" kind, and I threw it away.  You can do the same job with your hand and those other kinds of bottles were just a nuisance.  When you get the bottle fixed and shook, Put you Milicon in (if you choose) and then take the lid off the nipple and from the bottom, stick your fingers in and push the liner up, pushing the air out of the nipple.  That's just our method, when we did it.

And I just heard Cait throw her bottle on the floor, so gotta go!!!

[Mom2katiebug]

The liners are designed to collapse as your LO drinks, so no air actually enters there.  I didn't like the Albertson's brand because they were too stiff and wouldn't collapse.  I like the Playtex brand better but they are pricey!  I agree that you can use your hand to squeeze the air out and the liner will stay "collapsed" as long as you don't set the bottle back upright - at least the tall ones.  The weight of the formula will push the liner down and draw air back through the nipple. 

Another system we used before I found The First Years bags (which I think are kinda' expensive, but I can't give up the convenience now) used Playtex's bf collection system and the small liners.  Playtex's bf pumping system (had to order it online), but had caps and rings that hold the liners and you can pump bmilk right into them, then chill/freeze/etc.  Then when you need the bmilk, just put in the bottle frame, add nipple and away you go.  So, what I did was put a liner in and just add my scoops of formula.  Then, when I needed a bottle, I'd uncap and pour the formula in (a bit trickier than TFY packets, but still do-able) and then I could reuse the liner that held the formula.  We did this for a couple of months and it worked really well too.  You could also probably use ziplock bags or something like that as well. 

We use preformed as well.  The others are too hard to use - I was never sure how much I was offering and how much DD was eating.  We don't use the push-up bottles either, but I'm not sure why.  I guess it never occurred to us.  Oh, and I just stopped putting mylicon in DDs bottle about 2 weeks ago to help with the shaking bubbles.  She's almost 6MO and I think it's easier for her to handle.  Plus we're using Good Starts and the bubbles dissipate quickly.

These are SO convenient.  I don't know why more folks don't use them.  They are probably more concerned about waste and the environment...not that I'm not...I just LOVE the convenience!

[LŠuren]

I have a whole buch of Avent bottles collecting dust in the closet.  DD was SO gassy when we used them.

Casey, I totally agree there, my friends and I also feel the same. When I stopped breastfeeding I used the Haberman bottles for ages.

I recently found a new use for them as food containers - they are great for popping Calums food in the freezer and using the bottle warmer to heat them back up 

Can offer any advice on liners, I have never seen them here.

[notenoughshelfspace]

I used Playtex disposable from the day I statred bottle feeding (2months) to about 3 months ago. ( had the same problem as another mum since I could not be bothered to use two bottles as the portions were getting too big). I am now on Playtex Ventair. Bit back to the disposables; I thought they were fantastic. Yes a bit pricey and not environmentally friendly but fantastic nonetheless. No sterilising, convenient, really helped with the reflux etc... Will be using them again when I have another one. For those in England; they are available through Babies'r'us on the internet.

[notenoughshelfspace]

By the way those one shot bag things sound amazing; I checked on the target website and could not get a hit; I have also never seen them... Something to look out for!

[Messa]

I too use the bottle liners from Wal-Mart definitely the best bargain!!!  I pre-mix our formula due to the bottle not being big enough to mix 8 oz in, now I just fill to the top with pre-made formula. When it comes time to heat it I just fill the bottle, and put it in a large plastic cup with hot water from our tap (we set our water temp high as we only have a 40 gallon water heater, not enough for a decent shower unless temp is set high), but you can heat the water in the micro for a bit, then I go and change DD's diaper and when I come back it is warm (my DD likes it on the warmer side).  I use my fingers to get the air out of the liner.  If you are mixing directly in the bottle leave the air in to shake then squeeze the air out.