This is stupid, but I need help learning how to make a bottle

[Kermit]

I know that most parents have figured out how to make a bottle before their baby is 6 months old, but apparently I haven't. Jacob usually nurses (obviously, I do feed him), but last night we went to Atlanta, which is 2.5 hours away, to have dinner with some people DH does business with. I decided to take a bottle with us in case he got hungry in the car so that I could feed him without making DH stop the car. So I prepared a bottle (a Plaxtex nurser with the disposible drop-in), put the cap on it, and put it in an insulated lunch bag with some ice packs.

Well, when Jacob started to fuss, DH pulled over for a second to let me get in the backseat with him. I pulled out the bottle, and half the milk was sitting in the cap. I guess the milk had dripped out of the nipple.

I always thought that you could prepare the bottle ahead of time. Did I do something wrong, or was something wrong with my bottle? Should I leave the milk in the storage bag and keep it separate from the bottle until I'm ready to give it to him next time?

 

[JohnTBap]

I could never get those to work. We used Evenflo. Good luck to you. BTW, I tried to feed DD once when the car was moving and she started choking. I never did it again. We stopped every time thereafter.

 

[Serena]

It's been a while, but I think I remember how to do it. Not that my kids liked it much.

I did use the playtex nursers. Here's a couple of things I thought of.
Was the ring with the nipple on right? and tight?
Is the hole in the nipple too big?
Was it laying upside down or sideways?

Any of those would make it leak, and believe me, I've done all of them. lol

goodluck

 

[browneyes]

My ds used the playtex nursers. I never had that problem. Was the cap screwed on tight? Sometimes there might be a drop or 2 that escapes the nipple and into the cap (which happens with regular bottles too), but not 1/2 the bottle.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

There are different sized nipples (the opening where the milk/formula is "extracted"), as there are different shapes. Some are for thicker liquids such as milk or formula, others for cereal and juices.

I never got along with the disposable bottles either. Thinking back I remember using Gerber bottles. I wish I could think of the type my cousin used, one of the modern ones that is popular with new moms. The bottle is angled.

 

[becka]

The only times I had leaks with those were when I didn't get the ring on tightly. I really had to make sure they were on good and snug before taking them anywhere.

 

[dcgrumpy]

The only bottles I've ever used were the Playtex nursers. I've never had that happen, no matter which nipple size I used. The only thing I could think of is maybe the ring wasn't screwed on tight enoug.

 

[torismom]

I cannot help you with the bottle issue because I never used them. However, I always nursed the babies while driving in the car. I could lean over the seat and the baby could nurse very easily.

Good Luck to you

 

[Jenn Lynn]

I too nursed Avery like torismom!

Good Luck!

 

[Kermit]

I've tried to nurse him in his carseat, but I'm too short and his carseat is too high. I know that other moms do it all the time, but I can't for the life of me make it happen. Not with my seatbelt on, anyway.

I guess maybe I didn't have the ring on tight enough. Would that make the milk accumulate in the cap or just all around it? I do use the newborn nipples, so I don't think the hole was too big.

I guess every method of feeding babies has some difficulties. I just thought that since there were whole books devoted to nursing and none to bottlefeeding that I could just do it without any problems.

 

[piratesmate]

I also nursed like torismom, but it wasn't always possible. When it wasn't, we just stopped. DD always had more trouble "choking" with the bottle than with nursing. (DS refused a bottle completely!)

I used playtex (I think - she's 12 now) & tried both the regular & the Nuk nipples. We did better with the Nuk, but that isn't the issue here.

I used to turn the bottle over, put my finger on the nipple & shake it to make sure it wouldn't leak. Sometimes it would leak if there was a fold in the liner or if the nipple had warped from being in the dishwasher. (Of course, yours are probably still new.) Do you have a cover that goes under the nipple/ring? It seems to me that we had one of those, although I didn't always use it.

Something else I did was to prepare bags for the tall bottle (8oz?) but only put in 4-6oz so that I could use a twist-tie & pop them into the cylinder when needed...basically the same as if I'd freeze the milk, but w/o freezing.

As for no books on bottle feeding - I always thought it was because most/all of our mothers did it & could tell us the ins & outs - but nearly none of our mothers nursed us. (I'm 51.) My mother tried to tell me how wonderful bottle feeding was & how "easy" - but it sure sounded a lot more complicated than nursing! I don't think the number of books has a much to do with how complicated it is - but more as to which more people need to be "talked into doing." JMHO

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

I didn't like the Playtex disposables, they leaked too much if you didn't get the cap on just right. I liked Evenflow.

but I never gave either baby a bottle in a moving car. we always stopped when I needed to feed the girls.

 

[becka]

Don't feel too stupid. I couldn't figure out how to bottles at first either. Mine leaked because the ring wasn't on tight, I couldn't figure out how to use the lines (not the drop-in ones but the kind you have to 'install' ), I couldn't figure out how to get all of the air out of them, etc.?

Thankfully with practice (and those drop in liners) it got a bit easier.

 

[gshoemate]

I to nursed in the car like torismom but when I went back to work and needed to leave a bottle for DH, we used Advent, never had a problem with them.

 

[Serena]

I nursed too, but when we were in the car and I was alone and driving I tried to give them bottles. They hated them. It never worked.

 

[Mimi Q]

When I use formula on a trip, I put the powder in a bottle and stop and fill it with warm water, shake it up and it's ready to go. It's just the right temp and you don't have to worry about it spilling. I can't breastfeed in the car either.