Bottles: so much to choose from

Since I am gone for nine hours a day, there has to be an alternative route for getting nourishment into my baby besides the breast.
I have tried a few different bottles and wanted to share my thoughts.

First, there is the plain old bottle. Boring. We have all seen this one.



Then we have the plaxtex "disposable" type. I used this kind on the rare occasions I gave my older kids a bottle. I like how you can squeeze the excess air out, and possibly cut down on indigestion and gas for the baby.



However, now I can only find the preshaped drop-ins and I just don't like them for some reason. I guess because for a pump and store mom, they just look less convenient.

I have also bought the liners from Lasinoh, which are nice if you do pump, but rather pricey, I think.

Now my current favorite is AVENT. I love the way the bottle feels in my hand, and the nipple gets the baby's mouth open wide, which is better when switching back and forth between bottle and breast.



However, I tend to use glass evenflo bottles, with a silicone nipple, because I have an abhorrence of plastic. I hate the skinny nipples though, and the long, narrow shape of the bottle is awkward to hold.

Also available are the VentAir bottles, which I suppose let the baby get every last drop out of the bottle, without getting a lot of air, but the shape is just weird to me.


What I really desire though are glass bottles with the shape of the AVENT. Bornfree sells some that look quite nice.


Granted, if you follow my links, I only linked to Amazon. I am not affilitated with Amazon, but they are the easiest for showing a variety of items in one place. I usually look up products on Amazon, and then go back and search the web for the cheapest price.


In the end, the bottle you choose should be one you and baby like to use. It needs to feel right in your hand (because you will never ever prop it, right?) and it needs to encourage a healthy form of sucking. If you plan to breastfeed, try to find a shape where the nipple opens the baby's mouth nice and wide, otherwise your baby might want to nibble and suck at your nipple, which is uncomfortable.

It's Amusing

That on a blog that says its "AP" sort of, the ads are for huggies and formula. Really? Can we step outside the status quo and see that maybe Baby and paper diapers and formula are not synonymous?

Okay, okay, my baby uses paper diapers at Grandma's and sometimes to sleep. And my baby uses formula during the day while I am #$%%^ at work. But not by choice. Can you imagine trying to pump with 13 and 14 year olds interrupting constantly? Not ideal.

But still I prefer cloth and breastfeeding.

I bought a variety of cloth diapers off ebay, since they are mucho money brand new. My favorites are Kushies and bumkins all in ones. Kushies are probably China-made, which may be why they are so affordable and Walmart.com sells them. But I still prefer them.

Sch-lings

There are some stores I go to where a sling for the baby is just a necessity. Mama Jeans health food store is one of them. The carts there are just too small to put the baby's carseat/carrier in, and they don't have any alternative place to put the baby. So I bought a sling from Little Rubies store
on Ebay. Mine is white cotton with black polka dots (I love the dots) and I have to say, I love it. I think I would prefer one with an adjustable ring, but this works nicely now that Liam can hold his head steady and sit up, facing me in it.

Update PIMP

Liam is 4.5 months, and I still haven't had the opportunity to try out the party in my pants pads yet. I promise to as soon as they are needed.

Home daycare?

Okay, so I was a little grumpy in the last post. Right now I am considering whether I would prefer to have a home daycare next year. There would be less spending money, but I would be HOME, and I love little ones. I am looking into it. In Missouri, if you watch 4 or less kids (who aren't your own) you don't have to jump through the licensing hassle. It sounds nice to me!

Working

I discovered that working with a baby, sucks. Period. I do it. I have to do it. But nothing can compare with lots of time at home with my baby, working out routines, and living life the slow, relaxed way.
My dream would be to stay home with the children and homeschool them (though I doubt the girls would go for it-they are so social). I know Caleb would rather be home. I wish I could find a way. The way would mean poverty and food stamps, and that isn't what I spent beaucoup amounts of college loan money on. But I don't know. Sometimes I think it would be worth it.
I always think, no, I like this middle class life better. I have some spending money, I am proud. But truthfully, Karl and I don't have friends anyway. It isn't like we would be losing friends to go drop down a level. The guys at his job are mostly young potsmokers, and I haven't met anyone well enough for them to drop by or anything. So...what would it matter if we were poor?