I love these bottles. I worked at a daycare facility and have done in home daycare for 3 years. So I know bottles. These are the best, in my experience. They're also one of the least confusing. I have prime and so if you get the starter bundle, which is the 3 small bottles (1 stage 2 nipple/2 stage one), 2 big bottles (2 Stage 2), pacifier (I haven't used this yet because I have the blue advent soothie pacifiers, which he loves, but it was really cute and soft looking), attachment pieces for the beast pump, bottle covers if you're pumping and the bottle brush + a package of 3 additional small bottles (all stage 1), you're golden, as far as bottles go and you don't need to mess around with additional pieces. Plus it's not very expensive, that way. If you don't have this, I read in another review that Target honors amazon pricing. I wish I had known this because I got some bottles there and they were so much more expensive. My plan was to breastfeed if I was able, just being realistic. My sister had these and went back and forth, breastfeeding and bottle feeding. They worked for her and so I gave it a try. Her baby is 3 months older. I had a planned c-section and my milk just never really came in. I tried for a few days but wasn't going to starve my baby if I couldn't keep up. I mean, I'd be angry too of I were getting half an ounce and wanted two. Plus the hospital told me that if I wanted to breastfeed he could only have 1 ounce vs 2 or I wouldn't be able to keep up. I didn't want to do that to him. These bottles were great for going back and forth (I also pumped but gave up because I was finishing my bachelors degree. An infant was hard enough) so we could keep trying but now he is exclusively bottle fed. I've read concerns others have shared and yes there are some frustrating things but they're manageable. I've done 90% of feedings, so I know well. The nipple does collapse but it's only if he's really hungry and is sucking really hard. If he is more sluggish when eating, I do not have this problem. Simply turn the bottle upright and wait a few seconds and it will correct itself. Do not take the shortcut of loosening the lid. If you do this the nipple will go back to its correct shape but you need to tighten the lid again or it will leak all over your baby like any other container. I've also read about issues with the blue valve which, btw, you need to remove when washing the bottle or it can get mold and other junk in there and your baby can get sick. The problem I saw was with leaks. My baby is 7 weeks, now. We have not had an issue with this at all and we have 12 bottles (10 small 2 large) and plan to buy more of the large because he's wanting 5 ounces instead of 4. My sister also has these bottles. No issues. She borrows mine at times because she pumps at my house and sometimes forgets hers. I always wash all bottles at once, by hand in warm soapy water. I wouldn't get the blue vents too hot (dishwasher) or be rough with them. Same goes for the orange labeling and I've had no issues with it coming off. Typically, if the vents have no residue on them I leave them alone and let them soak I'm the water. I don't agitate them. I also do not use a bottle warmer. If I need to warm it, I run hot water over the bottle, not the vent. I read that the 8oz bottles are 6oz, too. This is not true. It looks like it might be the case because ounces 1-4 are larger but the bottle is skinnier. Ounces 5-8 are wider and so the gauge gets skinnier, so it looks like 2 oz instead of four. It's just compensated in different ways. I have had problems with clumping at times but this issue was much worse with the other bottles I used with my firstborn and other babies. These are so much better. If I do have clumps, they're smaller and I can get rid of them by shaking more easily. I've never had the issue of the clumps clogging the nipple like the other bottles did. The nipple is also very nice and moves with my baby. He does not detach anywhere close to what my firstborn or other babies did. The bottle brush is amazing and gets to every bit of both bottle and nipple with ease. It makes it so easy to clean the bottles. It's designed for this bottle so a generic brush will not work as well. Also the breast pump attachments make it effortless to pump, unscrew the attachment, and then put the nipple on to feed (by the way you need to pull the nipple so it's secure in the ring. My s/o had problems with this and they leaked, but I showed him how I did it. No more problems). You don't have to switch bottles, dump, pour. None of that. It's all in the same bottle. No risks of spilling. My little boy was littlest at 7 pounds 1 ounce and the nipple worked really great for his tiny mouth. He has no problems with eating and is over 11 pounds already. I plan to save these and reuse with any future children.
