Customer Reviews

Playtex Playtex VentAire Advanced Standard Bottle Gift Set

5 star:		(162)
4 star:		(69)
3 star:		(34)
2 star:		(43)
1 star:		(92)

 

 

I originally registered for (and received) the avent bottles. They were horrible because they leaked (you can't over tighten or under tighten and all sorts of other finicky things) and they also left my baby with lots of gas where he would cry violently. Horrible to watch. I tried several other bottles and still wasn't happy with them. My girlfriend kept on telling me to try these but I was skeptical becuase people said that they leaked. well anyhow I was at my whits end and hurting for my son so I decided to try them. I do have to say that the stage one nipple is hard to get anything out of. But I did use the stage two nipple and it's been great. He will occasionally have to burp but it's quick and painless. Most times he doesn't have to burp afterwards. There is no spillage from the side of his mouth and he will drink his milk straight and not have to be burped half way so that he can finish eating. I have never had the bottles leak because I washed them all and assembled them and left them like that. I do clean them after every usage with soap and water. Then once a week I take them apart, sterilize the bottles in the sterilizer and boil the nipples and disc. I immediately reassemble them and then test them with water to see if they are leaking. I think that you will run into leaks if you try to assemble them as you are ready to use them and are rushing because the baby is hungry.

I wish that I could give these bottles more than five stars. I should have listened to my friend sooner. Her baby suffered from Acid Reflux and this bottles worked great for him.

It is true, the vent disk is hard to figure out... but once you know that the plastic bottom and the disk have to be COMPLETLY dry before putting it together, you won't have a problem with leaks. It just takes a little practice - just like everything else with a new baby. Also, it gets very easy to put them together... You want to talk about a lot of parts and hard to put together (not to mention expensive) try the DR Brown's bottles! I couldn't stand to keep her on those long enough to see if it helped with the gas.

I also had a problem with the stage 1 nipples... My girl is a big eater and hated how long it took to get formula from those nipples! (of course we were on the avent stage 1 nipples, which will drown the baby) Switched to stage 2 and she was happy. However, I do still use the stage 1 nipples for juice and water... it helps me ensure she isn't getting the thinner liquids too fast - and she does just fine with those.

I did have a problem every once in a while with the nipple colapsing to begin with... but for some reason, that went away quickly. Not sure if they are just broken in now, or if she just figured out how to eat from them?

I did use a bottle warmer for a while (until I decided I hated that thing)Then I switched to the microwave. And I also use a steam sterilizer with these bottles. I have been doing so for 5 months now, and I don't have any problems - I even know that the disks are still working b/c you can see the air leaving the bottle via the bubbles! So, I think that that is just an overprecautious warning.

As for the gas... little megan is VERY gassy and always has been. I tried all kinds of bottles. These seem to be better than the others, but she still gets gas and she is 6 months old now. It dosent seem to be as painfull with these bottles, and that's why I still use them.

Give them a try, at least. What works for one, dosent work for everyone. This could be your bottle.

My baby was getting realy bad gas with the normal bottles.. I switched to these and he hardly ever has a burp after feeding him with this bottle.. I have 3 of these and I want more.....

I really don't get what all the fuss is about.I recieved 2 of these bottles while I was still pregnant, but registered and set out to use Gerber New Traditions because I liked the nipple choices.From the beginning those bottles leaked terribly for me.I decided to give the vent aires a try and I loved them. Of course babies are going to spit up. If you ask a doctor or read about it, all babies spit up at some point in time, for a variety of reasons, not just because of a bottle type.I now own 10 of the vent aire bottles and have many friends that have switched to them also.I do have to say that my son did have a hard time getting anything from the Stage 1 nipple at 3 weeks old, but it was no big deal. I just switched to the Stage 2 size and haven't had a problem since.(He is now 3 months old) I love these bottles and highly recommend them. I wish I could have used them with my 11 year old twins!

I used the bottles with my now 2 1/2 year old. At the beginning the feeding did take a long time but after less than a week she learned to work the nipple. And because you cannot use traditional steam type bottle warmers with this bottle it took a little more effort to warm the bottle in a pan of hot water. My second baby was always able to use regular bottles until I switched her to plain milk last week. Then it was spit up city. I happened to have one of the older versions of this bottle left over and started using it. From the first day there was no more spitting up. It did take her about 2 days to fully figure out the nipple, but it has been no problem for the last 2 weeks. I wish I had never gotten rid of the other 10 of these bottles that I had. I am going to buy more but I must admit right now that I am purchasing the older version which is still available in my area. Although I have seen the newer version and love the new way the bottom vent is designed I have read alot here about nipple collapse with this new version and my friend has also had the same problem. She has also told me that if you don't get the bottom vent in perfect on this newer version, you will experience the leaking problem because it will twist into the threads. That is enough to make me stick with the "oldie, but goodie" and deal with the extra time that using these bottles requires. And one final note, even though it says that people who have bought these bottles have also bought the First Years Bottle Warmer, if you use a steam based bottle warmer these bottles will leak from the bottom during heating. You can use the type of warmer that you fill with water such as the Avent one.

These bottles do have extra parts but it only takes a few seconds to put together, and because the bottoms come off they are easy to clean. I know these bottles take a few extra seconds to put together so I don't wait until my child is ready to eat, I have them ready to go before she is screaming for food. They don't leak if you make sure the vent seal is in the bottom of the bottle good, and put together when the bottle/vent is dry. I have had to make sure the nipple is in tight a couple of times or nothing came out. BUT the main fix for not getting milk fast enough is (like many reviews I was about to give up on these bottles) not letting your baby take the nipple to the base of the bottle. If their lips stay around the nipple where it starts to get bigger the milk flows fine...or at least that has fixed the problem for my baby and a friend of mine..and she had never had problems with leaks..we both own about 10 to 15 bottles each. My baby has never got to much air and she is a gulper!! You can see the air bubbles pop because of the vent when ever she takes a break and air/milk goes back in the bottle. I breast feed as well, I switch back and forth since week 4 with no problem. It did take a few times for her to get it. With Advent she liked the nipple but the flow was way way way to fast even at stage one. So I have stuck with these.

As far as not being able to use bottle warmers, microwaves, or steamers. That is the only thing I did not like. Not suppose to use a microwave to begin with because of hot spots. I use my steamer with the bottles and put the nipples and vents in the microwave to boil them faster than in a pan. To warm the milk I put water in a cup, microwave the water for about a min place the bottle without the nipple in the water for 2 to 3 min and you have a warm bottle just as quick as a warmer and it's not that much more work.

Worth a few extra seconds of putting together and warming to keep air out of my baby's belly! Hopes this helps

I have FINALLY come to find that you have to take any review with a grain of salt. What works for some, may not work for others. I almost didn't buy these bottles because of the bad reviews I found here... boy am I glad I went with my gut feeling and tried them anyway!!!!

These bottles are great!!!! They don't leak, they are easy to warm with hot water, I haven't seen any bubbles, and even though the flow is slow, my daughter finishes them in no time!!!!

To address some of the negativity surrounding these bottles... 1) The flow on the stage 1 nipples IS slow. This works out fine for me because my child is breastfed, and the slow flow mimicks the breast. All you really have to do is wash your hands, and roll the nipple between your thumb and pointer finger before you feed. That way the silicone opens up a little more (if your baby is a preemie with sucking problems, these bottles may not be for you). 2) Of course the rubber vent piece at the bottom gets yucky... anything that holds formula is gonna get yucky!!!! I'm not just saying that because I hate formula (because I do), but mine stay extremely clean even when my breastmilk sits in them for days. If you're using formula, just make sure to dump it out and soak the bottles in water. 3) I thought these bottles had too many pieces to deal with. It's really not that bad - I have 3 kids and I have no problem finding the time to wash the pieces... you have to wash your bottles ANYWAY!!!!

Last but not least... JUST TRY THINGS FOR YOURSELF!!!! You can't always take someone else's opinion on as your own. If you do that, you're gonna miss out on a lot of things that might work for you. Hope this helps... GOOD LUCK!!!!

I think every baby has a bottle or type of bottle they do well with and this was my son's type. My son had such trouble eating and had terrible colic, these bottles helped him out. They did what they promised, let air out & also by "venting" air in & out it put enough pressure on the formula to keep is going down to fill the nipple. Of course we added a couple of tricks ourselves, like adding gas drops to each bottle we made to remove air previously to eating. One of the best and honestly, more practical, things to do is buy one type of bottle of each one you think is good, then once the baby is born see what works best with them. It will save you a lot of trouble in the end, because I bought and asked for tons of "Avent" Bottles and they worked horribly for me and my son wouldnt eat from them and cried constantly. Dont take anyone's word for certain bottles or "cures" for your baby - in time you'll know and understand your son's or daughter's needs.

My son is now 3˝yrs old and he used these bottles whilst a little baby. Our newest arrival will be using the same bottles. Feeding a baby using these bottles makes it so much easier for the baby to digest comfortably and adapt to a bottle after or during breastfeeding. The nipples do not cave or suck in whilst feeding due to the vented system. So none of this pullng the bottle out to let the nipples pop out again, frustrating a starving hungry baby. As for cleaning, I just popped all the parts in the dishwasher. Never ever any problems. To the reviewer who wrote that the seal at the bottle leaked / corroded after a short while... well dear I think you overdid the cleaning bit. Honestly, I still have the bottles and the seals and intend using them as a back up. The replacement nipples are readily available in different stages as your baby's needs increase. Today I just purchased another 12 of these bottles for the new baby. These are the best bottles I have used, so much so I ship them to friends in Australia, who all swear by this product.

I have 3 children, a 2.5 year old, and twin boys... They are now (almost) 7 months old, and have ALWAYS been gassy, and even have reflux!

We tried regular Gerber bottles, since that's what worked for my daughter, but I soon found that not all babies will be able to handle bubbles and whatnot, so we went in search of various bottles. The Avent bottles leaked terribly, if you had the cover on too tightly, too loosely, if the nipple was bent, whatever... you had to do it PERFECTLY. Also the stage ONE nipples nearly drowned the babies, so more than half of the bottle ended up on the baby! I eventually tried Ventaires, and they work PERFECTLY!

Most of the reviews tell you how to use them, so I will just tell you a few "tricks" with the Ventaires, or solutions to problems...
(1) Make sure your baby is using the nipple that they prefer! With the natural nipples my boys will chug down 8 oz. yet with the regular nipple, they wont touch it! I would also recommend passing by the Stage One nipples for milk, since the flow is ridiculously slow... But they have proven to work well with Apple Juice or water, something that I DONT want them to drink to much of.
(2) The Ventaires are easy to clean, yet you have to have a working system. We find it best if you wash the Ventaires by hand after each feeding, we happen to think that the sponge bottle brushes work best, and than let them dry. ***We hand dry the disks though, since if they are wet they will leak!*** We then run them through the dishwasher occasionally, but only use the TOP RACK!
(3) This is VERY IMPORTANT... you MUST stretch out the disk after being washed in the dishwasher or the sterilizer, because the vents will seal, and the bottle wont work correctly...
(4) The bottles CAN stand on their own if properly used, i.e. no wet disks, everything's on tightly, and nothings broken.
(5) The bottles dont eliminate gas, but they reduce it to slight burps or gurgles, which the boys dont seem to mind. I still use them because they are MUCH easier than Dr. Brown bottles, and because the boys aren't in any pain due to gas anymore, same goes for reflux.

All in all we LOVE the Ventaires, and they are very simple to use, and work well. I do wish that they made sippy cup tops that could be used with the Ventaires, but that would probably just cause complications. I recommend everyone to at least try them