Avent Newborn Starter Set > Reviews (8)

Although I breast feed for approximately 8 months my Husband did bottle feed our daughter during this time with my expressed milk. We did not buy Philips bottles at first choosing Tommee Tippee closer to nature bottles due to the teats claiming to be more like a proper nipple and thus did not want baby to refuse bottles so we thought these were a good idea. See my review for the Tommee Tippee bottles. We mainly decided to purchase some Philips Avent bottles as my sister passed over her Philips microwave steriliser and I purchased a Philips breast pump in the sale very cheaply so we thought it would be good to have all matching interchangeable items.

We brought all told, 6 smaller bottles that hold 4oz or 125ml and one large bottle that holds 9oz or 260ml. All are made of clear BPA free plastic. I like the fact that they are clear as it's easier to see if you have cleaned them thoroughly and the measurements on the side really stand out. After several washes over the year the measurements have not faded at all and the bottles have not gone cloudy like some plastics can.

With the bottles you get a white collar and teat. The teat fits into the collar then the collar screws onto the bottle. It all fits very nicely and extremely easy to assembled and disassemble, vital in the early hours of the morning! The teats come in various hole sizes, depending on the number of holes in the top of the teat and one comes with a special slit rather than pin hole that gives you the choice of a slow or fast liquid flow depending on which way round you hold it. All need to be washed with a special bottle and teat brush and a little tip is I have found you do not have to have the same brand of brush as the bottles and teats. After a year and starting weaning the teats have gone cloudy, although not as clear as the bottles to start with. As you can purchase teats separately I will buy new teats for baby number 2 and keep the same bottles.

The larger bottle we brought came with a normal collar but a training spout instead of a teat. This actually fits on any size bottle and is another great feature of Philips that there is so many variations to the range that you can add to your collection as your baby grows and requires the next level up.

We also have several handles that fit on the bottles before you screw the collar on the bottle so as babies co ordination gets better they can hold the bottle themselves, great rather than buying a bottle with a handle already attached as these do not fit in the side pockets of our changing bag, we keep one spare handle in the main body of the bag that will fit any of the sizes of Philips bottles.

You also get white discs that fit into the collar rather than the teat. This again has been handy for us as in our side pocket pouches we can fit 2 smaller bottles but only one with the teat and lid on it. They won't fit both with teats and lids so stacking/transporting is easier. The lids just mentioned are the only real downside is that occasional I find them hard to get off but my husband has no trouble so maybe I'm a little weakling.

I purchased originally a set from Sainsbury's for £15.99 that had 4 of the smaller bottles with newborn teats. Look out for Sainsbury's baby events where they reduce these by a third! (full price was £22.99) We have been very satisfied and will definitely use these for baby number 2.