Avent Newborn Starter Set

I have actually purchased this exact product twice and I will try and explain why when I have only rated it satisfactory!!

My Reason for Purchase

I first purchased this kit early 2009, when I was pregnant with my 1st child. Avent is a big brand name and is part of the PHILIPS company (I had no idea they did baby products or owned Avent!). The kit was then on offer in Boots for half price.

I did purchase additional bottles so I was prepared, as some babIies can have 6-8 bottles a day when they are newborn! Who wants to be constantly washing/sterlizing bottles when you have a newborn baby to cuddle?

Due to the success I had with the bottles with my first child (and the fact we needed new bottles/teats) I ended up purchasing this kit again summer 2011. I reckon I bought the kit as I had baby brain and made an impulse purchase getting excited at the thought of feeding our baby!

Price

I do think I would have honestly been better buying the bottles on there own. You can get a pack of 4 Avent normal 9oz size bottles for £20 but sometimes they are on offer in boots. These come with the size 1 teats as far as I know. The Newborn Starter Kit is £26.00. Yes you have all these extras but that depends on your baby if you really need them!

Contents

The starter kit contains

2 x 260ml bottles
2 x 125ml bottles
2x newborn teats
1 x newborn soother
1 x bottle brush by avent.

Usage

The bottles come apart to 5 pieces. You have to wash all the parts in hot soapy water and sterilise them for first use (there is instructions with the kit).

The bottles contain

Main part of the bottle with measurement ( in 2009 these where plastic but now the appearance/feel is diiferent due to now being BPA free I think)
The anti colic ring
The white screw on collar
The teat
The lid.

The first time I bought these and used them, I ended up forgetting to put the anti colic ring in, and ended up with spilled milk. Yes no point crying over spilled milk you say, there is when you have a very hungry baby waiting!

As long as you are aware of the above however, you should have no problem with the bottles. I have no complaints about the bottles and in fact think they are excellent.

The bottle is eash to assemble together and I find them easy to clean. As with all teats you really need to make sure you have cleaned throughly. Now this is one issue I have with the bottle brush, The part on the end of the brush is meant for cleaning the teat. This is hard plastic and not very practical in my opinion.

You can get better bottle brushes from pound shops with wire bits on the end to clean the teat. I ended up buying a winnie the pooh one where winnie pooh comes of the end of the main brush to reveal a teat brush.

The dummy you sterlise before first use and as with all dummies, if you wish to use one, plop it in the babies mouth. I like to use a dummy with my babies as it advised by fsids in encouraging baby to breathe in there sleep.

My 1st child hated the avent dummy. My 2nd child who is 6 months will only use Avent dummies so this was useful to her.

The newborn teats are handy if needed, but the teats that come with the bottles when you buy separatly I found were absolutely fine. I am sure these are called slow flow teat. .

Product Claims

Clinically proven to reduce colic and help baby settle better at night.

'At 2 weeks of age babies fed with an AVENT Bottle showed less fussing compared to babies fed with another leading bottle.

** At 2 weeks of age babies fed with an AVENT Bottle showed less colic compared to babies fed with a conventional bottle. Philips AVENT offers a complete range of interchangeable products. All products within the feeding range are designed to work with each other.

Yes this may be proven and work if your baby is going to be colicky due to wind, but it will not help if your baby has colic due to being unable breakdown lactose., Drs are yet to agree on what colic means.

However I do believe Avents research and claims, that these bottles reduce trapped wind in babies compared to a normal standard bottle.

My 6 month old daughter does not have problems with wind, but did have temporary lactose intolerance which was quickly sorted with reducing lactose milk products. My son also did not suffer with wind colic.

The bottles are now BPA free. BPA is a substance included in a lot of products including babybottles. There was a health scare regarding the fact that babies could be ingesting the BPA due to the bottles being sterilised at high tempertures.

Since then a lot of baby companies are making there bottles BPA free. Although there is no long term research , I would prefer my babies bottles to be BPA free.

My opinion

One of the main reason being the two smaller bottles soon become useless as your babies appetite increases. My babies where both big and long, so the two smaller bottles where very rarely used! I soon had to purchase additional bottles full size to replace those two.

You would be better off buying 4 full size bottles in a pack which would last until your baby is off bottles (you do have to replace the teats regulary, I replace them when I go up a teat size),

Buy a cheap bottle brush which has an end on it more suitable for cleaning teats.

The dummy is good to have available but not all babies want a dummy , and some are fussy what ones they do want!

I have had no problems with Avent bottles but I feel the newborn starter kit can be a waste of money (even though I bought it twice!) and you will need to replace and add to it pretty quickly. You can save yourself the bother by buying what you need in the right sizes.

If you do have to spend more buying separately , it will last longer and be worth it in the long run.

In my opinion I would use Avent bottles again and again and would definitly recommend them. However I would not recommend the starter kit!