Whether you’re a breastfeeding or formula-feeding Mother, the decision of which BRAND of baby bottle you buy probably depends on:
a) price
b) anti-colic?
c) ease of washing
d) supportive of breastfeeding and
e) safety especially with the latest buzz on BPA-free plastics.
A fan of AVENT bottles from the start, I tried other brands of baby bottles when I heard that AVENT’s regular, clear, white polycarbonate (PC) baby bottles are manufactured with BPA, a cancer-causing chemical.
It’s difficult switching from AVENT to another brand because my boy is very particular about his milk and water bottles.
Now that I have another baby, I am determined NOT to put her on AVENT and tried out MAM and Tommee Tippee. Unfortunately, neither of these brands match up to AVENT especially in terms of use or support for breastfeeding.
Here is a picture showing MAM, AVENT and Tommee Tippee baby bottles (left to right):
1. AVENT POLYCARBONATE (PC) BOTTLES
+ HIGHLY supportive of breastfeeding i.e. 0, 1 and 2 nipples feature a S-L-O-W drip, which means: NO nipple confusion (common in babies who have been introduced to the bottle with a fast flow) and thus, NO nipple rejection;
+ wide-necked bottle, which is easy to wash
+ anti-colic (at least I’ve not had colic problems so far because I breastfeed and burp the baby fine?)
- made with BPA
- breakable
- prone to scratches, esp when washed with bristles, which means you need to replace one quite frequently
- BPA-free bottles are made with polycarbonate, which is still dicey…
- leakage problem – you need to ensure that that nipple is placed in a position where the || fit in between the === sides of the white ring 
2. MAM ULTI-VENT ANTI-COLIC (PP) BOTTLES
+ various colours and super cute designs! I can differentiate between the milk and water bottles AND the boy’s and the girl’s bottles. Also, who doesn’t like a bit of colour?
+ made from polypropolene (PP), which is naturally BPA-free
+ relatively scratch-proof
+ unbreakable
+ can be separated into 3 sections, which makes for 100% cleanliness
+ relatively cheaper than AVENT
- NOT supportive of breastfeeding especially in the first few months because the nipple doesn’t encourage the ‘baby bird wide open’ mouth of breastfeeding babies
- fast flow of liquids even at nipple No. 1 made my baby immediately reject the breast after just one session with MAM’s bottles! (read my story here).
- 6 detachable parts to wash (12 parts if you have 2 kids…) - bottle cap, nipple, nipple ring, bottle, bottom rubber pad, bottle bottom cap…
Among the three brands, I prefer MAM bottles because they are made of BPA-free, unbreakable plastic. Unfortunately, they do not support breastfeeding.
If your baby is on formula milk though, you could go for the cute MAM bottles:
3. TOMMEE TIPPEE
(colourless odd-shaped bottle in the photo)
I thought that Tommee Tippee would replace AVENT especially since its soft nipple is very, very close to Mummy’s nipple 
+ Read above
+ Made of polypropylene (PP) plastic
+ Relatively cheaper than AVENT
- Annoyingly loose bottle cap, which is REALLY DIFFICULT to put on. I really hate this feature because it’s caused a lot of leaks when I place the bottle either in the baby’s bag or MY handbag.
- UNREADABLE scale on the bottle – I have perfect vision but I have to hold the darn bottle up against the light in order to see if I have exactly 4 oz of water.The older and bespectacled members of my family just HATE this bottle. Why can’t they just print the darn numbers on the bottle too like AVENT and MAM?
- ergonomically-UNfriendly bottle – I found this annoying too because the position isn’t ergonomic i.e. fit comfortably in your hand when you’ve screwed the bottle on and ensure that the anti-colic vent faces up. In fact, I think the “ergonomic” position froze my hand and made it feel like I had carpal tunnel syndrome!
- nipple that deflates MANY TIMES during a baby’s feed – My baby is only drinking 4 oz now but I’ve had to pull the nipple out gently because she’s sucked it flat. The nipple is also in danger of coming out of the white ring and spilling milk all over everyone!
Since air is deflating the nipple, I’m doubtful of its “anti-colic” features especially as it reminds of the regular baby bottles we used back in the ’90s.
Overall, I’m the most disappointed with Tommee Tippee, which is a shame because I think these guys are a close second to AVENT.
UPDATE: Please read the comments below from readers who have experienced success with Tommee Tippee bottles.
If you’re from Malaysia, you can buy your baby bottles from Little Whiz (good discounts and offers!):
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{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi, i’m your silent reader all these while and 1st time mom to be as well. I should have read ur post before i bot the bottles
. I have bot tommee tippee steriliser which comes with the bottles . I have been toying the idea of either getting avent or tommee and due to the good reviews on net, i get tommee tippee in the end. But now after seen ur review, i started to regret it.
elle – Hi, dear! Nice to hear from a silent reader especially as I’m talking to myself a lot nowadays
Don’t regret your Tommee Tippee just yet because you may find it work for you and your baby perfectly fine.
During my full-time working Mum days, I bought A LOT of items which didn’t work on my first child at all but they work well on my second child.
Cheer up, ok? You’re going to be a Mummy!!! It’s one of the BEST part about being a woman and you’ll find that it’s a lot of trial-and-error too
*gulp* just like elle, I bought the tommee steriliser that comes with the bottles. Oh well, like you said, let’s just try it on my baby first and if all else fails, I’ll just use them bottles to feed him water
hahaha, ya. tat’s the best gift for me to be a mummy after trying for almost a decade. And maybe tat gives me the pressure to be able to give the best for my bb. My EDD is on mid Sept but till now, i still feel very lost. Thanks for the great post all these while, informative for first time mtb like me
AVENT has 2 ranges of BPA-free bottles: polycarbonate honey-coloured ones (more expensive) and polypropylene clear ones. For my next baby, I’d probably still stick with AVENT to match our load of unused feeding accessories. (My boy rejected the bottle; we did TOO well in preventing nipple confusion. Haha!)
Thank you for the useful review!
i used playtex with the drop-in liners and they are great. no air at all (almost) since you get to squeeze out all air before feed and the nipples are really like the breast.. my daughter is on total BM and when she does take a bottle of EBM, she will do the same vibrating action on the playtex teat as on breast but she has never done for the other bottles (avent, pigeon, evenflo, nuk)
Peter Pan Mommy – No sweat – I know what it’s like to grab a deal LOL And hey, you sound like you have a back-up plan already so that sounds good!
elle – I waited quite some time for both my kids too and I promise you, they are true treasures (even if they REALLY drive me crazy sometimes). Sept, eh? Looks like you’re all set with the “nesting”. You may find yourself heavier and more tired in the last 3 months so it’s best to rest and look forward to the birth then
reg – I’m very eco-friendly, which means I tend not to go for disposable stuff / plastic bags / ziplock bags etc. Breaks my heart to see the pile of disposable diapers filling up the trash which is why I’m into cloth diapers and re-usable stuff. No offence intended, k?
Kit: Have you made sure to follow the instructions? –
see:
( http://www.tommeetippee.us/faq_bottles_teats.html ) :
8. Why is the nipple collapsing when my baby is feeding?
The closer to nature nipples are very sensitive as it is made of specially designed silicone material which can sometimes stick together when not used, this is perfectly natural. To ensure the slit at the tip of the tent like valve can open before use, flush through with water and gently manipulate the valve between finger and thumb until you see the slit re open. This allows the air to flow into the bottle and prevents the teat collapsing.
Also: you can hold the bottle in any orientation that you find comfortable.
Smadar – Thanks for the link to TT on the nipples. Since I used new bottles, I don’t think I should be facing any problems with it since it was sterilised and cooled down before use. Anyway, I’ll check it out again
hi there i’m a first time reader of your blog, great stuff!
BTW, totally cannot agree more with you about the Tommee Tippee bottles. They drive me crazy … can’t read the oz scales cos it’s like almost transparent AND…the cap doesnt cap properly. ANDDDD the nipple keeps getting pushed in everytime! I’ve stopped using them and switched to Avent, which btw now has a BPA-free range. They are pricier, you gotta look out for the PES or PP bottles, it’s stated on the packaging. So perhaps you don’t have to switch after all?
peichyi – So you faced the same problems too, eh? I hope that the Tommee Tippee folks are reading this. I am currently stuck with 3 pcs of 9 oz Tommee Tippee bottles and not sure if we’re going to get any use out of them.
I’ve been using AVENT bottles all along and recently tried out the PES bottles, which crack really easily! Am so happy to stumble upon the PP ones and I quickly grabbed 6
I have a question about the bottom valve…every one I have bought so far has had a small cut on the bottom, or a seam where the rubber comes together. I am just curious if anyones knows if the cut is supposed to be there? or if I should return my bottles!!!
I have a question.
If a product of Tommee Timmee is faulty, where can I get
an exchange or repair ? I cannot find a sales / dealer office
in Singapore. Is the support good in Singapore ? I saw a couple
of complains that they cannot get good support for their product
in Singapore because there is no local support.
desiree – I think that’s the valve that comes with each Tommee Tippee bottle. I recall reading the instruction manual that you’re not supposed to poke it while washing. Hope this helps.
Alex – You should check with the retail shop that you’re buying the Tommee Tippee products from BEFORE you buy them. As far I know, only AVENT and Medela after sales service is available in Malaysia. I hope Singaporean readers will be able to help you out here.
Desiree – i have the same bottles and wasnt sure if they should have the slit or not as 2 of them didnt appear to have one. Have since re-read the instructions on the internet (which i should probably have done before!!) and it confirms the slit should be there and to gently rub the valve until the slit opens before 1st use. Hopefully this will now stop little man nearly turning teat inside out when sucking! Lol.
Lynne – Thanks for pointing this out. I know Mums who swear by Tommee Tippee baby bottles. I’m sure they will find it helpful. My girl’s already on MAM bottles so…
Does anyone’s tommee tippee nipples leak like half of the milk on the baby during feeding. This is frustrating my baby and I. I really thot I will enjoy the bottles and bought them with all excitement now this big problem is here. Any advice?
Pam – Was the nipple deflated when baby was drinking the milk? I know it did for me. Do read Smadar Samson’s comment above and the link he provided. I hope that helps!
hi,
I just switched from NUK to Tommee..
if i have stop BF, is Tommee a good choice of bottle?
my baby is a super good latcher, but i do not hv enough supply…
he does know how to use AVEN & NUK.. could it be bcoz he only recognise nipple?
I have the same problem with loose cap, etc..
leaks half of milk on baby!
what to do..?!
New Mummy – If your boy is a super good latcher, you’re sure to have enough supply if you:
Others try fenugreek, herbal teas and young papaya but only fenugreek works for me on a short-term basis.
a) drink enough fluids during the day – you need to drink more than the usual 8 glasses of water. Breastfeeding mums find plain water, milk, hot Milo/chocolate and soups the best
b) eat foodstuff like oats, which are also popular among breastfeeding Mums
c) get enough rest. I find this the most difficult to achieve but the most important for successful breastfeeding.
d) breastpump / express at least every 3 hours during the day.
I’ve not tried NUK bottles but I like their range of products. Definitely don’t like Tommee Tippee but some people do. Read Smadar’s comments above and see if it’ll help reduce the leaking. Good luck!
I EBF my daughter for 7 months, milk dried up, and we went through several types of bottles trying to get her to eat and she refused, until Tommee Tippie. We’ve never had spills or issues with the bottles. Remember ladies, every baby is different, just like every pregnancy is different. I recommend buying one bottle and not the whole kit until you see how your child takes to the bottle or you could be out a lot of money.
Heather – Thanks for sharing your experience. Tommee Tippee is such a popular brand, the bottles *must* be useful to some people. I’m sure the other folks who bought Tommee Tippee will not be too anxious now…
I’m curious though and I hope you’ll share with us how you use the Tommee Tippee bottles? The nipple kept deflating each time my baby girl drank from it and she hated it when I had to remove the nipple to a) inflate it again b) prevent the milk from spiling.
I still have 2 bottles in storage, you see. If I could figure out how to use them, they won’t go to waste.
I bought Avent bottles (honey coloured) and regret buying them coz for tht price, i was hoping i dont have to deal with leakage problem. Im now using Tommee Tippee and prefer them to Avent.
Thanks sham, I thought I was the only one that disliked the Avent bottles. They were better before but now they cost a lot more and leak horribly, I had to put 2 bibs on my baby so her clothes wont get wet. I am switching to Tommee Tippee I know a lot of mom’s that switched from Avent to Tommee Tippee.
Hi, I am into my second trimester of first pregnancy. For a first time mom to be, no doubt there are lots of new things to learn and my learning curve is really steep at this moment. My current priority is baby bottle cos I suppose it is the next most important tool to feed my baby once he/she is borned (in case I don’t have much breastmilk to feed him/her). I was recommended to check out this website by my sister for the comments of different brands available. I am glad that I did. My husband and I have also been doing some window shopping at departmental stores lately for baby items (especially bottle). There are other brands available like Pureen, Anakku, etc.
Avent, Mam, Dr. Brown & Tommy are only available in the specialty shops but not in our local departmental stores. What is the difference between the departmental store brands (which are much cheaper, but still BPA free) and those available in specialty shop (slightly pricier perhaps due to their country of origin & functions)? To me, they about the same thing apart from designs and certain functions which may or may not matter to some parents. Sorry if I offended anyone. I understand that there must be valid reasons of why parents are willing to pay more for certain brands instead of getting those from departmental stores. I just want to seek your opinion about the brands which sound more familiar to me. Appreciate your feedback.
Sham – If anyone’s interested to buy Tommee Tippee bottles, I have 2 4 oz gently-used ones to let go. Don’t work for me.
Kimberly’s Mommy – I don’t like AVENT bottles either! But I disagree that Tommee Tippee is a better choice. Did you try the nipple positioning I mentioned above? It stops the leaking, you know.
Lin – Your baby is truly blessed to have such a sensible Mommy
Let me share the story of how I was stuck with Avent bottles.
I was a full-time working Mom thus I had $$$ to spend on myself and my precious firstborn. He used Avent bottles because I was using the Avent Isis Manual Breastpump (one of the best for breastfeeding!) which would only work with original Avent baby bottles.
Among all the brands I’ve used, I find that Avent bottles support breastfeeding the best esp in the early months when you need to establish your demand-and-supply.
If I could turn back the clock, I’d buy the Avent PP bottles from the start as they are the cheapest and the most durable within the Avent range.
My baby girl is now using 2 brands of milk bottles: a Japanese one for milk, MAM for water. She hates the MAM bottle too! The flow is too fast even though it’s No. 1 and she has to chug down quickly and chokes each time she drinks water.
I also give her fresh milk / water in a straw-in-a-cup. Again, I’ve tried various brands of sippy cups but all are useless. I really like this FIFFY straw cup as I can clean it easily, it’s non-spill and she can drink well from it. Best of all? It’s less than RM10
Will blog about it one day, ok?
You didn’t mention if you’re a working Mom or a stay-at-home Mom. If you’re a working Mom and are serious about breastfeeding your baby, I’d really encourage you to invest in a good brand of breastpump.
To date, I’ve not heard positive things about the cheap breastpumps available in the supermarket – I only hear:
“It’s really painful to express milk!”
“The breastpump broke…”, “The breastpump melted when I sterilised it”
“I can’t get any milk out” or
“I couldn’t express milk after 1 month.”
The *best* value for money is the Avent Manual Isis, which is around RM280-290? But then, you’d have to use Avent bottles…
Hope this helps! Please don’t hesitate to ask further questions, ok?
Dear Kit
It is great to hear from you. I’ll take your feedback into consideration when choosing the bottle. To answer your question, I am currently working full-time and I think I would continue working till my retirement age
This is a great blog!!
Since my husband and I are sharing the expenses for our baby items, my next concern is how to convince him that there are indeed differences between departmental store brands and specialty store brands. I’ll print out this website and let him read for himself
Hi Fellow Moms,
My baby is now 3 months old and have been using Tommee Tippee bottles since she was born, I bought the 9 oz kind. I am not sure whether the above mentioned complaints about its measurements being hard to read, maybe they are old stock or could also be due to cleaning the outside of the bottle. The ones I bought have clear (bold) measurements on the side both in oz and ml. I am carefull not to scratch them too hard when cleaning though. I agree about the nipple collapsing every now and then, but my I didn’t have to do anything, as it pops back out right away. I also make sure that the slit is aligned to my daughter’s nose when she is feeding. As far as the cap, you have to press it hard to lock it, you should hear a “poping” sound. The tip of the nipple gets sqoushed when doing this. I never had any problems with leakage so far. I agree with the nipples having fast flow features even though I bought the ones for 0 year old. The best part of this product, my baby did not have nipple confusion when I had to switch from bottles to breasts.
hai,
im going to have my 1st baby this May & i need help,since i cant really go out n about too much due to my really painful back n thigh…im just curious in all of these so called up-to dated technology in feeding bottle,which one it uses a level 7 pp or pes plastic?…because according to the ministry level 7 is the safest one to be used in feeding bottles.
Ana – I understand how you feel as I experienced the same problem in my first pregnancy too. To understand the baby bottle situation, perhaps you’d like to read these 2 posts:
- REVIEW: AVENT PC, PP and PES baby bottles
-AVENT BPA-free PES bottles crack easily!
Both are based on my personal experience with the baby bottles. I’d started using PC bottles, then moved on to PES and finally, I find PP bottles the best for my kids and budget.
Every mother, baby and toddler are different thus you just need to make a decision based on your situation. All the best!
hi, Miles, i came across your sharing and can i know which Tommee Tippee bottle that you had bought which have clear (bold) measurements on the side both in oz and ml? I
Hi Kit…. Thanks for the post is really useful. I’m planning to give full breast milk to my 2nd baby too, i had an experience less milk during my first baby in the pass 7 years and i stop giving her breast milk after 1 week. Now my 2nd baby i planning to give full breast milk since I’m become full time housewife now. I saw ur post mentioned about Fenugreek that can help to produce more milk. May i know what kind of Fenugreek that u take it’s fresh or in capsule?
Chu Lian – Hi! I used GNC Fenugreek capsules but a lot of other Moms have tried buying the fenugreek (also known as “halba”) seeds from Indian shops, which is cheaper. You just need to steep the seeds in hot water like you’re making a glass of tea. Not sure if you need to swallow the seeds though!
If you are a full-time housewife, breastfeeding should be easier for you since you can just baby to the breast when he/she needs it. I really enjoyed my breastfeeding experiences when I was a stay-at-home Mom. Breastfeeding only became difficult when I had to go back to work :S Hope this helps.
Thanks for your reply Kit, i will try it out. I’ve brought 4 PES avent bottle for my baby , regret i should read this blog before i brought it. Anyway will try it out first and will switch to MUM bottle later on.
Chu Lian – No regrets! I’ve made *a lot* of mistakes too and still do. All part of being a Mom, ok?
By the way, my little girl is drinking milk from the AVENT PES bottle and water from the MAM bottle so I’m now stuck with 2 brands LOL
I tried breastfeeding my first 2 but I had latch problems due to flat nipples, which led to milk supply issues (even using the Avent Isis pump constantly – many, many times per day – and I got at least twice as much milk with that than with a hospital grade double electric pump). We did OK with nipple shields for awhile, but they didn’t help the milk supply issues and eventually, within about 6 wks, I just didn’t have enough milk and had to supplement with bottles. My babies also totally rejected any attempt whatsoever to nurse on a bare breast once used to the shields (the only way we could get a latch).
I used Avent bottles with both and while I was perfectly happy with them for bottlefeeding, they definitely caused nipple confusion and resulted in the end of breastfeeding for both. Once we started the Avent bottles, they wouldn’t even nurse with the shields anymore.
Now that I’m pregnant with my 3rd, I plan to try the Tommee Tippee bottles (and maybe, nipple shields, though I’m hoping not to have to introduce those, if possible) because I see more reviews saying that they successfully prevent nipple confusion than any other brand. I have seen the reviews complaining about flow being too fast and also leaking, but also plenty of reviews explaining how to avoid those problems and lots of reviews complaining about Avent bottles leaking (though I only occasionally had that problem – usually due to a misalignment of the nipple in the collar & easily fixed).
So sorry TT didn’t work for you. In our family, they are the only ones we use! Baby could easily slip from bottle to breast, really a good transition there. We did notice a bot of the nipple collapse at first, but after a few washings, it never happened again, and never happened with the faster flowing nipples. We have never experienced them leaking, and we fling them into bags, strollers, car trunks all the time. Perhaps your bottles are an older type – ours have printed, easy to read markings. We find the shape to be versatile for all family members to feed baby. Only problem we had was that the slow flow.was.still a bit strong for our newborn, wasn’t quite right until.about one month old. ALSO A BIG TIP, buy the TT milk bib’s, and use them for a spit up baby – you reeeeeeeeeaaaalllly wont regret it!!!
Shannon & Charity – Thanks for sharing your experiences and tips on how to deal with the nipple collapse and leaks.
Wish I knew about them earlier because I *did* like the Tommee Tippee bottles and dislike AVENT like anything. I had no choice but to switch back to AVENT as I had to handle a preschooler and a newborn on my own then…
I hope that new moms who plan to breastfeed will read and take your comments to heart esp with regards to using Tommee Tippee bottles
Can anybody comment on ‘Chicco’ brand’s milk bottle?
guyz please advice read good comment and darn comment on both brand. Avent and tommy…awaiting my 1st baby am confisued and doubt which is the best..seek for best and good for my baby.
paran – Both AVENT and Tommee Tippee are good brands of baby bottles. I used AVENT because they fit the AVENT breast pump.
Check with your wife if she will be getting a breast pump? I found MAM the least useful among the three brands. Hope this helps.