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Showing posts with label new parents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new parents. Show all posts

Wednesday, 19 October 2016

Dr. Brown's v/s Philips Avent Bottles for Baby Feeding - Which is better ?

In this post, i will discuss the experience i and my wife had of using two of the very popular formula feeding bottles from reputed companies such as Dr. brown's and Philips. I will also discuss the differences between the two and which is better in long run especially for babies exclusively formula fed or otherwise.

We were blessed with Twins in May 2016. Our pediatrician suggested us to use formula feed for covering up milk intake for the twins. Living in a nuclear family, we had no idea of formula feeding babies as to how it's done, what kind of bottles are needed, how frequently feed is to be given etc. etc. Thousands of questions popped up in no time. The only place where we could find answers to all the questions was "Google". We started searching online and based on most popular products that works best for the babies with no compromise to quality and our well researched products, we came up with 2 names - Philips Avent & Dr. Brown's bottles.

Because Philips as a company is quite common name among households, we were a bit biased in our chose for buying the feeding bottles. And plus, they were comparatively cheap when compared with Dr. Brown's bottles. The other reason was the cute ergonomic design of the bottles. We thought this must be super easy to handle and carry. We immediately bought a set of 4 bottles of Philips Avent from Amazon.

We were very sure that this product coming from an awesome company like "Philips" must be well researched and just right for the newborn and few months old babies. So once the package arrived, we could not help but thanks Philips for making this product and Amazon for delivering it in no time.

Let me write down few very good points about Philips Avent bottles that makes it a must buy:

- Its BPA free. Now, BPA is bisphenol A. In short, it's a chemical substance that has tendency to seep into food and water through the containers and thus cause health issues. So one should always go for BPA free bottles / containers / sippers etc.

- It's made up of polypropylene. A chemical substance which has good resistance to electricity and good impact strength.

- The soft and flexible teat makes it easy for baby to drink the formula feed without any issues. Bottle teat is designed in such a manner that it's very similar to breastfeeding.

- Measurement marking is in both Oz and ml.

- it's easy to handle thanks to its ergonomic design.

- Overall, it's a high quality product made in UK.

- it's portable and can be easily carried in bags as it has a lid tight cap.


After feeding our twins using Philips bottles for nearly 1.5 months, we started seeing babies suffer from colic issues. The little ones had tough time having burps and the colic just won't stop. I called our pediatrician to know the main reason behind colic. He mentioned there could be n number of possibilities but the ones that tops the list our - formula feed and the feeding bottles.

First, we decided to change the powder. We jumped from Similac to Enfomil to few other products like NanPro but soon were back to Similac as that was the only powder suited out babies.

So now we decided to change the feeding bottles. We further studied online to know that although Philips claim their bottles to be anti-colic but the bottles are not able to prevent it. Checked online and read other parents views to know that these bottles does create colic issues. Most of them recommended and switched to Dr. Brown's bottles. We decided to do the same.

I ordered a pack of Dr. brown's bottles. It took some time for product to deliver but once received, we felt happy.

So now the Philips bottles were replaced by Dr. brown's bottles. I ordered a pack for my twins. it had 5 bottles - 3 small and 2 big. 3 small bottles can hold upto 120 ml of water mixed feed and 2 bigger bottles can hold upto 250 ml.

We started feeding the twins through these bottles and our babies had no issues switching from one to the other. The Turnaround story - No more colic issues. Dr. Brown's bottles thus proved effective in handling colic issues. The company rightly claims it to be anti colic and works best in favor of babies formula feeding.

It's been 6 months now, babies have accepted Dr. Brown's bottles with a smile on their face. Dr. Brown's bottles worked like Magic.

So, here are few advantages of using Dr. brown's bottles:

- Reduces colic, spit-up, burping and gas issues

- Teat is designed in such a manner that babies feel as if they are being breastfed.

- it's portable and can be easily carried in bags as it has a lid tight cap.

- it is BPA, PVC, lead, phthalate free

- it has a vent system that removes air from milk and thus preserving all the necessary vitamins of formula feed. So no oxidation takes place, else all the important vitamins are lost.


Dr. Brown's bottles are costly when compared with Philips Avent but it's a onetime investment that will surely save babies from colic issues while formula feeding them. I was so very happy with the experience that we had with brown bottles, that i ordered another pack of 5 bottles and 2 additional pink bottles.

So, I personally recommend Dr. Brown's bottles over Avent bottles to all the parents who plan to formula feed their babies and do not want to see their little ones in pain because of colic or burp issues.

Please note, there are 2 types of bottles available in Dr. brown's - blue and pink color.

Apart from pink bottles made in China, there's big difference interms of bottle quality. Pink bottles is a replica of blue bottles. One can question the quality of the product after using the pink bottle few times.

Blue bottles are made in USA and are of better quality over pink bottles. The other main disadvantage in pink bottles is - that the measurement markings are so not visible on the bottles. Markings are not done by blue / pink ink but are engraved on the bottle which makes it very difficult to read the water level especially during nights.

I hope you found this post useful. Do let me know your experience of using these or any other feeding bottles. Looking forward to your comments.

Checkout the Product Review of "Philips Avent 3-in-1 Electric Steam Sterilizer" used for washing / cleaning / sterilizing feeding bottles. You can buy it here: Amazon Link

Thanks

Saturday, 6 August 2016

Free Apps for Pregnant / New Moms

Do you know there are many free apps available on both Android and Apple store for pregnant ladies & new moms ?

These apps can be a life saver during pre and post delivery.

Few Apps are pregnancy related, others are more generic.

1. My Pregnancy Today by Baby Center

This is a must have app for expecting mothers and new moms. This not only tracks your pregnancy (days to your delivery) but keeps you informed about the changes in your health, mood swings, food to eat or avoid and a lot more, detailing into nitty gritty of pregnancy.

You can read articles related to pregnancy, discuss with other expecting / new moms. Learn about the exercises that can be done or even search for baby names. Information from To-Do list at the time of delivery to baby poop color is all available in this very app. The information is backed by veteran doctors and user experiences. So one always get the right (most sorted) advice here.

New Moms can keep track of baby's age with every passing day. it triggers alerts / emails with every passing week / month etc and keeps parents informed about baby's health and changes you may see at every stage. it also tells moms about the food choices and things to watch out for.

Have a question, this app has answer to almost every question. One can learn a great deal of information from here and best part is, its free.

Android: App
iOS: App

Visit Baby Center

2. IAP Immunization

This is an Android app, a must for every Mom & Dad who finds it difficult to keep track of vaccinations to be given to kids at different stages of early life. You can keep track using this app. This app helps you to not to miss out on scheduled (recommended) vaccinations.

This app takes in child information and keeps you informed about the vaccination schedule and trigger reminders when the date is approaching to get the child vaccinated. There's a chart available which list down all the injections / vaccines needed at different stages of child development.

User can send an email to oneself and set reminders.

There are many other similar apps available on both Android and iOS that helps in knowing the vaccination schedule and setup reminders.

So i would recommend all parents to install this app if they don't want to unknowingly miss out on their vaccination schedule.

You can also set SMS alert for vaccine reminder. How ? , Refer the below Screenshot
Source: Facebook


3. White Noise apps

Is your newborn cranky or find it difficult to go to sleep ? Does he / she gets easily distracted from external disturbances ? Is he / she has frequent sleep disturbances or cries a lot before sleeping. if answer to all these questions is "yes", try white noise apps.

White noise helps to sleep and relax new born babies. The external noise when played in endless loop, relaxes baby's body and make him / her sleep instantly.

Android: App
iOS: App

it keeps the baby engaged by minimizing external distractions and pacifies crying babies.

There are many free apps available on both Android and iOS with regards to white noise. Just search "white noise" and install the best rated app on your device. Select a noise which you think will pacify the baby. for eg: Vacuum Cleaner or running shower or incoming train or animal sounds in jungle and play it endlessly. Keep the device at a distance from baby while the noise is playing. You will notice soon the baby will go to sound sleep. During day, it will relax the baby and make him / her fall sleep at night. Stop the noice once the baby is asleep.

This is a must have app for all those parents who sometimes find it read hard to handle cranky / crying babies.

4. Amazon

Yes, you read it right. A must have app for all those parents who are so held up with baby care that they find it hard to even step out of the house to buy stuff.

Amazon has everything available from A to Z with regards to new born or grown up babies. From Diapers to breast pumps to formula feed, everything is available on Amazon.

Make sure before you buy the product, read reviews, check ratings and see the price is good enough to give you best deal.

If you are too much dependent on diapers, trigger price drop alerts so that you do not miss out when the price falls. Checkout the Lightning deals offered by Amazon as they offer discounts on products during off hours.

Android: App
iOS: App

There are many other apps available to buy stuff for eg: firstcry.com, babyoye.com, flipkart.com, Snapdeal.com etc. But i would still recommend to go with Amazon as it gives you the best price deal, awesome service and ontime delivery. Plus, it's a lot easier to return on Amazon incomparison to other e-commerce sites.

Firstcry works best incase of ordering diapers as it has the same day delivery program if you place order before 12 Noon. But this works only on weekdays. So be very careful placing order on firstcry on weekends if you are in urgent need of diapers. They will deliver it after few days only if you order it on weekend.

5. BigBasket

Parents who find it difficult to go out to buy grocery and is always behind schedule must install BB for their rescue.

This app works best when it comes to buying food / grocery online.

Add items to the cart, select a time slot when you need the items, mention your address and make payment. It's that easy. You will get the best food items delivered at your place in no time. This not only saves individual's time but also give peace of mind by making one thing less to worry about. New parents get to spend more time with babies.

Android: App
iOS: App

6. Gaana.com

Do not spend time to load / transfer music on your mobile ? How about playing music online. Install Gaana.com app. Listen seamless high quanlity music with gaana app. This app is a must for new parents as it not only has songs that you can listen to while feeding the baby but you can also play white noise to relax yourself as well as the baby. Just search for "white noise".

If you want to meditate or listed to Geeta or Osho, it's all available on gaana.

The only pre-requisite to use this app is that you should have a high bandwidth working internet to play songs.

I recommend this app to everyone whosoever find it hard to load songs on device or has storage issues. Create a playlist and listen to your favorite songs anytime, anywhere.

Users can also watch videos on youtube but it may not be a very easy option for new parents.

7. Practo

Finding difficult to search for a good doctor in your area. Try Practo. it has all doctors with their key specializations listed in area of search.

From Gynecologist to Pediatrician, all profession doctors are listed in this app. Pregnant women / new parents can search for specific skill doctor in their area on Practo and checkout the ratings and reviews. Doctors address details, fees and time slots is also available. Users can even book an appointment through the app.

This app is a must for all those new parents who has recently moved to new place and has no clue about good doctors in their areas.

Android: App
iOS: App

Besides the above mentioned apps, users can join pregnancy / new parents / parenting / child development related groups on google / facebook / yahoo etc.. There's a lot to explore.

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