Before my baby was born I was fully stocked with two sets of bottles, the Gerber reusable 4 oz. bottles and the Playtex VentAire 6 oz. bottles. I decided to start my newborn on the Gerber reusable, since replacement bottles for the set were less expensive. VentAire bottles run about $5 per bottle, and Gerber reusable are about $2.
Within a week of birth, my baby developed digestive problems, resulting in painful gas, and much crying. I switched her to an easier-to-digest formula, and changed her bottle to the Playtex VentAire. I felt the VentAire would be a better option, since its bottom vent is designed to decrease gas bubbles. After the two changes, her stomach distress greatly decreased.
The first time I used a Playtex VentAire bottle, it seemed my baby was sucking, but not taking any liquid from the bottle. I replaced the stage one nipple with another VentAire stage one nipple, and had the same results. I checked the nipples, finding that the opening was only a tiny slit. I don’t know if the VentAire nipples are made abnormally small, or if my baby was just familiar with the larger opening in the Gerber nipples, making her unable to drink from the Playtex. I ended up replacing all the nipples of the VentAire bottles with the nipples from the Gerber set. They fit the same in the rings and worked better for my baby.
When mixing formula with the Gerber bottles, there were so many bubbles that the top of the formula was foamy, making it difficult to even read the number of ounces. There was a major difference in the VentAire. After mixing and shaking the formula in the VentAire bottles, there were no bubbles. Unlike the Gerber, this made it easy to read the amount left in the bottle after the feeding.
I often wondered if the new formula or the VentAire bottles were responsible for my baby’s digestive improvement. I had a chance to put this to the test at one point when I was away from home with my baby at feeding time. The only bottle I had in my diaper bag was a Gerber reusable. Later that day, my normally peaceful baby cried inconsolably, much like the way she did as a newborn, kicking her legs, and arching her back in pain. I concluded that the Playtex VentAire definitely played a large role in decreasing the gas.
Other than price, the Gerber reusable does have three advantages over the Playtex VentAire. The Gerber is easier to wash, easier to store, and less messy when shaking formula.
The Playtex VentAire has a vent system, which includes a bottom that unscrews from the bottle, holding a rubber vent. When cleaning the bottle there many pieces to disassemble and clean. If you do not have a dishwasher, this can be quite time-consuming. Also, it is difficult to store all of the draining the pieces on standard baby bottle racks. The Gerber bottles, like most bottles, consist of the bottle, the ring, the nipple, and cap, having less parts to clean and fitting nicely on draining racks.
The Playtex VentAire bottles are angled, which makes them more difficult to slide into a thermal bottle holder, or the side pocket of a diaper bag. Without an angled design, the Gerber bottles are easier to transport and store.
The Gerber bottles have a cap that presses down on the nipple, covering the hole. When shaking formula, this keeps liquid from coming out of the nipple. The Playtex VentAire cap does not press down on the nipple, and the cap often fills with formula when shaking. This can become messy when removing the cap.
I was disappointed in several ways with the Playtex VentAire bottle, but not enough to quit using it. Overall the Gerber reusable bottle is more convenient, especially when mixing formula, storing, and cleaning. But, when it comes to preventing painful gas in your baby, the disadvantages of the Playtex VentAire can be easily seen as insignificant.
