Leaking Avent bottles

I mostly bf, but use a couple of bottles per day if we go out and when dh feeds them in the evening. I feel like the Avent bottles have been causing some serious disasters lately. They seem to get leaky even when I've very securely closed them and put tops on.

Yesterday really took the cake when we took two 7oz bottles of ebm to a friends party only to find that one of them had COMPLETELY leaked out all over the diaper bag. It's a lot of work to pump that much milk :angry: .

As suggested, I've tried doing the unscrew until it pops and then re-screw the nipple to make sure it's secure, but the leaking seems to happen regardless. Should we switch bottles? Is running them through the dishwasher warping the plastic somehow? Any other suggestions?

Thanks for your help!

 

OK, here's how to avoid the leaks. This works 97% of the time. Put the nipple into the ring and put the plastic dome cover on. Turn counterclockwise for a couple of clicks. Then start to turn it on, holding onto the clear plastic lid, NOT the ring. As soon as the dome lid starts turning, free from the white plastic ring, STOP! The leaks are from overtightening. I always do a check after this, upside down and sideways to make sure there are no leaks.

 

I run my bottles through the dishwasher as well. So that should not be the problem. I agree the problem is overtightening. I usually will *just* tighten it. Sometimes it seems like it is not even closed enough. I do the same thing as kajulie, I will turn the bottles upside down and sideways to ensure that it is closed tightly.

 

also put the nipples together when wet......

 

I run my nipples under water just before I put them on the bottle so that it's wet, then just barely barely tighten it. Works every time. I think that when you overtighten it causes the vent holes to kind of "squish open" and that's when the leaks happen.

 

I had a lot of problems with mine leaking as well. I finally got rid of them and got different bottles and now life is much happier.

 

Thanks for the advice! Looks like I have been overtightening.

New Mom, you said you changed bottles altogether. What did you change to? I don't have that many Avents, so it wouldn't be a big deal to start over with a new brand. Any recommendations?

 

When I first came upon this forum I was having the exact same problems! How frustrating!!! I followed the advice that you were given in post #2 and haven't had a leak since! Great advice and thanks!

 

This is something that is a very sensitive topic for me because I called Avent 2 times and got NO help at all. They are a very arrogant company and keep blaming me. Now, as for overtightening, they claim that's for their older bottles. Bottles that were purchased before 2006. Also that dome thing is for older bottles.

As for wetting the nipple before inserting it into the ring, that's what they told me to do. I todl them that no matter what I did, they leaked anyway. Sometimes they didn't, but mostly they did. Of course they blamed me.

I came to find out, from talking to a supervisor who was arrogant as anything, that they redid the nipple, but not the bottle OR rings. I told them that might have been their biggest mistake.

I finally gave up, and bought the best bottles ever. They are called Born Free and BRU sells them, or you can get them at newbornfree.com - this bottle has NEVER once leaked.

DO YOU BELIEVE that Avent claims that NOONE else has called about problems, but then in a different sentence she told me that lots of people send the bottle back due to leaking and then they test it (by wetting the nipple, etc.), and find that it works. I told them that the bottle leaks during the feeding - NOT when you turn it upsidedown after tightening it, etc., and sometimes leaks in the middle of the feeding. They are liars.

 

When ours leak, if we unscrew the top and then pull in the nipple then retighten the lid, it seem to stop our leaks.

 

"New Mom, you said you changed bottles altogether. What did you change to? I don't have that many Avents, so it wouldn't be a big deal to start over with a new brand. Any recommendations?"

I know that I am not NewMom but...I have used Dr. Brown's and have NEVER had any leaking problems. I think they are great. A lot of people complain that there are a lot of parts to clean but it doesn't bother me. I just put the bottles in soapy water as soon as the girls are done and then when I have time I wash them and let them air dry (though there is no reason they can't be washed in the dishwasher).

 

I found this on another web site, I hope it helps....

Step1
Make sure all three components, bottle, nipple, and ring, are dry.
Step2
Find the notches on the nipple
Step3
Find the notches (? Not sure what to call them) on the ring
Step4
Line up two of the notches on the nipple with two of the notches on the ring and pull the nipple through the middle of the ring. It's a little hard to see in the picture, but it should help show how this is done.
Step5
Put the nipple/ring onto the bottle. Make sure the ring is tightened. If it is too loose, then it's possible it will leak, but don't worry about getting it tight enough. Just turn until it no longer moves.
Step6
If it does leak (because the ring was not tight enough), make sure to unscrew the nipple/ring, dry off both the ring on the bottle and inside of the nipple/ring before screwing back on. If there is any moisture in there, it's possible it will leak again.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4560480_prevent-av...mpaign=yssp_art

 

This is what worked for me. I haven't had problems since I started drying all the parts before I use them. I'm not sure it's necessary to line things up, but I'm willing to do it because I like the Avent bottles a lot.

QUOTE(stellablues @ Jan 3 2009, 11:19 PM) [snapback]1131894[/snapback]
I found this on another web site, I hope it helps....

Step1
Make sure all three components, bottle, nipple, and ring, are dry.
Step2
Find the notches on the nipple
Step3
Find the notches (? Not sure what to call them) on the ring
Step4
Line up two of the notches on the nipple with two of the notches on the ring and pull the nipple through the middle of the ring. It's a little hard to see in the picture, but it should help show how this is done.
Step5
Put the nipple/ring onto the bottle. Make sure the ring is tightened. If it is too loose, then it's possible it will leak, but don't worry about getting it tight enough. Just turn until it no longer moves.
Step6
If it does leak (because the ring was not tight enough), make sure to unscrew the nipple/ring, dry off both the ring on the bottle and inside of the nipple/ring before screwing back on. If there is any moisture in there, it's possible it will leak again.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4560480_prevent-av...mpaign=yssp_art

 

I am a few years too late in reading this. I would just change the coupling or ring.

 

QUOTE(tracymcg @ May 7 2007, 12:34 PM) [snapback]246291[/snapback]
Is running them through the dishwasher warping the plastic somehow?

that's what i found. we never found a plastic bottle we liked because any time we ran the dishwasher on "sanitize" the heat would warp the plastic. sooner or later that meant every bottle leaked no matter who the manufacturer was.

that's why we switched to glass bottles. we use dr brown nipples and glass evenflo bottles. it's a beautiful thing. they never warp, we haven't had a tenth of the leaks, and we don't have to worry about plastic safety issues. and believe it or not, even in sleep deprivation, we've only broken 2.

 

When ours leak we take the ring and nipple off and dry the threads of the bottle and the nipple/ring and put it back together. Works everytime! Although, I feel your pain loosing two whole bottles of EBM! I stuck it out with Avent becuase my guys latch was pathetically small and I figured the wide base of the nipple would encourage them to ...open wide

 

Had that same problem here. Yep, tightening the ring too tight. I ended up keeping 2 of the Avent bottles and went out and bought 2 Playtex drop in bottles. Yes, you have to buy the drop in liners but Target brand isn't bad for price. I don't discard after each use. I just rinse out really well and reuse. I throw them out at night and start fresh the next day. Babies R Us has really good reviews on these bottles.

Good luck!

 

I had the same leaking problems! We just shoved our (expensive) bottles in the drawer somewhere and are now mostly using the many-part but works-well Born Free bottles.

 

I hate Avent everything. Our Avent bottles and Avent sippies all leak. It didn't matter what we did, and we don't have a dishwasher so I don't think that is the problem. We would untighten, fix the nipples, retighten, and they would still leak. I think it is a major flaw in the design as the sippies that we have bought leak as well. I would never recommend the Avent bottles or sippies.

 

I had same problem with avent bottles when DD was a baby. I switched to a different kind and when the boys were born I bought the same kind I had with DD.