Playtex VentAire Advanced Bottle

Playtex has been a big name in baby bottles for a long time now, and their VentAire Advanced bottle is popular because of its angled shape, which Playtex says promotes a semi-upright position for feeding, supposedly preventing ear infections. Very few babies actually lay flat to eat, since the mother's arms provide a natural angle, but this bottle is also touted as preventing gas and colic due to a special venting system. It comes in standard and wide with no difference in price.

A safe bottle in spite of the number of components

The VentAire Advanced bottle is made of BPA-free plastic and, in spite of the relatively large number of parts, has none small enough to present a choking hazard. The nipple is made of silicone.

Reviews mixed on ease of use

The VentAire Advanced Bottle is easy to disassemble and clean, but gets mixed reviews on ease of assembly. Some say it's a breeze, while others say it takes too long. And if you don't get the parts together just right, it leaks. In fact, it gets quite a few complaints about leaking. However, other parents say that if the bottle is assembled correctly, it will not leak, so it may be a function of assembly. All components are dishwasher safe on the top rack.

Benefits of angle may be overstated

The anti-colic feature also gets mixed reviews, with some parents saying it's the only one that works and others saying it does not help their baby's colic problems. The nipples are popular with some babies, less so with others.

The bottle comes in standard and wide models. The standard size is like a traditional baby bottle, and the wide has a wider, cap-like nipple, which is a trend in bottle design that supposedly makes it more like a real breast. There is no difference in price, and it's a very affordable bottle.

As for the angle, reviews are mixed on all angled nursers. Since a baby lying in a mother's arms is naturally tilted up, angled bottles may actually be more difficult to hold comfortably. There are just a couple of angled bottles on the market, so it's a design that hasn't caught on in general. The angle also makes it difficult to use in some bottle warmers, according to reviewers, but Playtex says it will work in many different models.

The bottom line

Playtex is a leader in the baby bottle market and the VentAire is popular with a lot of parents who say their babies love the nipple and the anti-colic system works great for them.  You can't ignore the many complaints about leaking, but if you're experimenting with various bottles, this is one that may warrant a tryout.