BOTTLES,BINKIES, AND FORMULA! OH MY!

Orphanage Care in Taiwan:

Bottles, Pacies and Formula OH MY!

I know your mind is going a million Miles per hour.
We've gone over what to pack and what not too,
but I am sure you are still thinking that there is something else
you can do to be a better mom! You are thinking, I know they
said don't bother to bring bottles but I have to try,
or that the pacies are different from ours and so is the formula
......BUT!

Ok..let's start with this statement. "Many that have gone
before you brought these things and either it worked or not
for them".
Let's face it, adoption is a hit and miss, trial and error kind of world.
Now that you have signed up, get imaginative and if you
do ask the ladies on the forums, try to listen to what is being said
even though you are itching with excitement. We all
know that just like those that have gone before you, YOU TOO
are hoping for a perfect journey and wanting to be prepared!
If you feel you must try to bring bottles for your child and they
are in St. Lucy Center. The bottles they use are essentially some
of the cheapest on our American market. Feel free to go on to
Taiwan with out, they will give you a bottle or two from the
orphanage and then you can go to a pharmacy or a department
store and match what you were given up with what they have OR
I can tell you here and now what they are like so that you can
keep yourself busy during the wait to travel and search for them..lol.
The only way I can explain it is to tell you what to look for in
the U.S. The nipples in Taiwan have an x type mark on the top of the
bottle that is missing one of the legs. So it looks like a 3 legged x
of sorts or it will have an x shape on the top of the nipple.


Nuby has some like this but the nipple is caved in a little
which our child transitioned to fine..BUT yours may not.
None the less, the one you are looking for has this x on
top.

Anyways, the reason why they use these nipples is because
in Taiwan, their nipples like this come with spreaders. They
are a little object that you poke
through the nipple that opens these legs up to the desired flow.
Older children around 10-12 months nipples are opened pretty
much all the way, for max flow. Now, these nipples can be found
here BUT they do not come with a spreader... so here is what I
did. First
of all I wasted luggage space by insisting I would bring MY
choice of bottle and hope the baby liked them...guess what?
DIDN'T work lol. So, my next attempt was to take the bottles
the orphanage gave us in Taiwan and go to the department
store next to our hotel
and match up what I was given with what they had.
I found the same kind of nipple and similar shape bottle and
we were in business. I bought an extra 2 bottles and 3 additional
nipples. The bottles came with the spreader to open the nipple
for max flow.
THEN after returning, I went searching again for the nipples
and the bottles. I found them in run of the mill Playtex and
some cheap brands and the bumpy NUBY nipples have the x on
the nipple too.
Just look for the 3 leg x or an x on the top of the nipple.
Though ours doesn't come with a spreader, if you got one in
Taiwan, you are set. They work on these nipples too! For a
transition bottle I got the NUBY, want to be sipper bottles.
Our child would not accept a regular sippy cup for quite a
while and he was age 1, so I had to get imaginative and search
for something that would
"trick" him into progression. SO, I looked and looked and found
the NUBY system. Which allows for an adjustable flow in the nipple
and then a second "sippy cup" style nipple that still resembles a
bottle nipple in sorts. He fell for it hook line and sinker!






After that it was easy sailing NOT! I then offered him a latex coated hard
sippy cup spout until he accepted and finally, I transitioned him to
a hard plastic sippy cup! WHEW! Was that all? YEP!
As for Binkies! THEY DO LOOK FOREIGN! I don't have
one that he didn't end up biting off the tip left or I would show
you one.
If you must try to buy a pacie for your baby, I would suggest
Round nipple and straight, very little to no contour! I would suggest
though that if you do not want to waste money, to buy some extra
in Taiwan and then compare them when home. We had 3 or 4
extras and he destroyed or got a hole in everyone over a year time.
On a trip to Colorado he wrecked the last binkie! We were then
in a *loud booming movie voice" BINKIE EMERGENCY!
So, I bought I think 5 of 6 packages at 4 dollars a pop of binkies that
resembled the newly burried and dearly departed binkie and had
him try them all. He finally found one style by playtex that he
approved of and we were in business yet again. So, the binkie
emergency was virtually avoided to a point and the child was happy
yet again. WHY NOT JUST TAKE IT AWAY you say? Well,
because I felt that I had ripped pretty much EVERY BLESSED
thing from this poor kid he once new in one years time...
SO, I decided that the binkie was his call along with the sippy cup
transition (that one not so much). We did wean him down to
a binkie only at naps and bedtime though I think about 6 months
after he was home, and then a few months before age 2 he
finally kicked the binkie! Well, actually he got dangerous with the biting
the tip off and we HAD to say good bye to our dear friend.
Lastly, the Formula! At SLC they were putting a cereal
by nestle' in the bottle with the formula. We could not find either
in the states.
So, I would suggest that you buy a LARGE can at the department
store, or pharmacy. We had to find ours at the pharmacy because
ours was not findable at the departmentstore. Buy one or two of the
cereal and mix your bottles DRY formula up for traveling around
TAiwan for the day or carry a formula distributor. We did BOTH and
it worked great. On the plane we took the WHOLE lg can on board
and mixed 3-4 bottles DRY and just added water! AT SLC they did
not warm the bottles up so he took it at room temp. Awesome!
Made my life WAY easier! If you think of it though, by time they
would get around to feeding everyone, the bottles were probably
room temp anyways! So that is probably why he preferred it this way.
Once home I transfered our child to a NATURAL formula
by baby organics! We were very happy with this product and we also
used their cereal. He spit this formula up a lot less. We
mixed it pretty much according to what they mixed his formula in
Taiwan and added the cereal until our DR. appointment.
At the appointment he took him off of formula IMMEDIATELY and
put him on WHOLE milk and food. Which was a given! LOL.
Some parents preferred to mix the new formula with the old.
This didn't quite make sense to me so we just went ahead and
changed him and it was for the good! You are the child's mother,
if you feel a DR. visit for this info is needed go for it, otherwise
it is up to you. You can even breastfeed!!!! Yep, that's right.
You have that ability all built in too!!!! Amazing? YEP!
So, to recap, there are nipples that match SLC that you can
get state side! There are "similar" binkies but no true twins for
the binkies in Taiwan! And the formula is not going to be gotten
here in the U.S. more than likely so you will just have to transfer
your child over to another Formula. OR you can breastfeed!
I will try to get info on Chung Yi bottles and post that next time!!!!