We started our kid on bottles pretty early, one feeding a day (or in the middle of the night, so I could do it: MAJOR POINTS, guys.). The first bottles were from the Avent breastpump kit, and they're fine.

A couple of weeks ago, we started experimenting with other bottles, including the hockey stick-shaped ergonomic bottles like the Ventaire from Playtex. It works fine.

The main feature is the tricky, two-part, vented bottom, which is supposed to reduce a kid's air intake, and burping. [Our girl still burps like a trucker, though; maybe they're higher quality burps? I don't know.]

That aside, it's the angle that's most useful. It's designed for feeding a reclining or seated baby (vs. a more horizontal breastfeeding one), and there are unexpectedly useful thumbpads for holding it.

Bottles are like toothbrushes. Manufacturers load them up with technological innovations in an attempt to gain an edge for an undifferentiated commodity. Once that basic function's covered, though, what matters is your and your kid's subjective preference.

So if you have, not a "toothbrush," but a Reach Ultra Clean Interdental Toothbrush Extra Soft, the Playtex Ventaire is the bottle for you.

[Buy the Playtex Ventaire 6-oz 3-pack, $10.99 at Babies R Us.]