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What’s the best bottle for feeding your baby?
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Choosing the right bottle for feeding your baby often involves some trial and error.
Babies have their own preferences, and the bottle that suits one perfectly could be rejected by another.
But of the main types available, which is likely to be the best match for your baby’s needs – and yours?
Whether you'll be full-time formula feeding or offering your baby the occasional bottle of expressed milk, here are the the main types available:
Standard or wide-neck bottles
If you’re planning to bottle feed full-time or regularly, standard or wide-neck bottles are the best place to start.
These are traditional-looking baby bottles, although the wide-neck ones are shorter and stockier, and the teat is more breast-shaped than the teat on standard bottles.
These bottles are generally easy to wash and sterilise as they fit into most types of steriliser and tend not to have complicated extra parts like anti-colic valves.
Wide-neck bottles are easier to fill with formula, but their size may mean you need to sterilise them in smaller batches.
Both types are inexpensive to buy.
Standard and wide-neck bottles usually come in two sizes, to suit newborns and older, hungrier babies.
You can buy teats with different flow rates depending on your baby’s age, stage and appetite: typically, small babies need a slow-flow teat, while older ones will need a faster flow.
You can also choose between plastic and glass bottles, and from a wide range of colours and designs.
Some are compatible with training handles and sippy spouts to ease the transition from bottle to cup as your baby grows.
This six-pack of Tommee Tippee feeding bottles is ideal if you are planning to exclusively bottle feed your baby. They have a distinctive, breast-like shaped teat for easier latching and a soft silicone teat with a more natural feel. You can buy them here on Amazon for around £15-20 for six.
Tommee Tippee bottles
Anti-colic bottles
Many young babies suffer with colic, especially in the first 12 weeks of life.
They cry for no obvious reason for hours at a time, particularly in the evening, and may seem to be troubled by wind and tummy pain.
Anti-colic bottles are designed to relieve these symptoms and are worth trying if you have a sicky, windy or unsettled baby.
Anti-colic bottles have a special system that aims to reduce the amount of air your baby swallows when he feeds.
This may be built into the teat or the bottle itself.
They tend to be more expensive than standard bottles and can also be more fiddly to clean, but they could be worth the money and effort if your baby is suffering from colic or tends to gulp and guzzle his feeds.
Dr Brown's award-winning Natural Flow bottles are designed specially to help alleviate colic in young babies. They have a built-in valve which helps to regulate air flow and stop any bubbles forming - which can cause feeding issues. Available in a pack of two, you can buy them here at Amazon for around £15.
Dr Brown's Options Wide Neck Bottle
Self-sterilising or disposable bottles
If your baby is mostly breastfed and only has the very occasional bottle, self-sterilising or disposable bottles could be the right option for you.
On a use-by-use basis, they work out more expensive than standard bottles, but they’re a good buy if you don’t want a steriliser and batches of bottles cluttering up your house.
Self-sterilising bottles are partially filled with water and then microwaved to sterilise them.
Each can be used several times, so they’re handy for the occasional bottle of formula or expressed milk.
Disposable bottles are individually wrapped in sterile plastic and designed to be thrown away after use.
Both types are great for mums who bottle feed infrequently as there’s no need to fuss about with washing and sterilising.
These clever self-sterilising bottles by Mam are ideal for travel or if you're only planning to feed your baby an occasional bottle, so there's no need to buy a separate steriliser. Simply fill with 20ml of water and microwave for three minutes and it'll be completely germ-free. Buy a three-pack here at Amazon for £19.99.
MAM Easy Start Self Sterilising Anti-Colic Bottle
Read on:
- The best bottles for colicky babies
- The best bottles to mimic breastfeeding
- Your essential bottle feeding kit
