Product Spotlight: Bottles

inthewoods23

Share all your knowledge or ask questions about baby bottles

bumblebee0210

Ok this may seem very Brooklyn hipster-twee, but hear me out: comotomo nipples fit perfectly onto mason jars (the ones with standard canning lids). You just take out the flat metal part and replace it with the nipple, and then screw it on with the metal rim. We used the 4-oz jelly jars when my daughter was very little and then moved up to the 8-oz jelly jars when she was a bit older. She actually still uses them as sippy cups with a different top and a silicone sleeve. If you don't like plastic, this is a way cheaper option than typical glass bottles, and you can use them for way longer (because they are just jars). They don't break easily, and you can buy pretty cheap silicone sleeves that keep them safe from drops, especially when the baby starts to hold the bottle themselves. 

inthewoods23

@bumblebee0210 aren't the comotomo bottles silicone? I put that brand on my registry because the bottles are the green beans and that's my favorite color 😆


Generic bottle question though.... How many bottles does one actually need? 

bumblebee0210

@inthewoods23

Yes! the comotomo bottles are silicone, I think-- though I think the screw-ring may be plastic. But you can buy the nipples separately and just fit them onto mason jars. It's definitely not for everyone, but I'm throwing it out there because I never would have thought of it if I hadn't seen friends do it who had a baby a year older than ours, and I liked that it meant there was one fewer baby-specific thing we had to buy and wash and store. And baby bottles are often weird shapes that are hard to get clean in the dishwasher-- these canning jars have straight sides so no weird bottle-specific brushes required. Also we (gasp) microwaved our bottles (for a very brief time and always tested the temp, don't @ me about nutrients or whatever), and I felt better doing that in glass than anything else (even though I know food-grade silicone is fine). 

On quantity: depends on how mech bottle-feeding you end up doing (and how much dish washing!) But if you will need to end up leaving the baby with a caregiver for most of the day, on either formula or breastmilk, you'll probably leave 4-6 ready-made bottles, so I would have at least that. If you're planning to breastfeed, you will need fewer in the beginning, so it's not one of those things you need to have the second you get home from the hospital (though probably still worth registering for). 

tuxielove93

I didn't end up really using them, but I loved the Kiinde system. That gets lots of rave reviews among my breastfeeding groups 

sunshineandlemons

We used dr. Brown’s bottles and will continue to unless the baby just doesn’t take to them since we already have them. I’m not sure how much they help with colic but neither of my kids had it. All the parts suck to wash.

We had more bottles than we probably needed but it was enough I could go a day and a half without washing bottles if I needed to. I also sterilized after every wash, so that was another reason to have so many is the whole washing process took a while.

oli9

I’ve always used plastic Avent or MAM bottles until I had serious nausea and hypersensitive senses in the first trimester of this pregnancy and I couldn’t eat off of plastic or drink anything from plastic or it would gross me out. I could TASTE the difference. It made me think that a new-to-this-world baby could also probably taste the difference and would be affected by it. That’s when we decided to go glass. My husband went out and got us the AVENT glass bottles with the silicone sleeves. They were pretty pricey but worth it not to use plastic! 

inthewoods23

@bumblebee0210 I think you're correct that the ring is plastic. Better than the whole bottle IMO. I'll have to see what's out there for glass bottles as I would definitely feel much better about using those than plastic ones. Can bottles go in the dishwasher or are they hand wash only? I know some plastic stuff has warped in our dishwasher. Oops!


I wasn't originally planning on adding a bottle brush to our registry since we already had one, but then I saw that they have a hidden mini scrub brush for the nipples! I got all excited about it lol.

lilirunning34

My advice is to have a wide range of bottles and see which one your baby likes best and then you can always get more. My first didn't take bottles so we stocked up with almost every different kind of bottle for kid #2. 

stardustskies

I used Dr. Brown's wideneck bottles with my oldest. They worked well, no issues, but I hated cleaning all the parts. I bought 4 of the small Tommee Tippee silicone bottles (which is what I'm hoping to use as long as baby doesn't protest), but I have a few Phillips Avent and Dr. Brown's in case I need to try some different brands. At least I can pump directly into the Avent bottles with my Spectra pump. 

tuxielove93

@lilirunning34 oh that’s true. Don’t get too many of any one bottle because babies *can* be picky and not take certain ones. 

caymanmel

I've been a breastfeeding/pumping mama only for my previous 2 boys.  I can not say enough wonderful things about the kiinde system.  For me dishes is one of my least favorite chores.   And the fact that I can connect the bags to my spectra pump and store or freeze then just attach the kiinde nipple to the bag and you're good to go.  No cleaning bottles.  Can't say enough good things about it.  

jellie603

We liked Avent and Tommy Tippee with our first so I asked for those this time around as well. I feel like I remember not having an overwhelming amount with DS, maybe like 6 total? My multiples group recommended having 16 for twins - 8 for each baby for a 24 hours period and you just wash the whole set and start over. We are getting one of these bar glass cleaning things to put on our sink for a quick power wash in hopes to get all the bottle nooks and crannies before tossing in the diswasher.
Glass Rinser - Bottle Washer, Kitchen Sink Cup Rinser, Faucet Glass Washer Cleaner Attachment Accessory for Bar Sink, Stainless - - Amazon.com

runnergirl2018

I really like the Kiinde system and that's what we used exclusively with my first.  so easy if you are pumping to pump into the bags and then feed directly from the bags - so no transferring stuff.  then i just had a couple of nipples and 2 bottle holders and it was really nice to not have to wash a ton of stuff. We are planning the same this time around and have some back up dr Brown's bottles a friend gave in case we need to do any formula feeds

inthewoods23

@jellie603 I want one of those just to say I have one haha

feather_heather

DD ended up liking Nuk bottles the best. Like lilirunning said, don't fully stock up on one brand of bottles because babies are picky. We used an array of free sample bottles until we found that she preferred the nuk ones. 

I hand washed all bottle and pump parts for one year, before I broke down and started putting everything in the dishwasher... soooooo much easier and nothing has warped or faded. We also got one of the glass rinsers that @jellie603 mentioned and it made handwashing bottles and pump parts faster for sure!