Product Spotlight: Bottles

cato99 · March 2019

Happy Monday! Today we are concluding our 3-week Baby Feeding Products sequence. We started off with breast pumps and accessories, then discussed formula, and today's topic will apply to both pumping and formula-feeding mamas: bottles.

For something so basic, there are a million types out there! Please help with any guidance you can!

Suggestions for particular brands? Particular shape or set-ups like inserts or nipple attachment thingies? Advice on nipple flow? Do you use different types as our babies grow older? Is there a difference in bottles for formula vs. bottles for breastmilk? Are different kinds of bottle recommended to manage any conditions in our babies like reflux or nipple confusion? And what kind of accessories do we need for cleaning and/or sanitizing and/or storing bottles? Any tips on cleaning?

A common piece of advice is to stock up on just a couple of bottles from various brands in case your babies strongly prefer one over another (rather than spending a fortune on a full cupboard of one particular brand), but what should those brands be and what to look for? What's an appropriate starting-point for FTM to prepare while pregnant? Is this something you can normally find used or second-hand? Please share!

Prior and Upcoming Product Spotlights

aukeev · March 2019

FTM here - have any STMs used the Comotomo bottles?

wabash15 · March 2019

@oklahomak we got some later on and have used them a few times. They were fine.

my only suggestion to FTM is to only buy or clean a few bottles before baby gets here... they could love your bottle choice that you have so thoroughly researched or you could try 8 different brands before finding one your kid will even think about taking.

mrosek91 · March 2019

We started with the Medela, because I liked that I could pump, store and feed all from the same bottle. However they have a very small lip, and once the boys were older they liked to push the nipple into the bottle, so we switched to the Avent and were very happy with them. The bottles last for a very long time (we plan on still using the ones we bought for our first) but the nipples should be replaced every few months. Both my boys were a mix of nursing and bottle feeding, and they stayed on the smallest nipple the whole time they were using bottles.
We bought a standard bottle brush from the supermarket, and used that and regular dish soap for cleaning.

Bottle adjacent - I hate the bags for pumping. I never felt that they were super secure, and I always felt like there was milk in the bag that just wouldn't come out when I transferred to the bottle. I know other moms who love the bags, so I'm just saying don't stock up. Buy one box to try before you commit.

Lotus_2008 · March 2019

In the thought of not committing to a specific bottle, Babylist has a pack of five different bottles: https://www.babylist.com/gp/babylist-bottle-box-1/14668/87389

Do STMs think this is a good representation of the more popular bottles on the market?

thirdtimesacharm2019 · March 2019

DS1 used very basic (think cheapest Walmart variety) and they worked just fine.

DS2 used Dr. Brown’s, because I was given a set, and they also worked fine.

This kid will be back to the basic cheapies (because I got rid of everything after DS2 😢) unless we see a reason to upgrade later down the road.

MamaK225 · March 2019

@Lotus_2008 - We've got a pretty large local mom's FB page in my area and those are definitely the most mentioned bottles. Personally, we used the Dr. Brown's and loved them ... but HAAAAAATE cleaning them. I'm considering Smilio (look similar to the Simply Natural bottle) since there are fewer parts, but we'll see. Bottles are an investment and babies are really particular sometimes.

sourlemon · March 2019

I've used the Avent naturals with both my girls. It's the only bottle they ever knew and had no trouble with it. The same set of bottles have held up over 2 kids and 5 years. We replaced some nipples last time and will replace some this time, but not all of them (I'm cheap and if they look ok and function ok, I'm not replacing). My attitude is that if they never know something else existed, they can't be picky. Or maybe I've just gotten lucky twice and I'll eat my words this time.

Start with the most restrictive flow and move up when needed (when baby becomes frustrated and/or collapses nipples a lot).

A bottle brush and clear soap work great for regular washing. If using breast milk, I'd recommend soap specifically for that (Medela makes some). We put all dirty bottles in a tub in the sink then soak in hot water and wash each evening. Before each baby was born I boiled everything to sanitize.

At a year, my daycare doesn't allow bottles. So 2 months prior we start introducing sippies with milk (they get sippies with water much sooner) and that has been the hardest part for both kids. We ended up using Nuk active cups with my first for 2.5 more years. She'd only drink "warm vanilla milk" (warm regular whole milk) with those cups and since she was underweight during to her heart defect, we had to keep giving milk 3 times a day. My younger daughter would only drink it cold in those cups and stopped after 6 months. At that time we started open cups for milk.

In order to find the right sippy for my oldest, we literally bought one of every type of cup at our local stores. It was such a frustrating process. I recommend not crossing that bridge until you need to!

cato99 · March 2019

@Lotus_2008 oh wow that is a great variety pack--definitely some of the most common names (except for Munchkin: that brand is VERY common and excellent for later baby feeding products like sippy cups and snack containers; I didn't even know they made bottles but I'd trust that they're solid), and variety of set-ups (e.g., the Tommee Tippee are just a nipple + bottle, whereas Dr. Brown have extra inserts). Thank you for sharing--that's a very savvy approach for FTM!

I got a bunch of hand-me-downs in a big disorganized pile (Avent and Dr. Brown), and a friend strongly recommended Tommee Tippee so I also got this newborn starter pack (I have it in white/green though). I randomly started with the Tommee Tippee, since they were nice and organized out of the box, and since DD (primarily BF) didn't object to them we just stuck with that for ever, so I never wound up even trying the Avent and Dr. Brown and can't speak to them. Tommee Tippee has a built-in air vent in their nipples, and different "levels" of nipple flow. The newborn pack only comes with Level 1 (pretty slow flow to more closely mimic BFing), so a few months in I got a variety pack of nipples and switched her to Level 2 (we never used Level 3). I like TT because they don't have a million parts to wash and keep track of!

We had a designated bottle brush for bottles and pump parts, and I used this Babyganics soap with them. Also to heat bottles, you'll hear a million places and I reiterate here do NOT microwave breast milk or formula directly in the bottle! Microwaving can degenerate breastmilk (or something), but more importantly direct microwaving can create pockets of super hot liquid right next to pockets of cooler liquid and it can be dangerous for little mouths and throats. So another product some ppl have are designated bottle warmers but I never used them. Instead I just microwaved water in a bowl (or boiled it if I already had the kettle going and poured it into a bowl) and then set the bottle in there for indirect heating. (Same went for defrosting bags of breastmilk.)

mrosek91 · March 2019

@Lotus_2008 - it seems to me that those are some of the pricier bottles on the market, which would make sense for a gift box. You should think about how many bottles you want to purchase (Which will depend on whether you are nursing at all, and how often you plan on washing them) and see how much that many of each of those cost. I just did a quick google, and 3 Dr. Browns is $25, you can get 5 Avents (which aren't even in that box) for that same price.
@sourlemon, it's really funny, I totally agree with you that baby will take it if that's all you give them. I found both my boys very easy going about a number of things, that my nanny kept telling me they were picky about. Like they would take any bottle from me, but she claimed that DS#2 would only take the Medela tube. With DS#1 I would put him in his crib and he would nap, but she claimed he only fell asleep if he was being held. DH says it's because she spoils them, and they know they can get away with stuff with her, that we would never allow.

EmilyA724 · March 2019

I second not investing too much in one type of bottle until you know what works. Just one bottle or a starter pack for the beginning.

The ones we used with DD were Avent Natural and I really liked them. However, I'm also planning to try nanobebe this time around because I'm hoping to might help with breast latch.

We always went with the larger 8oz bottles even when DD was only drink 4 oz. You already have to buy new nipples as flow need increases, doesn't seem worth is to also buy larger bottles when it makes no difference for feeding if they're only half full.

aevan011 · March 2019

I don’t have a ton to add, as my son never was great about taking bottles. But the ones he did ok with were the munchkin latch and avent natural.

The ones he started to take pretty well were ComoTomo (the only ones we bought more of after the first trial) and a Mam anti-colic. The mam one has an interesting somewhat flattened nipple, which, early on is what he did to mine with a funky latch. So maybe that’s why he did well with the bottle?

Anyhow, I had a ton of Medela bottles he hated so they were just used to pump and store. The rest I got as samples so I definitely agree with advice to buy limited quantities to start!

nimo-ad · March 2019

@cato99 thanks for the TT review, I found a set of those for a fairly good price in a local FB page, I will be making the purchase

Question for STM+.. how do I determine how many bottles to buy? Roughly how many are enough?

sourlemon · March 2019

@nimo-ad it depends on what your plan is. Will you use bottles to supplement the breast or all bottles? How often do you want to wash bottles? If you go back to work, daycare will need 3-5 for the time baby is there, so even if you wash after ever use at home or EBF at home, you'll need enough for a day at daycare.

Both of my NBs had 8-10 feedings a day for the first month or so, then 6-8 for a while, then 4-6 after 6ish months. We have probably 30 bottles that we've built up over 2 kids. With my first, we started with 15 but washing bottles every day right after a c section got annoying so we upped it to have enough for 2-3 days. I wash most evenings anyways, but it's nice to not HAVE to wash if I'm super tired. We have some of the small sizes and some large, but if you are worried about space or money, just get the larger ones.

aecm · March 2019

I didn’t buy a ton of bottles to start with b/c I was worried my kid would be picky and refuse them. I would definitely recommend that to all FTMs - buy what you think you’re going to use for pumping, then wait to stock up more after baby arrives and you have a chance to experiment. That said, my kid was totally ok taking the Medela bottles that I was using for pumping - so we just bought more of those as we needed them, and eventually switched to the heavier flow nipples. I’m planning on trying the Medela again with the twins. If one/both don’t take the Medela I’ll order another option from Amazon and go from there until we find something that does work.

We threw most of our bottles / rings / nipples in the dishwasher. Oxo has a great little holder that keeps nipples separated to make sure they get clean. When we were handwashing we used a Munchkin bottle brush (eventually it broke down and we had to order another, but it got a lot of use) and Dawn soap.

@nimo-ad - I don’t know what pump you’re planning on using, but I had a Medela pump
and so I bought the starter pack of storage supplies - it came with 6 bottles, 6 smaller storage cylinders (which you can totally attach a nipple to and feed directly out of when they’re newborns), as well as a fridge container and some freezer bags. I figured no matter what I would use it for pumping. I only had about three slow-flow nipples and three rings to start.

sourlemon · March 2019

We're weird and handwash all bottles/stuff. We get a new bottle brush about every 3 months.

nimo-ad · March 2019

@sourlemon thank you very much for the tips..I hope to be able to BF and use the bottles to supplement, but with 2 babies I think I'll need quite a number.. I also hadn't thought about the frequency of washing but that's a really good point.. I'll look at about 15-20 and perhaps get them at different stages

@aecm I haven't thought about pumps yet, but I'll try look around for the medela, that sounds like a good package to start with. Thanks

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