As a parent, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the number of available baby bottle options out there!
With so many sizes, materials, and shapes available, it can often feel impossible to choose.
Milk is an essential part of a newborn’s life. This means that if you want to ensure your newborn is happy and healthy, you must find a bottle and formula balance that works best for them.
For more details about how to buy or sell excess formula, you should visit Sell Formula.
Here is how to pick a bottle for your newborn:
Familiarise yourself with essential bottle features
Before selecting a bottle for your newborn, there are a few essential key features you should know. We have outlined these below.
Shape
There are a couple of baby bottle shapes to choose from.
Standard Bottle: These are straight, tall, easy to fill, and simple to clean.
Angled: These bottles are slightly bent at the neck, which means milk collects at the bottom, helping to prevent your baby from swallowing air. They are often more difficult to fill and clean.
Wide: These are designed to mimic a breast and have wide, short nipples.
Size
Baby bottles tend to come in smaller sizes (around 4 to 5 ounces) and bigger sizes (from 8 to 10 ounces).
Your newborn will start by feeding little and often, only taking in around 2-3 ounces every feed.
If you want to save some money, it may be in your best interest to opt for the bigger bottles from the get-go, as your newborn will grow quickly!
Nipples
Typical materials include latex (soft but less durable) and silicone (firm and more durable).
There are multiple different types of nipples for newborn bottles, each of which varies according to the necessary flow rate.
Slower nipples, or those at level one, are designed for newborns and should be used until your baby is ready to move up to the next size.
You will recognize these signs especially if your baby is becoming frustrated as they feed or are sucking on the bottle stronger than usual.
Make sure to replace the nipple on a baby bottle if it is thinning, discolored, or cracked.
Material
Disposable Plastic Liners: Certain newborn bottles work with these sterilized disposable liners.
These items are useful when it comes to guaranteeing an easy clean-up every time, yet they’re not good for the environment nor are they budget-friendly.
Glass: Not only is glass an extremely durable and BPA-free material but it is also more scratch-resistant than other materials. Unfortunately, these are often costly, heavier to hold, and extremely breakable.
Plastic: These bottles must be replaced more often than not despite being lightweight and durable. Some major signs of deterioration include leaks, scratches, a bad odour, and discolouration.
Silicone: Baby bottles made using food-grade silicone are flexible, lightweight, and BPA-free! Plus, they won’t smash if you accidentally drop them on the floor.
Stainless Steel: These baby bottles are expensive but also lightweight, BPA-free, and extremely durable. The issue with stainless steel bottles is that you cannot see how much liquid is left inside the bottle, making it more difficult to monitor your baby’s food intake.
Our top tips
We also have two top tips to remember when picking a bottle for your newborn. We have included these below.
Be realistic about what you need
The overall number of nipples and bottles you need depends on how often you are planning to bottle-feed your newborn.
As a general guide, newborns feed anywhere from 10 to 14 times in a 24-hour window, with less frequent feeds as they grow.
If you’re exclusively bottle-feeding your baby with expressed breastmilk or formula, you may want to start by purchasing around 4-6 bottles and nipples.
You can then sterilize the bottles between your newborn’s feeds.
If you are only planning to occasionally use bottles for your newborn, you may want to buy only one bottle and teat.
Invest In new bottles for every child
If you have just had your second or third child, you should invest in a whole new set of baby bottles and new nipples for your newborn.
This will ensure that the bottles meet up-to-date environmental and safety standards, which will keep your baby safe as they feed.
Summary
Picking the right bottle for your newborn is crucial to their growth and development.
If you dedicate time to finding the most suitable bottle instead of selecting the first one you see, you’ll have a much happier newborn!
