How to choose a newborn baby bottle? Many parents are looking for best newborn baby bottles for their little one but have no idea how to start? Here is the article for you.
No matter you are breastfeeding your baby, or formula feeding your baby, you will need a few good newborn baby bottles. When you are not around to nurse or take care of your baby, other caregiver is able to bottle-feed your little one.
A good newborn baby bottle is important to ensure baby is able to get fed using expressed breast milk or infant formula milk to strive and grow well if direct nursing is not possible. I will be sharing some insight about newborn baby bottles and by knowing the basic principle of choosing a good newborn baby bottle, you will be able to get one which are safe for your children as well as value for money.
How to choose a good newborn baby bottle?
It is better to purchase newborn baby bottle when you intend to bottle-feed your baby either formula milk or expressed breast milk. It is hard to tell which baby bottle suits your baby as every baby will have to try and see whether he likes it or not. Do not buy too many at one time, as it will be a waste of money if he rejects them all.
Let us look at what are the important criteria for choosing a good newborn baby bottle.
Material
Baby bottles are usually made of durable plastics, glass or silicone. There are advantages and disadvantages about having such kind of material for baby bottles. I have summarized in the table below:
| Type of baby bottle | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Glass | 1. do not contain any harmful chemicals 2. retain the nutrients in the milk 3. milk fat will not stick on the side 4. better for heating milk 5. easy to clean. No bad smell 6. not easy to get scratched 7. safe in dishwasher/steam sterilizer | 1. heavy and cumbersome 2. risk of breakage 3. more expensive 4. too hot to hold after warm up (unless they come with silicone sleeve) |
| *Plastic | 1. not easy to break 2. cheaper 3. more popular and easy to get from store 4. more choices 5. dishwasher safe | 1. risk of getting harmful chemicals, BPA (Bisphenol-A) may leach into the milk 2. plastic will deteriorate and need to change regularly 3. bad smell before and after using 4. milk fat will stick onto the side of the bottle 5. easy to get scratched |
| Silicone | 1. flexible and soft to touch 2. safe from harmful chemicals 3. safe in dishwasher/ steam sterilizer 4. not easy to get scratched | 1. difficult to hold while open or close the lid 2. dirt e.g hair, lint will stick on the body silicone. Not easy to wipe clean 3. warm up milk will take much longer time |
Design and shape
Baby bottle for newborn is usually can hold about 150ml or 280ml in volume. Beside the body of the bottle, it comes with a teat, a ring connect the teat and the bottle and a cap to cover the teat.
The baby bottle is designed to ensure the milk will flood to the teat at certain angle to avoid baby drinking air.
If you want to save money, you can get bigger volume for newborn too. Remember, you need to have a certain amount of space when you prepare the milk in order to shake or mix well.
Teat
Teats are usually made of latex or silicone. Silicone is more durable but less flexible than latex. Some babies like softer feel so latex can be an option for them.
Shape of the teat in certain products claimed that it mimics the shape of the mother’s nipple so that baby can switch from breast to bottle without any problem.
Teat will be selected according to the age of the children. The teat with different level of flow rate is either come with various holes or bigger hole. Teat for newborn is usually start from the slow flow rate. Gradually increase the flow rate when the babies are getting older. When you see baby is getting tired before the feed is finished, the milk flow can be too slow for him already.
Baby bottle usually when you hold the bottle upside down, milk will flow out (drip out) constantly. If you find that the flow is too fast for the newborn, change it as too fast milk flow will cause choking hazard.
Teat need to be changed regularly as it will deteriorate overtime. If you find the teat is discolored, smell bad, feel sticky when you touch, please replace it.
Vented bottle
Some baby bottles are designed with air vent which allow air to enter the bottle without the need of breaking the feed. Some products with vented air is conducted through a long tube all the way to the bottom of the bottle to allow the air going into the bottle without baby gulping the air. This kind of bottle is called anti-colic bottle.
Here are some examples of newborn baby bottles with air vent:
Dr Brown’s Option+ baby bottle
Philip Avent Anti-colic baby bottle
Sterilization
Choose newborn baby bottles which are free from harmful chemicals such as bisphenol-A (BPA), PVC and phthalates . Usually plastics bottle contain more harmful chemicals which may potentially leach into the milk when the bottle is heated about 100 degree centigrade or 212 degree Fahrenheit for 20-30 minutes.
Sterilization all the equipment to feed your baby is important to ensure your newborn is free from harmful bacteria and to avoid stomach upset because newborn is more susceptible for infection.
After cleaning your baby bottles with baby friendly bottle wash, you need to sterilize all the baby bottle parts, including the cap, teat and the ring.
There are few ways to sterilize the baby bottles. Cold and steam sterilization or soaking in boiling water can be used as alternative.
Conclusion
Every baby bottle has its own pros and cons. By knowing the basic principle of newborn baby bottles, it will add value when it comes to decision making of which baby bottles to choose from. I hope i manage to give you enough overview about how to choose newborn baby bottles.
Every parents have their likes and dislikes, so test it when you need to introduce the bottle to your baby and see he likes it or not. Most importantly, the bottle is safe to use, your baby is not gulping a lot of air, easy to handle and easy to clean.
Happy reading!
P.s I also have shared an article about “Breast milk pump and storage“. If you are interested, click here to read on.