For any child, there is no better food than the mother’s milk, but sometimes you must transfer the baby to artificial (the mother does not have milk) or mixed feeding (the mother does not have enough milk). In such a situation, there is nothing left but to start feeding the baby from a bottle. The bottle allows you to feed the baby with the milk that the mother expressed if she is absent or sick, and with milk formula, and other liquids.
Closer to 6 months, almost all children begin to give a bottle, because you can drink any liquid from it – milk formula, kefir, juice, tea, water. Therefore, many parents want to know how to choose a feeding bottle, because it will take several months to use it.
The bottle must meet two main requirements:
- Security.
- Convenience.
But there are still criteria that the bottle must meet – these are:
- Production material.
- Form.
- The volume and size of the neck.
- The presence of anti-colic protection.
- Nipple.
- Manufacturer.
Feeding bottles are made from:
- Glass.
- Plastics.
- Silicone.
Glass bottles
Glass bottles are recognized by many experts as the most environmentally friendly. The bottles are made of fire-resistant glass, so you cannot be afraid that they will crack if the liquid is too hot. Glass bottles are easy to clean and the volume scale on them will not be erased, even with prolonged use. But there are also disadvantages – they are too heavy, difficult to warm up, and can simply break with an awkward movement.
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Plastic bottles
Plastic bottles are light and safe to use. Such bottles can withstand high temperatures and do not deform if boiling water is poured into them. The problem is that the plastic bottle will not last long, it will have to be changed. The thing is that the bottle can be repainted under the influence of food and cracks appear after long use. In addition, when boiling, hazardous substances are released from plastic, and this is unacceptable.
Silicone bottles
Silicone bottles are popular because they are lightweight and can be used for thicker foods. You can put porridge or mashed potatoes in silicone bottles. But these bottles also have a drawback – they tend to stain from food.
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Neck volume and size
The size of the bottle is selected according to your baby’s age and the amount of food he can eat in one feeding. For a newborn baby, 90-120 ml is needed at one time. The mixture, and from 3 months, it is worth adding the amount of the mixture and giving already from 120 to 200 ml. The older the child, the more food he needs, so the volume of the bottle should increase. The neck of the bottle is also worth paying attention to. The bottles are available with a wide or narrow neck. A bottle with a narrow neck makes it easier to pick up a nipple, and a wide neck is much more convenient for pouring formula from a baby bottle maker, and it is also easier to wash.
Bottle shape
There are no clear recommendations regarding the shape, you can choose the one that you like, the main thing is that the baby should be comfortable holding it. If you focus on the mother’s hand, then a wide ergonomic model will be more convenient, but for a child’s small hand, a figured model of a bottle is suitable, although it is much more difficult to wash it. Curved anti-colic bottles are available, they are used if the baby has colic after feeding. These bottles have a pressure equalizing system, a valve built into the bottom, or a twist-off bottom.
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Sterilization of feeding bottles
The immune system of a newborn baby is practically absent and up to six months it is susceptible to any infections, which is why it is so important to sterilize the feeding bottle often. After buying a bottle, it must be sterilized. Immerse the bottle for 5 minutes in boiling water and leave to air dry. From this point on, sterilization must be carried out very often, several times a week. Only after six months, you can reduce the number of sterilizations to once a week. If you have a steamer, microwave, or slow cooker with the appropriate function, you can sterilize the bottles in them. You can also purchase a special sterilizer or use a disinfectant solution or special tablets.
