Equipment required for bottle-feeding:
- Bottles and teats
- Bottle and teat brush
- A kettle
- A steriliser
- Teat tongs
Bottles
Size
- The majority of bottles hold up to 260 ml
- Smaller bottles (which hold up to 125 ml) are more suitable for:
- Newborns (because they only drink small amounts)
- Expressed breast milk
Specialist bottles
- Anti-colic bottles have air vents, tubes or collapsible bags to reduce the amount of air the baby swallows
- Disposable bottles are sterile, but single-use only. They can be handy for parents when they’re out and about
Teats
Types of teat
- Anti-colic teats (these are also called variable flow teats) help reduce the amount of air the baby swallows
- Orthodontic teats encourage correct teeth and oral development
- Nipple-like teats are useful for breastfed babies who are combination feeding
Flow rate
This is determined by the hole in the top of the teat.
- Slow – suitable for newborns
- Medium – suitable for babies of three to six months
- Fast – suitable for babies from six months
- Variable – flow adjusts to the baby’s sucking action and is suitable for thicker or special feeds
Parents should check the milk comes out of the bottle at the right speed for their baby.
- If the hole’s too big, the milk will come out too quickly. Gulping milk can lead to choking, wind and colic
- If the hole’s too small, their baby will have to work very hard and will become tired, irritable, full of wind and hungry
Silicone or latex?
- Silicone teats are more durable
- Latex teats are softer and more nipple-like but are not suitable for babies with a latex allergy
- Latex teats can be rejected due to taste – boiling them in milk for three minutes can neutralise the taste
Bell-shaped or nipple-shaped?
- No evidence suggests that one teat shape and feel is better than another; it’s just what the individual baby prefers
For more information on combination feeding, click here