Guide To Choosing The Best Baby Feeding Bottle | Philips Avent

The busy mom’s guide to choosing the best baby bottle and teat

Baby bottles and teats buying guide

Oh, baby. There are so many baby bottles out there to choose from. If you’re confused over the choices out there, this guide will help make your life easier—from which is the best baby bottle for your baby, to just how many you’ll need.

Important features to consider when buying a baby bottle

When it comes to bottle feeding, there are some things we know are must-haves. All our baby bottles have an anti-colic valve built into the nipple to help reduce stomach discomfort. Every baby bottle is also easy to hold and BPA free.

It’s your call

So those are the essentials. From here you can start narrowing down your selection by looking at your parenting style. Will you be exclusively bottle feeding? Or would you like to combine breastfeeding and bottle feeding?

To make sure you always have a baby bottle that helps reduce colic and suits your parenting style, we made two types of baby bottles: Classic+ and Natural.

The two types of baby bottles

Here’s a quick rundown of how these two baby bottles stack up, and which is best for you.

Classic+ baby bottle

Think of the Classic+ bottle like a great all-rounder that helps combat colic. It’s clinically proven to reduce fussing and crying, and has a flexible teat for easy latch-on. The built-in anti-colic valve also makes it quick and simple to clean and assemble.

Best for: Bottle-fed babies

Natural baby bottle

Our Natural bottle is for moms who want to switch easily between breast and bottle feeding. Designed to mimic the shape of the breast, the nipple is soft and flexible but firm enough so it doesn’t collapse.

Best for: Combining breast and bottle feeding

The right baby bottle size

Once you’ve chosen the type of baby bottle you want, you can now select a size.

As your baby gets older, you’ll find they’re able to drink more in a single feed. They’re more confident, and their little stomach isn’t quite so little anymore.

To make things easy for you, we’ve labelled our baby bottles by age.

Here’s a quick summary of the baby bottle size you should be getting as your baby grows:

• 0m

• Newborn

• 1m+

• 6m+

2 oz/60 ml

4 oz/125 ml

9 oz/260 ml

11 oz/330 ml

A nipple to match to your baby bottle

If the bottle size determines the quantity of milk, the nipple is about how quickly the milk comes out.

Remember that if you’re using the Natural baby bottle, the difference here is also the shape of the nipple. It’s designed so it feels like the shape of a breast.

Just like size of the bottle, the flow of the nipple increases with your baby’s age. We’ve also labelled our nipples with an age indication, but keep in mind that every baby develops at their own rate. The flow rates can be identified by the number on the base of the nipple.

Here’s a quick summary:

• 0m

• 0m+

• 1m+

• 3m+

• 6m +

First flow (number 0)

Newborn flow (number 1)

Slow flow (number 2)

Medium flow (number 3)

Fast flow (number 4)

When your little one is ready to transition to liquids other than milk, you can also try these nipples:

• Variable flow

• Thick feed

Adjust flow according to thickness of feed

Faster flow for thicker feeds

How many baby bottles and nipples is enough?

Sometimes it might feel like your little one has more gear than you do! So how many bottles are enough? And what’s overkill?

Most moms find 6 baby bottles (3 small and 3 large) is enough to get them through the first 6 months. If you’re planning on having other caregivers look after your little one, you might want to stock up on some spares.

We also recommend changing the nipples on the bottles every 3 months.

Want to know more about our baby bottles and nipples? Click here to explore the range.

Read more on baby bottles

• Baby bottles and teats

  How the right baby bottle can help reduce colic

  Learn more

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