Which bottles would you choose?

[MiriAmmerman]

This is a bit premature (DP and I are only ttc at the moment; if it ever happens this will be DC1) but we already know that, for various reasons, the baby will be FF from birth.
So my question is, which bottles should we go for? They seem to mostly be marketed in terms of how similar they are to the breast /how well they are accepted by BF babies. I understand that this is important to a lot of people re: nipple confusion etc, but that won't be an issue for us. So does it matter? Is there a benefit in going for a more "breast-like" bottle even if the baby is never breastfed? I know that it may take a bit of trial and error, but I will need to buy some in to start with. Which bottles did your FF babies get on well with, and what would you recommend?
TIA

[Artandco]

I mainly breastfed. But wanted bottles in in case a) I was ever taken ill and Dh could feed without panicking to buy some, b) I worked from early on so some days they had to take a bottle also

I really recommend the Nuk glass bottles with latex teats. Unlike the plastic versions they can be washed in dishwasher without staining from other food, and can be kept far cleaner imo as tolerate higher heats. The glass I prefered also due to potential for plastic harmful stuff, but that's a debate you can decide yourself.
The teats are far more natural and again I felt that was important to us seeing it was in their mouths.
The bottle comes in two sizes. We only used the smaller one (120ml I think). This was plenty as ours prefered little and often rather than a huge amount at once. If they drank it all we could always add more anyway.
We only bought 2 as didn't need full time. Replaced the teats every few months as your supposed to but the bottles survived both our children using and we passed on to a friend as new as like I said no staining etc from warmed milk on glass. They were about £5 each I think

[Technoremix]

I agree that glass bottles are better-if you Google there are lots of different ones and I think they look nicer but they also last forever and don't get stained in the dishwasher!

[Technoremix]

Also drinking from a bottlle is nothing like breastfeeding so I think the claims they are are a marketing thing. ( apart from one extremely expensive medela bottle that takes ages to feed from).

[Junosmum]

If you don't intend to breast feed then it doesn't really matter. Perhaps buy a sterilizer with a set of bottles in it and try those, see how you get on. You may find you have a refluxy baby and may benefit from 'anti colic' bottles such as mam or dr browns. But they are quite expensive.

You'll go through quite a few bottles and teats so pick reasonably priced ones to start off with!

[BumWad]

I intended to breastfeed (and did) however bought Mam bottles.

They are marketed for the likeness to breast however they are self sterilising (great for when you go away), anti-colic and they look good too. Compared to Tommee Tippee which I got free with my perfect prep the plastic just feels so much stronger/better.

Absolutely none of my business but is there a reason you won't be giving breastfeeding a go? Just curious!

[BumWad]

Mam do glass bottles too by the way

[BernardsarenotalwaysSaints]

I like MAM bottles we have a set of the anti colic (that can be sterilised in a microwave) & I also got 4 glass ones, which he loves drinking from.

9 months ago I would have encouraged you to buy the Boots own steam steriliser as I used the same 1 for all 3 of my older dc. However they've now changed the design & I had 5 break on me before he was 8 weeks old I moaned a lot so I got a £50 voucher as way of compensation though. It stressed me out so much I just switched to cold water sterilising.

[Tangoandcreditcards]

I also FF from birth (twice).

I would recommend NUK. Mainly because the little "newborn" packs with tiny bottles and disposable teats that are very handy (but phenomenally expensive) in the very early days have NUK shaped teats.

They have glass/plastic bottles, and

[Tangoandcreditcards]

Oops posted too soon.

And latex/silicon teats. I preferred plastic/silicon but it's mainly personal preference I guess.

[Tangoandcreditcards]

I would also recommend the Tommee Tippee perfect prep machine. Although it's minimum volume is 4oz (way more than a newborn will eat), it's so handy in the very early weeks to be able to make bottles quickly and easily when you don't know when feeds are coming.

[wonkylegs]

I breast and bottle fed together with my son and after some trial and error found the only bottles he would take from were the cheapest boots own brand ones. I plan on feeding the same with our immenent arrival and will try using them again and at a £1 or less a bottle it wasn't a bad starting place.

[MiriAmmerman]

Thanks for the replies everyone - this is incredibly helpful! Lots of votes for NUK, which is interesting - especially as I have a friend who's 2 mix-fed DC would only accept NUK latex teats, so she swears by them.
BumWad don't worry - I was expecting the question. DP and I are both women (we're ttc via artificial insemination) and she will be the biological mother because I'm infertile after very aggressive cancer treatment. DP has never particularly wanted to breastfeed, and the whole issue is very painful for me because I know it's something I can never do (I've found my infertility very hard to come to terms with, although I'm feeling better now). The combination of those issues means that we've decided that FF will be better for us as a family.

[MiriAmmerman]

Wonkylegs that's really interesting because I've also heard some people saying that very cheap / poundland bottles are great because of the soft teats...

[BumWad]

I would also recommend the Perfect Prep machine.

I hope everything works out for you both abd good luck!

[Jw35]

I just bought 6 tommee tippee bottles from Amazon and used those. Luckily no issues with feeding, dd had reflux but that was resolved with anti reflux formula and bigger teats. Assuming no colic or other issues I think you can get any brand tbh!

[BernardsarenotalwaysSaints]

Wonky just a heads up depending how old your older dc is they may have changed the bottles.

We used boots own for dc 1-3 (#3 born Feb 13). With #4 we got the boots own bottles free with the shite steriliser & they're now a different shape with wider teats. I found they felt 'cheaper' & leaked more than the old style, DC4 also hated them (he used to have 1 bottle of pumped milk a day) hence I switched to MAM (they were on offer in boots at the time).

[murphyslaws]

I tried every bottle. Baby couldn't latch as to small.

Tried them all pound land - crap
Asda own - crap hard teeat
Tesco - hard teat and leaked
Lanishon- good but hard teat
Advent - good
Dr brown - the best ever. Great soft easy flow teat. Bottles are the best stopped colic because the flow valve. Would not bother with any others

[EdmundSlackbladder]

In my opinion Dr Browns are by far the best. It does all depend on what shape teat best suits your baby though. Bottles are quite expensive so I'd recommend that you get 2 Dr Browns and 2 of a different style like tommee tipee and see which your little one takes to best before buying the complete set as we did with first DS and save yourself wasting money. You can buy a cheap microwave steriliser while you find out which one works and get the rest of the kit when you know what brand to use. Microwave sterilisers are great for travel. I'll also recommend a bottle warmer flask for when you're on the go.

[wonkylegs]

Bernardsarenotalwayssaints - I noticed they now do 2 types of own brand bottles a wider one and the original sized one. I have got the original sized ones (they seem to have hidden these away at the back) and they seem to be identical to those I bought 8yrs ago (God has it been that long) so hopefully they will be fine.

[BernardsarenotalwaysSaints]

Ahhh, I must have missed those or my store didn't have them in then! I agree the 'original' ones are fabulous for the price, we already had them before DD1 was born but when SCBU talked to us about bottles they were the ones they recommended

[BernardsarenotalwaysSaints]

Eurgh posted too soon.

...I would have thought they'll still be as good as they always were

[Junosmum]

My bf son HATES nuk bottles nd . He'll just about accept the Tommy tippee closer to nature ones, though is on the whole a bottle refuser.

're you not being able to breastfeed- humans are the only animal able to lactate without being pregnant so if you have mammary glands you can do things to get a milk supply (and know someone who did it for their adopted child).