Baby bottle recommendations please? Overwhelmed!

[Zena88]

Hi all, I’ve done what feels like endless research on baby bottles and thought I was set on mam ones, my baby is due in a couple of months. However some reviews say they are faffy to put together and leak/same with Dr Brown’s which are a ‘better’ brand.
I’m planning on buying the tommee tippee electric steriliser which I think will hold any bottle, do you have any recommendations? I’ve heard mixed reviews with tommee tippee bottles but am thinking I might just buy them for an ease! Thank you x

My dsus used the MAM bottles, her only criticism was that in the early days when baby was just crying loads, they were fiddly to put together.
They are self sterilising which is great.
Maybe if you get MAM do loads of practice runs before baby arrives.
Set a timer, one minute max, then put it together, fill with water, check it doesn't leak, that kind of thing and make sure your partner, mum mil, whoever is going to be around also practices.

If you’ve bought a breast pump buy the bottles that go with it.

my dc didn’t like any bottles until we reached lansinoah. We ended up with so many single bottles. I’d avoid buying lots until your dc arrives and they don’t take to them.

Mam bottles all the way! The fact you can sterilise them in the microwave without a steriliser is so handy. We used them on holiday, just cleaned them in the room and microwaved them at the buffet each morning. Saves faffing about with tablets in water or taking sterilisers with you places

Used MAM for both my babies and love them!

If you are planning to breastfeed, there are few things to consider:

• You don't need to sterilise bottles that much. My IBCLC told me that breastmilk contains antibodies that can fight off bacterial infections (to a certain extend of course) so the rules around hygiene can be relaxed. I'm exclusively pumping and sterilised bottles and pump parts only once before each use and wash them normally with soap between uses. Of course of your baby is premature or immunocompromised it's a different story.
• It's more convenient to buy bottles that fits your breast pump. You don't necessarily need to buy the same brand of bottles as your pump (for example I use a Spectra pump and Mam glass bottles)
• My IBCLC told me there are bottles (and teats) that are more or less appropriate for breastfed babies. It's important to choose a slow-flow nipple (As with breastfeeding the flow of milk is slower than with a bottle) and a narrow neck with a long nipple (https://www.instagram.com/p/CLUw60YA5L5/)

A UV steriliser will come on handy for so many things, they are so worth it. I didn't have one first time round and made sure I did the second time!!

Best not to buy a set of any bottles as you may need to do a bit of trial and error anyway.

We liked MAM as they were the only ones that helped with a windy baby, but the constant re-heating of the plastic in the microwave didn't sit right with me.

We used mam bottles with both, second one had tongue tie and all sorts of feeding issues. Midwives and feeding specialists we saw all recommended the mam ones. Easy to sterilise too!

@justaweenamechange i didn’t actually think about the constant microwaving. My friend is having her second and is using the same bottles again but I’ve bought new ones for mine. I’m quite glad I have now! Probably best to get new ones every so often

Thanks so much everyone for the responses and helpful information. As I’m planning on breastfeeding I think i’ll hold
fire on the bottles and just buy a cold water steriliser (much cheaper). I think I’m just concerned if I’m not able to produce milk I’ll be rushing to get everything when baby is here

I sadly wasn’t able to breastfeed so bottle fed my baby. She was apparently very fussy as we went through a ridiculous amount of bottles and different sized teats.

I started with a mam bottle, just a size 0 teat. Was a little bit of a faff to put together but my little one likes it at first. Still used the electric steriliser. She quickly moved through the different flowing teats until she got bored of them and went on a bottle strike.
I then moved onto Nuby bottles which were a lot easier to make up. Only issue was the teats didn’t vary enough so then moved onto tommee tippee which I found the teats to be quite big. They were good at first but a bit of a nightmare for my little one when she was teething so we eventually settled on Dr Brown. Bit of a faff again to make up but she’s now over 1 and really stuck with them.
I used the steriliser with all the different brands and it worked well.

Guess this post was just to say I went with her lead and would never have imagined that she’d be so fussy with the different brands. I know it’s not normal but my hv said as they grow and their mouths change they just become so sensitive to different bottles.

Cold water steriliser is what I use, honestly best thing I bought. Handy to be able ti stick dummies etc in it throughout the day, 15 mins and done!

Its also a good way to cut down on electricity, every little helps in these times!

If you’re worried OP I’d recommend hand expressing colostrum before baby comes. It gave me so much confidence that I could make milk, we had a stash of it ready in the freezer if needed and it meant I already knew how to hand express when baby came.

Dr Browns are brilliant. The only problem is if you start with them you've got no where to go if you have a colicky baby bottle wise. They made a huge difference to us when we switched to them.

Phillips Avent also really good.

The Avebt steriliser also comes with the bigger Dr Brown bottles.

Tommy Tippee bottles too gassy.

MAM anticolic ones all the way! Baby accepted them with no problem and teat does not collapse like with any other bottle we tried.

^ this. I forgot to mention that point, DS managed to collapse all the other teats we tried (various bottles and flows too), MAM were the only ones he couldn't wreck 😂

I came home on Christmas day and was able to get formula, an assortment of bottles and sterilising tablets the next day. You’ll be ok.

Hi @Zena88 thanks for your thread! If you're still looking for baby bottle recommendations, you might find our round-up of the best baby bottles helpful. If you have any thoughts or feedback on the article, do let us know 🙂