Choosing Your Equipment
You'll probably want to “test drive” some bottles and nipples to find the right ones for your baby. Here are some options.
Bottles
The three types of bottles (glass, plain plastic, and plastic with disposable liners) come in two sizes: small (four ounces) and large (eight or nine ounces). That's where the simplicity ends. Since each manufacturer tries to distinguish itself from the others, and there are hordes of variations within each category. You will find short, fat bottles and long, thin ones. There are ones with a bend in the middle and ones with handles.
The general idea behind all these bottle designs is to make it harder for air to get into the baby. Bottles with liners collapse as the baby sucks. The bottles with the bend are intended to be easier to hold at just the right air-bubble-preventing angle, but they're harder to clean. Except for your convenience and your baby's preference, the bottle you choose doesn't matter all that much.
Buy more bottles and nipples than you think you need. You'll end up scrubbing bottles all day if you don't have enough.
Of greater concern is whether your bottle is manufactured with Bisphenol-a (BPA), a chemical used to create the plastic called polycarbonate. BPA is an artificial estrogen and has been previously used by most major U.S. baby bottle manufacturers in their production. It's also found in many food storage containers and toys. There has been a growing dispute over the safety of BPA, with some studies showing that even low levels of BPA are harmful to animals and people and may increase your risk of cancer, diabetes, obesity, and early puberty.
To be safe, don't use bottles manufactured with BPA. There are plenty of BPA-free bottles on the market you can use. For an excellent overview of the issue, check out the Smart Plastics Guide at
Nipples
Nipples differ in size, shape, and flexibility, but look for a nipple that most resembles the human breast. If you're bottle-feeding from the beginning, your options are open — a generic “breast” nipple is fine. If you are transitioning to bottle-feeding from breastfeeding, however, you need to be more selective. The nipple's shape should resemble yours. For example, if you have large breasts with fairly flat nipples, your baby may not be comfortable drinking from a long nipple on a small base. You may need to let your baby test a couple of shapes before you discover what works best. If your local supermarket doesn't have a wide variety, check the web.
How do you increase a bottle's milk flow?
For a faster flow, loosen the neck ring. If that doesn't help, you can enlarge the hole in latex nipples with a needle heated over a flame or boil the nipple for a few minutes with a small toothpick stuck through the hole.
When you're shopping for a nipple, you'll notice brownish nipples and clear nipples. The brown nipples are typically made of latex; the clear ones are silicon. If you can find a silicon nipple in the size and shape you need, choose it over the rubber one, which has a more noticeable flavor and gets sticky when it gets old. Because the rubber ones are opaque, it's also harder to be sure they're clean.
FIGURE 7-1: Standard nipple
FIGURE 7-2: Orthodontic nipple
FIGURE 7-3: Wide-based nipple
FIGURE 7-4: Wide transition nipple
The other key variable is the hole in the nipple. Some nipples have multiple holes, while others have one. Some holes are small, some large. Some have round openings and some are cut in an X shape. According to the manufacturers' labels, the small, slow-flow holes are for newborns while larger, faster-flow nipples are intended for older babies. The manufacturer doesn't always know best — your baby may have a different idea. If you're transitioning from breastfeeding and have a strong let-down, your baby may be used to gulping milk. A slow-flowing infant nipple might frustrate him. Try opening up the hole to permit a faster flow, or replace newborn nipples with faster-flowing ones.
Even with the right nipple, you may not always get the right flow of milk, or even the same flow you got the last time. Turn the bottle upside down and shake it a few times. You should see a spritz of milk followed by slow, steady drops. You can adjust the flow by loosening or tightening the bottle's ring. You also may find that some supposedly “fast-flowing” nipples are slower than those advertised as “slow-flowing” — check the flow rates for yourself. Be aware that nipple flow may change (typically, but not always, slowing down) with repeated washings.
Additional Paraphernalia
After you choose your bottles and nipples, you'll find that you need a few more gadgets to simplify preparing, cleaning, and traveling. The good news is that you won't need everything on this list. The better news is that most of the items will be useful long after your baby is beyond bottles.
Bottles (If you're bottle-feeding exclusively, you'll need eight four-ounce bottles for a newborn and eight eight-ounce bottles for an older baby).
A bottle brush.
A graduated pitcher for mixing batches of formula.
A basket designed to hold rings and nipples for the dishwasher (you'll use it later for all sorts of things).
Bottle warmers (these pads heat up when activated by pinching, and can be recharged by boiling).
Formula dispenser for traveling (a plastic case with several compartments for premeasured powdered formula; a two-chambered bottle — one chamber holds powdered formula, one holds water; or premeasure formula into bottle liners, twisttie shut, and mix with pre-measured water kept in a separate bottle).
