At some point, unless someone is a stay at home mom, bottle feeding becomes a necessary way to feeding a baby. We started introducing bottles at two months, however when I went back to work it became the only way we fed Jellybean. Bottle feeding was such an adjustment for our schedules. Bottles require a lot more planning, dishes and effort than nursing! I absolutely took for granted the convenience of having milk ‘on tap’ for my daughter while on maternity leave. It took a few weeks, but the we got a routine down with the bottles. We also made some additional purchases, which made our lives easier. With the exception of one of these items, it doesn’t matter if you are using exclusively pumped milk or formula – I believe – these items are must haves. Great things to put on a baby registry even if they won’t be needed for a couple of months (or weeks, day, hours or whatever your time frame is).
1 &2 – Stem & Drying Rack
The grass drying rack came up on SO many of the must have baby registries I looked at. Before Jellybean arrived I purchased the drying rack, however the stem was an impulse buy when we were at Buy Buy Baby. The stem adds extra space to dry the nipples and such, PLUS it doesn’t take up additional counter space.
3 – Formula Mixing Pitcher
When we transitioned away from using only breast milk I quickly started dreading making formula. It took an annoying amount of time to shake each bottle and ensure all the formula dissolved. My husband was doing one of our many Amazon purchases and impulse bought the mixing pitcher. He figured it was worth a try and a the price point was low enough even if it didn’t work it wouldn’t have been a huge deal. While I still don’t love making formula it certainly makes the process faster and easier!!
4 – Munchkin Bottle and Nipple Brush
A bottle brush is kind of a given. I did a lot of research for our baby registry and the munchkin bush was very highly recommended … I’m a big fan!
5 – Bottles and Nipples (any brand your baby likes)
Duh! This is kind of key to bottle feeding. If I was to purchase bottles again I would buy only three 4 ounce bottles and the rest I would get the 8 ounce bottles. You can always put less in an 8 oz bottle, but clearly more doesn’t fit in the 4 oz ones. Read about our decision to use Dr. Brown bottles with preemie nipples here.
6 – Bibs
I really didn’t find the need for bibs while I was exclusively breastfeeding (EBF). Once we started using bottles more often it quickly became apparent if I didn’t want to change my daughter’ clothes after each feeding we were going to have to start putting a bib on her. I’m not entirely sure what the difference is, but baby girl was a much neater eater when nursing.
7 – Dishwasher Basket
Bottle parts (especially when you use bottles like Dr. Brown’s, which have like a gazillion parts) take time to wash. It is SO much easier to throw all the parts into the basket and run the dishwasher at the end of the day. We discussed washing the bottles in the dishwasher with our doctor and she said it was totally kosher — in fact it’s how she washer’s her baby boy’s bottles. The basket keeps all the parts together and we have yet to loose or melt a bottle part. In fact, I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a second basket.
While I don’t need a bottle warmer, I do believe this would be a must have item for most moms. My little one really doesn’t care if the bottle is warm or cold and since she is one of those babies who wants to eat IMMEDIATELY (like within seconds of deciding she’s hungry) we’ve decided to forgo warming the bottle.
Though I think we have the bottle feeding products down I still haven’t conquered the storage of said bottles and accessories! What are your favorite item(s) for bottle feeding? Anything good I’m missing?
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