Making the transition from breastfeeding to bottle is not exactly as easy as most people make it seem. At the same time, it is not impossible. All you need to do is to equip yourself with the right knowledge on how to introduce bottles to your babies while also considering good bottles for breastfed babies.
Convincing your little one to transition from breast to bottle requires some skills, and you must be clever in your approach as well. While some kids can be very understanding, others may require you to try out different types of bottles until you find the one that is best for your baby. Through trial and error, you will eventually find some great bottles for breastfed babies.
A quick trip to the supermarket or the neighborhood store will teach you that there are quite a lot of bottles out there, and they vary in shape, size, and design. To make the best choice of a feeding bottle for your baby, there are factors you should consider.
What are the factors to consider when choosing good bottles for breastfed babies?
- Your budget
Top on the list of factors to consider when scouting for good bottles for breastfed babies is your budget. Recall that different brands have different offerings, and no two bottles are the same.
Also bear in mind, the best bottles are not necessarily the most expensive ones. Take your time to make the right choice and remember not to put a hole in your pockets on the account of finding bottles for breastfed babies.
- Combo feeding
Another factor to consider while choosing good bottles for breastfed babies is “combo feeding.” The bottle should be flexible to allow you to introduce formulas to your baby without breaking a sweat. The idea is for the bottle to have a wide neck design; it should be easy to clean and safe in dishwashers, sterilizers, boiling water, and microwave.
- Easy latching
The nipple of the bottle should allow a steady and consistent flow of milk, similar to breastfeeding. Good bottles for breastfed babies should have an internal vent to allow air escape — thereby reducing gas and discomfort for your little one.
Equally important is easy latching — it’s always best to opt for bottles whose nipples are designed to stretch. It should also be designed in a way that more milk comes out when the baby applies pressure — you don’t want the milk to come out too fast either.
- Pumping
In addition to being easy to latch on, the ideal bottle for breastfed babies should be able to work with a pumping adaptor to enable the mom’s pump directly into the bottle. That way, saving cleaning time.
As you can imagine, pumping can be tasking and the last thing you want is to spend so much time cleaning pump parts and cleansing bottles. As such, the best bottles for breastfed babies should make pumping into bottles seamless.
They should be properly marked to help you know how much milk you have pumped. That way, you can be sure of feeding your baby right. Following the order in which these factors are highlighted/mentioned, here is our list of best bottles for breastfed babies.
- Budget — Tommy Tippee closer to nature fiesta baby bottles
- Combo feeding — Avent natural baby bottle
- Latching — Evenflo feeding balance and wide neck glass bottles
- Pumping — Madela breast milk storage bottles.
What to look out for while choosing good bottles for breastfed babies
Based on all we have discussed so far, you should already have an idea of what to look out for when making your choice of bottles — they include the nipple design, the material, and pump compatibility.
With that at the back of your mind, you can now focus on how to get your breastfed baby to take accept bottles. Here are tips to help you with the transition.
Ensure that the time is right — you can start introducing bottles when the baby is four weeks old. The idea is that you want to give both your body and the baby enough time to establish breastfeeding (and this takes between 3 to 4 weeks). If you’re due to resume work, it’s always best to start using bottles at least two weeks prior. This will give the baby enough time to adjust.
Conclusion
It may interest you to know that babies prefer the “original” source if you are the one feeding them. As such, getting your breastfed baby to take a bottle is best achieved when you allow someone else to do it.
Last but not least, feed on cue. Some moms think babies are like an adult who can eat whatever they like when they are hungry. No! Babies tend to be uneasy when they are hungry.
You shouldn’t wait until they are hungry before you feed them. Always keep an eye out for any sign of hunger and be on standby with the bottle. While you are at it, you can squirt some milk into the baby’s mouth before introducing the bottle. That should arouse the baby’s appetite and make them excited to take the bottle.