Many parents bottle feed their babies for various reasons and whether it’s exclusively breastmilk or formula, or even mixed feeding there are a few must have essentials for new parents. We’ve used bottles from early on and wanted to share our essentials for bottle feeding in the hope it helps other new parents at the beginning of their feeding journeys. We were making our life harder than it needed to be in those early days, and once we invested in the following bottle feeding essentials & accessories, it definitely made our lives that bit more simple and easy (or as much as it can be with a newborn baby)!
Bottles
Obviously the first and most important thing is bottles! We purchased the Tommee Tippee Narrow Neck Bottles which were only $10 for 3 bottles (we purchased multiple packs) at the recommendation of our home midwife.
She recommended these as she said they would help to avoid nipple confusion when we were originally mixed feeding. I’ve heard stories where people tried so many brands and types of bottles for bottle feeding but luckily for us these have worked well and Addie drinks fine from them (all the way from 1 week old to 4 months old and still going strong).
Bottle Warmer
Bottle warmers are an absolute game changer, especially during night feeds. In the first few days we would just boil the kettle and stick the bottle in a cup of water to heat up but it soon became very old and it seemed like we were boiling the kettle non stop!
We purchased the Tommee Tippee Bottle and Pouch Warmer from Big W for $80. It has multiple settings for different sized bottles and different temperatures (room temp, cold & frozen) and heats the bottle to a consistent temperature in a few minutes.
Steriliser
Again, in the early days we had would boil all the bottles on the stove but this was a big job and I was worried we would end up hurting ourselves as we were so tired. So we bought the Tommee Tippee Electric Steam Steriliser for $99 from Target.
It is super easy to use, sterilises the bottles in minutes and is honestly a must for anyone bottle feeding their bub. We also pop Addie’s dummies and travel formula containers in there too.
Both the warmer and steriliser live on our kitchen bench as we use them multiple times a day. I tend to wash and sterilise the bottles whilst I’m cleaning the kitchen, cooking or planning meals & doing online grocery shopping! We’ve (generally) kept up cooking nice, healthy meals since Addie was born and I particularly love getting ingredients from our local farmers market or an asian grocery online for eastern cuisine, which is one of our favourites! Due to the pandemic and of course having a baby, we aren’t travelling abroad now or any time soon so we try and get our ‘travel fix’ from cooking and experience different countries from our kitchen!
Insulated Bottle Bag
My beautiful Hannah & Henry Nappy Bag has a insulated bottle bag inside it. It holds 2 of the bottles we use inside and keeps them warm for 3-4 hours. I use this if we are only going out for a few hours and I pre-heat a bottle in our warmer before we go out before putting it in the bag.
Thermos
If we are going out for more than a few hours we fill a thermos with boiling water. We then tip out part of the cold water in our bottle when we are ready to feed Addie and fill it up with a water from the thermos so it is warm for her to drink.
Formula Powder Container
I use a formula powder container when we aren’t at home. Before I leave the house I prepare as many bottles with water as I need and pre-measure the correct amount of formula for each bottle into the compartments.
Whenever Addie needs a bottle, it is really simple for me to pour the correct amount of formula into the bottle, shake it up and feed it to her.
I use the Pigeon formula container which has three compartments and was only $10.99 at Chemist Warehouse. Between uses I will wash and sterilise it in the steriliser with the bottles and dummies. It doesn’t get much more simple than that and for such a cheap accessory, it is a bottle feeding essential that will make your life much easier when out and about!
Bottle and teat brush
It is super important to scrub away any leftover formula or milk from inside the bottles and teats. The easiest and most effective way to do this is by using a bottle and teat brush. It allows you to scrub and clean your bottles before sterilising them.
I use the Tommee Tippee 2 in 1 Bottle & Teat Brush which was $9 from Big W. We’ve been using it for three months and it’s as good as new!
Burp cloths & Bibs
These two items are an absolute must!! We use a bib for every feed as Addie tends to be a bit of a messy drinker and we use little burp cloths if there’s any additional spillage.
I’ve got a big collection of beautiful bibs which I’ve purchased from local stores or online, as well as some beautiful ones we were gifted at my baby shower.
Burp cloth wise, I have the a few of the 10 packs of baby cloths from Target which do the job perfectly and dry very quickly on the line.
This post was written in collaboration with Asian Pantry.
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