The Best Glass Baby Bottles
Every baby prefers a different type of bottle, which makes deciding what type to buy challenging! Here are all of the types I came across that are unique and worth a try! Whether you are preparing for what to buy for a newborn, dealing with bottle rejection, or simply having difficulty finding a bottle your baby likes, don’t give up! There are so many types of bottles and finding the right one will be worth it in the end.
What should I consider when choosing a baby bottle?
How many parts does it have and how easy/difficult to clean it will be
glass is the least toxic bottle material, but is heavier for babies to hold on their own
the material and strength of the nipple. Natural rubber is the least toxic nipple material, but silicone is used most often. If the material of the nipple is too thin it may collapse if your baby sucks on it with more strength.
nipple shape and flow speed can also determine whether you baby accepts or rejects the bottle. Bottle nipples often come in preemie, slow, medium, and fast. Slow flow or preemie bottles are best for newborns, and you can ramp it up to medium flow around 3-4 months. Fast flow bottles are best once your baby starts solids.
How many bottles do I need?
Newborns typically feed every 2-3 hours, which can mean about 8-10 small bottles per day. When breastfeeding and supplementing with formula 4-6 bottles a day might be used.
What size bottles do I need?
Bottles often come in 4 oz and 8 oz sizes; it’s best to have a mix on hand.
Babies typically eat 2.5 ounces of formula per pound of body weight. Check out this feeding chart from parents.com.
Newborns to 3 months old will only need 4 oz bottles. Depending how often your baby eats at once you may prefer using the smaller bottles if you are doing more feeds throughout the day. Typically babies that are primarily drinking breastmilk will tend to eat more frequently, while formula feed babies might stay full for longer periods between feedings as the formula can take longer to digest and will keep them full longer.
Does it really matter what material the bottles are made of?
Silicone bottles wear out over time, especially when heated in the dishwasher or a bottle sterilizer and should be replaced once they show signs of wear. They are easier to hold and not necessarily toxic for your baby. Glass bottles are heavy, but will not wear out or break down when heated and dried repeatedly in a bottle sterilizer or dishwasher.
Best Glass Bottles
Best for formula fed: Phillips Avent, Evenflo
Best for breastfeeders: Lansinoh, Pigeon, Gulicola, Phillips Avent
Best bottle-to-sippy cup for toddlers: Tomee Tippee
Best for newborns: Evenflo, Naturstutten, Hevea, Bibs
Best anti-colic: Dr. Browns
Best natural rubber nipple: Naturstutten, Hevea,
My personal take:
I planned to breastfeed. In our baby’s first week of life they were hungrier for more than the colostrum I was able to produce. I also quickly learned our baby had a gnarly bite! The hospital gave us individually sized Enfamil formula bottles with cheap disposable plastic caps on top to go home with. Our baby crushed (literally) bottle after bottle of formula - guzzling it down fast! Eventually we used the Evenflo bottles to put formula (and some pumped breastmilk) in. Our baby had no trouble with the Evenflo bottles, except we noticed the slow flow nipples were often not slow enough to replicate breastfeeding. Also, despite having all slow flow nipples, we noticed some let out milk much faster than others and there was a lot of inconsistency. The nipples also were thin and became cloudy quickly in the sterilizer so we had to replace them every few weeks. After three weeks, we were finally able to establish breastfeeding and stopped using bottles for the next six weeks. At around 2 1/2 months we started trying to use bottles of pumped milk when we were out on trips. Our baby was suddenly going through a serious case of bottle rejection.
We tried… everything! We purchased 75% of the bottles I’ve posted above. First our baby liked Phillips Avent so we got excited and purchased a lot of those, but then the following week… nope.. no longer interested! We were so disheartened. Our baby was having a lot of difficulty switching between bottle feeding and breastfeeding. I became emotionally overwhelmed that suddenly I was teethered closely to our baby as I was her only food source and no one else could feed her. Eventually we landed on Pigeon, which is very similar to Lansinoh and Gulicola. (Pigeon and Lansinoh are owned by the same company). She continues to like those bottles and has no trouble switching between breastfeeding and bottle feeding. It was a long and expensive journey finding the right bottle, but worth it in the end!
If I had to re-do my experience I would start with Natursutten, Bibs, Hazel & Fawn, or Havea for newborns since the nipple is made from natural rubber and better quality than the Evenflo. For us, that seemed to be the preferred shape of nipple for our newborn, then as breastfeeding was established by around two months she needed a nipple with a much wider base better for switching. I wish we had tried the Pigeon or Lansinoh brand sooner!
Please share your bottle feeding experiences and what worked for you in the comments below!