Whatever may be the reason bottle feeding is quite natural, among today’s mom. The bottle feeding equipments should be kept clean and germ-free. Otherwise it can cause diarrhoea, tummy upset, and other problems.

Essential bottle feeding equipments :
In the first couple of weeks, you need to feed your baby very frequently. During this stage, the digestive track of the baby is in development stage. You may need to feed your baby almost every two to three hours. It is about eight to ten times a day in the first couple of months. You must have a routine of cleaning for your baby’s bottles.

You should have sufficient clean bottles, formula milk food and sterilizing equipments on hand. Baby’s long term and short term health and security should be your main concern, while selecting the equipments for bottle feedings. For bottle feeding you need the following the basic equipments:

Baby bottles and selection criteria :
You need at least six to seven bottles in stock. You must plan in such away that you have always enough bottles on hand. You don’t need to clean immediately after each feeding. You may clean three or four bottles together at your convenient time. This will save your time and effort.

Types of the baby bottles :
The necks of the baby bottles are not fixed. Generally, based on the design of necks the baby bottles are classified as regular baby bottle, narrow-neck baby bottle and wide-neck baby bottle.  

The regular neck baby bottles are quite common. The regular bottles are easily available in the market. While the wide-neck and narrow-neck bottles are difficult to get in the market.

There are several advantages for the wide-neck baby bottles. The main advantage is its ability to avoid your baby from sucking in too much air. Because during bottle feeding too much air often causes air choking and discomfort to the baby. Wide-neck baby bottles are free from this disadvantage. Moreover, it is very easy to clean and sterilize the wide-neck baby bottles.  It is much easier for the moms to fill the bottle with the formula milk.

Narrow-neck baby bottles are narrow in size.  The main advantage of the narrow-neck baby bottle is that the babies can easily hold the bottle, When the baby grow up they can themselves hold the bottle and suck it.  Gradually, they will learn to drink independently.

Initially, you must select the regular type baby bottles. But as the time goes, you need to do few experiments with different types of baby bottles. You must observe how it goes. You must select the baby bottles according to the age and the preference of your baby.

Special anti-colic baby bottles :
Some special anti-colic baby bottles are available in the market. Abnormal crying during feeding is one of the symptoms of colic.  When baby sucks too much air during feeding, that may cause colic. Then, you can think for anti-colic bottles. These special anti-colic bottles are designed in different shapes and sizes. Some bottles are having internal vents, some are curved in nature. These bottles resist the development of air bubbles in the milk.

lastic bottle or glass bottle :
Nowadays plastic baby bottles are available in plenty. However, glass baby bottles are also available in the market. Of course, they are rare. Unbreakable plastic baby bottles are having many advantages over glass bottles. However, when it comes to the problem related to the effect of harsh chemicals used in manufacture the plastic bottles, the glass bottles are definitely much safer.  If you have a real concern on this matter you should consult your paediatrician on this issue.

Teats :
Teats are developed and designed based on the analysis of the normal breastfeeding works. They come in different materials, types, designs, colours, sizes and shapes. The perfect teat for your baby depends on your preparation of the formula milk. It also depends on the age and the growth of the baby.  Normally, there are three types teats slow flowing, high flowing and medium flowing. If your baby leaks or chokes during feeding you may use slow flowing teats. Based on the length of the teats you can select long, short or medium teats for your baby. It depends on your baby’s preference and comfort.

Sterilising Equipments :
To protect the health of your baby you need to make sure all your feeding equipments are properly sterilised.  When your baby is less than six months of age, the immune system is very undeveloped. Your baby may prone to health hazards. You must take proper protection for that and sterilizing the feeding equipments are the primary importance for that. You must discard the sterile bags that holds the bottle after each feeding.

You can use the bottle-cleaning brush and warm water with detergent to clean and scrub the bottles and the teats. Before going for the sterilising process you must be sure that all elements of milk and the soaps are removed from the feeding equipments.  After doing the initial cleaning, you can follow any of these there methods to sterilise the

Feeding equipments:

• Boiling
• Electric steam sterilising
• Microwave sterilising

Baby flask
You may buy one unbreakable and compact baby flask of good brand. Vacuum baby flasks are quite common.  You may use the older brothers and sister’s baby flux. This baby flask will provide warm water for milk preparation.

Muslins
Folded muslins are very useful to clean baby trickles, particularly for the newborns. Muslins are highly porous and you can use that like smart nappies.

Bibs
Bibs are very efficient to protect the baby from undesirable dribble and spills. You can select towelling bibs; these are very soft for your baby

Wrapping up:
At the beginning you will certainly feel that baby feeding is a challenging task, but as you progress you will see it is as if your second nature. You will develop your own rhythm without any input from others.  As the baby grows, the feeding will be much easier.

As a new mom always remember that holding your baby and giving the warmth of your body during bottle feeding is must. Responding to baby cries during bottle feeding is an art. It develops a strong and golden relationship with your baby.