What Makes A Good Baby Bottle?

Although there've been crude iterations of baby bottle throughout history, the bottle as we now know it really didn't become popular until after the industrial revolution. For most of history wet nursing was the common alternative to mother's milk. In fact, for millennia wet nursing was its own cottage industry, creating jobs for many poor and even middle-class women around the world. Yet, with the rise of easily accessible animal's milk, formula, and increasingly negative societal views of surrogates nursing, BABY FEEDING BOTTLE became more popular.

The first modern version, developed in 1851, was typically Victorian, made of glass with a cork nipple and little ivory pins to increase the milk flow. Bottle developers even experimented with leather and then natural rubber nipples,which apparently had a "repulsive odor and taste." Thankfully, for our babies, bottles have come a long way since then!

That said, many modern bottles are probably more complicated than they need to be. You'll literally find dozens of brands offering complicated venting to reduce gas, others with fancy nipples, and still others with ergonomic shapes

for easy handling. But is any of this necessary? "I think, in general, most babies do fine with any bottle nipple combination," Dr. Shu told me.

In our own research and testing, we found that simpler is often better. Usually just a bottle, nipple, and ring (with a sturdy cap) are best. The bottle shouldn't leak in your diaper bag or when your kid flings it onto the floor, and it should be easy to clean. If the bottle has a lot of parts it'll be difficult to assemble with your sleep-deprived zombie brain at 3 a.m. Plus, more parts mean it's easier to lose them, and then you've got to buy a new bottle.

Clear measurements are also important. A blessing of bottle feeding—whether with formula or breastmilk—is that you can see exactly how many ounces your little one is sucking down.

So, is venting important? For really colicky babies, maybe. However, both pediatricians I spoke with said that reducing gas and potential spit ups is often more about how you position your baby and the bottle. "If the nipple is

completely full of milk, with no air, then that's all you really need to do." said Dr. Shu. Holding your baby upright for 5 to 15 minutes after feeding will also reduce gas, If your baby is spitting up a lot after feeding, Dr. suggests tilting his or her mattress slightly on the head end by simply placing a folded towel under the mattress on that side.

All of the Baby Bottles we tested come in small and large sizes, ranging from 4 to 15 ounces. Which one you purchase depends wholly on whether you mind growing into a bigger bottle, or prefer starting small and then sizing up.

Nipples, of course, are another issue. You'll find a variety of "sizes"—meaning flows. Slower flow nipples are targeted toward newborns, while faster flow nipples toward older

babies. Sometimes you just have to experiment. Some newborns might be fine with a faster flowing nipple, while some 9-month-olds might prefer a slower flow nipple.

In our research, we found that most bottles range from $4 to $20 each. More expensive models tend to be those made of metal or glass, or those with elaborate venting. We think it's worth splurging on glass feeding bottle or metal if chemical leaching is a concern for you.