What do I need for bottle feeding?

The essentials

Bottles, and the right nipple

Start with two of one brand, small size, slowest nipple flow. Buy more once you know your baby takes it. The nipple matters more than the bottle, and flow rate matters more than both — a flow that is too fast is the most common cause of a feed that looks like refusal. See bottle nipple flow sizes and our bottle ranking.

A bottle brush with a nipple brush

Cheap, and the thing you will use most. Nipples need their own small brush, because a bottle brush does not reach inside them properly.

A dedicated wash basin

Use a basin reserved for feeding items rather than washing directly in the sink — that is explicit in CDC guidance on cleaning infant feeding items, because sinks and drains harbour germs. It costs a few dollars and it is the single best-value item on this list.

A way to sanitize

A microwave steam sterilizer, or a dishwasher with a hot wash and heated drying cycle, or a pan of boiling water. You need one of these for before-first-use, and daily while your baby is under two months old, was born premature, or has a weakened immune system. Details in how often to sterilize bottles.

Somewhere clean to dry

A clean, unused dish towel or paper towel, per CDC guidance — not a used tea towel. A drying rack is convenient and not essential.

If you are feeding formula

Add the formula, and read the preparation instructions on the tin rather than a method from a forum: preparation temperatures and water requirements differ by product and are set by the manufacturer for a reason. A kettle, a way to cool bottles, and a measuring scoop that stays with the tin.

Do not prepare bottles far in advance "to save time". Make them when you need them, and follow the manufacturer's guidance on how long a made-up bottle can be kept.

If you are feeding expressed milk

Add storage bags or bottles, a marker for dates, and an insulated bag with ice packs if you are transporting milk. Store in small amounts so you are not discarding a large bag after a small feed.

The storage limits, from CDC guidance: up to four hours at room temperature, up to four days in the fridge, best quality within six months frozen and up to twelve. Thawed milk keeps a day in the fridge, never refreeze it, and use leftover milk from a feed within two hours. Print the table and put it on the fridge.

Nice to have, honestly assessed

• A bottle warmer. Only if your baby objects to cool milk, or you reheat stored milk often. A jug of warm water is free. See do you need a bottle warmer?
• An insulated bag. Genuinely useful the first time you are out for more than two hours.
• A drying rack. Convenient, takes counter space, not essential.
• Extra nipples in the next flow up. Cheap, and it means you can test a flow change the moment feeds start taking too long.
• A second set of everything for a diaper bag. Saves repacking every time.

Things you do not need

A bottle washer, unless you are exclusively pumping or have twins — see who actually needs one. A formula preparation machine, which is a convenience rather than a necessity. A UV sterilizer, when steam is the better-established method. Twelve bottles bought before your baby has taken one.

The free thing that matters most

Paced bottle feeding: baby upright, bottle close to horizontal, pauses built in, letting them set the rhythm. It reduces gulping and wind, makes switching between breast and bottle easier, and costs nothing. It is more useful than any purchase on this page.