How many bottles do you need to have on hand?

Question

I am planning on trying to breastfeed for the first six months, but supplementing with formula during I am sure and after the six months for sure. How many small bottles should I get and how many bigger bottles should I get?

Answer 1

Get 1 or 2 small ones of the brand you want to use, then if that type of bottle works for you purchase more in the size that you are using...  I would not purchase too many to begin with because babies need different types of bottles than you want sometimes.  For instance the baby I Nanny for has about 6 Smaller Playtex Drop ins and 2 Advent bottles.  Mom wanted to use the Advent ones but the baby has terrible gas with them.  Since she is breast fed most of the time 6 bottles for me to use with moms expressed milk is more than enough and she rarely takes more than 3 ounces at a time of expressed milk so she has never needed the larger bottles.  She is 10 months old now.  My daughter however was only bottle fed expressed milk and we needed the larger bottles by the time she was 4 months old, and the playtex drop-ins gave my daughter horrible gas she needed the MAM bottles.  Every baby is different so don't invest too much in one type of bottle until you are sure that it's going to work well for you.

If lots of milk comes out the sides of babies mouth while he/she is eating then you should look for a different kind of bottle.  They are getting too much air which will cause gas if this is happening.  Good Luck and I hope you can breastfeed as long as it's comfortable for you and baby not just to a set time frame.  Breastfeeding long term is a great bond with baby and has so many benefits.

Answer 2

Hello there,

my advice would be to get mostly big bottles instead than small bottles. Babies grow up to fast and they need more formula or liquids very soon. If you really want to get small bottles, only get 2 and maybe you will be using them for juice or natural water. The big ones can last more time because eventually you`ll be feeding the baby a lot of milk!

another thing that I would like to add, is that if you want to give formula after, make sure you have a thermus. You have no idea of how good is to have a good thermus at home or even when you go out. This way you don`t need to rush into the first restaurant to get hot water that you don`t know how clean is it. The one I got was on a garage sale from Starbucks and the water maintains super hot for up to almost 24 hrs.

Good Luck.

Answer 3

Depends on how often you want to do dishes!

We did the same thing, and we got by with six bottles.  We used the medium sized all the way through.

Tip:  if you aren't going to wash right away, make sure to rinse bottle and nipple well after use as once the formula dries on it's like drywall!

Answer 4

Don't bother with smaller ones. For when you are exclusively bottle feeding I'd say 6.  

Answer 5

I wasn't able to breastfeed so was solely using bottles.  I had 6 small ones at first (which I now use for water) and now I have about 8 large bottles.  

My microwave steriliser does 6 bottles at a time so its important to me that I can do a whole days worth of bottles once a day and not have to worry about doing new bottles every 4 hours or so.  

Answer 6

We didn't like washing bottles everyday so we had a lot of bottles.  I think at 6 months baby eats every 5 hours.  Maybe 6 so lets say 4 or 5 bottles a day.  At first I would have 2 or 3 3pks of 4 oz bottles, and 1 3pk of 8 oz for later.  Even though you are breast feeding, make sure you get storage for the milk.  There are times when you are going to pump out way more than the baby takes, and other where you don't have enough for the baby.  Good luck.  If you have any other questions about breast feeding you are welcome to e-mail me.

Answer 7

I wouldn't bother with the smaller bottles.  You use them for such a short period of time they really are a waste.  

As for larger bottles...  I had a bunch (12-15) for my 1st born and that was nice.  I only had to wash them about every 2 days.

For baby two I have 6 bottles and I'm washing them once a day (he's 9 mos. now and strictly bottle fed now).  

I would say the minimum you want to get is six.  More are helpful but not necessary.

Good luck!