Before buying a milk bottle, let's take a look at the basics of baby milk bottles and then take a look at how to buy them.
The structure of the bottle
The milk bottle is composed of a milk bottle cap, a rotating cap, a nipple, a sealing cap, and a bottle body. The nipple and the bottle body are the most important parts, and the sealing cap is only available for some brands of milk bottles.
Bottle caliber
Baby bottles can be divided into standard-caliber baby bottles and wide-caliber baby bottles according to the caliber of the bottle. The Ultra Wide Neck Baby Bottle is not easy to spill when adding milk powder, and it is more convenient to clean and disinfect. Therefore, it is recommended to use an ultra-wide neck baby bottle.
Bottle capacity
The more common baby bottles on the market have capacities of 120 ml, 160 ml, and 240 ml. There are also small bottles of less than 100 ml or oversized bottles of more than 300 ml. You can choose according to your baby's food intake and purpose. The small-capacity baby bottle is suitable for small-month-old babies, or for drinking water or juice. The large-capacity baby bottle is suitable for large babies, and can also be used for supplementary food. When the baby is a full moon, the milk volume will reach about 100ml each time, so it is recommended that you only need to buy one for 160ml, and you can buy more for 240ml or more.
Bottle body material
At present, the main materials used for the body of baby bottles on the market are glass, plastic, and silicone.
Glass bottle
Generally made of high borosilicate glass, it is safe, high-temperature resistant, not easily scratched, not easy to hide dirt, easy to clean, and has a long service life. However, because the bottle is relatively heavy and fragile, it is potentially dangerous to the child, and the glass bottle is prone to overheating, making it inconvenient for the child to hold the milk, so it is suitable for use at the stage when the baby needs the mother to hold the bottle to feed.
A plastic baby bottle
Generally made of PP (polypropylene), PES, and PPSU, it is light, easy to carry, and has many styles. It is also not easily broken. The disadvantage is that it is easy to leave milk scale and it is a little troublesome to clean and disinfect. After repeated use, the wall of the bottle will lose its permeability, there will be scratches on the wall, and the scale is easy to blur. Plastic baby bottles are suitable for older babies and when going out. When the baby can hold the bottle to drink milk, it is recommended to use a plastic bottle.
Baby bottle made of silicone
They are generally made of medical silicone. The silicone baby bottle feels as soft as skin and will stabilize the baby's mood. Use silicone baby bottles to store breast milk. Even if it is stored at room temperature, breast milk will not deteriorate easily. It can better maintain the freshness of breast milk when it is refrigerated or frozen. The silicone baby bottle is easy to wash and disinfect, and it can thoroughly clean all parts of the baby bottle. It can be cleaned without a bottle brush. Moreover, sterilization in boiling water or in a microwave oven will not cause deformation.
Silicone baby bottles are more heat-resistant than ordinary plastic baby bottles, so long-term disinfection will not be a problem. The disadvantage is that silica gel is easier to get dusty due to its own material. In addition, because the material is relatively soft, the baby can't control the strength of its grasp very well, and it is easy to pinch the milk out when grasping.
Silicone baby bottles are resistant to high temperatures, aging, and deformation, and can be used by babies for a long time.
Cleaning and disinfection of baby bottles
After feeding the baby each time, be sure to discard the remaining milk and clean the bottle in time to prevent milk stains from condensing on the bottle. Use a special bottle brush to clean all the corners of the bottle. When cleaning the pacifier, you do not need to use detergent. When cleaning, turn the pacifier over first, and then carefully clean it with a pacifier brush. The area near the nipple hole is thinner, so be careful to avoid cracking. When cleaning, pay attention to cleaning the milk scale in the nipple hole to ensure that the milking hole on the nipple remains unobstructed.
In addition, the feeding bottle should be disinfected regularly, which can be disinfected with boiling water, microwave oven, or steam sterilizer.
• Sterilization with steam
Using a steam sterilizer, completely disassemble the baby bottles, pacifiers, and accessories that need to be sterilized, place them in the sterilizer, and add pure water to effectively kill harmful bacteria within 12 minutes.
• Microwave sterilization
Use the microwave steam sterilization box to completely disassemble the baby bottles, pacifiers, and accessories that need to be sterilized. Add pure water and put them in the microwave oven. It only takes 3 minutes to effectively sterilize. Please be careful not to use the convection oven or convection oven mode.
• Disinfection of boiling water
Add enough water to a household pot, wait until the boiling water is boiled, turn off the heat, completely disassemble the baby bottles, pacifiers, and accessories that need to be disinfected, place them in water for sterilization, and sterilize for 3-5 minutes (note that the heat is turned off and then the pacifier is sterilized. And the disinfection time should not exceed 5 minutes), and be careful not to touch the pot.
Precautions when using baby bottles
Avoid making the glass baby bottle suddenly cold and hot; otherwise, the baby bottle will easily break.Especially in the cold weather of winter, when hot water enters the glass milk bottle, the temperature difference between the inner wall and the outer wall of the milk bottle is very large, resulting in uneven expansion of the inside and outside of the milk bottle, causing the bottle to rupture.
It is recommended that mothers do not pour too much boiling water at once. Pour a small amount of boiling water into the empty bottle first, and gently shake the bottle to allow the hot water to contact the bottle body in a larger area. After such a pre-warming, the inner and outer walls of the baby bottle are heated almost evenly. At this time, pour more boiled water over the baby bottle and it will not burst.
It is not recommended to use a dishwasher or ultraviolet light to sterilize the milk bottle and accessories because it may damage the material of the milk bottle and accessories.
Even the best materials will have a certain loss. Milk powder will corrode the baby bottle. If the milk powder is brushed many times, coupled with high-temperature disinfection, the wall of the baby bottle will lose its permeability, there will be scratches on the wall, and the scale will be easily blurred. It is best not to use a plastic bottle for more than 6 months. Glass baby bottles and silicone baby bottles can be used for a long time, but they must be replaced immediately if they are damaged.
