Best Baby Bottle for Babies (0 month & above)
Should you Bottle Feed or Direct Latch?
It’s not exactly a topic of debate for today as we all know direct latching (as nature’s way intended) are the best method to feed a baby however not everyone is successful in direct latching all the way and there are many factors to it. I myself don’t exactly DL (direct latch) all the time because first thing's first, i need to catch up on my snooze before I erupt like a volcano so the danna takes over with bottle feeding. Seriously why don’t guys lactate too?? Makes the parenting job so much easier for the couple and we won’t have to go through so many types of bottle teats just to find the “perfect” one.
I’ve DL lil penguin since she was born and at some point because of my low supply I do substitute with FM (again this isn’t poison, not as good as real breastmilk but better than starvation) so I had to introduce her to the bottle as early as 1 week old. I was honestly worried about nipple confusion and whatnot after hearing so many cases of moms introducing the bottles too early, causing their babies to reject DL after as their flow isn’t as fast as the bottle. I may not be an expert in this because based on my personal experience I’ve introduce bottles to both my kids during the 1st month but I try to keep it as minimal as possible like 30% (bottle) & 70% (direct latch) so that they don’t get too dependent on the bottle and at the same time direct latching helps to build up my supply.
Yes, these are only SOME of real problems every new moms faces and every bottle you can find on the shelf out there would claim that their teat design is as close you can get to an actual nipple. To be really honest after buying and trying a couple of them..almost 80% doesn’t come close to an actual nipple! It’s solid hard rubber with weird sorts of shapes supposedly to look & feel like a real nipple (definitely doesn’t look a thing like mine for sure) that really explains why babies are easily confused after being bottle fed for quite some time. Not saying all bottles are bad, there are some that are actually good which I will share based on my experience and hope that this information may offer other mommies out there an alternative.
It took me up to 4 months myself to find the perfect bottle and it wasn’t an easy journey, ended up wasting money on rejected bottle and teats, these things don’t even come cheap to begin with!
It’s not exactly a topic of debate for today as we all know direct latching (as nature’s way intended) are the best method to feed a baby however not everyone is successful in direct latching all the way and there are many factors to it. I myself don’t exactly DL (direct latch) all the time because first thing's first, i need to catch up on my snooze before I erupt like a volcano so the danna takes over with bottle feeding. Seriously why don’t guys lactate too?? Makes the parenting job so much easier for the couple and we won’t have to go through so many types of bottle teats just to find the “perfect” one.
I’ve DL lil penguin since she was born and at some point because of my low supply I do substitute with FM (again this isn’t poison, not as good as real breastmilk but better than starvation) so I had to introduce her to the bottle as early as 1 week old. I was honestly worried about nipple confusion and whatnot after hearing so many cases of moms introducing the bottles too early, causing their babies to reject DL after as their flow isn’t as fast as the bottle. I may not be an expert in this because based on my personal experience I’ve introduce bottles to both my kids during the 1st month but I try to keep it as minimal as possible like 30% (bottle) & 70% (direct latch) so that they don’t get too dependent on the bottle and at the same time direct latching helps to build up my supply.
Yes, these are only SOME of real problems every new moms faces and every bottle you can find on the shelf out there would claim that their teat design is as close you can get to an actual nipple. To be really honest after buying and trying a couple of them..almost 80% doesn’t come close to an actual nipple! It’s solid hard rubber with weird sorts of shapes supposedly to look & feel like a real nipple (definitely doesn’t look a thing like mine for sure) that really explains why babies are easily confused after being bottle fed for quite some time. Not saying all bottles are bad, there are some that are actually good which I will share based on my experience and hope that this information may offer other mommies out there an alternative.
Finding the perfect bottle for your baby takes time, what may work for others might not work for you so don’t give up hope too easily, keep searching until you have found your holy grail..i mean bottle.Bottle Drama
See this girl, hold bottle also upside down lol
It took me up to 4 months myself to find the perfect bottle and it wasn’t an easy journey, ended up wasting money on rejected bottle and teats, these things don’t even come cheap to begin with!
Guess most if you would be wondering why I bother to burden myself with such a quest when I could just direct latch all the way like what I’m doing now, like it or not at some point we have to go back to work full time and leave our kids at daycare. So to make the transition period smoother (from oppai to bottle) for her daycare feeder we need to slowly train lil penguin to fully accept the bottle when I’m not around throughout the day and not just 1 feed. She was previously fine with pigeon bottles and anyone feeding her during the first 3 months (rejects Combi & Dr Brown) until she hit her 4th month milestone and started being fussy with like everything (example: go on milk strike kind of fussy), so we started our search again for a new bottle and was introduced to Umee bottles by a friend on Instagram (@miracikcit shares really useful mom tips)!
Though I have previously not heard of this brand before like every new mom who's only familiar with the common big brands in the market so i had a wee bit of doubts about it at first, but yet still ended up getting the Umee PPSU gift set* because with babies you HAVE TO ALWAYS TRY FIRST before assuming; like seriously. The most horrible thing might even end up beautiful in their tiny eyes a.k.a mom who hasn’t showered in a week or that old pair of mismatch socks which they’ll play with instead of that expensive toy you bought them. Kids. So you never try, you’ll never know.
*The PPSU gift set I got contained:
My friend once joked that we moms buy what we want and not what the baby wants/ needs most of the time like how I found the Umee bottle gift set pretty cool because it came with an insulator sleeve as well. Like which baby bottle in the market has that?? Yep that was definitely a WANT on my side though I know lil penguin can’t be bothered if her milk was cold or warm UNLESS it’s frozen breastmilk then she prefers it warmed up so that the rancid taste wouldn’t be so strong lol.
Jokes aside, it actually a very useful item to have around because whenever I express my milk and don’t have a fridge to store it immediately or it’s chilled EBM (expressed breastmilk) taken out from the fridge to be used for next feed while we are out; to keep the temperature regulated so that it doesn’t go bad immediately, I’ll just slip on the insulator sleeve. I don’t even need to worry about forgetting to bring my huge cooler bag!
Handling expressed breastmilk can be rather tricky because their nutrients can be easily compromised (aka go bad) especially when the weather is too hot (particularly in Malaysia).
I found that at 4 months the reason why lil penguin’s bottle fussing started was because she wanted to try self feeding and she couldn’t grip normal cylinder milk bottles efficiently yet as it’s wide and slippery without any areas to grip so that irritated her to the max (she has no chill btw); by the time when we took over to “help” her, she’s already wailing the house down and refusing to drink because she felt the bottle somewhat “betrayed” her lol. But when we introduced her to Umee bottles (somehow secretly praying to be prepared for the worst- like rejection) she impressed us by easily gripping them because the bottle’s shape was slightly narrow in the middle. That narrow curve design and wider bottom made a whole lot of difference!
It was a good training bottle per say and I wished I’ve discovered it sooner because playing around and reading up on the bottle parts, I found out that the Umee PPSU bottle is designed has a one piece air vent that provides a steady milk flow whenever the baby sucks thus reducing the vacuum effect, colic problems and leak free. I was lucky that lil penguin wasn’t a colicky baby but there are some days she suck a little too much air causing her stomach discomforts when she was around 1-2 months old. We did tried anti colic bottles like the popular Dr.Brown’s and that leaked like mad, it made me really frustrated especially in the middle of the night when you are super exhausted trying to feed a wailing baby and your bottle leaks non-stop regardless how many times you try to screw it back on. Google tells you that you are not putting the parts properly and it must be twisted in a certain angle, like seriously? I have to do rocket science just to feed my baby? Heck No! 😒😒😒
You should have seen me throwing those bottles across the room and crying along with the baby because nothing you do seems right at that moment. Really nerve wrecking so my advice avoid those bottles if possible and get something that’s easier to put together in a jiffy like these Umee bottles, also lesser parts to wash with no “hard to reach” areas. It’s pretty straightforward dismantling, washing & assembling back – total of 5 parts including the bottle cover.
* Umee bottles do not contain Bisphenol A or Phthalates and are made of FDA approved materials.
Each growth stages our baby starts displaying certain behaviors like sudden awareness that bottles are not oppai despite containing milk and who is feeding them. All was good until that happened so it’s back to square 1 with the bottles lol. Yay! So don’t be surprise mommies, it’s perfectly normal.
Though I have previously not heard of this brand before like every new mom who's only familiar with the common big brands in the market so i had a wee bit of doubts about it at first, but yet still ended up getting the Umee PPSU gift set* because with babies you HAVE TO ALWAYS TRY FIRST before assuming; like seriously. The most horrible thing might even end up beautiful in their tiny eyes a.k.a mom who hasn’t showered in a week or that old pair of mismatch socks which they’ll play with instead of that expensive toy you bought them. Kids. So you never try, you’ll never know.
- x2 160ml bottle with stage 1 nipple
- x2 260ml bottle with stage 2 nipple
- x1 160ml bottle insulator
- x1 260ml bottle insulator
- x1 formula dispenser
- x2 additional teats (stage 3 & X cut)
My friend once joked that we moms buy what we want and not what the baby wants/ needs most of the time like how I found the Umee bottle gift set pretty cool because it came with an insulator sleeve as well. Like which baby bottle in the market has that?? Yep that was definitely a WANT on my side though I know lil penguin can’t be bothered if her milk was cold or warm UNLESS it’s frozen breastmilk then she prefers it warmed up so that the rancid taste wouldn’t be so strong lol.
Don't have to worry about my expressed breastmilk going bad outside the fridge for a few hours
Handling expressed breastmilk can be rather tricky because their nutrients can be easily compromised (aka go bad) especially when the weather is too hot (particularly in Malaysia).
That insulator sleeve alone was what caught my attention and the rest is history.
Kidding, there’s more.
You should have seen me throwing those bottles across the room and crying along with the baby because nothing you do seems right at that moment. Really nerve wrecking so my advice avoid those bottles if possible and get something that’s easier to put together in a jiffy like these Umee bottles, also lesser parts to wash with no “hard to reach” areas. It’s pretty straightforward dismantling, washing & assembling back – total of 5 parts including the bottle cover.
So far no leaking problems with Umee bottles, that's most important! So if you want leak proof anti colic bottles, just get Umee. It will honestly save you from the assembling stress in the middle of the night.One thing I did notice that my Umee bottles* are so much easier to wash out oily breastmilk residues and it doesn’t have a lingering milk stink unlike as my other bottles after washing which I have to soak in hot water to get rid of. The stink of a 2 days old spoilt milk is no joke, there are some days when a bottle rolls under the bed and completely forgotten till you clean the house. When that happens the first thing you should NEVER DO is smell it until you have washed it lol, that also doesn’t guarantee odour free unless it’s made from PPSU material (less smell & taste absorbent compared to normal bottle materials).
* Umee bottles do not contain Bisphenol A or Phthalates and are made of FDA approved materials.
Type of Bottle Materials
I’m not sure if all moms bothered to do a little extra reading about bottle materials but here is what I found after some googling as I initially wasn’t too sure what PPSU even stands for lol. I know not everyone can understand all those fancy scientific terms and explanations so we'll keep it straight to the point.
Baby bottles usually falls into 2 categories – Plastic & Glass
Naturally glass would be the best option over plastic as its durable and longer lasting, but with a single tiny bump mistake or baby throwing it around that super expensive bottle may shatter (so does your heart).
And NOT ALL PLASTIC ARE CREATED EQUAL.
The most common plastic used in household products including baby bottles is PP (polypropylene) & PES (polyethersulphone), these aren’t meant to be boiled directly (even for sterilization) as it’s only able to withstand heat up to 120°C (PP)/ 180°C (PES) and needs to be changed every 3-6 months or once you noticed the bottle’s texture or colour has changed which is usually within the 3-6 months period.
However, PPSU (polyphenylsulfone) has higher heat tolerance (up to 208°C) and is able to absorb extreme impact (won’t easily break when thrown/ fall), this material is often used in medical equipments that needs to be sterilized frequently. It’s definitely more expensive compared to PP & PE bottles but it’s worth the investment because you’ll only need to change your PPSU bottles yearly.
The flow from Umee teat is pretty impressive as well, not too fast & not too slow, just right for her to feed efficiently. It also reminds me of what the danna calls “oppai beam” a.k.a milk fountain that sprays out whenever lil penguin pulls out too fast while feeding lol. The shape of the teat is slightly slender and it somewhat looks like mine so I’m glad I found a teat that looks like my oppai (yay)! I know mine isn’t inverted or huge but definitely getting longer like the bottle teat from all that pulling lol, sorry TMI liao. I’m sure other breastfeeding moms get me on the pulling part, sibeh painful but our babies think it’s fun to see us scream *rolls eyes*.
Umee bottle teats comes in 4 different stages depending on the baby's age, the teat's flow gradually grows along with the baby's sucking capabilities that is why it's important to change the teats according to their appropriate age group. Ini bukan marketing gimmick ya.
If you give a fast flowing teat to a newborn, your baby will confirm reject your oppai after that because he/she already learned how to drink very fast, so always start with the slowest teat flow and work your way up.
Lil penguin is growing so fast!!
You can purchase Umee bottles online from HERE
Here's a blooper, she pinched my armpit because i refuse to let her hold the bottle lol
Disclaimer: I'm not endorsing any FM brands in this post as i highly encourage mothers to breastfeed but if you need to substitute for the sake of your child's health then please do. Always consult a paed first! This post reflects my honest opinion on finding the right bottle to feed my baby (FM or EBM).
Yours Truly,
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