Feeding Essentials

There are quite a few feeding essentials that expectant parents should invest in prior to their babies’ arrival.

One consideration is whether the baby will be breastfed or bottle fed. If the mother is thinking of trying breastfeeding, then not many bottles and bottle accessories will be needed. However, in saying this it is wise to at least have a bottle or two on hand, especially for those early days. Essentials that should be acquired, regardless of method of feeding include: a bottle and bottle accessory sterilizer, a few bottles from different manufacturers (as a baby may have a bottle preference) and some formula on hand.

Women who decide to breastfeed, or at least try to breastfeed, have different feeding essentials to purchase. One essential they may purchase is a nursing cover. Stylish and modern nursing covers are trendy right now. There are many different designs and styles. There is even one nursing cover that is disguised as a scarf. To look at it, one would never be able to tell that it is a cover to hide a baby that is breastfeeding.

Bottles are not typically introduced to breastfeeding babies until breastfeeding is well established. Often when moms introduce a bottle to their breastfed babies they would like a bottle that has a nipple more similar to their bodies. Therefore, bottles shaped like a mother’s breast is becoming increasingly popular. Sometimes a breastfed baby has some difficulty taking a bottle and these bottles help with that. Some brands have bottles that do a better job at mimicking a breast so it is important to research them and experiment to see which one is preferred. Another innovative bottle for breastfed babies is a bottle which safely thaws breast milk. Some women pump milk and store in the freezer in bags for when a bottle is needed. These specialized bottles are a convenient way to thaw the bag of milk.

For bottle fed babies, there are some inventive feeding essentials. There is one new bottle that stores formula in the powder form inside. When it comes time for a feeding, the formula can just be released into the water and mixed. This is a great new convenience. Also, gone are the days when clear bottles were the only choice. Today stylish designs of baby bottles can be found. Patterns and prints such as zebra, leopard, polka dots and stripes all in bold colors can be found on bottles.

For feeding of solids one fairly recent invention is temperature sensitive spoons. The spoon will change color if the food is too hot for the safety of the child. Dishes have also undergone some changes over the years. Some bowls and plates have non-skid bases to resist flipping them over or extensions off the dish to help prevent spillage. Leak-resistant sippy cups have started to become the norm in the market of the cups.

Snack containers have also become quite popular. These containers have sections that are easy for children to open and close when having their snacks. There are different sizes, depending on what kind of snack the container is for. Some even have rotating lids to prevent the snack from spilling out. There are also snack containers that stack, compartmentalizing different snacks and avoiding the use of plastic bags.