Bottle Accessories
Along with bottles comes a selection of bottle accessories.
Some of these accessories may not be necessities for some people but often they offer convenience when bottle feeding. There are many parts to the process of bottle feeding such as cleaning, sterilizing, mixing and so on and these accessories help with these steps.
Types of Bottle Accessories
In the process of bottle feeding, there are many bottle accessories that can make the steps more convenient for parents. Some of these accessories include: bottle warmers, bottle coolers, bottle sterilizers, formula dispensers, bottle brushes, drying racks – and the list goes on.
A bottle warmer is an electric gadget that warm bottles of formula or milk that has been refrigerated. Bottle coolers on the other hand are designed to keep refrigerated bottles of formula or milk cold.
Formula dispensers are containers that hold pre-measured amounts of powder formula, making it easier and more efficient to pre-fill bottles with water and be able to mix in the powder easily. Often these containers can be stacked together as one unit. These dispensers are very useful when traveling.
A bottle brush can be manufacturer specific in order to clean all the nooks and crannies of a specific bottle but for the most part, any bottle brush can clean a bottle and nipple. After cleaning bottles, it may be very useful to have a drying rack to place the bottles, nipples and rings on to dry. Also, there are dishwashing racks which can store dirty bottles which go in the dishwasher. This saves time from having to hand wash bottles.
Another bottle accessory is a sterilizer. Once the bottle is cleaned, it can be placed in a sterilizer. Sterilizers can either work by plugging it into an electrical outlet or can be used with water and steamed in a microwave. There are also sterilizing microwavable bags for on-the-go sterilizing. These bags are great for traveling.
Brand Names of Bottle Accessories
Many bottle manufacturers have their own line of accessories for their bottles. Avent for instance has a specific bottle brush, bottle sterilizer and bottle warmer for their own bottles. However, there are some more generic manufacturers that make a variety of bottle accessories. Popular brand names of bottle accessories are: The First Years, Babies R Us and Born Free.
The First Years produces bottle accessories including a bottle and jar warmer that warms up quickly, a nursery bottle warmer, an electric bottle sterilizer as well as drying racks and bottle brushes. The First Years offers a Spin and Store Drying Rack. This rack stores and dries baby bottles and even sippy cups. As it is a vertical design it saves space and conveniently holds up to twelve bottles in one spot.
Babies R Us also produces generic bottle accessories. Their line of accessories include items such as bottle coolers with ice packs, bottle and nipple brushes, bottle drying racks, bottle drying mats, and bottle dishwashing racks. The Bottle Cooler Bag allows for convenient travel of baby bottles. It has a thermal lining and can hold up to four bottles. It has storage pockets, a strap and a reusable ice pack.
Born Free produces bottle accessories that are more geared to their own line of bottles but can be used with other manufacturers’ bottles. Items such as microwave bottle sterilizers, electric bottle sterilizers, bottle brushes with replacement sponges and nipple washing racks. Born Free has a Tru-Temp Bottle Warming System that is designed to safely warm formula as well as breast milk. There is an insulated cooler feature that can keep a few bottles cool for 8 hours.
Price of Bottle Accessories
The cost of bottle accessories varies significantly as there are such a wide range of items. The cheapest items of bottle accessories include brushes and replacement sponges. These cost about $5 and go up from there. Drying racks and mats as well as dishwashing racks start at about $10. The more costly bottle accessories are bottle sterilizers and bottle warmers. There are also units that are a combination of the two. Microwave sterilizers can cost much less than those that are electric. They start about $25 whereas electric ones can be anywhere from $50 to over $100. Combination electric units can be a little more expensive but it saves money as only one unit is needed.