Baby Feeding Equipment: What You Need and What Can Wait

Feeding equipment is one of the largest baby categories and one of the most oversold. A great deal of it solves a problem that lasts a few weeks. Knowing which items have a long useful life is the difference between a manageable list and a cupboard full of unused plastic.

Bottles

Babies have preferences and you cannot know them in advance. Buy one or two of a single brand before committing to a full set. If feeding goes well with them, buy more; if not, you have lost very little.

Teat flow rate matters more than the bottle. A flow that is too fast causes gulping and discomfort; too slow causes frustration. Flow is stepped by age on most brands, but the age on the box is a guide, not a rule — watch the baby rather than the label.

Check whether replacement teats and valves are sold separately. Where they are not, the whole bottle becomes disposable.

Sterilising

You need a method, not necessarily a machine. Boiling works, cold-water sterilising solution works, and many dishwashers have a suitable cycle. Electric and microwave sterilisers are convenient rather than necessary, and the microwave type is far cheaper.

Check the capacity against how many bottles you actually use in a day, and check it physically fits your worktop or microwave before buying.

High chairs

This is where spending is more justified, because it is used daily for a long period. What matters:

• How it cleans. Fabric covers and deep crevices trap food. A wipeable seat with a removable tray that fits in the sink saves time every single day.
• Stability. A wide base, and no wobble when the tray is leaned on.
• A five-point harness, not a waist strap alone.
• Footrest. Feet supported rather than dangling makes a real difference to how long a baby sits comfortably.
• Footprint. Measure it. High chairs are larger than they look in photographs and many kitchens cannot spare the floor.

Chairs that convert to a toddler seat extend the useful life, but only if the converted form is one you would actually want.

Weaning kit

Very little is essential. Soft-tipped spoons, a few suction bowls, bibs with sleeves, and a mat for the floor cover almost everything. Suction bowls only stick to smooth surfaces, so check your high chair tray is not textured before buying a set.

Skip the specialist gadgets until you know the child's eating style. Most are bought once and used twice.

Steriliser-safe and dishwasher-safe are different

Check both markings on anything you buy, since heat damages some plastics and silicone in different ways. An item that warps in the steriliser is one you will replace.

Before you order

Check that spare parts — teats, valves, seals, harness straps — are available separately, because that decides whether a problem means a replacement part or a replacement product. Check the physical dimensions against your kitchen rather than trusting a photograph. And buy small quantities of anything the baby has to accept, since preferences cannot be predicted and returns on opened feeding items are usually not accepted.