Credit:
Reviewed / Betsy Goldwasser
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Credit:
Reviewed / Betsy Goldwasser
Reviewed's mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.
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If you’re introducing a bottle to a baby who has been exclusively breastfed, the Comotomo Bottle is an ideal choice. Read More
The Dr. Brown’s bottles come with a vent, and the controlled flow allows babies to drink at their own pace. Read More
After retesting we liked the Philips Avent enough to recommend them as best value—there are a variety of sizes of bottles, materials, nipple flows and lids available. Read More
The bottle shape is easy for an older child to hold, and the nipple shape was fairly easy for our baby to latch onto. Read More
MAM’s anti-colic technology works well for slowing the flow of milk for young babies. Read More
Feeding your baby takes a Herculean amount of effort when you’re a new parent, whether that involves breastfeeding, pumping, formula feeding, or a combination of all of those. No matter which option you choose, there are a ton of supplies and accessories you’re going to need.
The first step—the choice of which baby bottle to introduce—can feel like a huge decision. Each child's unique needs and preferences will factor in when figuring out which is the best baby bottle for your baby, but there are some universal bottle qualities that will make your life easier as a parent.
After researching and testing several of the most popular baby bottles, we found that the Comotomo Baby Bottle (available at Amazon for $22.98) is the best baby bottle on the market. It’s easy to clean and fill, made with squishy silicone, and has a wide-neck, rounded nipple design that makes latching a fairly easy process for most babies.
For those with newborns or premature babies (who count for one in ten births in the U.S.), we like Dr. Brown's Natural Flow Original Baby Bottle (available at Amazon) which has a variety of nipple sizes to increase flow as your baby ages.
If you’re hunting for that perfect combination of price, function, and ease of use, the Philips Avent Natural Baby Bottles (available at Amazon) are your best bet. These bottles come in a range of sizes, have an easy-flow nipple, and cost less than $20 for a pack of two.
The Comotomo baby bottle is our overall favorite of the ones we tested.
Dr. Brown's baby bottles are ideal for preemies and newborns.
The Philips Avent Natural baby bottle was quite easy to clean and comes in a 2 or 4 pack.
Easy to clean
Easy to fill
Easy for baby to latch onto
Hand washing recommended
Air bubbles
Anti-colic
Easy to latch
Easy to clean
Easy to fill
Large capacity
Very leaky
Thin, flat nipple shape
Too many parts
Inexpensive
Easy to clean
Easy to fill
Obvious ounce markings
Materials feel cheap
Large nipple size
No leak
Easy to clean
Easy to fill
Tough for baby to latch onto
Rigid nipple
Non-obvious ounce markings
Innovative concept
Good for mamas who pump
Less to wash
Leaky
Tough to store
Tough to fill
Environmentally unsustainable
Tough to latch onto
I’m Jenni Gritters, a journalist with a decade of experience writing about all things health and science. I previously edited longform product reviews about the outdoors, parenting, and travel at the New York Times product review site, Wirecutter. You can also find my bylines in all sorts of publications, like the New York Times, the Guardian, the REI Co-op Journal, Gear Patrol, and beyond.
I had my first baby—a little boy named Liam—in December 2019, and since then I’ve been reviewing baby gear and writing about the psychology of parenting. In the past, I’ve covered infant vitals monitors for Wirecutter and baby swings and baby baths for Reviewed. I was also an exclusive pumper because Liam was born prematurely and spent time in the NICU, so I have many, many months of experience under my belt spent filling, washing, and feeding him from baby bottles.
I’m Kate Ellsworth, an Executive Editor at Reviewed who oversees our lifestyle categories, including parenting. I’ve got a 7-month old baby girl, Vivienne, who has been using bottles since she was two weeks old. We combined breastfeeding, breastmilk, and formula until she was 6 months old, then we switched entirely to formula.
Fortunately, I worked in product testing before Vivienne was born, which means everything she owns—from her onesies to her toys—get my full analysis before we ever buy. I come at our bottle tests from the perspective of a mother and professional tester, recognizing that you won’t want to purchase anything but the absolute best for your baby.
We used each baby bottle in this guide for at least two days. We filled them with infant formula or breast milk, offered them to our babies, Liam (8 months) and Vivienne (7 months), then cleaned the products by hand and in the dishwasher. Jennie even tried to fill them all with one hand while holding her 20-plus pound kiddo.
We did some serious leak-testing by packing the baby bottles in a diaper bag for car trips to the park. We also dropped them all—both purposefully and accidentally—to see if they remained intact, and allowed our babies to play with them (which meant they all got a very good shake).
You should be able to easily put the pieces of the baby bottle together, which usually means popping in a nipple and screwing on the top. The best baby bottles should also have a mouth that’s wide enough to pour milk into without dumping it onto the counter. Or, if you’re using powdered formula, the baby bottle should allow for easy stirring. (Pro tip: We like to use a chopstick.)
When choosing a baby bottle, look for a shape that makes it easy to clean. Milk or extra formula powder can get stuck in the cracks and corners, which can lead to bad smells and make the baby bottle unsafe for a baby to drink from. Most baby bottles can be put in a dishwasher, at least in the top rack, but we prioritized baby bottles with a wider-neck shape, which made them easier to clean with a good bottle brush.
You’re going to be cleaning up plenty of spit-up and spills as it is. So the last thing you need is to discover a puddle of breastmilk on the floor of the car next to a tipped-over bottle. Thus, we searched for baby bottles that sealed tightly and didn’t leak, even after being shaken up or dropped. Most came with lids, and we made sure that they sealed well and didn’t fall off in transit.
You’ll be using these baby bottles for at least a few months, if not for a full year, so we looked for bottles that could handle being used daily for many months without picking up nasty smells or cracking.
Many baby bottles, including the majority of those reviewed here, are made from a lightweight and durable plastic. That's logical—the lighter weight makes them easier for tiny hands to hold onto and plastics are difficult to crack.
However, there has been increased concern from parents over the chemicals that can be leached from plastic food or beverage containers which is why you'll see mentions of BPA or phthalate-free plastics.
Some parents will opt to use glass baby bottles instead, and popular brands like Dr. Brown's often offer a glass version of their products. However, glass comes with its own trade-offs: it's easier to crack or break, and it's much heavier.
Most babies have varying nipple preferences, based on the shape of their mother’s breast, so this measure is a bit subjective. But based on online reviews and our personal experiences, we noticed that certain nipple shapes were easier for most babies to latch onto. Wider, shallower-shaped nipples with a skinnier teat made for an easier experience, especially if the baby bottle's nipple had a little bit of give, just like a mother’s breast might.
Some baby bottles, Dr. Brown’s in particular, are made with anti-colic vents, which limits the amount of milk your baby can take in and helps to reduce gas or air bubbles in their stomach. Other baby bottles, like the MAM Easy-Start, use other methods to control milk flow and also allow you to 'graduate' to larger nipple sizes as your baby grows. While this isn’t necessary for older babies, pediatricians often recommend this option for infants under the age of 6 months, and especially for babies born prematurely.
Though it’s recommended to not switch up bottles on your baby too often, as it can cause even more frustration, you may need to try out a few to see what works best for you and your kiddo. Start out by purchasing one or two of a bottle type at a time, or register for a bottle box from our favorite baby registry site, Babylist, which has options for both glass and plastic or silicone options.
Once you figure out what brand, size and nipple flow you need, stock up—if you’re planning on exclusively bottle feeding, you should plan on having around six to 12 bottles on hand. This ensures that you have enough in case you have to travel, are running late to daycare, lose one in the car, break one, have six sitting dirty in the sink… You get the picture. If you’ll be using bottles less frequently, then three to four is the recommended number, but as with anything that concerns babies, we’re always going to advise having at least one or two extra just in case.
Kate Tully Ellsworth is the Executive Editor of Lifestyle & Commerce at Reviewed. She oversees editorial partner content that focuses on brands and products our editorial team and tested and loved. She also oversees Pets, Streaming, Sleep, Health & Fitness, Sex Toys, Style, and Parenting. You can find her work on Reviewed, USA Today, Taste of Home, Reader's Digest, and The Family Handyman.
Kate got her degree in English writing from Belmont University and enjoys writing about how to shop, where to shop, and when to shop. Her passions include Star Wars, baking, and the Great British Bake Off. She's based in Nashville, TN, where she lives with her beautiful husband and beautiful daughter.
Jenni Gritters is a journalist with a decade of experience working on parenting, retail, and psychology-focused stories.
You can find her bylines in Reviewed, the Wall Street Journal, Wirecutter, Forbes and beyond.
She typically covers products in the home, health, parenting and outdoor spaces, and has two children ages 1 and 3. When Jenni isn't writing, you can find her hiking in the Central Oregon mountains, where she lives.
Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.
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