Baby Bottle Basics

I'll be the first to admit I was completely clueless about baby bottle basics when I prepared my first bottle for my newborn son. We had several styles of bottles and nipples in the house—how could I tell which would be best? What were the rules when I wanted to nurse, then offer a bottle of formula? And what if he didn't finish it?

Since then, I've talked to other moms who faced similar questions. "I didn't know if I should put the nipples and bottles in the dishwasher and then boil them all, or if the dishwasher was enough," recalls Sunny Latimer, a mother in St. Petersburg, Florida. "My other dilemma was when to switch to the second-stage nipples. I thought at about five or six months [my daughter] would be ready for that, but the milk just poured all over her."

Kristin Kelly, a mother in upstate New York, recalls her mother insisting she boil bottles, nipples, and tops four times a day—until she found a microwave steamer to disinfect the parts instead. That was a relief, but then Kelly read an article that stated only glass bottles should be sterilized in the microwave. Confusion set in. "I always found myself thinking, 'Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't have to deal with all this. There must be an easier way!'" she says.

Feeling a little confused yourself? Read on—we've got answers to your trickiest questions about baby bottle basics.