Sick of too much plastic in your home and looking for the best baby bottles made from safer materials? We’ve rounded up the best glass, stainless steel, and silicone baby bottles.
Best Choice | Best overall | The Best on a Budget |
Phillips Avent Glass Baby Bottles | NUK Simply Natural Bottles | Dr. Brown’s Glass Bottles |
Being a new parent is incredibly challenging.
Sure, it’s wonderful getting to know your new bundle of poop. But it’s also hard dealing with the non-stop needs of your new human (or humans, if you’re a parent to multiples), while also making choices that will keep your little one safe, healthy, and happy.
One way we try to keep our family safe is by reducing our exposure to harmful plastics and other chemicals in the places it matters most.
While we know we’re not going to get rid of plastic entirely (see: almost every toy), we can make calculated decisions to get rid of harmful chemicals where we think it matters most: using an organic crib mattress and non-toxic crib in their bedroom, for example, and keeping meal times free from harmful chemicals.
If you plan to use a bottle when feeding your new baby – either by pumping breast milk or using formula – we’d encourage you to try to reduce your baby’s exposure to plastic, too. We think the best baby bottles are the safest baby bottles. And by choosing glass baby bottles, or those made from silicone or stainless steel, you’re ensuring your baby’s feeding routine is that much safer for their developing brain and body.
We’ve rounded up the 13 best baby bottles for a safer feeding experience. We hope it helps!
(And when you’re ready to transition away from using a bottle for baby and into the world of sippy cups, we’ve got you covered with our glass sippy cups roundup, too!)
Best Baby Bottles for Families Who Want to Cut Down on Plastic
Best Glass Baby Bottles
- Best Baby Bottle (Glass) – Philps Avent Natural Glass
- Runner Up Glass Baby Bottles – Nuk Simply Natural Glass Bottles
- Luxury Pick for a Glass Baby Bottle – Wawita Glass Baby Bottle
- Best Glass Bottle for Colicky Babies – Dr. Brown’s Glass Baby Bottles
- Easiest to Hold Glass Baby Bottle – Evenflow Proflow
- Best Glass Bottle for Growing with Your Baby – Lifefactory Glass Bottle Starter Set
- Best Glass Bottle for on the Go – Origin Bottles
Best Silicone Baby Bottles
- Best Baby Bottle (Silicone) Boon Silicone Nursh
- Runner Up (Silicone) – ComoTomo Silicone Bottles
- Best Bottles for Babies Transitioning from Breast to Bottle (Silicone) – Ola Baby Gentle Silicone Bottle
- Best Silicone Bottle for Moms Pumping with Haaka
Best Stainless Baby Bottles
- Best Baby Bottle (Stainless) – Pura Kiki Stainless Steel Baby Bottle
Best Baby Bottles Reviews
Best Overall Glass Bottle
The wide base of the nipple on these bottles promotes a natural latch, making it easy for your baby to transition back and forth from breastfeeding to the bottle. The pack comes with one-month+ nipples, but the bottles will fit any stage of Avent nipples.
The glass itself is pharmaceutical-grade borosilicate glass which is heat and thermal shock resistant. And its curved shape is ideal for a good grip.
Additionally, the Air Flex vent feature helps reduce the amount of air your baby swallows to prevent gas and colic.
Runner Up (Best Glass Baby Bottles)
The nipple of this bottle is extra-soft to mimic mom’s breast and support a continuous latch, and the bottle and nipple are dishwasher safe for easy cleaning.
There are varying degrees of holes on the nipples, depending on what kind of flow your baby is ready for, and an anti-colic air vent helps reduce colic and gas.
The bottle design features a wide and curved shape for easy handling, and it comes in both four-ounce and eight-ounce sizes that are sold in three-packs.
The Upgrade (Glass Bottles)
Made from borosilicate glass, this bottle is safe for the freezer, bottle warmer and microwave without leaching chemicals into the milk. (Note: you should never use the microwave to heat milk or formula for your baby).
The peristaltic nipple is soft and flexible for a natural feel that makes for an easy transition from breastfeeding to bottle-feeding. And it includes a smart vacuum-free system to prevent air from being swallowed by your little one.
Additionally, it comes with color-changing technology that serves as a warning when the liquid is too hot for your baby.
Best for Colicky Babies (Glass)
The new contoured shape of the Dr. Brown’s nipple encourages a more efficient latch, and the flow rate is ideal for mimicking a natural flow from breastfeeding.
With gas and colic being an issue for many infants, the Dr. Brown’s bottle has built a following based on the effectiveness of its advanced anti-colic venting system which can be used or taken out if not needed.
The glass option for these bottles provides a safe and BPA-free alternative to their popular plastic counterpart, and the shape of the glass bottle is curved and easy to hold. They are appropriate for babies aged newborn through one year old.
Easy to Hold
The Evenflo glass bottle features a simple three-part design, including ProFlo Venting Technology that is built right into each nipple to help reduce gas, colic and spit-up.
If you are pumping breast milk, these bottles fit most standard breast pumps, allowing you to pump directly into the bottle and saving you both time and effort.
These bottles are PBA-, polycarbonate-, PVC- and phthalate-free to ensure that no chemicals leech into your baby’s milk, and they are dishwasher safe and recyclable. They come in both four-ounce and eight-ounce sizes and are sold in a six-pack.
Grows with Your Baby
These bottles are made completely in the US or Europe and come in both four-ounce and nine-ounce sizes with a simple cylindrical shape.
They also come with a perforated silicone sleeve that makes them easy to hold, especially when your little one is ready to hold the bottle herself. And the same sleeve will also help prevent breakage if the bottle is dropped.
All of the materials are BPA free, and the set comes with the bottles, stoppers and either stage one or stage two nipples, depending on the bottle size. They also offer a sippy cap to help transition your baby from bottles to sippy cups.
Best for On the Go
The nipples of the ORIGIN bottles have a natural shape with a wide base to mimic breastfeeding, and the bottles have a silicone sleeve that doubles as grip support and an insulator, keeping the milk cold when it needs to be and warm for feeding.
The sleeve has a window that reveals the liquid measurements so that you can monitor how much your little one is taking in during each feeding session.
There are nipples to accommodate various stages of feeding, and the wide neck makes it easy to hand-wash with a brush if necessary.
Best Silicone Baby Bottle
The stage-one nipples that come with these innovative bottles are small and easy to latch on to by encouraging your baby’s tongue to be in the right position.
The bottle itself is made completely out of silicone that collapses while your baby drinks to cut down on air bubbles that cause gas and colic.
They are made out of PVA- and BPA-free materials and are safe to boil, microwave and freeze.
Runner Up: Silicone Baby Bottles
Made from all-natural materials like hygienic silicone. They are BPA-, PVC and phthalate-free and feature two different, unique shapes. The smaller bottle has an easy rounded shape for parents, and the larger one has a contoured shape to accommodate little hands.
To ease fussiness and colic, this bottle comes equipped with a dual vent to reduce air intake and gas. And the Comotomo nipples have been designed to mimic breastfeeding with a wide, curved base and small nipple.
Great for Transitioning from Breast to Bottle
This bottle comes in sets of two. They are either four-ounces with slow-flow nipples or eight-ounces with medium-flow nipples. Its design complements upright feeding and includes a duel-venting anti-colic system to reduce gas.
It is made out of non-toxic silicone and is BPA-, PVC- and phthalate-free. As a bonus, it comes in six different trendy colors like coral, mint and sky.
The extra-wide design makes this bottle easy to grasp and the silicone makes it easy to grip for effortless feeding.
Integrates with Haakaa Breast Pump
These bottles come in two different sizes to accommodate various stages of feeding, and the silicone is able to withstand two to three minutes of boiling water or a sterilizer.
The wide nipple was designed to mimic mom’s breast for easy transitions from the breast to the bottle, and it is compatible with the Gen.3 breast pump for convenience.
The large base of the bottle is ideal for preventing accidents, and it comes with a removable sippy-cup-like handle that your little one can use when she’s big enough to feed herself.
Best Stainless Baby Bottle
This bottle is entirely plastic free and transitions to a sippy bottle, straw bottle and more to grow with your little one.
If you want to kick plastic to the curb but aren’t sold on glass or silicone, this bottle will last your family for years. Swap out the top, and you can use it as a sippy or straw bottle, sport bottle, or even a snack container for the toddler years!
This bottle has a silicone travel cover to make it a bit more hygienic in the car, public transit or on airplanes, and the included nipple is slow flow, making it more like breastfeeding.
Choose from different colors, and pop it in the dishwasher with confidence. Free from BPA, BPS, EA, PVC, and phthalates, and made with food grade #304 (18/8) stainless steel and medical grade silicone.
Why Avoid Plastic Baby Bottles?
By now, we’ve all heard about how harmful BPA is. It was commonly used in the production of plastics for years, until recently. It has been found to cause a multitude of issues, from heart-related conditions to cancer. For this reason, most of the bottles you can buy now are BPA-free.
However, BPA is not the only harmful chemical that can leech into your baby’s milk from using a plastic bottle. And, of course, there’s the environmental challenge of plastic.
Add to that the frequency with which your baby drinks from their bottle. And the fact that heating up the plastic causes it to leech more. To me, it’s pretty clear avoiding plastic baby bottles is the best solution.
Glass bottles may seem hazardous at first, but they are made to be difficult to break with tempered glass, with some having silicone sleeves as an extra level of security. And if you don’t like glass, silicone and stainless steel are a great choice.
The best part about these safer baby bottles? They don’t contain any of the harmful chemicals frequently found in plastic ones.
Finding a Good Baby Bottle for Your Family
Unfortunately, finding the best bottles for baby is a process of trial-and-error. What works for my baby may not work for yours, and vice versa.
Despite their small size, some babies have very strong opinions about what they like and don’t, and as a parent, you’ll have to work around that. Your little one may not like certain types of nipples, and other designs might give them more gas than you’d like.
Here are a few tips for finding the best rated baby bottles that your kid also likes!
- Start with two or three different bottles from different brands to begin with, and then load up on the brand your baby likes best. We started with three different brands (Avent, Nuk, and Tommy Tippy), and our daughter had a clear preference for the Avent bottles.
- Start with the best baby bottle brands, as they’re tried and tested! When you’re getting started, I’d suggest you start with some of the more well known brands and read reviews to choose a top rated baby bottle. Depending on who you ask, you’ll probably get different answers. We count Philips Avent, Tommy Tippee, Nuk, Dr. Brown, and ComoTomo among the best bottle brand choices.
- Accept that you may make changes as your little one grows. The best baby bottles for newborns aren’t necessarily going to work when your little one is a bit older. Similarly, if you plan to mostly stay at home and cocoon during the newborn stage, a unprotected glass bottle could work well. But once you head out in the stroller, or jump on an airplane for a vacation, you may need something that can withstand hitting the floor a few times,
- Look for features that matter to you. You’ll probably want something that’s easy to clean, and with a variety of nipple flow options.
Caring for Your Bottles
Every new parent is busy, and there is nothing more valuable than being able to clean and sanitize your bottles easily. Whether or not the bottle you choose has a wide neck, you’ll need a bit of gear to easily clean and care for your bottles.
To start with, a bottle brush is necessary. It ensures that you’ll be able to scrub debris from every angle and corner of the bottle so that you don’t leave behind a breeding ground for bacteria. This is really important for safety.
Also recognize you’ll probably end up washing a lot of your bottles, pumps and bottle parts, by hand. For this reason, it’s also a good idea to have a bottle drying rack so that the bottles can dry out quickly and cleanly without sitting on a dirty mat or surface (which defeats the purpose of sanitizing!).
While some parents say bottle sanitizers aren’t necessary, we used ours religiously, and also used it to sterilize our baby’s pacifiers. While you can use boiling water, a stand alone sanitizer makes the process way easier. And these days, I think we can all appreciate how imporant sanitizing things is.
Finally, we suggest using fragrance free cleaning products for your family’s health – and that includes dish soap and dishwasher detergent.
Final Thoughts
You will want to consult with your doctor or lactation consultant to determine the right time to introduce bottle feeding to your little one. Every situation will be different depending on how much you want to breastfeed and for how long. The best time to introduce a bottle is usually somewhere between four and six weeks. And when you and baby are both ready, it is a good idea to also consult your lactation consultant about the different nipple flows and which would be best for your baby.
Whenever you decide to introduce a bottle, the good news is there are plenty of good baby bottles to choose from, even for families who want to reduce the number of plastic bottles in our houses. We also recommend using a nontoxic nursing pillow to support you when nursing OR bottle feeding.
We think the safest types of baby bottles are those made from glass, stainless, or silicone.