Best-of buying guide
Best Baby Bottles & Teethers UK (2026)
By Emma Whitfield · Pregnancy & Baby Writer
Prices & availability last checked 11 July 2026
At a glance
| Pick | Best for | Capacity | Suitable from | Spout | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAM Easy Start Anti-Colic Bottle Starter Set | Best overall | — | — | — | From £24.99 (4-bottle starter set) |
| Philips Avent Natural Response Starter Set | Best for combination feeding | — | — | — | From £30 (starter set) |
| Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Bottles (6-pack) | Best value multipack | — | — | — | From £22 (6-pack) |
| Sophie la Girafe Teether | Best classic teether | — | — | — | From £15 |
| Matchstick Monkey Teething Toy | Best teether | — | — | — | From £8.99 |
| Tommee Tippee First Cup (190ml, 4m+) | Best first sippy cup | 190ml | 4 months+ | Free-flow, flip-down cover | From £10 |
Bottles and teethers are two of the highest-repeat-purchase categories in the first year: bottles get lost, cracked and multiplied as feeding volumes grow, and teethers get chewed to destruction on a schedule entirely outside your control.
What we weighed for bottles
- Anti-colic design that's proven, not just marketed — a vented base or valve system that measurably reduces air intake, not just a "colic" name on the box.
- Self-sterilising or easy-clean design — fewer parts to lose and less faff at 2am.
- Teat flow and compatibility — slow-flow newborn teats that don't overwhelm a small feeder, and a range that grows with your baby.
- Starter sets over singles — buying a starter set (several bottles plus teats) works out cheaper per bottle and means you're never short at 3am.
What we weighed for teethers
- Grip and reach — teething toys with multiple textured "fingers" let a baby self-direct to sore gums, rather than you holding it in place.
- Material safety — food-grade, BPA-free silicone that's dishwasher and steriliser safe.
- Genuine relief, not just novelty — textured surfaces that target the gum line, not just something to chew because it's colourful.
A marketplace safety note: the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) and Which? have both flagged self-feeding bottle prop devices — stands or clips that let a bottle feed a baby unsupervised — as a genuine choking and safety risk, sold mainly as cheap, unbranded marketplace imports. We never feature bottle props, whatever the listing claims. Always hold your baby for feeds and never prop a bottle.
Our picks, in detail
Best overall
1.MAM Easy Start Anti-Colic Bottle Starter Set
From £24.99 (4-bottle starter set)
The UK's dominant name in baby bottles, and the starter set is the smart way to buy in: a self-sterilising case (2 minutes in the microwave), a vented anti-colic base, and a skin-soft silicone teat shaped to work with breastfeeding. Buying the set rather than single bottles also gives you a spread of teat flow rates from day one.
Pros
- +Vented anti-colic base measurably reduces air intake during feeds
- +Self-sterilising case — no separate steriliser needed on the go
- +Silicone teat designed to combine with breastfeeding without nipple confusion
Cons
- –More parts to wash than a simple single-piece bottle
- –Replacement teats are a recurring cost as they wear
Best for combination feeding
2.Philips Avent Natural Response Starter Set
From £30 (starter set)
The teat that opens only when the baby actively drinks, mimicking the pacing of breastfeeding — which is exactly why combination-feeding families reach for Avent Natural Response when a bottle has to sit alongside the breast without causing flow confusion.
Pros
- +Natural Response teat paces like breastfeeding — good for combi feeding
- +Wide, breast-shaped teat that many bottle-refusers accept
- +Anti-colic valve and dishwasher-safe parts
Cons
- –Slower feeds than free-flowing teats — deliberate, but patience needed
- –Teat flow stages need buying as baby grows
Best value multipack
3.Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Bottles (6-pack)
From £22 (6-pack)
The UK's default first bottle for a generation: a soft, wide teat with a strong acceptance rate, sold in multipacks that bring the per-bottle price under £4 — the sensible bulk-buy once you know your baby takes the teat.
Pros
- +Excellent teat acceptance record with newborns
- +Multipack pricing is the cheapest per bottle of any major brand
- +Compatible with Tommee Tippee's prep machine and steriliser ecosystem
Cons
- –Bottles are squat and wide — awkward in some bag pockets and cup holders
- –Measurement markings fade with heavy sterilising
Best classic teether
4.Sophie la Girafe Teether
From £15
Sixty years old and still on every changing mat for a reason: food-grade natural rubber, ears and legs shaped for every corner of a sore mouth, and a squeak that babies work out how to trigger themselves. A gift-list staple that actually gets used.
Pros
- +Natural rubber with a texture babies genuinely gnaw on
- +Light enough for a young baby to hold and manoeuvre
- +The squeak doubles as cause-and-effect play
Cons
- –Pricey for a teether — the gift economy keeps it £15+
- –Hand-wash only, and the squeaker hole means no submerging
Best teether
5.Matchstick Monkey Teething Toy
From £8.99
An award-winning, instantly recognisable UK teether: textured "finger" bristles reach back to the molars, the looped handle is easy for tiny hands (and easy to clip to a pram), and it survives the dishwasher and steriliser without degrading.
Pros
- +Textured bristles give genuine gum relief, not just something to gnaw
- +Loop handle is easy to grip and hard to drop or lose
- +Dishwasher and steriliser safe; holds up to repeated cleaning
Cons
- –Single fixed shape — some babies prefer a variety of textures
- –No cooling gel function like some rival teethers
Best first sippy cup
6.Tommee Tippee First Cup (190ml, 4m+)
From £10
The NHS-aligned answer to "what cup do I start with": a non-spill 190ml first cup with a free-flow flip-down spout — no valve to suck against, which is exactly what dentists and health visitors recommend, because valve-free flow teaches proper sipping and protects teeth. Easy-grip handles suit hands that are still learning, and the flip-down spout keeps nursery-bag contents dry.
Pros
- +Free-flow spout (no valve) — the style NHS dental guidance recommends from 6 months
- +Easy-grip handles sized for first self-holding
- +Flip-down spout cover keeps it clean in a changing bag
Cons
- –Free-flow means it will drip if baby shakes it upside down — that's the design working, not failing
- –Spout parts want a bottle-brush poke at washing-up time
How we chose
We build every shortlist the same way: we map the whole UK market for the category, weight the specifications that change daily life (not the ones that look good in adverts), cross-reference sustained buyer feedback across multiple retailers, and sanity-check prices across the retailers we link. Retailers cannot pay to appear, and commission never affects rankings. Prices were verified on the "last reviewed" date and will drift — always confirm on the retailer page.
Buy-safe check: feeding equipment
UK standard: BS EN 14350 (drinking equipment) · BS EN 14988 (highchairs). Drinking equipment standards cover chemical migration and mechanical safety of bottles and teats; the highchair standard covers stability, restraint and entrapment.
- ✓ Bottles and teats cite BS EN 14350; highchairs cite BS EN 14988
- ✓ Highchairs have a crotch post or 5-point harness — never rely on a tray alone
- ✓ Never use bottle-prop or self-feeding devices — flagged by OPSS as a choking risk
Check live UK recalls before buying: gov.uk product recalls & alerts · Read our guide to dangerous baby products sold online .
Your questions, answered
Do anti-colic bottles actually reduce colic?
A well-designed anti-colic bottle reduces the amount of air a baby swallows while feeding, via a vented base or internal valve, which can reduce wind and the fussiness that comes with it — but colic has multiple possible causes, and no bottle "cures" it. If wind and crying persist, mention it to your health visitor or GP.
How many baby bottles do I need?
For exclusively bottle-fed babies, 6–8 bottles covers a day without needing to wash mid-way; for combination or mostly breastfed babies, 2–4 is usually enough. Buying a starter set rather than singles is nearly always cheaper per bottle and gets you a range of teat flow rates in one go.
When should I start using a teether?
Most babies start showing interest in teethers from around 3–4 months, well before teeth are visible — chewing is as much about oral exploration as tooth pain. Always supervise teether use and check silicone teethers regularly for splits or tears before handing them back over.
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