Hello!
First off, don't buy too many bottles at the start as your newborn might be selective and only drink better from certain brands / specific teat shapes. Once you have figured out a bottle that works for your baby (consult your paediatrician at the 1 week check up), then you can purchase 6-7 bottles or so, and wash every time you use 5-6 bottles. This allows you to only have to sterilise and dry 2 (max 3) times a day since newborns feed every 2-3 hours (8-12 times a day).
- after washing baby bottles, I just put the parts on a drying mat until I hit 5 bottles (I have 6 bottles in total) then I sterilise everything together
- I leave the bottles in the steriliser and take out one by one when I need to feed. You can also transfer them to a clean storage box if you'd like. They stay sterilised for 24 hours!
- yes, it is recommended to wash and sterilise the bottles before every use. This is essential for premature babies, and important for full-term babies (I.e. if you occasionally forget to sterilise and baby needs to feed right then, it's ok - just make sure it is clean and dry).
- nope, any plastic container is ok, just make sure to clean it periodically :) but to be honest this ended up as additional chore for me so I just left the bottles in the steriliser until I need to use them, and make sure I always wash and dry my hands prior to taking anything out of the steriliser!
Also this may be a no-brainer for many but I really didn't know during my pregnancy - baby bottle teats have different flow rates that are designed for different age stages and different types of feeding (slower teat if you are also breastfeeding, faster teat if you are solely feeding formula for example). Do check on the brand's website for guidelines and purchase the right bottle teats for your newborn, otherwise it might be too fast and they can get very gassy / choke often!
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