Feeding
Feeding gear guides built from CPSC standards and recalls, AAP guidance and FDA information: high chairs, booster seats, bottles and teethers.
Explainers
When can babies start solid foods? Readiness signs and safe first foods (2026)
Short answer: around 6 months, when your baby holds their head up, sits in a high chair with good head control, opens their mouth for food and can move it to the back of the mouth (AAP). Some babies are ready from about 4 months once they’ve roughly doubled their birth weight and weigh about 13 pounds; ask your pediatrician. Start with soft or pureed single-ingredient foods, include iron-rich foods, and don’t put cereal in a bottle.
GuideHow to store breast milk: times, thawing and travel (2026)
Short answer: the CDC’s rule is 4 hours at room temperature (77°F or colder), 4 days in the refrigerator, and about 6 months in the freezer, with up to 12 months acceptable. Thawed milk: use within 24 hours in the fridge and within 2 hours once warmed, and never refreeze it. Never microwave breast milk. Store in 2–4 ounce portions at the back of the fridge or freezer, not the door.
GuideHow to prepare baby formula safely: water, mixing and storage (2026)
Short answer: use safe water (most tap water is fine), measure exactly with the can’s scoop, add powder to water and shake in the bottle, and never add extra water. Use a bottle within 1 hour of starting a feed and toss leftovers; refrigerate unused prepared formula and use it within 24 hours. For babies under 3 months, preterm or immune-compromised, the CDC suggests ready-to-feed liquid or mixing powder with water hot enough to kill germs.
GuideHow to choose an infant formula (2026)
Short answer: for most healthy full-term babies, a standard iron-fortified, cow’s-milk-based formula is the right start, and a store brand works as well as a name brand because all US formula must meet the same FDA nutrient rules. Choose a specialty formula (hydrolyzed, soy, preterm) only on your pediatrician’s advice. Before buying, check the brand isn’t recalled: ByHeart (2025) and Nara Organics (2026) were recalled for botulism risk.
GuideHow to choose a breast pump: types, used pumps and cleaning (2026)
Short answer: check your insurance first, since most plans must cover a pump (rental or one you keep). Choose by how often you’ll pump: a manual pump for occasional use, a powered double pump for regular pumping or work. Don’t buy, borrow or share a used single-user pump; the FDA says it can’t be reliably cleaned between people. “Hospital grade” isn’t an FDA term.
GuideHow to choose a safe high chair (2026): standards, recalls and what to skip
Short answer: choose a freestanding high chair made after the federal standard took effect (check the manufacture-date label), with a harness that includes a crotch strap, a stable base and locks that hold. Use the straps every time, keep it away from tables and walls, and check CPSC recalls first.
GuideIs European or imported baby formula safe? (2026)
Short answer: it depends how it reaches you. Imported brands sold in US stores after FDA review (many arrived during the 2022 shortage) must meet US safety and nutrition rules and be labeled in English (AAP). Formula shipped in by third-party sellers isn’t covered by those protections: it may be stored badly, mislabeled for US use, and miss recall notices. The AAP says there’s no evidence imported formula is better.
GuideIs homemade baby formula safe? Why the FDA and AAP say no (2026)
Short answer: no. The FDA advises parents not to make or feed homemade formula; it has received reports of babies hospitalized with low calcium (hypocalcemia) after homemade formula, and recipes risk contamination and missing nutrients. The AAP agrees. If cost or supply is the problem, ask your pediatrician, local health department, a food pantry or social services for help rather than mixing your own.
GuideHeavy metals in baby food: what the FDA says and what you can do (2026)
Short answer: the most useful step is variety. The FDA says feeding many different foods limits repeated exposure to any one contaminant. Don’t rely only on rice cereal (oat, barley, wheat and multigrain are fine first cereals), skip juice before age 1, choose low-mercury fish like salmon, shrimp, pollock and catfish, and test well water. The FDA has set action levels for lead in baby foods and arsenic in infant rice cereal.
GuideFoods babies shouldn’t eat in the first year (2026)
Short answer: before 12 months, skip honey (infant botulism risk), fruit juice, and cow’s milk or fortified soy drinks as a main drink. Until about age 4, avoid or cut up choking foods like whole grapes, hot dogs, nuts and popcorn. Choose low-mercury fish. Don’t delay common allergens like egg, dairy, soy, peanut and fish once solids start, but ask your pediatrician first if your baby has severe eczema or egg allergy (AAP).
GuideDo you need a bottle sterilizer? What the CDC and AAP say (2026)
Short answer: usually no. The CDC says to clean bottle parts after every feeding, and if your dishwasher uses hot water and a heated drying (or sanitize) cycle, no separate sanitizing step is needed. Sanitize at least daily if your baby is under 2 months, was born preterm or has a weakened immune system; boiling for 5 minutes works as well as a gadget. If you own a Baby Brezza SuperFast Sterilizer Dryer, check the November 5, 2026 recall.
GuideDo you need a bottle warmer or formula maker? (2026)
Short answer: neither is required. The AAP says a bottle made with room-temperature tap water right before feeding needs no warming, and a bottle can be warmed under warm running water or in a container of warm water. Never microwave a bottle (AAP; CDC). A formula maker is fine only if it measures exactly and you keep it scrupulously clean; it can’t change the 1-hour, 24-hour or extra-caution rules for young babies.
GuideAre plastic baby bottles safe? BPA, glass and choosing bottles (2026)
Short answer: yes. The FDA amended its rules in July 2012 so BPA-based polycarbonate is no longer provided for in baby bottles and sippy cups, because makers had abandoned it. The AAP’s precautions: avoid old clear bottles marked #7 or “PC”, don’t microwave plastic or heat it in the dishwasher if it’s polycarbonate, and consider glass if you can handle the breakage risk. The AAP says bottle type matters less than how you hold your baby.