The History of Baby Bottles
I saw an article the other day about baby bottles that were 2000-3000 years old! That got me thinking about how parents have been trying to feed their children for millennia, and I wanted to learn about the history of baby bottles. When were baby bottles invented? What did Victorian era baby bottles look like? What about vintage baby bottles my parents or grandparents used? I’ve seen some antique banana- shaped baby bottles, what time period are those from?
For thousands of years, parents have found ways to feed their children, and it’s amazing to see how many of the old bottles have the same features as bottles we use today. Ways of making the milk flow slowly – today we call those slow- flow bottles. Some of these historical bottle look like breasts- today, bottle nipples look and feel like the real deal! And of course, these parents of centuries past loved and cherished their children, and ensured they were fed- just like today’s parents.
When were Baby Bottles Invented? Ancient Baby Bottles
Baby bottles were invented as early as 800-1200 BC!
First, let’s look back at the baby bottles of ancient history. Artisans made baby bottles from clay. Scientists suspect parents used these bottles when they were weaning their babies, as they have recently found some containing traces of milk from domesticated animals!
Researchers uncovered three ceramic, spouted vessels believed to be prehistoric baby bottles in Bavaria. Two dated between 450 and 800 BC and another from a Bronze Age necropolis dated between 800 and 1200 BC, according to a new study in the journal Nature. Testing showed they contained traces of milk from ruminants- probably domesticated goats, cows, or sheep. I love how one is shaped like an animal! The others look sort of breast shaped.
The ancient Greeks often made baby bottles out of terracotta.
The ancient Romans made baby bottles out of clay and dried them in an oven
Medieval Baby Bottles
Next, let’s look at baby bottles from the Medieval era. In 1300s Europe, babies often drank out of the narrow end of an animal horn. Parents inserted a nipple made from cloth or leather so the baby could suckle. I’m picturing a viking dad drinking mead from a horn, while holding his little viking baby who is drinking milk from the small end of another horn!
Pewter baby bottles like this were common in England, France, and Holland in the 1600-1800s. Now we see that metalworking had advanced enough that bottles could be made of metal. And people had enough metal that they made some into bottles!
Next, check out the 1700s version of the sippy cup! Parents attached “teat spoons” like this to the rim of a cup so they could tip the liquid into the child’s mouth (1700s).
Related post: Why do they take a newborn’s footprint right after birth?
Victorian Baby Bottles
In the 1800s, baby bottles changed quite a bit as we got better at making things from metal and glass. However, they were still quite unhygienic, with lots of nooks and crannies where germs could collect.
In England, parents could fill “bubby pots” with milk and the baby drank the milk from the perforated spout. Parents may have covered the spout with cloth to slow the flow of milk. Parents would also make mixtures of bread, flour, milk, and sugar to feed to their babies with this device.
One popular bottle was shaped like a banjo or turtle, with a rubbery straw that babies could suck to feed themselves. Unfortunately, these types of bottles were difficult to clean and grew a variety of germs, leading to high infant mortality rates.
But on the positive side, some Victorian baby bottles from the 1800s show how technology improved during that time! With rubber and glass manufacturing becoming more sophisticated, we’ll see shortly that baby bottles and hygiene associated with them changed quickly!
This “pap boat” from 1850s North Carolina Carolina was used to feed infants pap, a mixture of bread and liquid that was boiled into a mushy consistency. This site has a bunch of photos of different pap boats!
Finally, in the late 1800s, scientists realized that the previous types of baby bottles were extremely difficult to clean and began recommending glass bottles, which were much easier to sterilize. Parents put glass bottles into large pots and boiled them. Thus, the classic, tall skinny bottle shape we all know was born- this way, parents could sterilize more bottles at once!
Related post: Tips On What To Do With An Old Breast Pump
Vintage Baby Bottles
Up next, we really see bottles kind of sort of start to look like the bottles we are familiar with today. At least these ones are all made of glass or plastic!
Banana Shaped Baby Bottles
Double-ended nursing bottles, also known as banana bottles, were common in England and America from 1900-1950. I love these banana-shaped baby bottles, they look fun!
A baby bottle of the 1950s. This bottle looks like it has two nipples, but one end is actually a valve. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
The American Club of Infant Feeders has a great collection of banana- shaped baby bottles- check out the collection of member David Cox.
Related post: What did mothers feed their babies in the 1950s?
Vintage Baby Bottles from the 70s: Fun Designs
In 1947, Samuel Callet designed six different printed bottles, manufactured by Knox Glass. They even allowed parents and companies to customize their own bottles!
In the 1960s and 70s, manufacturers continued to customize bottles and make them more fun. The bottles above could be customized with a name or image of the parent’s choice!
And bottles even came in new fun shapes, like these 1970s animal-shaped bottles!
You might also enjoy: Historical Baby Information
Modern Baby Bottles
And finally, we see today that baby bottles continue to evolve. Today’s bottles are often made of plastic, and have nipples designed to mimic a breast and real nipple. And we’ve seen innovations to prevent colic, make the bottles easier for babies to hold, easier to clean, and so on. If the history of baby bottles has taught us anything, it’s that they will continue to get better and better in the future. I can’t wait to see what baby bottles look like 20 years from now!
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I’m watching Hatari and they’re trying to feed a baby elephant goats milk in 1942 Masai Africa. So they have the goats milk, but are trying to pour the milk into the elephant through a bamboo shoot.
I was wondering when baby bottles and what type were invented. Maybe they’re just going more more laughs with the goats. There have been quite a few so far. I really recommend the movie.
Thank you for the history on baby bottles. I myself had a bottle that was quite interesting. In fact my favorite baby bottle ever. I lost it eventually and still wish I had it (for sentimental reasons). It was a swan shaped bottle with the nipple on top of he swans head. I remember my mom would have to use a wire and a sponge to get into the bill and the tail of the swan / or duck. It was long and did not hold much, but was so much fun to have. I was about 4 years old and still sneaking in the kitchen to get a drink out of it like a sippy cup. I have been searching to find such bottle again, and still have had no luck. Have you come across this item ? Ever? Just curious of where it was made or if there are any left in the world.
What a wonderful memory! I’m afraid I haven’t heard of such a bottle. I searched around on the internet a bit but didn’t find anything that sounded even close to your description! Have you checked with folks who collect bottles? When researching historical and vintage baby bottles, I found a lot of useful information from the American Society of Infant Feeders at https://acif.org/bottles-and-feeders.html . Towards the bottom of the page, they have ceramic elephant and rabbit “bottles.” Anyways, they do have some email contacts listed on their page who might be able to help? Best of luck in your search!
Very good read,,I’m a collector of all sorts,,since I was a kid I’ve been a bottle collector,, you missed out.japan baby bottle feeder,,,I’ve been looking for over a year.for one. Like mine I dug up an amazing jappanesse babybottle feeder ,I’d say it is same shape everything,,but I can’t find it,, ,on front.is nippon with glass bubbles throu bottle and it’s light blue. Forgot name for color,, glass is rippled,,patche and leafs in glass but they are smooth clear glass there is a.few uo seem ,I think they could be lotus leafs,because on back of bottle is a cherry blossom design out lined ,an in the middle of this is a letter,S,, I’m thinking ,,sakura,,stands for cherry,blossom,,or sunrise,,,the glass work is amazing,, because The Maker has glass blown in base with pontil a bird inside base bottle and head and beck come round glass on the out side..took me a while to work it out I was thinking no a tail. But I read up on ibis,,TOKI. And has this long bendy ,cervey beck and it’s a national bird symble in jappanesse culture,,,how it stayed in great shape in ground so long,,,I’m sure it’s 1880s which nippon is 1889,to 1912,,but it must of been the first year of glass makeing., the bottle.glass it self tells the story,,, I’d like to shear photo,s ,,and every one,s feed back would be much appreciated for sure ,,,,thank you very much for you time,,,aaron for wills,,,