Great for premature babies (Dr Brown's Natural Flow Bottle)

Member Name: cheeringbell

Product:	Dr Brown's Natural Flow Bottle
Date:	28/06/09 (65 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Supersoft teats

Disadvantages: Expensive, cleaning

Dr Browns Bottles are infant feeding bottles designed to make it easier for baby to drink from, with claims of reducing colic, wind and ear infections. My daughter, 5 weeks premature, found bottle feeding difficult and it was a constant battle trying to get her to drink her milk. We tried several bottles, but usually the teats were too hard or to big. Eventually I bit the bullet and decided to try the more expensive wideneck Dr Brown's bottles. These bottles are designed to reduce the vacuum that can build up inside during feeding by allowing air into the bottle via a vent and a straw. The straw enables the air to go to the bottom of the bottle. This is good for preventing the mass of tiny bubbles that can form with other vented bottles.

The silicone teats on these bottles are very soft (much softer than other bottles we had tried) which suited my daughter well. We saw a marked improvement in feeding with these bottles and her formula consumption gradually improved. Different teats are available for different flow rates. Initially we used level 1 and now at 1 year we are using level 2.

I am pleased with the Dr Brown bottles, however the different parts to these bottles means cleaning them is quite a chore. The bottles come with a little brush for cleaning the small holes in the vent and the straw. You can use a normal bottle brush for the bottle and teat. I would recommend getting the wide neck bottles as they are more easily available and easier to clean. I also recommend getting a dishwasher basket for the bottle parts. Although they only hold the components of three bottles at a time it does help with the cleaning. I also had to upgrade my steriliser (Mothercare microwave steriliser) to a larger one (Lindam Universal Steam Steriliser) to fit in all the bits.

You also have to be careful not to tighten the bottle tops when the bottles contain hot water / milk as the fluid will leak out of the vents. This will also occur when warming up bottles. I used to fill them with hot water and loosely screw on the teat. When the water had cooled I could safely tighten the top. I've only had a problem with leakage once - when I had forgotten to tighten one.

Dr Brown's bottles are about twice as expensive as the Tommy Tippee Brand, although both bottles and teats are well made. I've never had to replace a teat due to wear and tear. After nearly 1 year of use the vent straws have started to discolour (probably due to cleaning them in the dishwasher) but the bottles and other components remain in excellent condition. I would recommend them to any Mum who's baby has problems feeding or has problems with wind / colic. Due to their price and effort needed to clean them I would suggest trying other bottles first.

I purchased my bottles from Mothercare and Amazon. The dishwasher basket was from Pedleybaby.co.uk and spare teats can be purchased from ebay.

Summary: A great bottle to try if your baby has bottle feeding problems