From time to time, I thought it might be interesting if WMAG would review baby/toddler/kid products: Give their honest opinions on what’s out there in childworld. Look for some reviews on diaper bags to come soon, but for my first piece, I feel compelled to review Dr Browns bottles.
As some of you may be aware, O was a “surprise” baby—unplanned but completely welcomed. As such, I was unprepared on so many levels (It’s sort of become a running office joke about how I tried to blindfold and spin a 9-month pregnant Cara around to hit a pinata at her work baby shower. I honestly thought that was an OK idea. Ah, so much to learn.)
But one thing I could do was research—and research I did. I researched every baby purchase—the crib, the car seat, the pack n’ play, the stroller, the breast pump, and the bottles—to make sure we got the absolutely best baby products we could afford. And even though I was going to breastfeed, I knew I’d have to head back to work eventually and he’d need bottles.
Dr. Brown’s bottles, even though they are a little pricier than most, come HIGHLY recommended by other moms. They are supposed to reduce gas and fussiness in babies, and even won a 2000 Medical Design Excellence Award. Trying to ward off any problems before they even started, I thought Dr. Brown’s bottles would be our best bet. I registered for a bunch, and bought even more.
O never seemed to be excessively gassy or fussy, so maybe they worked. But what didn’t work in regards to the Dr. Brown’s bottles were 1) the extra parts 2) the leakage factor.
There are two extra parts to the Dr. Brown’s bottles—the internal vent system that works to fight gas and fussiness. Cleaning two extra parts every.single.night to prepare for the next day becomes quite tiresome. But more so, it’s the drying of the extra parts that killed me. There is this long vent tube that NEVER seems to dry. They spend all night on the bottle rack and there are still water droplets, so I have to dry them out with this little pipe cleaner thing they provide. Annoying.
But what’s even more annoying is the leakage. I can’t count how many times I’ve arrived at daycare with two, three, even four less ounces of milk than I left the house with. The bottles have to make the trip in a completely upright position, or the leakage begins. If I have to make a sudden stop and the bottles tumble a bit—forget it. I’m sure to have lost some. So O ends up with less milk than he should, and I end up with a mess. Not fun.
Needless to say, I’m counting down the days that O completely transitions to a sippy cup, and I can put the Dr. Brown’s bottles behind me.
Related articles
- Toxic Baby Bottles: You do everything you can for your child, then you learn you’re using toxic baby bottles. What’s a mom to do? Updated with list of baby bottle safety tips.
- Pumping at Work: Tips on Supply: Tips for maintaining milk supply while pumping at work.
- Breast or Bottle?: Why such heated debates between breast or bottle feeding? No matter what you believe, there’s no reason to equate formula with risking your baby’s life.
I used Dr. Brown’s bottles with my son and do have to agree about the leaking. The only thing I found was that it seemed to happen more if the lids were screwed on too tightly. But, my little guy was not gassy or fussy and that more than made up for the leaks.
I hated Dr. Brown’s for this reason! I switched to Avent, which seemed better for the leaking issue… cool that you’ll be reviewing stuff here. I just started a review blog to do the same… looking forward to seeing your reviews!
Avent leaked for me horribly. I used them, but they leaked.
I have heard great things about Dr. Brown’s in relation to gassy problems.
Everyone told me how great Dr B’s were, so I registered for a slew of them. My baby had colic which the Dr B’s are supposed to be the best for! The Dr suggested we try the Playtex bottles w the drop ins. Well, they worked so much better for her and helped a lot with the gas/fussiness. And they are way cheaper and waaaaay easier to clean up. All the extra parts on the Dr B’s are a pain.
When my little guy would FINALLY take bottles, I had to come up with a compromise… Dr. B didn’t work, Playtex didn’t work, and I really liked Avent (I was given a ton of free new bottles) but he didn’t like the nipples.
But then I found a rare MAM nipple that’s kinda flat looking and used that with. PERFECT bottle.
No fussy problems, and he only had gas when I tried to give him formula (was pumping usually).
I didn’t realize that some babies have a preference on these things sometimes, and it doesn’t matter what we’re led to think by research or advertising.
I used Dr. Brown’s bottles. I always put the little white disks that come in the top of the bottle in between the vent and the nipple. I never had any leaking problems after starting to do that. It did take the daycare workers a while to get used to it though. They would start feeding her and a little bit later notice she wasn’t getting anything…then they’d remember to take out the disk! It certainly stopped the leaking problem though.