Dr. Brown’s Baby Bottle

Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow baby bottles are the perfect bottle for babies who suffer from colic or babies who develop painful gas when eating.  Help your baby eat gas and pain free by giving Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow baby bottles a try.

Pros Summary:

• Really help to reduce gas, reflux¸ spit up and colic in babies
• Fit Medela breast pumps for direct pumping
• BPA free plastic or glass options

Cons Summary:

• 2 extra parts to clean per bottle
• If not put together correctly will leak (true of any bottle)
• Expensive

How Dr. Brown Bottles Work

(Description Provided By Dr. Browns)

Dr. Brown’s bottle features a patented two-piece internal vent system that works unlike any other bottle design. The vent system fully vents the bottle for vacuum-free feeding, which is called positive-pressure flow, similar to breastfeeding. As the baby feeds, air is channeled from the nipple collar through the vent system, bypassing the breast milk or formula, to the back of the bottle. Air never mixes with the breast milk or formula which minimizes oxidation and helps maintain essential nutrients like vitamins C, A and E.

Babies feed more comfortably because the vent system allows them to nurse without fighting the negative effects of a vacuum or the discomfort of ingesting air bubbles. This helps to reduce feeding problems like colic, spit-up, burping, and gas. The breast milk or formula flows freely, without nipple collapse.

Health Benefits Of Dr. Brown Baby Bottles

A first-of-its-kind university study to measure nutrient levels in breast milk and formula during a typical 20-minute feeding determined that Dr. Brown’s fully vented bottles help maintain levels of important nutrients like vitamins C, A & E.

• Helps maintain vitamins C, A & E:
  Patented internal vent system is proven to minimize oxidation of breast milk and formula, to help maintain essential nutrients.
• Positive-pressure feeding:
  Fully vented bottle design provides vacuum-free feeding similar to breastfeeding.
• Helps reduce colic:
  Vent system eliminates negative pressure and air bubbles to help reduce colic, spit-up, burping and gas.

Materials In Dr. Brown Baby Bottles

• Dr. Brown’s bottles are made of BPA-free polypropylene plastic or BPA-free borosilicate glass. All components of the Dr. Brown’s bottle, including the vent insert, vent reservoir, travel disk, nipple collar, and cap are also BPA-free polypropylene. Nipples are made of medical-grade silicone.

• Where are your bottles made?
  Most of Dr. Brown’s bottles are produced and packaged in the USA. The silicone nipples are made in Germany. Some of Dr. Brown’s products are made in China. Each Dr. Brown’s package clearly notes where that product was produced. Dr. Brown’s takes its commitment to quality extremely seriously, and rigorously tests and performs quality control on all its products, beyond government regulations, in the United States.

Dr. Brown Baby Bottle Cost

• A 3 pack of 8oz Dr. Brown bottles retails for $15.99.
• A 3 pack of 4oz Dr. Brown bottles retails for $15.99.
• A Dr. Brown Newborn Feeding Set retails for $27.99 (shop around for best price).
• A Dr. Brown Deluxe Gift Set retails for $54.99 (and includes everything you will ever need for bottling.)
• Individually sold 4oz or 8oz Dr. Brown Baby Bottles retail for $6.99 each.

Dr. Brown Natural Flow Baby Bottle User Reviews

Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow baby bottles have received a rating of 4 out 5 stars from reviewers on amazon.com, toysrus.com and diapers.com.

Users with babies who suffer from gas, reflux or who have colic absolutely love the Dr. Brown bottles and say the relief they provide for their baby is absolutely worth the cost of these bottles.  Reviewers say the Dr. Brown bottles keep their babies gas free and have helped to reduce the amount of spit up from their babies.  Many users say that after switching from another brand of bottle to Dr. Brown’s bottles, their baby’s gas discomfort instantly reduced or vanished.  Several users can’t say enough about how well these bottles work for minimizing gas and spit up problems.  Users also inform readers that Dr. Brown bottles fit the Medela Breast Pump System and therefore can be used for direct pumping with any Medela Breast Pump.  Overall, users say “Excellent Bottle,” “Best Bottle Ever,” and “Love Dr. Brown Bottles.”

Dr. Brown Bottle Negatives

There are also many users who dislike the Dr. Brown natural flow baby bottle.  However, there is sort of an ongoing war occurring across the message review boards where those who love these Dr. Brown bottles feel the need to respond to the naysayers and defend the Dr. Brown bottles.

The main complaint about the Dr. Brown baby bottles is that there are too many parts to clean.  Users say it just takes too long to wash these bottles.  However, many of the advocate users of this bottle respond to these complaints saying it is really only two extra parts to wash per bottle—an extra two minutes at the most for washing a set of bottles.  They say these bottles are only difficult to clean if you are “a lazy dishwasher.”  However, many, many users do grip about this extra washing.  But, on the plus side, these bottles are dishwasher safe.

Another major negative for many users for this bottle is that it leaks.  Many reviewers say Dr. Brown’s is the worst leaking bottle they have ever used.  However, again, those who love this bottle came to the defense saying the Dr. Brown bottles only leak if the bottle is not put together correctly or if the bottle is filled up past the recommended line.  They say if you follow these two instructional steps the bottle will never leak.

A few users also say the bottle is too pricey and one or two users say it doesn’t help with gas.

My Two Cents

After reading hundreds of reviews for this bottle I have come to a few conclusions.  If your baby is suffering from gas, reflux or colic then it is absolutely worth spending the money to purchase this bottle and to take the time to put the bottle together correctly, and to wash a few extra parts.  For anyone out there who has had a baby suffer from gas, stomach pain, and excessive spitting up, you know that you will do anything to help alleviate you baby’s discomfort.  And, from the reviews, it does sound like the Dr. Brown natural flow baby bottles will help to minimize your baby’s gas problem.

However, if your baby does not have difficulty eating and does not suffer from gas then perhaps you do not need these special bottles and can instead purchase a less expensive, more conventional bottle for your baby.

Also check out reviews for Medela baby bottles, Avent bottles, Born Free bottles, and Playtex Drop-In Nursers.