Customer Reviews

The First Years 3 Pack Breastflow Bottle, 5 Ounce

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

My baby had to supplement almost from the start due to breastfeeding supply problems. We started using a bottle at about 3 wks of age. I bought about 10 different types of bottles trying to find one that he could successfully draw milk from. Most, including this one, were too hard for him to get anything out of. I finally had some success with the cheapy-cheap-cheap Gerber bottle and nipple I found at the supermarket.

Now that he's older, approaching 10 wks of age, the Gerber bottle and nipple is much too easy for him and he glugs and crushes the nipple with the strength of his suck. The same is true for his Green to Grow, Medela, and Evenflo Purely Comfi nipples. So my quest now is to find bottles that have firm enough nipples that he doesn't squish them with his suck and also to find bottles/nipples with appropriate flow rates.

I have revisited some of the bottles that were inappropriate when he was 3 wks old. This bottle has turned out to be the winner of the group.

Pros:
- Good flow speed, not too fast, not too slow.
- Broad nipple base is hard for the boy to flatten with his strong suck
- Broad nipple base helps the boy retain some of his breastfeeding chops, as we continue to try and nurse the few times a day my supply will allow for.

Cons:
- Frequent leaks. This bottle's nipple-within-a-nipple design means the chamber between the outer and inner nipple fills with milk, which is fine. But when you set the bottle down, that milk drains back downward, ideally back into the bottle. Often (but not always), unfortunately, on its way back down into the bottle, the formula leaks out thru the threads where you screw the nipple collar onto the bottle. If that makes any sense. This is true even if you carefully align the two nipples properly.

My main comment about this bottle is that it's a good aid in maintaining breastfeeding skills but if you find your baby doesn't like it at first, hang onto it. He/she may grow into it like my baby has. As with so many things, what's in favor one week is never the same the following week.

i have tried avent, dr. brown's, you name it, i have bought them. it was only until i tried first year's breastflow bottle that my baby finally was happy to continue w/my breastfeeding and switch over to the bottle at the same time. its designed to help w/moms who breastfeed and bottle feed at the same time. my baby will not take to any other bottle besides this bottle and she loves it and so do i. i highly recommend this bottle.

I have been very happy with the performance of the BreastFlow bottles. I too had started out using Avent bottles after hearing rave reviews of them when I was still pregnant. However, I found that the Avent nipples basically poured and dumped the milk into my daughter's mouth; she would go through 4 ounces in 4 minutes, wearing about half an ounce on her bib. Then when she returned to breastfeed later, she'd have a very disorganized suck from nipple confusion.
These BreastFlow bottles and their unique (though uncomplicated) nipples mimic breastfeeding so much better that she'll even take a bottle from me. We have no more problems alternating between breast and bottle. It now takes her about 10-12 minutes to finish a 4 oz bottle, sometimes up to 15 minutes, which is about the same duration she spends breastfeeding. She doesn't end up wearing most of her meal, either.
Overall, I would recommend this to any breastfeeding mother who has to offer her baby a bottle. Even the caregivers at my daughter's daycare were impressed with the performance of the BreastFlow system.

We bought these bottles so my husband could feed our son at night during his shift. I had read some reviews complaining about cleaning all the parts, but the extra time spent cleaning is definitely worth it. My son didn't have any trouble taking to the nipple on this bottle, and I strongly believe it's due to the unique design of the nipple. He places his mouth around the entire nipple, as if it were my breast, and eats without interruption. Also, he has very little spit up after feeding, and I attribute this to him not taking in excess air while swallowing.

In terms of my son taking the bottle and my breast, there have not been any issues with this. He will take from the bottle during my husband's feedings, then hours later I can breastfeed with ease.

I'm only giving 4/5 stars, though, because sometimes the cap doesn't form a tight seal. After you screw on the cap, hold the bottle up to make sure the cap is secured straight. It may seem like it's screwed on correctly, but when you tip the bottle over, you'll notice a slight leak. Unscrewing/rescrewing the cap will fix this problem.

We bought the bottles to use with my son who is exclusively breastfed. I was honestly a little worried about switching between bottle and breast, but these have been great. The stage 1 nipples do a great job of mimicking the flow of breast milk. If you are using these with a breastfed baby, you don't need the Stage 2 nipples (breastmilk doesn't flow faster, so the nipples don't need to be changed). They are also very easy to clean.

The only negative I've found is that I can't buy them in an actual store; all of our have been ordered online.

My sister has been breastfeeding her two twins but supplementing that with bottle feeding. Unfortunately, the boys (nearly three months old now) HATE the bottle. When we put the nipple of the bottle in their mouths, they make the most horrible faces, and it sometimes takes us a few tries to get them to take the bottle. So we were on a quest to find a bottle with a nipple which would feel more like breastfeeding to them (since they like that very much!).

I picked up the Breastflow bottles and it has been a mostly good experience. The babies take these bottles the first time every try, and the love them. No more awful facial expressions! But, as previous reviewers have said, the bottles do leak if not tightened or assembled properly. However, I super-tighten the bottles and check for leaks before giving them to the babies and some times they leak anyway. Great. Also, the double-nipples are a pain to clean! The inner blue nipple must be scrubbed carefully or formula builds up around the edges and gets crusty. Yuck. Also, the bottles do collapse as the babies are sucking on them, but I wonder if that means our boys are ready to move up to the medium-flow nipples, which we've been meaning to pick up anyway.

But the biggest problem is the formula that gets trapped between the two nipples--this is a huge annoyance. I wish there were some kind of draining system worked into the nipples to make the formula drain back into the bottle, but the only way we can figure out to get the formula back into the bottle is to squeeze the outer nipple gently near the flaps over the holes in the blue inner nipple. Otherwise, you could lose an ounce or so of formula or milk.

Overall, we like the bottles, but I'll be on the lookout for something better: something that doesn't leak, is simple to clean, and that doesn't waste valuable, expensive formula.

My baby was born tongue tied so breast feeding and bottle feeding was very difficult. I used the born free bottles because their nipples are longer and the milk is able to drip out. Once the surgery was performed on my daughter her tongue was able to move freely however she was still having a little trouble breastfeeding. These bottles helped teach my daughter how to latch on and suck properly on the breast. The nipple in nipple design is great i find that my daughter has less milk dribbling out of the sides of her mouth because she is controlling how much is flowing in, unlike the other bottles with dripped milk in her mouth regardless of if she sucked. The only possible downside (which isn't really a downside)is if you need to mix formula in the bottle you have to use the storage cap otherwise the milk will leak out when you shake it. (it does not leak when child is drinking)

These bottles mimic the breast the best and do an excellent job of minimizing gas bubbles. A friend of mine that was alternating with bottles from the beginning had breastfeeding issues until she tried this bottle and the baby actually learned how to nurse correctly. The other nipples were too different from the natural method.

The 5 oz bottles usually come with a stage 1 nipple. Be sure not to over-tighten the lid to minimize collapsing. If the nipple collapses too often, move to a stage 2 nipple with faster flow (sold with the 9 oz bottles). The lids are different shades to tell the difference. I eventually started using Avent bottles as well (after several months of established breastfeeding). It would be nice if the Playtex Drop-ins worked with these nipples since I hear those minimize gas even better (but these seem to be the next best without being as expensive or complex as Dr. Brown's). I highly recommend these for nursing mothers that alternate with bottles.

I have never written a review of a product before (although I read them frequently to make product choices), but these bottles are so great, I felt like I had to let other breastfeeding Moms know about them. I am a working mom and have to go back to work in a week. I needed to find a bottle that my baby would take when she goes to the babysitter. My older daughter was never a very good nurser, and she mostly took pumped breastmilk from the beginning from Nuk slow-flow orthodonic nipples on Medela or Gerber standard bottles with no problem. My new baby is a great nurser, but has had a much harder time transitioning to a bottle. I started trying to find a bottle for her around 3 weeks old (she is now 10 weeks). We tried the Nuk nipple on Medela bottle, Playtex drop-ins with rubber and silicone nipples, Avent, and Medela wide mouth bottles (all slow-flow)...I don't think I am forgetting any...with ALL of them, my daughter would try to take them, but lose about half of the milk out of her mouth and end up getting very frustrated by the end of the feeding. I found these Breastflow bottles online and decided to give them a try because they are supposed to more closely mimic the sucking technique that babies use to nurse. They work great! She doesn't lose the milk or get frustrated and it is easier to transition between breast and bottle because she actually latches on to the bottle just like nursing. There is one extra part to wash and the nipple does occasionally collapse, but these are very minor inconvienences. I highly recommend these bottles for Moms who need babies to bottle and breast feed!!

My girlfriend suggested these bottles for my daughter who has been stricktely breastfed from birth. She easily figured the nipple out and attacks the bottle with as much vigor as she does me. No confusion here! As far as maitenance goes, they are the same to clean as regular bottles just with 2 nipples. They have a superb air flow deal as well so no uncomfortable gas for my little one either. Enjoy!