Dr. Brown's Natural Flow Bottles Review

When Ethan first began having issues with colic and gas, I did the normal thing that any mom would do: research the heck out of the best bottles to help with gas and colic. There are definitely a few contenders on the market. Admittedly, we tried all of them. Some offered minor relief, some offered no relief at all. After tons of recommendations for me to try Dr. Brown's bottles, I was so excited when the great people at Dr. Brown's offered to send me some of their bottles for us to try.



The bottles come in both glass and plastic and in quite a few different sizes. The wider bottles come with wider nipples and the more narrow bottles come with standard nipples. Ethan previously had issues latching properly to the wide-mouth nipples on the Tommee Tippee bottles that frequently collapsed, so I was eager to see how he would do on the wide-mouth nipples from Dr. Brown's.



I read a lot of complaints about how difficult it was to assemble and wash the Dr. Brown's bottles. I have to say that I disagree. Sure, there were a lot of pieces, but for good reason: the internal vent system allows babies to eat without the discomfort of ingesting air bubbles. That means it helps with colic, gas and spit-up. The vent system fully vents the bottles for vacuum-free feeding which I was pleased to learn.

When assembling the bottles and then taking them apart to wash them, I was pleased to see that it wasn't a huge ordeal like many people were complaining about. The pieces were easy to assemble and went together easily. Washing the pieces was easy, too. They were easy to wash with just standard bottle brushes and they actually also came with a small brush to aid in cleaning the blue tube properly. They also washed nicely in our Munchkin dishwasher basket.







Something I also didn't know was that the venting system helps maintain nutrient levels in breastmilk and formula, including vitamins C, A and E. You can read more about the nutrient study here.

With the wide-mouth nipples, Ethan still had a tough time latching on at first. There was no nipple collapse like with some of the other bottles on the market, so eventually he was able to latch on and finish the bottle. With the standard nipples, Ethan latched on immediately and took to them quite well. I noticed immediately that he did not have as much gas after a few feedings as he previously had with some of the other brands of bottles we used previously. His need to burp was decreased from the prior bottles as well.

I was so impressed with the bottles that we went out to purchase some more and my parents even purchased a set for their home as well. Ethan still struggles with some gas discomfort though it's no longer after every feeding, but maybe once or twice per day. He's completely stopped spitting up after every feeding, too, which was a plus as I was really started to worry about it. I've noticed that most of his colic symptoms have also stopped and he never fusses after feedings anymore.



We are now solely using the Dr. Brown's bottles after each feeding. Ethan seems to favor the standard ones as opposed to the wide-neck ones, but he will still use both during his feedings.

I was overall quite impressed by all of Dr. Brown's products. I also liked that you can easily purchase replacement parts for all of their bottles in addition to nipples that correspond with your child's age and desired flow speed.

I am so grateful to the people at Dr. Brown's for offering us the chance to try out these great bottles because, let me tell you, I'm hooked!

You can purchase Dr. Brown's bottles at any baby retailer (Babies 'R Us, Buy Buy Baby, etc.) as well as online. I definitely recommend these to any parent struggling with a new baby with colic or a baby who is suffering from gas pains after feeding.