The First Years Breastflow Review
Pros: sturdy, wide mouth and nipple base, good price point
Cons: milk and food caught between nipples, annoying "milk realease tabs"
Bottom line: A sturdy feeling, wide-mouth bottle but the double nipple concept is more work than it's worth.
Editors' Rating:
Bottle Material: Plastic
Free of Materials: BPA
Manufacturer: TOMY
The Skinny
The First Years Breastflow is another one of the bottles we tested that offers a unique design feature that sounded great on paper but came up short in our testing. This time, it's a nipple inside a nipple designed to mimic breastfeeding, stating that baby has to "suck and compress" just like the real thing. We found this double nipple only created more work for us, and our little testers were just as happy with one, basic nipple.
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Our Analysis and Test Results
Review by:
Lindsay Ellis
Lindsay Ellis
Last Updated:
Sunday
September 23, 2012
Sunday
September 23, 2012
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We were happy to see a wide-mouthed, sturdy looking bottle when we opened the Breastflow, and curious to see what that double nipple could do for baby. However, the nipple-in-nipple feature really only seemed to make our feeding experiences more difficult. The large, softer outer nipple collapses very easily. We don't feel that it interfered with milk-flow, but baby's latch would slip a little. Another annoyance? Milk and food got stuck between the two nipples. Now apparently this is expected as they've created built-in "milk-release tabs" that you squeeze to allow the milk to drain back into the bottle. This is just a pain and also felt a little unsanitary.
Had a sturdy feel; comfortable for baby to hold. This bottle has a wide mouth that made filling and cleaning (the base) easy.
No trouble with leaking.
The double nipple and built-in tabs/holes make for extra work while cleaning and assembling.
We just didn't care for the "milk release tabs". Even after squeezing them while tipping, tapping, swishing, etc. we still couldn't get all the milk back in the bottle.
The Breastflow offers us yet another overcomplicated feature with it's nipple-in-nipple design. Although leak-free and sturdy at a decent price point, the milk and food trapped between nipples left us, and probably our baby, with a bad taste in our mouth. We'll be sticking to the one-nipple basics.
Likes
Had a sturdy feel; comfortable for baby to hold. This bottle has a wide mouth that made filling and cleaning (the base) easy.
No trouble with leaking.
Dislikes
The double nipple and built-in tabs/holes make for extra work while cleaning and assembling.
We just didn't care for the "milk release tabs". Even after squeezing them while tipping, tapping, swishing, etc. we still couldn't get all the milk back in the bottle.
Squeezing the "milk release tabs" on the Breastflow. They help a little but we don't like the thought of milk recirculating.
Conclusion
The Breastflow offers us yet another overcomplicated feature with it's nipple-in-nipple design. Although leak-free and sturdy at a decent price point, the milk and food trapped between nipples left us, and probably our baby, with a bad taste in our mouth. We'll be sticking to the one-nipple basics.
—
Lindsay Ellis
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BabyGearLab Member Reviews
Most recent review: February 26, 2014
Summary of All Ratings
100% of 1 reviewers recommend it
BabyGearLab Editors' Rating:
(2.0)
Average Customer Rating:
(5.0)
100% of 1 reviewers recommend it
Rating Distribution
2 Total Ratings
| 5 star: |  |
(1) |
| 4 star: | |
(0) |
| 3 star: | |
(0) |
| 2 star: | |
(1) |
| 1 star: | |
(0) |
Sort 1 member reviews by: Most Recent | Most Helpful
Feb 26, 2014 - 12:46pm
Mia · Columbus, Ohio
My little angel was born with severe tongue-tie (central and posterior attachment of the frenulum) and has a hard time sucking and swallowing even after her frenectomy. She would vomit and choke on average amounts of milk due to the lack of a swallow reflex that tongue-tied babies have. Because she has not yet learned to move her tongue and swallow correctly she would swallow lots of air and have painful gas. This is the only bottle for tongue-tied babies! it allows a light milk flow that my daughter can manage with out choking, does not give her gas at all, allows her to practice extending her tongue to latch properly, and ONLY releases milk when she is suckling, not when she takes breaks (so she is not surprised by the the milk which causes her to aspirate because of her lack of swallow reflex). If you have a tongue-tied baby this is the best bottle i have found hands down, I hope to get back to breast feeding sometime soon and with her improving her tongue's coordination, swallowing, and latch every day with this bottle I am very confident that we will accomplish our breastfeeding goals. Having some of the milk get stuck in the nipple is a small price to pay for a healthy happy tongue-tie-recovering baby! I hope this helps!
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this product to a friend.
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