In a nutshell

Innovative bottle that can be used from birth to 9 months and does help to reduce colic

What we tested

  • Ease of use
    A star rating of 5.0 out of 5.
  • Ease of cleaning
    A star rating of 2.5 out of 5.
  • Effectiveness
    A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.
  • Design
    A star rating of 3.5 out of 5.
  • Durability
    A star rating of 4.0 out of 5.
  • Worth the money
    A star rating of 3.5 out of 5.
Overall Rating
A star rating of 3.8 out of 5.

Pros

  • Big bottle, can be used with or without vent, does help with colic

Cons

  • Comes in quite a few parts, so it's a bit fiddly and it takes longer to clean than other bottles

There aren't many brands more synonymous with baby bottles than Dr Brown's.

Advertisement

Created by a doctor (hence the name) in 1996, Dr Brown's were the first baby feeding bottles to feature an internal vent system.

The vents were designed to eliminate the vacuum, air bubbles and negative pressure associated with conventional bottlefeeding.

Now, 20 years later, Dr Brown's has made another first, the Natural Flow Options bottles. These are convertible bottles that can be used with or without the iconic vent system.

The idea is that parents use the vent when babies are smaller and have colic or digestion problems.

And when older and more developed, parents can remove the vent for a more convenient use.

So has the Dr Brown's Natural Flow Options bottle helped with your baby's colic?

Although I don’t think that it cured my daughter's colic, I do think with the Dr Brown bottle she seems to take a larger quantity (Oz) during a feed in comparison to other bottles, instead of struggling half way through the bottle which happens with other bottles that I have tried.

Dr Brown's Natural Flow Options is available from: Amazon and John Lewis

Is the Dr Brown's Natural Flow Options bottle easy to clean/sterilise and quick to clean?

Cleaning the bottle is slightly inconvenient as there are so many different parts to the bottle.

Cleaning the tube is especially inconvenient because you have to make sure that all of the milk has been cleaned and removed from inside the tube which needs a thin brush which takes longer than cleaning normal bottles. It's worth noting that the brushes are included in the Dr Brown's starter pack.

The bottle is also too big for my steriliser, so perhaps it would be too big for other brand electric sterilisers too.

How many parts are there to the bottle?

There are 5 parts to this bottle; the cap, the teat, the tube, the tube cap and the main part of the bottle. This can be quite annoying when you are trying to put the bottle together with a baby in yours arms.

What do you think of the teat?

The slow flow teat came with the bottle, and because I needed the medium flow teat, I used a mam teat that I already had as it fits onto the Dr Brown bottle easily.

Is the Dr Brown's Natural Flow Options bottle value for money?

Yes, the bottle is designed to grow with your baby, and holds a total of 9oz with lots of room above the maximum quantity.

A lot of other bottles would overspill If you were to put a full 9oz into it so in that sense it is value for money.

On the other hand, the bottle is a very big and chunky design, especially for a baby who rarely drinks more than 4oz during each feed.

Is it BPA free?

Yes.

MadeForMums verdict:

I would recommend the Dr Brown's Natural Flow Options bottle as an anti-colic bottle as it did help her during my daughter's feeds.

The bottle is also large so it’s good when your baby gets older and takes larger quantities. You can also use the bottle with or without the anti-colic function, so I would also recommend it for that.

From my daughter's perspective, I think that she enjoyed this bottle and it certainly helped her during her feeds.

Advertisement

We've got more feeding products...

Product Specifications

Product
BrandDr Brown's
ModelNatural Flow Options bottle
Price£7.00
Available sizes
  • Bottles: 150ml, 270ml
  • Teats: Level 1 (from 0 months), Level 2 (from 3 months), Level 3 (from 6 months), Level 4 (from 9 months), and Y-cut teat (from 9 months) cereal' teats for thicker liquids
Suitable for
Child age (approx)Up to 9 months
Features
Bottle typeNarrow neck
Anti-colicYes
Dishwasher safeYes
Microwave safeNo
ComponentsThe cap, the tube, the tube cap and the main part of the bottle
Made fromPolypropylene and silicone, non-BPA
Features
  • Patented
  • Removable internal vent system
  • Bpa free
  • Dishwasher safe
Accessories
Optional extrasStorage/travel caps, tote bag (including ice pack), steriliser, bottle and teat brush, dishwasher basket
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement