BornFree
Firstly I'm going to be starting with the BornFree bottles, probably the least known out of the three brands in the UK but hugely popular over the pond. BornFree were the first to market with a Bisphenol-A (BPA), Phthalates and PVC free from offering, an attribute they like to shout about.
The bottles themselves also have a patented Active-Flow venting system which has been designed to reduce air pressure and vacuum build up in the bottle which should reduce colic and gas pain. It's also supposed to allow your baby to control the milk flow similar to breast feeding if you're doing a mix.
Having not previously heard much about the BornFree range I was quite open to trying them but wasn't really expecting them to perform as well as they did. The venting system is a little fiddly to clean and you have to make sure you separate the plastic parts for every wash as otherwise you would have a haven for bacteria to hide.
However in terms of feeding and wind and colic the bottles performed well against the popular choices from MAM and Dr Brown. I honestly didn't see much of a difference when I used these bottles in terms of Arthur's discomfort. With all the bottles we did have some wind issues in the first couple of weeks of his life but he never had colic and we experienced very few episodes of uncontrollable crying as a result.
The actual design of the wide-neck bottles is very similar to that of Dr Brown and I could easily mix and match the teats and tops. The design of the Deco bottles was also quite sweet with a picture of trees and birds and the green screw tops. Furthermore and where they out perform their competitors is in the screw top design. I haven't had a single leak in the five weeks I've been using these bottles which is a major plus in my books.
With prices starting at £6.50 for a single bottle they're definitely worth consideration!
Dr Brown
The Dr Brown bottles have a great reputation and are often cited as the favourite anti-colic brand so I expected them to outperform all the bottles by a mile but surprisingly they didn't.
The Dr Brown brand boasts that their bottles are the only fully vented vacuum free design, which helps minimise wind and colic and reduces the build up fluid in your baby's ear. However in truth the system is pretty fiddly especially if you are trying to prepare the bottle whilst out in about, as keeping everything sterile is a delicate juggling act.
In addition I've found that bottle leak quite easily. You have to make sure that you don't put freshly boiled water in as the steam causes the water to explode everywhere, which is incredibly annoying if you've just put them straight into your nappy bag... They also leak after you take them out of the microwave if you're just gently heating them. I did check on the website to see if their was an answer to the leaking issue and apparently it occurs when steam or too much heat gets into the venting system. Therefore you should undo the caps by half a turn before popping them in the microwave.
I also wasn't a fan of the measuring line on the bottles which they've recently indented onto the plastic so lines don't suffer from fading. This in theory should be much better for their longevity but actually it makes it quite difficult to read particularly when you have a build of condensation on the inside, so you really have to bend down and take a close look to see the water line.
However the whole system does work quite well in terms of helping reduce wind issues as we had very little problems when we were using them in fact they probably are slightly better than the competition.
MAM self-sterilising bottles
The final brand I looked at were MAM mainly because of their self-sterilising feature, which I have to say is a huge bonus. It means that these bottles are so easy to take everywhere, especially if you're going away as there is no need to cart around a steriliser. All you have to to do is unscrew the bottom of the bottle, place the teat inside with a bit of water, then add the lid and microwave for three minutes. It's that simple.
Their patented vent system is in the base as carefully designed holes regulate pressure balance and airflow. As their system is built in it means that there are less fiddly parts to mess around with when washing and making the bottles up. Furthermore in addition to the patent on the vent system they've also got a patent on their teats which are made using a silky rubber which is supposed to promote a familiar feeling (I'm not entirely sure what that means).
What I also like about these bottles is the look as they've each got pretty designs which are quite fun and mean they stand out against the competition's offerings.
I do have one criticism of these bottles though and that's leaking. As they have two screw parts if you line either of them up wrong you can have some issues and the threading design isn't great and I've had quite a few dripping bottles.
Conclusion
There really isn't a clear winner amongst these three so I think your final choice should come down to preference. If you're worried about leaking then Born Free definitely come out on top. Dr Brown are ever so slightly better on the colic scale so if you are having real issues with your baby then they might be worth the investment, especially if you spend a lot of time at home and therefore can prepare the bottles in a sterile environment.
However, if you're out and about a lot then MAM would work really for you. In fact I think no matter what system you choose it's worth having a couple of the MAM bottles as an emergency back up as you can sterilise them no matter where you are.
Let me know your thoughts though and if there are any other systems you'd like me to look into.
Take care,
Mrs W
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