Life with a newborn is crazy; one minute you’re on cloud nine and the next you’re weeping, wondering what colic is and if your baby has it and finding everything a little difficult and that’s completely normal. It can be really hard to know if you’re doing the right thing, especially if it’s your first baby.
When you’re pregnant it’s easy to focus all our attention on labour and birth but no one ever really prepares you for life with a newborn. For example, unless you do your own research you may have never realised how common conditions such as colic are. I had my first baby when I was 24 and I’d never heard of colic let alone know what it actually is. Now I’ve never had a really colicky baby (thank goodness), however all my children seem to be particularly windy suffering regularly with hiccups and reflux as babies and Mabel’s no exception.
Mabel is just over a month old now and since she was a week old we have been using the Dr. Brown’s Options anti-colic Baby Bottles. The Dr Brown’s bottles have a unique feeding system to help prevent and alleviate the symptoms of wind and colic. I wasn’t expecting the bottles to make much difference if I’m honest – all babies get a little wind and discomfort after feeding don’t they? I’m always a sceptic and like to see things work with my own eyes.
We introduced the bottles and it was clear, almost immediately, how much of a difference the vent made to the feed. Usually, after a feed, Mabel would take a good hour to settle down to sleep. She would kick her legs, squirm and cry out as though she were in pain until she managed to bring up some wind. It was hard to watch and frustrating to manage, especially during the night when you’re already exhausted.
However, after using the Dr Brown’s bottles Mabel would not only drink more she would also be so relaxed that she would just drift off to sleep on the bottle and bring up wind immediately as we sat her up or brought her up to our chests. The vent in the bottle stops the milk from aerating and so her tummy isn’t filling with air making for a more contented and settled baby which is just every parents Holy Grail isn’t it?
Yes, the bottles cost a little more than your standard baby bottle but there’s good evidence (and medical research) to suggest it’s worth it. As I’ve said before, I’d never recommend something without testing and liking it myself and in this case I would 100% repurchase this item (if I were having more babies) or recommend to any of my nearest and dearest. The Dr Brown’s Baby Bottles are able to grow with your baby too so you don’t have to use the vent. As you child outgrows their colic (sooner rather than later hopefully) you can remove the vent and use a faster flow teat to keep your baby just as contented.
We’ve also been using the microwaveable steriliser and can confirm that this works well too – I like that there is a home for each and every piece of the bottle even when using the extra parts to create the vent. I would just point out that you need to ensure you have a decent sized microwave to house this before purchasing. We plan to take this steriliser on holiday with us during October half term as we have a little staycation to Cornwall planned and it’s the ideal solution to UK travel sterilisation.
