Baby Goods From Born Free
Today, Judy (also of Talking Thirty) shares her thoughts on a suite of eco-friendly products from Born Free. Read on for Judy's review, as well as to learn how to win a Born Free gift set for yourself or a friend!
In light of environmental health concerns over the use of plastic baby bottles, and findings that even some BPA-free plastic can leach hormone-disrupting chemicals, I've been meaning to switch to glass bottles for a while now. Subsequently, I was pleased to have the opportunity to test out Born Free glass bottles and accessories for Boston Mamas. I opted to try three items from their collection.
1. Born Free's glass bottles are durable and survived what could have been an unpleasant encounter with my hardwood floors. They have a noticeably wide mouth, which made them easy to clean, and proved to be 100% leak-proof. The bottles come with a silicone sleeve that makes them easy to hold. Most importantly, they were well-received by my 9-month-old son, who isn't always so welcoming of new bottles, despite being a good eater. Because of the ActiveFlow Venting Technology, there were a lot of small parts to wash (5-6 per feeding), but I'm okay with that if it means reducing the amount of air my son ingests.
The BPA-free nipples are wide-based and very soft. My one piece of constructive feedback here is that I wish there was an intermediate flow level between levels 2 and 3. Level 2 was too slow and level 3 seemed a bit too rapid, even for an aggressive eater like my son.
2. I've been through several bottle brushes and haven't been happy with any of them so I was pleasantly surprised by how well the Tru-Clean Bottle Cleaning System works. The best part about it is the silicone nipple brush attached to the end of the handle. On other brushes that I've used, the nipple brushes have broken off, have rusted, were too small, or were too abrasive. None of these issues appear to be possible with the Tru-Clean's sturdy design. The only downside is that the sponge head is too large to fit into my bottles made by other brands.
3. Aesthetically-pleasing and BPA-free, the Calm N' Soothe Teethers have narrow handles for little fingers to hold onto and different textured patterns that make them interesting and stimulating to baby.
In short, I'd definitely recommend this suite of products to friends. In fact, I've already decided to stock up on some of these items to gift at baby showers that I'll be attending this spring!
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED
Congrats to winner Alicia!
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Now, want to win a Born Free gift set for yourself or a friend? Here's how:
Rules*:
*One lucky winner (drawn randomly via Random.org) will receive this Born free gift set (valued at $65). The winner will be notified directly via e-mail and listed back at this post using first name only.
Comments
Thanks for this great review. It was nice to hear that you have similar concerns when considering bottles as myself. Great feedback for new moms.
Posted by: Tara | April 28, 2012 12:50 PM | Reply to this comment
Its difficult for new moms to decide which bottles are right for their new borns. Your review was very helpful!
Posted by: Erica Adams | April 29, 2012 6:22 PM | Reply to this comment
When our son was still drinking breast milk, we used glass bottles too! There's also a debate whether or not glass helps to retain the nutrients, or actually draws nutrients away. Anyways, we now order our cow's milk in glass bottles. It's environmentally friendly and has a nostalgic feeling to it ;). And you are so right about bottle cleaners being so ill-designed. We had one from Dr. Brown with a brush (on an exposed metal rod) that twisted/rusted off. Luckily, 2nd time around, Dr. Brown didn't expose the metal. I guess I wish the Born Free brush came on a stand. Dr. Brown's does and that's the only reason we paid so much for it ;). Oh, the price we pay!! Tks for the review. Glad the bottles are working out for Baby C. If you wanted a intermediate flow, you could pierce a hole in the 2s with a needle...but then you'd need new 2s later on...
Posted by: Lisacng | April 30, 2012 9:10 AM | Reply to this comment
In LA, where my daughter was born, everyone pretty much uses either Born Free or Dr Brown. We used Born Free on a friend's recommendation and loved how it grew with my daughter. When she was holding the bottle herself, I could switch to plastic and add handles but keep the nipples she was used to. And then, when she was even older, I could keep the bottles and handles and switch the nipples out for sippy cup tops.
Judy, you might also check out their variable flow nipple if the level 3 is too fast for your son.
Happy to see these bottles get more attention out east!
Posted by: Priya | April 30, 2012 10:38 AM | Reply to this comment
Thanks for the tip, Priya! I'll definitely check out the variable flow nipple.
Posted by: Judy replied to comment from Priya | April 30, 2012 3:23 PM | Reply to this comment
enter me thanks
Posted by: edq143 | May 2, 2012 10:06 AM | Reply to this comment