The First Years Breastflow Baby Bottle Review

I was going back to work and was desperate for a bottle my exclusively breastfed son would not reject.  By "reject" I mean screaming, terrible fits. In the weeks leading up to daycare we had tried every bottle brand out there and finally compromised by using a sippy cup. So, at 9 months old, my no-bottle-yet son started full time daycare. We brought his little sippy cups that he would slowly drink expressed milk from (but still, he was pretty much exclusively breastfed), and hoped for the best. But after 1 week the teachers were frustrated and concerned and suggested we retry the bottle. 

In total desperation, I bought the 1st Years Breastflow bottle. He loved it from the start. This bottle was a true lifesaver! I emphasize that he had strongly rejected at least 7 other brands of bottles before we tried the Breastflow by 1st Years; it was finally the one he would take. Additionally, his very experienced, loving daycare teachers thought this bottle was one of the best they had ever seen (and they know babies!). The lead infant room teacher (a grandma of 8 who had worked in the infant room for 20+ years and bottle fed literally 100s of babies, yet had exclusively - no bottles - breastfed her own 5 kids) thought the Breastflow by 1st Years bottle was the best invention ever. She was very impressed with this bottle's unique design. The teachers all loved it so much they asked me to keep the packaging from the next one I bought, so they could recommend this particular brand to several other parents of babies who were also reluctant to take a bottle. The Breastflow bottle is a terrific product for working moms who want to continue to breastfeed!

The design of the Breastflow by 1st Years bottle nipple is very unique, yet also seems very natural. It really reminded me of physical similarities to the process a baby uses to breastfeed. The bottle nipple is 2 part: the outer part I think is made of silicon, it was clean, rounded, soft and squishy (like a bo*b), and inside is the firmer 2nd part. The baby has to latch on correctly to the exterior and apply some pressure to get that inner part to release the milk. It really is like an interior milk duct and the exterior bo*b, so I think it is very similar to the physical process of breastfeeding for the baby. I am expecting another baby and will introduce the bottle much earlier this time (between 4 & 6 weeks old) and it will be a Breastflow by 1st Years bottle for sure. Having seen it in action, I am confident it will not cause nipple confusion, so I can give an occasional bottle early on and not have it negatively affect my baby's breastfeeding experience.

The Breastflow bottle never, ever leaked, and was easy to clean. It was durable: no scratches, no cloudy plastic (although we used it for only 3 month period). It was easy to assemble after cleaning. The two-part nipple fits together perfectly, and again the design is very natural. Had no little parts to get lost, no weird shaped bottle requiring a special bottle brush. The bottles were reasonaby priced and a very good value. This is a very well designed product! I liked that I did not have to special order it online -- I could buy it at the local baby superstore. Unlike the main rival product (the Ad!ri bottle,) this one does not look "weird," it looks like a regular bottle. It is only up close that you see the nipple is 2 part. I also have heard that the rival product leaks badly (which is so frustrating for a pumping mom!!), and that never happened with the Breastflow. The Breastflow by 1st Years bottle is BPA free & carried in the major baby superstore, and also now available at some W@lm@rt (maybe T@rget too). You aand your baby will ove this bottle!