Do you need a mobile bottle warmer to warm breast milk for your baby on the go? Here’s a complete review of the Baby’s Brew warmer, the first rechargeable bottle warmer!
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What is the Baby’s Brew?
The Baby’s Brew is a mobile bottle warmer that is small, works without being plugged in, and can easily be carried around in a diaper bag.
Before you use it, you just charge it using the USB port in the back. Then it’s ready to use whenever you need it.
This can come in SO HANDY when you have a baby who won’t take cold or lukewarm bottles. Before this warmer, your best option was finding a restaurant, asking for a half full hot cup of water, and putting the bottle in it to warm.
Now you can warm your breast milk wherever you go without worrying about all that.
How does it work?
When it’s time to use the warmer, you take the bottle that you’re going to use and screw the warmer on top, like in the picture below. Be careful to correctly thread the warmer onto the bottle to avoid spilling when you flip it over.
Note that depending on the type of bottles you use, you may need an adaptor to correctly thread the bottle to the warmer. (Here, I’m using a Medela adaptor. A complete list of compatible bottles and available adaptors is here.)
Then, with one hand on the bottom of the warmer and one hand on the bottom of the bottle, you flip it over, like this:
Then, you hold down the button on the bottom to select the temperature you want to warm your milk to.
(Note: One short press of the button will show you the remaining battery life.)
What situations would you want to use it in?
You can use it literally anywhere. You can use it warm your baby’s milk on a plane, in a car, at the beach, when you’re camping, at your parents’ house, anywhere that’s not home.
Actually, you can use it at home, too. The one downside to this is that, unlike a traditional bottle warmer, you need to clean it in between uses, which we’ll talk about next.
How do you clean it?
Baby’s Brew recommends either washing it with warm water and soap, or wiping it down with a Medela Quick-Clean wipe.
To wash it, first, make sure the USB port cover is closed. Then, you can put dish soap on a wash cloth and wipe down the warmer and throughly wash the silicone insert. You can then run the warmer under the water to rinse it.
Do not submerge the warmer in water or put it in the dishwasher.
The other option is a breast pump wipe. To clean your warmer using one, you would first make sure that it has cooled down. Then, remove the silicone ring and wipe down the entire surface of it completely. Then, wipe down the top of the warmer.
You can see a video showing you how to clean it here:
(Video Description: Woman shows the viewer how to wash the Baby’s Brew using water and soap, first removing the dust cover and the silicone ring. She puts soap and water on a dishcloth cloth and then begins to clean the silicone ring and warmer with the washcloth. She then rinses it off. The woman then shows the viewer how to clean the warmer with a breast pump wipe, by removing the silicone ring and wiping both the ring and the surface down with a Medela wipe.)
What are the pros?
The advantages to using the Baby’s Brew include:
- It’s obviously super mobile, and is fantastic for warming breast milk when you’re not home
- You can use it to warm breast milk or most formulas (Baby’s Brew also sells a formula dispenser that can be helpful for preparing it on the go)
- The battery will last 3-4 hours, which is plenty of time to cover several days of constant warming (if you’re on a long trip, camping, etc.)
- Baby’s Brew warmers have a one year warranty, and a 30 day return policy
What are the cons?
A few things I would consider before buying:
- Because your breast milk liquid touches the warmer, it needs to be cleaned after each use (which most bottle warmers don’t require)
- It’s likely you’ll occasionally lose a few drops here and there when you flip the warmer over (or some milk will get stuck in the silicone ring/adaptor). Keep this in mind if it drives you crazy to spill any breast milk!
(Note that if you’re using the Baby’s Brew to warm formula, these are less of a concern because you’re just warming water.)
Bottom line: Baby’s Brew review
If your baby doesn’t like to take cold or lukewarm bottles and you ever leave your house, this is a great investment!
Have you tried the this warmer? Leave us your Baby’s Brew review in the comments below, or post any questions we can answer!
Comments & Chitchat
I used a standard steam bottle warmer with my first baby – The kind where you measure out just the right amount of water and pour it into the warmer and pray it doesn’t over heat or you’re trying to stall a screaming infant while the bottle cools, or it doesn’t get warm enough and you’re playing guessing games to see how much longer/more water it needs. Then the next time it may need a different amount of water for whatever reason i never figured out (maybe difference in air temp between the days??).
Yesterday I used this Baby’s Brew warmer for the first time (for my second baby’s first bottle) and again today – It’s amazing!!! Besides the convenience of portability and ease of use (no more measuring just the right amount of water), I love that I have 3 options for temps AND the warmer will keep the bottle at that temp until I turn it off. Very helpful when the baby fusses for food and then falls asleep as soon as you get the warmer going, or if you aren’t on a good schedule yet and aren’t sure when your baby will be hungry but when he is he screams like crazy until he’s fed.
It took about 9 minutes for a 4 oz narrow-neck bottle to heat from fridge to 98°. It may be slower than a steam warmer, but I no longer have to worry about caramelized milk from overheating or multiple attempts to get it warm enough.
I have recently tried this warmer. Two more cons to add (which I didn’t know initially when purchasing) is that it can NOT heat up many ready-to-feed formulas as well as formulas (even powder) with thickeners in them. Through trial and error, my baby has needed these items at times, and I can not use this product in the way I’d like.
If I use ready-to-feed formula and it’s in the fridge already because it has been opened, I need to use a cup of warm water to heat or a bottle warmer. If I’m using a rice cereal powder (or a fraction of one in my recipe like a 50/50 mix) I can not have the bottles premade in the fridge for convenience unless I’d also like to use a cup of warm water or bottle warmer. The Baby’s Brew site suggests only heating up the water then mixing after. So you still need to carry the containers of formula (or two in my case.)
Also, the formula dispenser does NOT work with Dr Brown narrow neck bottles which is a complete bummer and waste…