Bottle and Breast Feeding Accessory Review - Philips Avent Express Bottle Warmer

Feeding Accessory Review - Philips Avent Express Bottle Warmer

13 Aug, 2007 Avent, Bottle & Food Warmer, Review, 12+ months, 0 to 12 months, Pregnancy

A bottle warmer is a convenient and quick way of warming bottled breast, formula milk or food. A bottle warmer has many advantages over traditional methods such as using a microwave, as it can consistently heat liquids and solids. A microwave can create hot-spots, potentially resulting in areas of the liquid or food that are very hot. Whether you are bottle feeding or breast feeding (and need to express and store breast milk), a bottle warmer is an invaluable addition to your nursery. When you are starting with solids, many bottle warmers can also be used to warm food.

For heating liquids or solids, the Philips Avent Express Baby Food and Bottle Warmer works as expected. It can heat a typical bottle of milk in 5 - 10 minutes. However, after using the product a few times, a number of issues surface. My first criticism of the Philips Avant Express is that is does not keep and maintain the temperature when it is reached. Whilst this may not seem like an issue, when feeding your baby in the middle of the night, there are many others things to distract you and for you to loose track of time, therefore it can easily result in over-heated milk or food. If left on, the warmer can heat a bottle of milk to dangerously high temperatures. Whilst you should always test the milk before feeding to your baby, it does add a risk to feeding. Being cynical, putting the baby bottle in larger container of hot water also produces the same result!

The warmer has a built-in timer that flashes when the bottle was been in the warmer for a specific time. The time varies based upon the respective setting of the 3-position switch. However, keeping track of the time or constantly monitoring the light can be frustrating. Additionally, I feel that the lack of an on/off switch is an omission. Having to unplug the warmer after each use is less convenient than having a simple switch, especially if you have the warmer plugged into floor or low mounted outlet.

Other bottle warmers include the ability to keep the contents at a constant temperature and can be switched on and off, and it is recommended that you look for products with these features. The cost differential is minimal, and it will be worth it due to the additional frustrating steps needed with the Philips Avent Express.

Strengths