The Duo-Mixed Bottle – A Bottle With Two Ingredients in One
Bottle companies can claim whatever they want, but our Lab experts appreciate that many of the newer bottles on the market aim to be more like breastfeeding. A nipple that looks like a human one, a slow flow and a textured surface all help mimic natural milk delivery.
Chicco’s Duo baby bottle uses advanced medical technology to bond micro-thin inner layers of pure heavy-wall PET bottle Invinci-glass to a premium plastic outer layer. It’s the first-ever hybrid bottle that offers the wellness benefits of glass and strength of plastic.
Nipple Type
Whether you received a lot of bottles at your baby shower, on your registry, or from Target, Buy Buy Baby, Amazon, or the like, choosing one that works for your newborn can be daunting. Thankfully, a few new innovations allow you to separate the two ingredients in a bottle, making it easier for babies to latch and drink.
One of our favorite innovations is the Comotomo bottle, which features a soft silicone body and nipple that are eco-friendly and mimic the breast. It also has a dual vent that helps to reduce gas and reflux.
We also love the Lansinoh bottles, which have a narrow base and nipple tip that’s shaped to help baby mimic breastfeeding. A wide base and nipple shape can often confuse babies and lead them to suck the bottle like a straw or even attempt to fit it in their mouth (which could cause nipple damage and hurt, not to mention be annoying for you). Look for a nipple that’s rounded, and avoid anything with a pointy or “lipstick” shape.
Design
Duo features a lightweight design that’s comfortable to hold for parents or baby with a soft, textured skin-like nipple for a natural intuitive latch and breast like flow. It’s easy to use with only four simple parts, is dishwasher, sterilizer and bottle warmer safe, won’t chip or crack and stays crystal clear for quality that outlasts. The innovative hybrid bottle combines the best of glass and plastic heavy-wall PET bottle using advanced technology commonly used in medical vials to permanently bond ultra-thin layers of unbreakable pure glass inside a crystal clear premium plastic shell. Chicco’s revolutionary Hybrid bottle has already earned awards from Time and Good Housekeeping.
Flow Rate
Most bottle brands sell nipples with different “flow rates” and suggest moving up in flow rate as baby gets older. Unfortunately, the nipples’ advertised flow rates don’t always match up with reality. What a bottle’s manufacturer calls a level one slow-flow nipple may let milk through as quickly as a level three, or even quicker!
A study by Jackman (2013) tested 20 nipples commonly available to parents, and found wide variability in milk flow rate between the nipple types. The variability within a single nipple type was also high, with nine of the nipples showing a coefficient of variation (CV) greater than 0.2. This variability may be significant for medically fragile infants being discharged home and who are still developing their oral feeding skills. The extreme range of milk flow rates found in this study, and the high CV for many of the nipple types, suggests that the name of the bottle nipple alone is not sufficient to guide clinicians in providing guidance on nipple choice to parents. This inconsistency can make it difficult for the infant to learn the timing of bottle feeds.
Comfort to Hold
DUO is the first-of-its-kind baby bottle that combines the wellness of glass with the convenience of plastic. This breakthrough technology permanently bonds a micro-thin layer of unbreakable INVINCI-GLASS inside a premium, durable plastic bottle. This inner layer protects milk from the chemicals and residue found in traditional single-use bottles and ensures your little one’s precious milk only touches pure glass. It’s also easy to clean, stays clear, doesn’t stain or discolor and never retains funky odors or aftertastes. Plus, the bottle is BPA, BPS, PVC and Phthalate-free, and dishwasher, bottle warmer and electric sterilizer safe.
Our testers gave the DUO high marks for comfort to hold, noting that it feels lightweight and balanced in a baby’s hands. It’s also easy to use and set up, with clearly labeled ounce measurements that are etched rather than printed, so they won’t fade over time. However, the base is not see-through so it’s harder to check milk levels during a feeding. This bottle is also larger than a typical baby bottle and might not fit into a diaper bag bottle holder or the side pocket of a car seat/stroller.
