Here's Why Your Dr. Brown's Bottles Are Leaking (And How To Fix It)

While Dr. Brown’s bottles are regarded as some of the best milk bottles on the market, just like most bottles, they can leak. Thankfully, many of these leakage issues can be easy to rectify.

In this article, we’ll discuss some of the most common reasons why your Dr. Brown bottles are leaking and give you some solutions to fix the problem.

Broken Bottle
The Nipple Flow Level Is Too Low
The Bottle Leaked While Traveling
Bottle Leaks During Preparation
The Bottle’s Collar Is Not Tightened
You Warmed The Bottle With The Ventilation System Inside
You Overfilled
Final Thoughts

Broken Bottle

First things first, make sure that none of the components on your Dr. Brown’s bottle have visible cracks or chips. If they do, 99% of the time, that’s the source of your leaking. You can replace most components.

Remember, while the Dr. Brown bottle is a pretty tough piece of kit, it is not indestructible. A good, hard knock on certain surfaces will break it.

The Nipple Flow Level Is Too Low

As your child gets older, they will get ‘hungrier’. They will start to suck on that bottle’s nipple even harder.

If you do not upgrade the nipple on the Dr. Brown’s Bottle, then the pressure will build up inside of the bottle, essentially causing milk to be forced out of the bottle.

Of course, if the nipple flow level is too low, the leaking bottle isn’t your only worry. You will also have a very hungry baby as they wouldn’t have been able to get all the milk that they need.

Remember, there are a variety of different nipples for Dr. Brown’s bottles. Chances are that your Dr. Brown’s bottle would have come with the nipple with the slowest flow. This should be fine until your baby is about 6-months old. However, upgrade after that. What you upgrade to will be dependent on your baby, so we recommend that you buy a collection of them to see which ones your baby is comfortable drinking from, and which ones are not resulting in any leaking from the Dr. Brown’s bottle.

The Bottle Leaked While Traveling

If you are traveling with a full bottle, then make sure that the bottle is kept upright. If it tilts, it will leak.

In an ideal world, when you are traveling with a full Dr. Brown’s bottle, you would purchase the travel cap for it. This will require you to undo the bottle’s nipple. However, when the travel cap is on, the bottle can’t leak at all, no matter how much that bottle gets knocked around on your way to your destination.

Bottle Leaks During Preparation

When you are preparing the baby’s bottle, keep the collar slightly loose. This will help to reduce any pressure during preparation.

If you want to ensure that the preparation goes as smoothly as possible i.e. no leaks, then we recommend that you use a travel cap during the preparation. It will stop any leaking while you are shaking the bottle.

Alternatively, you can just prepare the mixture in a travel cup and then move it on over to the baby’s bottle. This is something that Dr. Brown’s recommends that you do.

If you are taking the bottle to daycare, then you will not be able to use a travel cap. Most daycares will not modify the bottle at all. Instead, you are just going to need to rely on the daycare gently loosening the bottle’s collar before they heat the bottle up. You can let them know how to do this. Some of them may not have encountered a Dr. Brown’s bottle before.

The Bottle’s Collar Is Not Tightened

As we just said, if you are going to be warming up a Dr. Brown’s bottle, then you will likely need to loosen the collar a little bit to help prevent leaks.

It is important that you tighten the collar up before you give the bottle to your baby, though. If you don’t, then milk could start to leak down the sides of the bottle.

Remember, you shouldn’t overtighten. You just need it to be hand-tightened. If you overtighten, then there is a risk that you can destroy the thread on the collar or the bottle, which would require you to replace both of them.

You Warmed The Bottle With The Ventilation System Inside

This isn’t going to be a massive issue if you are using hot water to heat up the baby’s bottle. The temperature won’t climb rapidly enough for there to be problems.

However, if you are heating the bottle up in the microwave (not recommended!), then you should remove the ventilation system inside of the bottle.

If you do not remove the ventilation system, then there is a chance that the pressure will start to build up inside of the bottle. If the pressure starts to build up, then this can cause leaking.

Don’t forget to replace the ventilation system when the bottle is warm. After all, the whole reason why Dr. Brown’s bottles are so brilliant is because of the ventilation system inside of them!

You Overfilled

If you look on the side of the bottle, then there is a fill line. It is important that you do not fill beyond this fill line. If you do, then the bottle is likely going to leak during preparation.

Now, we know that some of you may have a hungry baby. Most people overfill because they find that their baby devours everything inside the bottle very quickly. If your baby is getting through a bottle quickly, then purchase two bottles. You will have less leaking milk, and a far happier baby.

Final Thoughts

There are many reasons why your Dr. Brown’s bottle may be leaking. Thankfully, many of the issues should be fairly easy to rectify. It is unlikely that your bottle is broken. There may be something loose that needs tightening. There may be something too tight that needs loosening. You may have the wrong nipple for your baby. We can assure you that all of these issues can easily be rectified, and your baby will be happily using that Dr. Brown’s bottle the whole time that they are bottle feeding.