The Baby Brezza Conundrum
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When breastfeeding didn’t work with my first baby, I was completely crushed. Two years later, looking forward to the birth of my second, I was determined not to experience the same heartbreak. So in preparations for various Plan B’s, I came across this pretty, shiny product at the mall.
I came home and immediately informed my husband that if breastfeeding didn’t work out this time, I would purchase this machine. You know how often newborns need to eat: Every 2 hours at least, around the clock.
Imagining waking from a deep sleep in the dead of night, stumbling into the kitchen, pressing one button and being able to feed a hungry baby. It seemed… too good to be true!
Being the distrustful, paranoid person that I am, I couldn’t believe it. After reading some of the online reviews, I realized it had its share of issues.
Formula can clump in the inner parts of the machine. You need to clean the funnel that the formula goes through every 4 bottles. Then ensure the part is bone dry before putting it back in, or it could be one of the causes of
Mold. Formula stored in the compartment can create mold. Which makes sense to me because even our coffeemaker doesn’t have coffee sitting in it all the time in such close proximity to water. The nail in the coffin? Not all parts are dishwasher-safe.
Kidding, the possibility of mold scared me off.
Imagine my surprise at reading this article from the New York Times. There have been incidents of babies “failing to thrive” (a fancy term meaning the baby is undernourished). Apparently the machine was mixing an improper ratio of formula to water.
There is now a class-action lawsuit against the company, The Betesh Group.
I mean, the clumping and mold can be prevented with careful cleaning. But this affects the health of newborn infants. There are more parents listed in the article reporting inconsistency in the formula mixtures.
You know how formula instructions state that you must be precise in preparing it? I think there must be some room for error- I know I am guilty of an unlevel scoop or two- but who knows what a malfunctioning machine’s degree of error is? I found it quite frightening. I’m sure these parents who bought a $200 machine didn’t imagine the possibility of under-nourishing their babies.
I still think innovation in the baby industry is a good thing. And this product is an amazing solution to a very real problem. Most households have working parents. Sleep-deprivation and exhaustion can be overwhelming.
Companies, especially large conglomerates like this, should be responsible and stand behind their products. The spokesperson quoted in the article basically lays all the blame on the parents. “They’re not cleaning, they’re not using the right settings” is just not a credible response.
This is why I love all new gadgets but I am very reticent in actually purchasing anything. I’m raising a baby, not a guinea pig after all.
Baby Brezza is planning a summer release of the formula mixing machine with Smart capabilities. You’ll be able to start the bottle from your phone without even getting up. Mmm, that does sound amazing.
