Ember Mug baby bottle warmer: practical but expensive
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Ember baby bottle system
Advantages
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App tracks feeding
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Heats evenly
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Comfortable
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Charges apply
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With everything from thermostats to door locks being smart these days, it was only a matter of time before someone would come up with a smart bottle warming system too. When I got a suggestion for the Ember baby bottle system
(available from Ember)
i knew i had to see it.
What is the Ember baby bottle system?
Photo credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi
The parts of the Ember baby bottle system are made of BPA-free materials and are food safe.
The Ember Baby Bottle System is a smart bottle warmer designed for caregivers who want to take the work out of bottle warming. It warms up milk or baby food without having to use the stove or microwave.
The Ember bottle is smart in several ways: it features nipple adapters for caregivers using two of the industry’s most widely used bottles, Philips and Dr. Brown, as well as an app for checking battery levels, warm-up time, and analytics tracking feeding times and amounts.
The only downside: The Ember costs $400. It’s pricey, but it might be worth it if you’re dying to make feeding easier.
How to charge the Ember baby bottle system
Photo credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi
The Ember baby bottle system lasts for two full heating cycles on a full charge.
The Ember is powered by a puck (or base) that needs to be charged. Both the bottle and the thermal dome are fixed in the puck.
The puck is easy to charge; Just plug it into an outlet using the Ember connector (no USB on this pup). Six white LED lights in the puck indicate the charge level, with the number of lights flashing indicating how much charge is left before the battery is fully operational.
How to clean the Ember baby bottle system
Photo credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi
The baby bottle system can keep the milk cool for up to four hours.
Luckily for weary parents, most parts of the Ember are dishwasher safe. All of the individual parts of the bottle itself can be washed in the top rack of the dishwasher – even the magnetic, thermal part that comes in contact with the puck.
Steam sterilizers are also great for cleaning bottle parts, and the tried-and-tested boiling water works wonders when a dishwasher isn’t available.
The puck is a complex electromagnetic piece of technology, so you must avoid completely submerging it in running water. Ember recommends using an alcohol swab, baby wipe, or damp cloth for this piece only.
What we like
It takes the guesswork out of heating the bottle
Photo credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi
The Ember Baby Bottle System pairs with the Ember Baby App.
The traditional method of warming a bottle on the stove is an imprecise science and requires all sorts of tips and tricks to gauge whether or not the bottle is warmed and ready. It’s usually a good idea to check the temperature of the milk on your wrist, but sometimes there are hot spots in the bottle that you can’t find using this method.
The Ember system eliminates that guesswork. Once the bottle is placed on the chargeable puck, the downloadable app has a simple user interface that allows communication between the bottle, charger and your phone via Bluetooth.
In the app, you can see the puck’s current battery level, heat a bottle with the touch of a button – and record its exact temperature – as well as track feeding trends such as weight gain and daily/weekly/monthly milk intake.
The Ember heats the milk evenly
Photo credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi
The Ember baby bottle system heats milk or formula at the push of a button.
Using heating technology similar to the self-heating coffee mug, Ember utilizes a series of sensors that monitor both the milk temperature and the volume of your bottle. These sensors ensure that the bottle evenly heats the milk to body temperature, avoiding those dreaded hot spots mentioned above that can burn your baby’s lips or mouth.
This is especially nice at night; No more midnight adventures of crouching over the stove, constantly checking the temperature of the milk on your wrist, questioning your sanity and listening to your little one cry in the next room.
The Ember’s included thermal dome also keeps cold milk safely chilled for up to four hours until needed, with the puck still delivering a body-temperature bottle in under five minutes.
You can use it on the go
To warm up Ember, simply place a filled bottle on the loaded puck, tap the warming button in the app, and wait less than five minutes for a warmed bottle to appear.
Because the system heats up without an open flame, you can spend those five minutes doing the myriad of other chores that come with caring for a baby.
A charged puck allows for two full heating cycles, so you can warm up a bottle in the car or at grandparents’.
What we don’t like
It is expensive
Photo credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi
The Ember baby bottle system costs $400.
At a retail price of $399.95, that’s an absolute treat. While I really liked Ember, that price tag certainly puts a barrier to entry for most caregivers – especially for something that isn’t 100% necessary to feeding a baby.
While there are no direct alternatives that offer exactly what the Ember does, there are currently $20 bottle warmers on Amazon.
More technology = more problems
There is some argument for the simplicity of using a stove or other, simpler bottle warmer. Why? Because if your smartphone breaks or the Bluetooth function doesn’t work, you can’t really use the Ember.
Whether it’s the latest car or house, the more sophisticated the product, the more problems can arise, and the same is true for ‘smart’ baby bottle systems.
The bottles are small
Many children grow from 6 ounce bottles to 8 ounce bottles by around six months of age. The Ember only has 6-ounce bottles, which begs the question: what should you do when your little one is downing 8-ounce bottles? Basically, for one feeding you would have to heat both bottles at the same time – for each individual feeding.
To alleviate this problem, you can order additional bottles from Ember’s website, but at nearly $90 each, that’s not particularly enticing. Also, you are forced to use the brand specific bottles. With the system nipples from Dr. Brown or Philips, but that doesn’t allow for much variability – which is especially important for fussy babies.
Should You Buy the Ember Baby Bottle System?
Maybe if price isn’t an issue
Photo credit: Reviewed / Timothy Renzi
The Ember Baby Bottle System includes Level 1 nipples for ages 0 months and up.
Basically, the question every caregiver asks when purchasing a product is, “Will buying this product make my life easier?” There’s no question that the Ember makes life easier, but it comes at a hefty price tag .
If you have sufficient income and bottle making is an emotional and physical drain, the Ember Baby Bottle System is for you. If you are skeptical about any of these complaints, you probably do not need this product.
Ember baby bottle system
The Ember Baby Bottle System heats milk or formula at the touch of a button and keeps it cool until you need it.
$400 at Man
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Prices were correct at the time this article was published, but may change over time.
