Reader Dana B writes in today with this story:

About three to four weeks ago, I received an e-mail stating that “Baby Bargains” was pulling the recommendation for Doctor Brown Bottles which I purchased due to your recommendation. I then purchased the Born Free Bottles when I read that the Doctor Brown bottles were dangerous. I do not know if you are aware that the Born Free bottles are dangerous as well. If you sterilize the bottles in a bag sterilizer the bottles melt and fuse together. This wastes the parent’s hard earned money again. The company will not respond to this occurrence and will not refund the money spent. The bottles are very expensive; therefore, I would consider not recommending the bottles. Under high heat they melt and render useless.

Dana follows up with this:

Born Free finally responded to my e-mails yesterday. They are aware of the problem of the bottles melting in the Medela microwave bags. I suggested that they inform the consumer of this problem. They stated that the company would replace my bottles for me.

Our take: Medela doesn’t specifically say whether its bags work with non-Medela bottles—Medela only warns not to use this product unless the plastic is “microwave safe.”

Update: 9-12-07. We met with Born Free at a trade show last week and discussed this problem. Born Free told us their bottles do work with their microwave sterilizer (of course)—but may NOT be compatible with other sterilizers like the Medela bags. It is unclear if the above reader followed the correct instructions (adding the right amount of water, etc). We urged Born Free to clarify this issue on their packaging, as no one wants to ruin expensive bottles!