Pura Kiki Infant Review

The Pura Kiki Infant Bottle excels in eco-health when it comes to bottle feeding your infant. It is 100% free of all plastic but still weighs much less than its glass competitors, Pura is manufactured from safe, anti-bacterial, #304 stainless steel (the same steel used in milk pasteurization to inhibit bacterial growth), is top-rack dishwasher safe, and comes in 5oz and 11oz sizes. Accompanied by a wide neck, slow flow, 100% silicone nipple, Pura bottles are also compatible with many popular wide-neck nipples, like Dr. Brown's and Born Free. Best of all, this bottle converts to a sippy by just changing the nipple to a spout. Cleaning and assembling the Pura Kiki is a breeze compared to other bottles with only 4 parts (including the silicone travel cap) that all fit easily together. You likely won't find a bottle as simple, sleek, and eco-friendly as the Pura.

The Pura Kiki scored very well in our hands-on testing. We felt it actually washed “cleaner” than glass or plastic, with no residue or film left on the inside surface whatsoever. We did not experience any problems with leaking, whether in use or in travel. The soft silicone travel cap is a little tricky to get on just right, but once in place it served it's purpose, and one of our little testers even enjoyed using it as a teether!

Likes

The Pura Kiki has many features that we love. First and foremost, there is absolutely NO PLASTIC. The mostly stainless steel bottle is a nice contrast in the sea of plastic out there! The Pura's modern, sleek design is utilitarian yet safe.

There is no possibility of chemicals or heavy metals leaching into the milk and no risk of breaking or chipping glass.

The body and neck are fabricated from safe #304 stainless steel, the same kind of steel used in milk pasteurization because of its anti-bacterial qualities. This is a high quality, thicker stainless steel making it less prone to dents, as well as resisting corrosion and staining.

Pura covers the stainless components with a lifetime warranty.

The container has a wide opening and an internal surface that is electropolished with smooth edges, all for easy cleaning.

The fact that it accepts interchangeable, wide-mouth nipples and sippy spouts is a huge plus. One of the pit-falls of the Pura's top competitor in our tests, the Lifefactory Glass, was it's small, narrow nipple. This is not be an issue with the Pura.

The bottles come in your choice of natural stainless steel or an assortment of colors painted on overtop. We recommend using the natural stainless alongside the optional silicone sleeve rather than a colored bottle. The paint tends to chip with everyday use, and we much prefer the modern look of the plain stainless steel in conjunction with the cushy comfort of the silicone sleeve.

Dislikes

We love the Pura Kiki for many reasons, however, one downside is the price. The 5oz system costs $13.99 and the 11oz $15.99. Unlike Lifefactory's set up, this price does not include the silicone sleeves which are $6.99 and $8.99, respectively. The combined price of $21 for the 5 oz system and the silicon sleeve (which we recommend), makes it the most expensive bottle system in our review.

The stainless steel gives these bottles a sleek, modern appearance, nevertheless we highly recommend purchasing the silicone sleeve as an accessory. It creates a more comfortable and grippable in-hand feel for parent and baby, it also adds a bit of extra insulation to these very temperature conductive bottles. Without the sleeve, a cold bottle can feel really cold, and, although they shouldn't be exposed to temperatures higher than 50C (see our article, Best Practices For Handling Breast Milk), the bottle could get pretty warm to the touch as well. Always, always check the temperature before giving to baby.

In our experience, the sleeve was quite difficult to put on initially, but once in place, it can be left there as a “semi-permanent” addition according to Pura. It is also noted that the sleeve is “designed to fit tightly so that it will stay on the bottle even through repeated dishwashing.” We'd encourage the folks at Pura to take a close look at the Lifefactory Glass bottle's similar silicone sleeve for inspiration: a) it comes with the bottle as an included accessory, not as an optional $7-$9 cost, and b) is much easier to remove and replace while still staying tight to the bottle in use.

We also had several problems with the volume measurement markings being on the inside of the bottle. The 5 oz. bottle only shows the 2 oz. and 3 oz. marks. Their instruction manual shows that 4 oz. should be approximately where the neck of the bottle starts and the mark for 5 oz. is close to where the thread for the cap begins. They do claim that those measures should be “within 10% accurate” but we feel that is a lot when trying to measure formula correctly. Also, since you can't see through the bottle, it also involves taking off the top to see how much your baby has consumed.

Conclusion

Overall, we had a great experience with this bottle. It's eco-health designs and practices are better than any others we've tried, all while sacrificing almost nothing to meet those high health and safety standards. For this, it is our Top Pick for Best Green Baby Bottle. While pricey, we feel both its durability and ability to convert to a sippy cup makes this a great long-term investment.