J.L. Childress 6 Bottle Insulated Cooler Bag - Leak-Proof Breastmilk & Baby Food Storage with Ice Pack - Perfect for Travel, Daycare & On-the-Go Parents (Black)

My wife and I tried a few different solutions for transporting our son's bottles from home to daycare, with greatly mixed results. We ended up with one of these in neon green, and have just purchased a second one in black (always good to have one in each car etc.).Our son has had some pretty bad reflux, so we've been using the standard-width Dr. Brown Natural Flow bottles. While these greatly reduce the amount of air taken in along with the formula, they also don't completely seal (by design) even with the caps on them (yes, there are "travel discs" that can be inserted to prevent the leaks from not being upright but they're not very convenient). Placing them in a bag where they're too loose is a recipe for a mess and wasted formula, so this bag is perfect--it fits six of the 8 oz Dr. Brown bottles snugly.If the bottles and formula within them are cold from being fully refrigerated then you really don't even need an icepack to be present in the bag for short trips -- the bag is well-insulated enough on its own. I imagine one would probably add an icepack to keep bottles cold for more than an hour or so, though.PRO's:--Inexpensive--Well-insulated--Separate storage in top is also insulated, or can be used to hold a spare outfit, hat, etc.--Lightweight--Nylon construction is easy to clean on the outside--Interior is easy to wipe cleanCON's:--The strap is a bit narrow; sometimes it slips off my shoulder--If you're using wide bottles I imagine you won't be able to fit as many in the bag--As it's both tall and narrow, the bag is prone to falling over in the car unless secured against something (I loop the strap onto my Avalon's transmission shifter and it sits perfectly against the center console on the passenger side)BOTTOM LINE:It's inexpensive, lightweight, and keeps a full six standard-width bottles snug and cold. It's even compact enough that it probably fits into some of the larger diaper/baby shoulder bags.I got back to work about a month ago and I'm just now getting a good solid pumping routine in place. My job has me out of the office on the road all day so I don't have access to a refrigerator to store milk after pumps. I have to pump 3x a day in my work vehicle. I love this bag because I can put two 8oz bottles, two 5oz bottles with the flanges attached and my Medela ice pack in the main body of the bag, and I use the top portion to keep my lunch cold with the ice pack that came with the bag. My routine is now this: pump while driving (thank you Rumina hands free tank top!) into the 5oz bottles. Pour them both into a bigger 8oz bottle. Put the flanges back on the 5oz bottles and stash them back in the cold bag. At noon I pump again, pour this into the other 8oz bottle and reassemble the flanges and 5oz bottles. In the afternoon I combine the two now equally chilled 8 oz bottles and pour the warm milk into the freed up 8oz bottle. Again I stash the reassembled flanges and 5oz bottles back in the bag and by the time I get to daycare to pick up my son I can pour everything he needs for the next day into one 8oz bottle (he only takes 9oz a day at daycare). It sounds complicated but it's actually really easy and smooth now that I've got a couple weeks of practice. This cooler bag keeps my pump bottles and flanges cold enough so I don't have to worry about washing them each time between pumps. I usually wipe the flanges down with a Medela quick clean wipe and I'm good to go. I'm getting to the point where I'm pumping more than he eats at daycare so having the second big bottle in there lets me store the excess during the day for our freezer stash at home. I'm sure things will change as he gets older but he's four months old now and this is what works for us.I needed a cooler to bring bottles to daycare, but with an extra compartment to store other items like bibs or pacifiers. This cooler is great that is checks off both requirements I had. The zipper seems a bit flimsy, and I can tell that could break easily someday, but for now it's great for what I need it for at a reasonable price.I bought this bottle cooler for a 6 month old breastfed baby starting childcare. I use the 4oz Dr. Brown's bottles and wanted to have enough room to pack ice, freezer milk, three bottles, and some fruits/veg when we started solids. This bag is excellent - durable, easy to clean, nice looking, and very functional. I can fit two freezer bags of milk, three bottles, and two ice packs in the main compartment (the product only comes with one ice pack), and solids in jars/ziploc/little tupperware in the top. I don't put an ice pack in the top because I don't need to, but one would fit easily. I pack the Boogie Wipes in there with solids, no problem.Daycare likes it because they don't need to put her bottles in the fridge, with the ice packs and freezer milk, everything stays frosty for 6-7 hours.I like it because it was easy to iron on the letters of her name (see Dritz Iron-on 1-1/2" Letters - Hot Pink- Soft Flock- Cooper) to cute up this basic bag. My daughter's name has four letters and they fit beautifully vertically.Many negative reviews suggest that this bag is inadequate for 8oz bottles - this may well be true, I trust them! But if you use 4oz bottles (perhaps only four a day) and add some extra icepacks, this bag is fantastic!