If you know an expecting mom who plans to feed her baby formula, rush right out to your local Bed, Bath & Beyond and plunk down $20 for an Aerolatte for her. Even if she never uses it to froth milk for her coffee, I guarantee she will use the batteries up in this sweet little gadget many times over.

My baby is now just over seven months old. We've been feeding her with Dr. Brown's bottles since day one, and we (and she) love them. However, it wasn't until we started putting formula in those wonderful bottles that we realized what a challenge it was going to be to be economically thoughtful parents. As most parents know, it costs less to mix your own powdered formula, but it's not the easiest task in the world. Clumps and foam and messy Dr. Brown's bottle parts plagued my new-mom world. How was I going to continue to give my little punkin' the best formula, in the best bottles, without breaking our budget on premix?

Aerolatte was the answer.

Even in the taller-than-average Dr. Brown's bottles, the electronic spinning wisker on the sleek Aerolatte effectively pulls up and breaks apart formula clumps. Better still, if you just leave the end of the whisker in the bottom of the bottle and not use the up-n-down frothing motion that one would normally use to froth milk for a coffee, the bottle will mix with virtually no foam. This means you can wisk up a bottle of formula for your baby right before feeding her/him and not have to worry about the standard extra foam (and gas) s/he'd traditionally get from a bottle that was shaken.

If you are going to use the Aerolatte as your primary bottle mixer, but sure to keep its original box. I tossed mine without thinking, and now I'm reluctant to toss it in the diaper bag or pack it when we travel for fear of bending the somewhat slender stem of the wisker. If I had kept the box I could have protected it, but because I didn't I'm now on the hunt for an alternative protective case.

Because I do love lattes, I have used the Aerolatte for its original intention too, and have frothed regular milk with it. I'm happy to report that when you do want it to foam a drink it does so quite effectively - I recommend using an up-n-down motion to get the milk moving, then keep the wisker up close to the top of the milk as possible to really get it nice and foamy. The batteries - two AAs - fit inside a compartment in the handle by sliding a convenient bottom opening out. Mine came with two starter batteries and I assume if you buy yours new that this is standard. The on/off switch looks similar and very easily slides slightly forward to turn on briefly, or all the way over to hold in the on mode for a longer period of time.

I haven't tried the Aerolatte for mixing anything else beyond formula and milk, but I imagine it could do the trick for any one-glass drink, such as a powdered Slim Fast or single-serving Crystal Light, cocoa, etc.

Cleaning the Aerolatte is really easy. I just rinse the wisker and stem every time I use it, and run it in some soapy water a couple times each week. When you do clean the Aerolatte, be sure not to dunk the handle in water - the battery compartment is not airtight and if water gets inside you'll be running off to Bed, Bath & Beyond with another $20.


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