Disclosure: I have received the Calma bottle in exchange for an honest review. The opinions are 100% my own and may differ from yours.
I remember reading some study that suggested babies be breastfed until they are one year old and 6 months for working mothers. This made my stomach sink. I know that the odds are against me and my breastfeeding relationship with my baby. The CDC recently put out the Breastfeeding report card and in the my state of Pennsylvania, only 14.1% of mothers are exclusively breastfeeding their 6 month old. That number is closer to 40% at 3 months and I can't help but think the reason for the drop is that in America most of us are required to go back to work after 12 weeks of maternity leave.
When I returned to work I felt like I armed myself with lots of tools to sustain my breastfeeding relationship. I had an awesome pump, I stocked up on mother's milk tea and Fenugreek and I read Kellymom.com everyday preparing myself, as well as my husband, to properly bottle feed a breastfed baby.
Not even one month in, I came home and Nugget was crying because he was hungry and had gotten use to the bottle and wasn't willing to wait for a let down. This obviously caused me to cry to...was this the end? Would I need to finish out the year I hoped to breastfeed, exclusively pumping? I turned to Kellymom.com once again and scoured Amazon for what I could buy to remedy this situation. The suggestions included a cup, a sippy or a syringe. None of these seemed feasible at the time. Then I found Calma by Medela.
Calma is different than all those other bottles that say they are close to breast. If they are similar in form, they do not even come close to being similar in function. While feeding at the breast, Nugget has to work for his food. A suction must be created in order to draw out the milk. My breast is also not a constant flow, so unlike most bottles, Calma does not drip. The flow is created entirely by vacuum. Since this nipple mimics that natural way of sucking that your baby learns, the transition from breast to bottle is without tears.
Calma has saved Nugget and I's breastfeeding relationship. There are so many other hurdles you must face as a breastfeeding working mother, don't let your selection of bottle be the downfall. One simple change can make the separation from your baby worlds easier.
Medela is a great resource for everything that you will need during your breastfeeding years. Would you like to purchase a Calma bottle? They are available at several stores.
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Disclosure: I have received the Calma bottle in exchange for an honest review. The opinions are 100% my own and may differ from yours.
I have never seen this! Might have to try it! Thanks for your input on this product!
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