All good things must come to an end and - although I intend to continue breastfeeding for a long while yet - that means I have to start getting Pierre used to feeding from a bottle for when I go back to work and he's at the childminder's. It's a delicate stage to get through. Either he might totally refuse this strange cold plastic thing that doesn't smell or taste anything like mummy's boobies that is being shoved in his mouth. Or alternatively, he might suddenly realise how much less effort it takes feeding from a bottle rather than sucking hard to breastfeed and decide he only wants to feed from a bottle from now on thanks very much.
Well, the Nuby Natural Touch Nurser (that's a bottle to you and me !) is designed specifically for breastfed babies with a breast-sized nipple. It does look like a breast, in a funny sort of way ! It's much wider than a classic teat and I noticed that it pushed Pierre's mouth open really wide, just as if he was latching on to breastfeed.
When I first pushed the silicone teat into his mouth, he pushed it out with his tongue and howled ! Which in a warped kind of way made me feel good because he wasn't ready to give up on the boobie-juice quite yet ! I tried again and he howled some more. So I relented and put him on the breast for a few minutes. He instantly settled down and suckled away happily. Awww Mummy's boy knows what he wants !! But despite the lovely snuggles and mummy-son bonding going on, that would be no help at all in a few weeks when I - and my boobs ! - will be back at work.
After two or three minutes, I gently eased away from him and put the silicone teat near his mouth again. He took it in his mouth and started happily sucking away, none the wiser ! After several minutes, I wanted to check he was actually managing to drink properly so I pulled the bottle away to see how far the milk had gone down. He moved straight back over to my breast and carried on sucking. A quick stroke on his cheek so he opened his mouth and I offered him the bottle again which he switched straight back on to. He obviously saw absolutely no difference between the breast and the bottle so there's proof, if you need it, that the silicone teats designed to resemble mummy's boobies are perfect. Success ! I laughed when I read on the packaging that "the Natural Touch Breast Size Nipple feels and reacts like mother's nipple" (no silicon implants here, thank you !) but I take my hat off to the scientists, they really do know their stuff.
As this was his first ever bottle, I let him drink about half then moved him back over to the breast. On the second attempt, he drank the whole lot and didn't need a booby-top up. But at the other feeds during the day, he was quite happy to go back to the breast. Mission accomplished, bottle or breast, he now feeds quite happily from either.
Although he does do huge burps after feeding from the bottle - he barely burps at all when breastfeeding - he hasn't had any colic or stomach aches at all. When I went on to using bottles for the girls several years ago, I remember the nipples collapsing every few minutes so you had to stop and start, letting the air back into the teat so the milk would flow. This didn't happen at all with this bottle, which is obviously great for baby, who can drink uninterrupted. Looking on the box, the nurser has a silicone anti-colic base and an anti-colic valve in the nipple too (little holes to let the air flow), so that technology obviously works too.
A big difference to other bottles I've used is that it's all soft and squishy and you can squeeze the sides of the bottle to help baby feed. That's really handy for small babies, those just starting out on bottles who might need a helping hand to get the idea or sleepy babies who fall asleep mid-feed and need a little encouragement. It also makes it much easier for little hands to hold on on to because it's not so slippery, as you can see below !
So, if you're wistfully thinking it's about time you got baby used to drinking from a bottle so you can go back to work, I highly recommend this nurser to make a smooth, tear-free (save the first couple of seconds ! ) transition from breast to bottle. And that's one less thing to worry about !
star rating : 5/5
Silicone Nurser (300ml) RRP : £7.99
available at Mothercare.com/Boots.com
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