Medela Calma

otter1103 · June 2014

Hello, popping over from June14 to ask if any of you have any experience using the Medela Calma nipple. LO was 3 weeks early and isn't good at nursing until she is full so I have been pumping and supplementing bottle fed BM after she nurses. My LC says there is still plenty of hope that she will nurse "regularly" but I'm wondering if using something that will make her work as much as being on the breast (or so stated on item packaging) would help her along.
The reviews I've seen have been all over the place. So any other experiences any one has would be greatly appreciated.

LBStewart · June 2014

I used the Calma for a little bit with DD1 when I went back to work. I used it because the slow flow nipples were too fast for her. She did okay with the Calma because it forced her to work for her milk. Another nice thing about the Calma is that it fits on standard sized bottles. There are quite a few other nipples that claim to mimic breastfeeding, but I think most of those are for bottles that can't attach to your pump. With DD2, I'm using Dr. Brown's preemie nipples. They don't mimic breastfeeding (in my opinion), but they do make her work for her milk.

BootsOrHearts · June 2014

We tried it thinking the same thing and it was just meh. It was actually a bit of a firehose for him I guess because he's always had a strong suck because of a bad latch. And it was really messy because, well, he can't latch properly to a boob so he couldn't latch onto that either and there was milk everywhere.

Have you tried a supplemental nursing system? Ask your LC about it, I'm surprised she didn't suggest it actually. Getting a bottle so frequently at such a young age can make it hard to get them back to the breast because no matter what bottle they use, it comes out more easily.

I hope you can find something that works! Hang in there.

Peanutz21 · June 2014

i had DH intro her first bottle at 1 week with the calma nipple based on a lactation class i went to where the LC highly recommended it. it was tough in the beginning but she was taking the bottle maybe for a week. we were doing 1 bottle a day. since i'm FTM and not familiar at all with BFing i didn't want to confuse LO at all. however after 1 week she just stopped taking the calma nipple whatsoever - she absolutely hated it. i know it's supposed to mimic breastfeeding but she just refused the bottle so we gave a try with the medela slow flow and she took to it instantly. i needed her to take a bottle because i had to be out of town for 1 day.

i'm not sure how much i believe the hype with the calma nipple though i did feel more OK with introducing the slow flow nipple because at that point i was confident enough that BFing was going well - she was latching on without much difficulty.

the other drawback is 1 calma nipple is $18 and the 3pk of slow flows were $6. i would recommend trying it out if you want but maybe just buy 1 in case it doesn't work out, or try several. good luck!

emmacake08 · June 2014

I tried 8 different bottle/nipple types to get my twins from bottles to nursing. They did best with slow flow evenflo, medela, and dr browns. I agree with Boots that if your ultimate goal is to nurse then a supplemental nursing system will help. The more I used bottles with my babies the more they cried at the breast and wouldn't nurse. The SNS enables you to nurse while they get milk from the SNS to get them to a full feed and it entices them to nurse. GL!

izzetoot · June 2014

Hey fellow J14er! We started using the Calma bottle at about 2 wks bc I got mastitis and it was too painful to feed but not as much to pump. We gave him the bottle once or twice a day and it worked great. I still give him the bottle at least once a day (he's 1 month now) and haven't switched over to the slow flow nipple yet. But my experience w the Calma bottle was that it was a life saver! I don't have another nipple to compare it to, but he definetly has to work for the milk and has no problem taking the breast as well.

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