Medela Calma - Anyone tried it?

[Piperette]

Hi,

I have been recommended a Medela Calma bottle for my LO, who is refusing the breast during the day and this bottle is supposed to work just like BF'ing.

I have read some reviews where people have mentioned that it was a bit difficult for their LO's when they were already used to other bottles.

Has anyone tried this bottle? How did your LO get on with it? Were they already used to another bottle and how long did it take them to completely get used to it?

Here is a link for anyone who is interested. https://www.medela.com/IW/en/breastfeeding/products/breastmilk-feeding/calma-feeding-device.html

 

[becstar]

Just had a look - it looks interesting, I wonder if it would have helped La to use a bottle? Guess I'll never know.

 

[MrsMils]

It was the first teat that we tried with J and she hated it, it goes quite far into their mouths (supposedly like the nipple, but it is obviously much harder than a nipple...) and it made her cough and splutter like crazy, so we haven't tried it since, maybe we ought to have given it another go as it was literally the first one we tried and she's now better with a bottle. She uses TT closer to nature and is fine with them.

Have you tried the nipple shield route? I used a medela one at night for a week and it really helped her when she went through a fussy stage.

 

[ayh78]

We tried DS with TT CTN at about 4 weeks and he was fine with them. He also has a Medela Calma teat and he is happy with that too! I wouldn't say he's 'used to it' though, he's only had EBM about a dozen times. I think I just have a guzzler who'll take his milk however it comes!

 

[vndeb]

Hi we got one and tried it for the first time last night, Finlay was not impressed and couldnt get suction right to get any milk so just got upset, debating whether to try it again as was not a pleasant experience. Hopefully works better for you? x

 

[becstar]

It was the first teat that we tried with J and she hated it, it goes quite far into their mouths (supposedly like the nipple, but it is obviously much harder than a nipple...)

That's what I thought when I saw it... A soft nipple is different to a stiff silicone teat.

 

[Piperette]

Have you tried the nipple shield route? I used a medela one at night for a week and it really helped her when she went through a fussy stage.

I haven't tried that yet. Do you think it will work as he drinks fine at night and when he has just woken up.

 

[shalagirl]

I used one to give my Lo ebm a few times and he took it fine. Then he developed reflux and he has to get infant gaviscon a few times a day. I mixed it with ebm and he took it but it took ages to drink the few mls. I thought it was as the gaviscon was too thick and switched to a tt ctn bottle which he took ok. After a whe he was slowing down taking it and chewing the teat so I tried the calma again and he wouldn't take it all he didn't seem to know how it worked anymore. I think it is a good bottle but will more likely work for you if your Lo has only been bf so far.

 

[atharia]

I have found the medela calma nipple extremely frustrating! Up until now my 7 week old had been taking the bottle (regular medela teats) extremely well. Since I got home from hospital I have expressed and never had problems with her drinking expressed milk, only thing was that it often felt like she drank more than she would from the breast and a lot faster and a couple of times she was sick.

When we bought a new pump and it came with the calma teat, I thought I would give it a go to slow her down and it kind of ruined everything! It is meant to slow down the release of milk, which for my baby did not have a problem with, but the long tip made her gag and spill the milk rather than swallow it. It made her really upset and not want the bottle anymore, even when I swapped back to the old one. I tried tricking her with my breast, using a syringe, she wouldn't have any of it for the next 4 days! During that time she lost a bit of weight (she usually had between 130 and 140ml of expressed milk before bed time as she sleeps for 6 hours and I always want to make sure she has a full tummy then).

When she finally started taking the old teats again, she wouldn't drink as much, until 2 nights ago (2 weeks after it all happened), when she drank 120ml I thought we were back on track and tried the calma teat during the day (I don't know when to give up!)just for 30ml and she took it, I was so excited! So tonight I tried doing the bed time routine with the calma teat (stupid!) and it all went badly downhill, she drank 20ml and cried, wouldn't take old teats and ended up falling asleep really deeply after 5 minutes on the breast, probably tired from crying. Now I feel so guilty I let it happen again when we didn't even really had a problem in the first place. I am just going to retire that %&#! teat!!!!

 

[rachelleigh]

We tried the calma for a few days as our LO is also refusing the breast. At first it seemed great but once LO really figured it out the milk came out way too fast and he would sputter and choke and cough. It got to be extremely frustrating so we stopped and went back to Dr. Browns. We use the preemie nipple even though he is 7 weeks because it's the slowest flow and really makes him take his time.

I know the calma really works for some so may be worth a try... They are expensive, though! And now ours is just sitting around...

 

[misspriss]

I know this is an old thread (2010) that got resurrected, but someone might be looking at the Calma.

Anyway, I wasn't planning to go with it because it was so pricey. We tried Platex Nurser with latex nipple, Avent Natural, BARE, and Lansinoh mOmma first. The mOmma was the only one that was really slow flow (it seemed) and didn't drip milk out when LO was not sucking (the Avent POURED it out!). I went back to work on a Thursday and used the mOmma for 2 days. After the first day it was fine, he drank a lot of milk. The second day he drank even more milk and started refusing the breast. It took all weekend and getting the nipple shields back out to get him nursing again. I was panicking, I had to go back to work!

Enter Calma. The calma, combined with the patience and care of my caregivers feeding technique (we only bottle fed him sitting, not laying back, went very slow, etc) he was able to keep from getting confusion again and avoid the choking and gagging issues a lot of people get with the Calma. He probably didn't LOVE it, he started taking signifcantly less by bottle and reverse cycling, which we are all okay with.

At 6-7 months, we started offering him milk and some water in a cup with a travel lid to get off the bottles. He still takes the bottle when he is tired or fussy at 9 months, but he can drink perfectly fine out of a cup as well.

I have been extremely happy with the Calma, it was a lifesaver for me. If you have issues with the gagging and stuff, try propping baby up and don't stick it so far in their throat, it doesn't have to go in all the way.

 

[makemeamammy]

I love the calma! I gave my LO a bottle using it when she was 3 weeks old. She had no nipple confusion and happily feeds from the bottle or the breast. I gave her a regular bottle and teat (mothercare innosense) first and she threw up the entire feed because it was coming out too quickly for her.

The first few times she used the calma she dribbled most of the milk down her chin but this gradually got better and she became quicker. She can now guzzle 5oz in about 5 mins (with me dragging it off her to burp in the middle) and doesn't spill a drop! I think the trick might be to use it quite early on. Maybe once baby is used to getting their milk without too much effort then they don't understand why they can't get it out of the calma, because I did it at 3 weeks she was still having to work hard to latch and get it out of the breast. X