Nikki (et al),

I find that the Haberman is less a problem than traditional style
bottles.  I feel it reduces some of the physical differences between
breast and bottle.  If a mom is definitely going to give baby
something other than breast, I would rather see them use the
Haberman than a "regular" bottle.
1.  Because the contents don't dribble out when it is held upside
down like bottles do, baby is more in control.  With the bottle,
baby winds up swallowing out of self defense-swallow or choke on
it.  As with the breast, baby gets nothing unless he acts to get the
milk.
2. The ability to vary the flow from the Haberman teat is another
way it is a little closer to the actions of breastfeeding.  I have a
mom start with a few sucks at the shortest line (virtually no or
very little flow).  This imitates the fact that (especially in the
early days) it takes a few sucks to start the flow from mom.  One
problem when babies have had the bottle is that they learn to expect
"instant gratification".  In addition, I have the mom turn back to
the short line periodically during a feed.  The flow from her
breasts is not steady.  With a bottle, until it is empty, baby
always gets "x" amount of milk for "y" amount of sucking.  Most of
the feed is done with the medium line facing baby's nose.
3.  In addition I encourage mom to hold baby with the cheek against
her breast as she feeds with the Haberman so baby is accustomed to
the feel and smell of her skin associated with feeding.  I also have
her introduce the teat slowly into baby's mouth (if baby will
cooperate) to try to approxiamte the fact that mom's nipple/areola
elongate over the first few sucks rather than touching the back of
the mouth instantly.
4. We have gotten good acceptance of the Haberman from nurses who
balked at anything other than the bottle.  Little do they know that
our intent is to sneak the cup in next.  I think we will get better
acceptance than when we tried to go straight from bottle to cup as
the "preferred" method of supplementing.
5. We have been disappointed with our NICU nurses who still rebel
against the Haberman-primarily because it has to be washed out each
time instead of just tossing it like they can do with the bottles.
They complain that it takes too much time!  A few are beginning to
accept it.  If mom is going to be there all day, I simply tell her
to do the washing so the nurses don't have to.

We may consider going to the Breastbottle instead of the Haberman if
it works as well as it looks in theory.
Winnie Mading RNC, IBCLC

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html