The calma teat is actually only about 3/4" long in the straight portion and a total of 1" to the maximum flare where baby's lips should go. It is definitely shorter than the Haberman nipple and complies with ultrasound evidence found with tongue-tie babies - that too much nipple can be as detrimental as too little.  The firmness of the teat is useful where baby needs firmness to improve central grooving.  It does not have a closed tip, it does not drip, however, if baby is held in a level position (as in baby-led bottle feeding) baby can pull milk out of the bottle into the "teat chamber" and leave a few drops in there which can be seen as a drip. As in any situation (breast or bottle) intact babies CAN modify their suck strength to affect rate of flow. Since this teat is uncompressible, it does not reward "chewing" babies.  I am not altogether sold on this bottle as the answer to all problems- I am still investigating its possible uses and have found some benefits for certain conditions. More to come as I continue investigating it.  I am very frustrated when I think I've found a bottle that works - and the next one I pick up of the same brand and type doesn't flow the same!  I think Karen Gromada has said the same.  I've repeated her experiments and found her to be correct in her analyses except for flow rate on the Special Needs Feeder.  You can't test the Special Feeder on vacuum alone as it behaves like a compression feeder when the membrane is present.  IN the same way, Avent and Breastflow and any bottle that you can squeeze and it flows, is also a compression bottle - they just don't have a closed tip to prevent drip.  I think the Calma is like any other device - designers, engineers and manufacturers make them, but it's up to the clinicians to figure out how they really work in real time, what their benefits and drawbacks are.  Let the research begin!

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