Review of "Medela Breastmilk Bottle Set, 5 oz"

As I said in a previous post, I bought these bottles while I was still pregnant because I have a Medela breast pump and I saw my sister-in-law use these bottles with her daughter.  The bottles come with a "wide base slow-flow, silicone nipple".

When we first brought our son home from the hospital, these nipples just did not work for him.  He had been breastfeeding and drinking from Enfamil nipples for about 4 weeks already so we thought he would be fine.  For some reason he couldn't get a good latch on these or the "slow flow" was just way too fast.  The milk would literally squirt out the corners of his mouth and it would drip down his chin and neck.  I feel like by the time he was done eating, he was still hungry because half his milk was on him.  So, we put these nipples away in hopes he would grow into them.

After the preemie nipples started to seem too slow, I decided to give these another try.  The Medela slow flow nipple quickly became my favorite.  He could now eat without losing any milk and his latch on the wide base looked like a latch when breastfeeding.

I also like that these have a lid and can fit on my pump.  Medela also sells handy milk storage lids that show the day you pumped (I use them on all of my bottles).  The only con is that these nipples to collapse sometimes so you have to pull it out of baby's mouth to get air. Perhaps this just means we need to move up a flow speed.

Review of "Fisher-Price - 1 2 3 Rainforest Musical Play Gym"

This is the best toy ever for a newborn... at least for my newborn.  We got this as a hand-me-down from my sister-in-law and I'm glad because I don't know if I would have picked it out myself.  This is definitely something to add to your registry that you might not think of.

I like this mat because its hard to know how to "play" with such a young baby, but when I put him in here he's as happy as can be looking around and reaching toward things.  He loves the  music but can't make it play himself so we always play with him.  Laying in his "rain forest" is the first time we saw him smile and he likes it even when he's being fussy!

NICU discharge check list

This is not a review on a specific item, but a much needed discharge checklist the NICU staff (who are the greatest people in the world by the way) neglected to create and distribute.  They just unplug the monitors and say "ok, he's yours now... pack up!"

Most people are just concerned with their "take home outfit". This is a term I had never heard and something you really don't need unless you have a camera crew awaiting your arrival at home.

Here is what you DO need:

1. A cooler for your extra milk. We didn't bring one because we were told we only had 4 bottles of milk in the freezer. When we showed up on discharge day, they had somehow found 50 more! Bring a cooler even if you don't think you'll need it.

2. Receiving blankets. The NICU nurses will show you how to situate your little one in their car seat using receiving blankets. What they don't tell you is to bring your own on discharge day because they don't want to lose theirs.

3. Make sure your car seat base is installed and checked at the fire department. Much to my husband's disappointment, the hospital does not have someone certified to do this.

4. Hand sanitizer. Just because your stay at the NICU has turned you into the germaphobe you never knew you could be and you might touch something on your way out.

5.  The name of your pediatrician.  Hopefully you have one before this point, and you've probably already told the nurses who it is, but maybe they didn't write it down.

6.  Be speedy.  I don't know how many times the nurse asked where my husband was (we both drove to the hospital separately after we got off work) and when I got my itemized bill it appeared to have a fee of about $400 for taking more than 30 minutes to discharge.

The best nipples for preemies

After all our planning, and gathering of supplies, we ended up having a preemie. It seems that preemie babies are their own breed with their very own, unique set of needs.

During our guy's five week NICU stay, I would pump breast milk for the nurses to feed him. They started feeding him with an Enfamil slow flow nipple at 34 weeks gestation and he did really well; never needing a feeding tube. The nurse suggested bringing in our own bottles to see how he would do before taking him home (some advice we ignored).

When our son was discharged from the NICU at 38 weeks gestation, and just under 5 pounds, they gave us about 5 Enfamil nipples. These nipples say they're disposable so we did as they had done in the hospital and threw them away after one use; in the morning they were all gone. I was actually pretty excited to try out the Medela bottles I bought. They too had nipples labeled "slow flow" so I knew they'd work just the same... right?

Not all slow flow nipples are created equal. The Medela nipples left half his milk on his clothes. Milk poured down his chin and squirted out the sides of his mouth the whole time he was trying to eat. I declared I hated Medela nipples (more on them later) and we went in search of a solution.

After googling "the best nipples for preemies" without much satisfaction, and talking to the NICU staff, my husband ended up going back to the hospital to get more Enfamil nipples to tide us over until we found something else that worked. We decided to wash and reuse the disposable nipples, which works just fine by the way.

A couple days later I was at the baby store in that infamous bottle aisle (because I only had 3 bottles and even though no one tells you, you need more than that!). I ended up getting the Dr. Brown's bottles (more on these later) just because I liked the tall, skinny shape they had. The bottles came with slow flow, level 1 nipples but they also sold preemie nipples for them so I grabbed a 2 pack of those.

The Dr. Brown's preemie nipples worked great. All of the other "slow flow" nipples went in a marked container so we wouldn't have to deal with the frustration of accidentally grabbing and using one of them.

Welcome!

I decided to start this blog because, well, no one told me any of this!  When I was pregnant, my sister (who also has no kids) and I went to the store with energy and optimism to get everything I would need for my little bundle of joy.  We left dazed and confused with a couple burp clothes (because I knew I didn't want spit-up all over everything) and a couple bottles that we decided on just because they were the same brand as my breast pump.  Needless to say, I needed more items for this little guy but just didn't know if I should pick the nail clippers with the magnifying glass, the ones with the finger guard, the ones with the light, the ones with the safety grip, the basic cheap ones, the ones that come with an entire manicuring kit, or nail scissors.

While you're setting up your registry or shopping for your critter, you can Google a list of needed baby supplies to get started.  However, this list just tells you the generic item.  What it doesn't tell you is when you go to buy it, there will be 20 different styles and brands to choose from.  Which ones work best?  Which ones are actually needed?  Which ones are full of useless bells and whistles?  Stay tuned to find out!

Everything I review I have bought myself, gotten as a hand-me-down or gift, or it's something used by the family I nanny for. I don't receive free items from any company so I have no reason to say something is good when it isn't. Remember every baby is different so what works for me might not work for you and vice versa.