Medela Special Needs Feeder with 80ml Collection Container #6000s

Our son was born with a cleft lip and palate. He has been doing remarkably well feeding with this bottle. We are very pleased with the Haberman feeder (except for the exorbitant price). That said, it's worth it's weight in gold to have our baby eat well.

My son was born with a severe bilateral complete cleft lip and palate and this bottle was a life-saver! The idea behind the Haberman (now called the Medela Special Needs Feeder) is that the parent can assist the baby in suck by squeezing milk into the baby's mouth at the baby's desired rate. It does take a little time to get used to, and you do have to pay close attention when you're feeding your baby, but it does a great job. Without this bottle, I don't know what we would have done. The disks inside the nipple do tear fairly easily, but you can order replacement disks. The bottles are pretty expensive, considering we needed 4 - 6 so we could always have clean ones. Our insurance didn't pay for them, but it was worth the cost. Once my son got bigger, stronger, and had some palate work done, he could actually suck milk out of the bottle on his own.

Once you learn to use this, it's fantastic. Turning the bottle makes it easier or harder for baby to suck out the milk. Turn it to easier when he's getting frustrated or sleepy, harder when he's getting too much and is starting to get panicky or choking.

We bought this product for our second son, who has a weak suck. I actually wish I had known about it for my first son. I'd recommend it over a regular bottle for any baby.

It fits on any Medela bottle, but the membrane is different from a regular Medela membrane, so don't lose it.