Some early mornings when Mio wakes up, I’ll feed her and then bring her over to our bed to cuddle with us as we go back to sleep, instead of putting her back into her crib. Dan woke up to get ready for work and captured this photo of Mio and I asleep… he got a kick out of how we were angled the same way, our faces were pointing in the same direction, and even our arms are in the same pose! I have to admit, it was pretty funny.
(I have taken the liberty of blurring out my face, as I would like to spare our audience of my makeup-less sleep face… one less thing on the web to be horrified by!)
We’ve been taking Mio outside the house a lot more lately, and I have been on the lookout for a good bottle warming system. Although Mio is solely on breast milk these days and we haven’t had to supplement with formula since the first couple weeks after she was born, I have been making sure to pump and bottle-feed her the expressed breast milk about half the time, so that she can be used to the bottle so that other people can feed her when I’m not available. (Don’t get me wrong — I do think nursing directly is the best way to feed the baby and I still do so over half the time — but I’ve heard horror stories of babies only wanting the breast and refusing bottles, and with me going back to work in mid-July, I would like to avoid that hurdle altogether.) We’ve been using Dr. Brown’s bottles at home, which have been awesome — they truly seem to be the best with their internal vent system that reduces feeding problems like colic. They do have a few more parts to wash and assemble each time compared to other bottles, but that has not bothered me and I really believe it’s worth it to prevent air bubbles that can oxidize the milk and deteriorate the nutrients in the milk.
When we go out, we usually take a bottle or two with us because we’ll often find ourselves in a place where it wouldn’t be so appropriate — or I’m not comfortable — to nurse in public. We put the bottle(s) in an insulated bottle holder and try to find a way to warm up the milk via hot water if it is too cold, but honestly, it is a hassle to find a way to warm the cold bottle every time Mio gets hungry while we’re out. I’m especially nervous about feeding Mio during my 6-hour flight to DC next week, along with all the time we’ll have to spend at the airports. And so the search for the perfect bottle warmer began. But all the ones that have traditionally been sold in the US market have had mixed reviews — there are ones that plug into the car, others that use a gel heat activation system surrounding the bottle, and others that are just plain bulky thermoses. All of them seemed to have disadvantages that seemed to outweigh the benefits. Virtually all of them take 10-15 minutes to warm up a bottle, which can be a long time when you have a hungry crying baby. I told myself that there had to be a more convenient solution out there that would warm up a bottle quickly without needing the help of plugs or hot water, and continued to scour the web to find it.
Then I came across what seemed to be just what I was looking for. The yoomi self-warming bottles.
The brainchild of husband and wife team Jim and Farah Shaikh, it is a self-warming baby bottle system that features breakthrough technology to warm up milk directly in the bottle to the ideal temperature for the baby. It’s already a hit in the U.K. where it was introduced, and was just made available to the US market last month. With yoomi, you don’t have to worry about overheating or losing valuable nutrients, and the best part about it is that once you push the button on the warmer, it only takes 60 seconds to safely warm up the milk so that baby can feed right away!
Here’s an illustration of how it works:
The cold milk flows through the heated warmer channels that is lodged in the teat, thus heating the milk inside to the appropriate temperature (86 to 90°F, or 32 to 34°C), never too hot or too cold.
The only aspects that are possibly inconvenient are the fact that the warmer unit needs to be recharged by being boiled in water for 25 minutes after each use before it can be used again, and the fact that after being recharged and used 100 times, it needs to be replaced. But honestly, if you are only using these bottles for when you go out or travel, it’s small potatoes in the grand scheme of things since you’ll only have to use them once in a while. And once you recharge the warmer unit, it’ll remain recharged almost indefinitely and will be ready for use at any time.
Also, based on some articles I read while doing my research on the yoomi bottles, they are developing a new warmer unit that can be recharged in the microwave for two minutes, for those who don’t want to deal with the 25-minute boiling sessions anymore. It’s slated for release later this summer. (I have my eye on it already!)
The bottles are BPA-free and ergonomically designed, and the wide silicone nipple mimics the mother’s breast. The well-placed vents in the nipple also prevent air from bubbling to help reduce colic (which is important to us, since that is why we use the Dr. Brown’s bottles at home).
Below is a video on how it is prepared and used for the first time:
After reading about this self-warming bottle system and doing all my research on it, I was sold. I ordered two 5 oz bottles with two warmer units, along with two 8 oz bottles for when Mio starts drinking more in the months to come. They got here relatively quickly!
yoomi bottles upon arrival. Love the cool packaging! (Reminds me of Packaging Design class from college...)
Very unique, wide bottle design.
The warmer unit with the button inside the teat.
5 oz and 8 oz bottles from yoomi
We tried the yoomi bottle out on Mio this weekend while we were out, and we’re happy to report that she drank from it just fine! 🙂 (Because as cool as the technology may be, it won’t be any good if our baby refused to drink from the bottle.) I was so excited!!!
Mio drank the bottle dry!
She's starting to put her hand on the bottle... she might even start holding it up herself soon!
So far, we’re very impressed by the yoomi bottle and can’t get over how cool the technology is! I feel a lot better about my upcoming flight back East, now that I have these bottles with me…. Going out and about Mio is going to be a lot easier now.
Every once in a while, a revolutionary baby product hits the market and changes everything. I’d have to say that this is absolutely one of those products. I would definitely recommend this for on-the-go parents with babies!
Yesterday morning, Dan and I went to the pediatrician for Mio’s 2-month doctor’s visit. She got the six vaccinations that are typically administered for two-month old babies:
Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Acellular Pertussis vaccine
Inactivated Poliovirus vaccine
Hepatitis B vaccine (second dose)
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine
Haemophilus Influenzae Type B vaccine
Rotavirus vaccine
I braced myself for a lot of baby tears and screaming, and sure enough Mio did scream and cry. 🙁 We took some videos to document the expereince.
Here she is peacefully sleeping in the waiting room, before getting admitted:
…and here she is getting her vaccinations. One orally administered vaccine, and the other five were delivered via three shots.
We definitely cringed during that first cry, but Dan couldn’t help but laugh a little because it was so drawn out that her voice ran out. Poor Mio… but thankfully she calmed pretty quickly when she was held after it was all done. When we first got home, though, she was pretty fussy and would cry inconsolably, even though I’d feed and hold her… probably due to discomfort from the shots. She has been sleeping for slightly longer stretches of time than usual since, but otherwise she seems to be doing okay.
At the doctor, Mio weighed in at 12 lbs 7 oz, in the 85th growth percentile based on weight-for-age.
She measured 22.75 inches long, in the 65th growth percentile based on length-for-age.
Mio’s head circumference was 16 inches, which is in the 88th growth percentile based on head circumference-for-age.
Her overall growth is above average and healthy. It is really amazing to watch her grow, and I’m looking forward to how our little Mio will continue to blossom and thrive. 🙂
Mio is two months today! 🙂 Here are some photos we snapped this morning before we went to her two-month appointment at the doctor. (More on that later!)
(I’ll be taking photos of Mio sitting in my white desk chair and wearing her monthly onesie every month until she’s one year old.)
Stats: You are continuing to grow steadily, and today at your two-month checkup, you weighed in at 12 pounds 7 ounces, and measured 22.75 inches long! You have a big head, with a circumference of 16 inches, making room for your developing brain! Your cheeks are chubbier than ever, and that is the first thing that people comment on when they see you. (Mommy hopes that you’ll eventually grow into your cheeks, but for now they are adorable.) Your fingernails are constantly growing, and we have to always trim them to make sure that you don’t scratch your cheeks again. You are drinking 3 to 4 ounces of breast milk per feeding these days, and have started to wear 3-month clothing.
Things You’re Doing Now: You are definitely focusing on objects better with your eyes, whether it be staring at the hanging toys above your play gym, or the rotating mobiles on your swing and above your crib. You like to look straight into Mommy’s and Daddy’s eyes while you are feeding, and your gaze shifts to our lips when we talk or sing to you. A few weeks ago, you rolled over from your tummy to your back for the first time and made us very proud parents! You’re starting to be able to hold your head up and push up with your arms for brief periods during tummy time. You like to grip our fingers with your small first, and your grasp is very strong! You seem to have a lot of strength in your leg muscles too, since when I hold you up with your feet dangling onto my lap, you push your feet against my lap in an attempt to stand. You are starting to be more vocal with your coos, gurgles, and sighs — and although it’ll still be a while before you utter your first word, it’s the beginning of you learning how to talk. (Mommy and Daddy have already started betting on whose name you’ll say first!)Â Your facial expression is usually very serious with your eyebrows furrowed, and our friends have commented that you’ll probably be very focused and studious as you grow older. You flashed us your first social smile at seven weeks, and although your smiles are still not very frequent, we’ve been seeing more of them in the past weeks and it makes our hearts melt every time.
Dan called me over the other day to show me what he called “our little pink dinosaur.”
I’m not sure how much Mio appreciated Daddy playing with her hoodie and our chortles that followed… but you have to admit, she does look pretty funny.
Dan calls this moment her “dinosaur roar.”
My brother Ted and his girlfriend Elisa came to visit last week, but much to my dismay, I forgot to take pictures! Mio got some quality time meeting her uncle, though. 🙂
Here are some other recent photos….
Mio is an adorable 8 weeks now.
Daddy reading Curious George to Mio. (She looks so focused!)
Apparently, she didn't like the story.
This past weekend, we started to transition her to sleep in the crib instead of the bassinet. So far, so good — she’s had no issues dozing off in the crib.
The brainchild of husband and wife team Jim and Farah Shaikh, it is a self-warming baby bottle system that features breakthrough technology to warm up milk directly in the bottle to the ideal temperature for the baby. It’s already a hit in the U.K. where it was introduced, and was just made available to the US market last month. With yoomi, you don’t have to worry about overheating or losing valuable nutrients, and the best part about it is that once you push the button on the warmer, it only takes 60 seconds to safely warm up the milk so that baby can feed right away!
