Medela Special Needs Feeder

Assembly Instructions

Step 1

Insert valve membrane into the ridge of the disc

Step 2

Push the valve membrane until the entire pin has been guided through the centre hole.

Step 3

Fill bottle with required amount of warm milk/ formula.

Step 4

Push the teat through and into the collar.

Step 5

Insert the completed valve membrane/ disk into the collar. Ensure that the pin from the valve membrane remains facing you.

Step 6

Place completed device over the bottle and secure by turning the collar in a clock-wise direction.

Filling the teat

Step 1

Hold the Medela in an upright position, squeeze the teat to expel some air and develop a vacuum

Step 2

Maintain the squeeze and turn the feeder up-side-down.

Step 3

Release the squeeze.

Step 4

Milk/ formula should flow into the teat. If this does not happen, turn the feeder upright and check that the valve membrane is correctly inserted (see assembly instructions)

Step 5

The teat will automatically refill as the baby draws milk/ fluid.

Feeding with the Medela

1. Identify the three lines along the Medela teat, each of different length:
   • Longest line = fastest flow
   • Medium line = medium flow
   • Shortest line = slowest flow
2. Turn the feeder until the required flow line is facing upwards. This should be in line with the baby’s nose.
3. It is usually best to start with the slow flow line and move to the medium or fast flow if needed.

Squeezing the teat

Most babies that feed with this teat need the teat to be squeezed as outlined below:

1. Hold the feeder by the barrel of the teat, gripping it as you would a pencil.
2. Once the baby begins to suck, apply one moderate squeeze, then release. It is a good idea to practice this with some water prior to the first feed to get an idea of how hard you need to squeeze in order for milk to flow from the teat.
3. Give the baby time to swallow this mouthful before squeezing again.
4. Establish a rhythm of squeezing the teat every time the baby sucks.