As we prepare for baby #2, one thing I’m starting to give some thought to is my breastfeeding strategy. With Darah, breastfeeding was a bit of a struggle. I went back to work full-time after 3 months of leave and pumped in my office. I also went to see her at lunch time at her daycare to feed her then. I also took Fenugreek (even though it made me smell like maple syrup, true story). Even with these accommodations, I had supply issues and Darah quickly started to prefer the bottle to the breast. She weaned herself at 10 months, which was sooner than I hoped, but it was what she truly wanted.

I’m proud of the work she and I did to breastfeed. It was hard and we tried our very best. I have to tell you, though, that I’m hoping for even greater success this go around. Hopefully the fact that I will be home full-time will make a positive difference. I’m also hoping to try to keep my overall stress level lower (that may be wishful thinking since there will be two little ones around!). She shouldn’t need a bottle nearly as often, so hopefully that will help, too.

With that said, I also remember one of the big psychological difficulties for me with breastfeeding, and that was how chained I felt to the house and to my infant, especially in the first few months. I couldn’t leave the house for more than 1 1/2 hours without her in the beginning, which was barely enough time to buy groceries, let alone get to do anything remotely leisurely like wander the aisles of Target (don’t act like you don’t enjoy doing that in your time away from the kids!). So I know that I do want to use bottles from time to time and use my pump to build up a milk bank in our freezer.

But I want to be VERY careful about the bottle this little one gets to use. I want it to be as close to the breast as possible, and I’ve found a company that has worked really hard to mimic that experience and to actually help prolong the breastfeeding experience, not take over for it.

The company is called Mimijumi, and they are based out of Nashville (shout out!). I received the “Very Hungry” baby bottle (which holds 8 oz), and I’m really impressed with the look of it. To be frank, it looks like a breast! But if you think about it, that’s a very good thing. It’s one important piece of avoiding nipple confusion.

Even more important than how the bottle looks, though, is how it works. The baby must latch onto the nipple of the bottle as they would latch onto a breast, or else it won’t express any milk!  I cannot help but think that one piece of our struggle to find complete success with breastfeeding Darah was that she knew feeding from her bottle was easier. I’m so excited to have the Mimijumi bottle on hand now, and to hear that it doesn’t let babies escape the work of eating just because they are using a bottle!

Mimijumi bottles are BPA free, easy to clean and just have a one piece nipple (our other bottles have 50,000 parts….at least that’s what it always felt like!). They also have a non-skid base. All-around, this is a genius design and I hope that it will be a truly ally in our breastfeeding journey!  The bottle I reviewed retails for $14.99 and can be purchased here.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.