Feeding a baby is tough business; whether you breast or formula feed, sometimes you just can’t escape the stress and tears at baby’s dinnertime.  Bottle feeding was the natural choice for my family but I never expected it to be the drama it is.  Since becoming a mum I’ve learnt you have to get creative when it comes to servicing your baby; from nappy changing in the park to making up a bottle of milk down the supermarket aisle, it seems there aren’t enough public facilities for baby care, and places to feed my baby are high up there on my list of parenting anxieties.

** I was sent the Yoomi 8oz Feeding System | £24.95 | for the purpose of this review **

In hospital Reuben was given the little bottles of ready made UHT milk, and once we came home we moved onto regular powdered formula using the Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep.  It is so simple to make up bottles I just wish there was a travel version of the machine, because outside of these four walls preparing Reuben’s milk becomes my living nightmare.

So, when we leave the house we arm ourselves with our bottle prepping arsenal: two flasks of water, one carrying boiled water, the other containing cooled boiled water, containers of pre-measured formula and empty bottles.  All this combined with nappies and an emergency outfit change makes for a sizeable changing bag.  It isn’t convenient and is a down right pain in the butt to lug about.

On the quest for a simpler solution, we’ve bought a variety of bottle warmers and cool bags, much of which hasn’t delivered us from our problems.  For most of the methods there’s just too much wasted time spent waiting for milk to either warm up or cool down.  Then I came across the Yoomi system – a newly designed bottle that promises to solve the issue of how to warm your baby’s milk on the go.

So, what’s the Yoomi bottle all about?

In a nutshell, it’s a regular baby bottle with the unique feature of a inbuilt warming facility.

Coming in two capacities – 4oz and 8oz – the simple, dumpy shaped bottle has a clear, easy to read gauge and a broad, easy latch teat that screws onto the Yoomi branded collar.  A unique warming device sits tucked away inside the bottle beneath the teat and this is where the magic happens!

The Yoomi bottle system is available from the brand’s website where there’s a variety of individual parts to buy such as additional teats in various flows, different size bottles and extra pods and warmers.  A good starter option is the 8oz feeding system which I was sent as it includes all you need to get going and make the most out of the bottle.   The box contains one 8oz bottle, a slow flow teat, bottle cap, the warmer device and a little pod which makes the warmer microwavable.

How Does It Work?

The warmer is a dome shaped ceramic device with build in thermic technology.  It has swirling delves running around the surface area of the warmer, which gradually heats up when activated.

For the warmer to work it needs to be charged up before use; the conventional method is to stick it in a pan of water and effectively cook it for 30 minutes, or for speed, pop the warmer in the pod and microwave it: 70 seconds at full power, shake for 30 secs and heat for another 30 secs.  After each use the warmer has to be reset, the downside of which means you’ll need to carry a few charged warmers on you if you need several feeds.

The warmer slips into the under side of the teat, through which a little red button can be seen.  When your baby’s ready for his feed and the milk’s decanted into the bottle, you’re set to go.  Press the button, wait 30 seconds then tip the bottle up 180 degrees to allow the milk to flow through the channels of the warmer.  Baby’s now drinking gently warmed milk!

So what do I think?

The Yoomi feeding system is a quality piece of kit.  The bottle is a good solid design that’ll stand up to any accidental drops or a good hot scrub in the washing up bowl.  The teat is a great shape too; as close to natural shaped as is possible and secures well onto the bottle.  The measurements down the side of the bottle are awesome – we’ve tried several brands of bottle and think the gauge on the Yoomi bottle is the best of them all.  Not only is it worth noting that the measurements start from 1oz, whereas every other bottle we have begin at 2oz, but the gauge is super clear to read.  Tiny gauges are a nightmare to work with so I love the oversized markers on this bottle.

I think the Yoomi feeding system is a fab concept.  Think about it: no more lugging flasks of hot water around in your changing bag or waiting for an electric warmer to heat up, what’s not to love?  Well, as much as I was so excited to make the Yoomi bottle a part of our feeding kit, it didn’t meet the expectation I held so highly.

In real terms, I didn’t find the Yoomi as easy to use as I expected it to be.

The problem lies with the warmer.  The first downside is the necessity for recharging.  It’s not exactly convenient having to make sure you stick it in the microwave before you next need to use it, and it means you couldn’t use it for a second bottle, you’d need one per bottle, which in essence means if you’re needing several feeds away from home you’re going to be carrying an awful lot of weight.

The warming facility, which is the true selling point of this bottle, was difficult to work and it just created stressful feeding sessions.   I’d be trying to get to warmer to activate, then waiting for the warmer to initialise, resulting in Reuben having to wait for his milk and getting increasingly distressed.

The red button on the warmer is so tough to press as you have to press through the teat which the warmer is positioned beneath.  It quickly bugged me that this wasn’t a simple press so it made the whole experience much more tense than it needed to be. Having to wait for the milk to trickle through the warmer, which I’m sure took longer than the supposed 30 seconds, was the next painfully slow stage to the process.  Willing the milk to flow quicker so Reuben could get that first desperate mouthful was awful, and it just felt like a tease.

Once the warmer was doing its job and milk was going where it was supposed to be going, I realised the Yoomi couldn’t be a bottle I’d rely on.  Not only did it just take too long to work but it wasn’t comfortable enough to sit with through a feed.  I want to sit back and relax with my son; watch him enjoy his milk and cuddle in our little mummy and baby zone.  Instead I was just aware of how achingly heavy the bottle was to hold.  The warmer, as fantastic an idea it is, is just way too heavy to cradle in your hand and have to hold onto your little baby’s face.

And so…

The Yoomi system is a lovely innovative idea providing more freedom for the lives of us active parents.  No one wants to stay in the dark ages if there’s better ways to do something, and anything that’ll put a few flasks and a jug of cooling down water out of a job is a great advancement.  If you have muscles like Arnie and can handle a heavy bottle, and you’re not prone to anxiety attacks (not even joking) as your baby cries, then Yoomi could absolutely work for you.  For me, it doesn’t.  I don’t need weightlifting and fiddly gadgets to shoot up my blood pressure and at least I know where I’m at with good old hot and cooled boiled water.

** You can purchase the Yoomi 8oz Feeding System here **

Do you use bottles to feed your baby?  How do you deal with feeding when you’re out and about?  Do you use the two flask method like I do, or do you make up a hot milk and cool it down?  Maybe you carry chilled milk and warm it up?  I’d love to hear how you get on with formula or pumped breast milk feeding on the go.  Add your comments below.