Articles, such as a nipple, a pacifier or a baby's bottle

Details Articles, such as a nipple, a pacifier or a baby's bottle Articles, such as a nipple, a pacifier or a baby's bottle

1999-10-20

2001-07-03

Weaver, Sue A. (Department: 3727)

Bottles and jars

Nursing bottles and nipples

C215S011500, C604S078000, C606S236000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06253935

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to articles used for feeding babies.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a “Policy Statement” in PEDIATRICS, vol.100, No. 6, of December 1997, pp. 1035-1039, the American Academy of Pediatrics emphasized the benefits of breasffeeding ba- bies (human milk) over bottle feeding (such as cow milk). This article contains also a vast number of references showing the better health of babies fed with breastmilk. However, some problems either on the mother's side or on the baby's side or both can prevent successful breastfeeding (see Righard L, Alade M O, “Sucking technique and its effect on success of breastfeeding”,
Birth,
1992; 19; pp.185-189 or Neifert M, Lawrence R, Seacat J, “Nipple confusion: toward a formal definition”
J. Pediatr.,
1995, 126, pp.125-129). Meanwhile, the term “nipple confusion” became known for a phenomenon which is based on different suction “techniques” a baby has to apply when sucking at the breast or from a bottle. Since a baby grasps relations to a wide extent with the mouth, it cannot differentiate between a nipple of a breast and that of a bottle. However, sucking on a breast requires a different technique, more comparable with milking a cow's udder which is concurrently pressed and stroked along, than sucking a bottle's nipple (where milk comes out with much less effort). In this way, a baby fed too much by a bottle can forget how to suck a breast. Of course, according to the above “Policy Statement”, this leads to a loss of immune defense of the baby and, thus, it is easier subject to illnesses and diseases.
To avoid this “nipple confusion”, some hospitals have begun feeding breast milk with a spoon, in case the mother has not enough milk herself. This is to avoid sucking from a bottle's nipple, but is, of course, very troublesome. Therefore, the problem exists as to how to feed a baby when the mother is not available for some reason or has not sufficient milk for her own.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to avoid “nipple confusion” in a less troublesome way.
The present inventor found in a first step toward the present invention that, although bottle feeding is very much less troublesome, it is just the cause of “nipple confusion”; the concept, therefore, should be to make bottle feeding as closely similar for the baby to breastfeeding as possible.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, this “assimilation” of bottle feeding to breasffeeding is made by using an article intended to be contacted with a baby's mouth when sucking which article can be e.g. a pacifier or a bottle's nipple. Such article comprises a wall with a surface at least at one side, where at least this surface includes a material able to be stretched at least twice in dimension under a tension corresponding to a suction force of at least 130 Hg. This solution of the problem is based on an analysis of the baby's sucking technique at a breast and the finding that the breast is able to be stretched in this way.
In average babies apply a suction force that corresponds to 150 to 200 Hg. Materials which meet this requirement (in addition to sanitary requirements to be able to keep the article clean) are rather rare, but can be found, for example, among the so-called thermo-elastics which are described, e.g. in
Nachr. Chem. Techn.,
20 (1972), p. 70. This material can be stretched, according to its composition, to twice or even a multiple of its original dimension, nevertheless having a high tensional strength, a high elasticity module and a good rebound elasticity so as to assume the original size and shape as soon as the tension is relieved. An especially preferred material is sold by TekSource, Draper, UT 84020, under the brand name Gelastic. It is a combination with a colloidal material gel, thus making the material's properties particularly similar to that of the human skin, at least as far it is required in the present context. A detailed description is in U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 08/783,413.
According to a second aspect of the present invention a baby's bottle nipple is formed in the shape of a mother's breast including a nipple portion. This takes into account to the finding that baby's palate is intentionally made by nature to adapt to the shape of a human breast. This aids in sucking (because it seals against by-passing air) and, moreover, avoids any deformation of the palate which may occur when the baby cannot suck in a natural manner.
Although both aspects mitigate alone the problem of “nipple confusion”, it is clear that in a preferred embodiment of the present invention they are combined.
It is clear that forming a nipple in the shape of a breast is difficult in that a usual baby's bottle has a neck onto which the nipple is drawn to be fastened to it. Therefore, according to a third aspect of the present invention, a combination of a baby's bottle and an assigned nipple is provided. The baby's bottle comprises an opening of a predetermined size surrounded by an edge of the bottle's wall which is the fastening edge for the nipple. The nipple includes a fastening rim connected to that wall portion formed in the shape of a mother's breast of a predetermined circumference. In this case, the predetermined size of the bottle's opening corresponds substantially to the predetermined circumference of the breast wall portion so that a relative large breast can be formed and directly attached to the bottle's opening, e.g. via a fastening bulge of the bottle's edge.
Although it would be possible to have a bottle of oval cross-section in this particular combination, it is useful if the bottle's wall substantially cylindrical and has a circular cross-section) and/or if its inner surface is substantially without any recess and projection, because in this way, in addition to the benefit mentioned above, the bottle is easier to clean and to maintain hygienic conditions. If the walls of the bottle diverge towards the opening where the nipple is to be attached, the breast-shaped nipple can be formed in a more natural way without making a filled bottle too heavy.
A fourth aspect of the present invention is based on observing how babies hold on to mother's breast when sucking. In order to give them the familiar feeling, a baby's bottle comprises an inner surface of a first, rigid material which surrounds a cavity to be filled with liquid, such as breastmilk, and an outer surface to be gripped. The outer surface is made at least in part from a second material having a predetermined elasticity and bulging out from said first, rigid material. Since the materials mentioned above give a particular “skin-feeling”, it is preferred if a thermo-elastic material is used, e.g. having the tensional strength and elasticity as defined above. In any case, the elastic bulge has the additional advantage that it prevents the bottle of slipping out of the feeding nurse, because at the moment when slipping begins, the diameter of the bulge is increased, thus forming a kind of a stop in the hand of the nurse. In this respect, this embodiment has a wider use for other bottles too, not only for baby's bottles.
This “skin-feeling”, however, is also beneficial on the side of the mother when milk is pumped off. Therefore, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, it is provided that a breast hood to be connected to a milk pump comprises an inner surface of thermo-elastic material preferably with the tensional strength and elasticity as defined above.
In cases of a bottle of an outer elastic material and an inner rigid material, or vice-versa in the case of a breast hood, the two materials could be cemented together. This, however, has some drawbacks, and it is, therefore, preferred if the two materials are formed together in a co-injection molding process. Such a process where different plastic materials are fed both into a common cavity of a mold has been described, for exam

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