Gadget Tree: Baby’s Own Nespresso Machine
Mama doesn’t have any bottle-drinking babies anymore (although some of them have taken to swigging from bottles of a different kind), but Nestle has come up with something that would’ve been mighty helpful back then: The BabyNes. A baby formula machine that works like those quickie single-serve coffee dispensers. Nestle says this is “the world’s first comprehensive nutrition system for infants and toddlers.”
Funny… that’s what I thought breast-feeding accomplished.
If you have kids or ever babysat an infant, you know that warming the bottles on top of the stove or in the microwave is always a crap shoot… especially if you are doing it at 2 a.m., and haven’t had any sleep in a few days. Warming baby bottles sends you into what I call the Goldilocks vortex…“too hot!” “too cold!” Hardly ever “just right!” I’ve tried electric bottle warmers, but they never work for me (GP says I give off some sort of electrical energy that makes appliances break… but that’s another story).
Anyway, the BabyNes heats the single serve pods to the proper temperature and then dispenses it into the bottle… all in less than a minute. Less than a minute! Wow. Think of all the sleep I could have gotten.
Critics say Nestle’s new product goes against recommendations from the World Health Organization… that women breastfeed for the first six months and not offer formula if possible.
At the moment, the BabyNes is available only in Switzerland (though I’m sure it’ll be here before too long). And then there’s the expense…the BabyNes Machine costs about $285. The pods come in six different formulas, four for infants and two for toddlers and sell for between $56 and $60 for a pack of 26 pods. This seems like a huge expense for limited use, but I suppose you could always sell it to other parents… like you sometimes do with baby furniture.
Trust me… stay up for three or four days straight and suddenly you’re willing to pay anything for a good night’s sleep. Been there. Done that.
The concerns about BabyNes are not only how it is being marketed, but that it does not follow World Health Organisation guidelines for preparing formula. Powdered formula is not sterile and may contain harmful bacteria, such as Salmonella and Enterobacter Sakazakii. The recommendation is to reconstitute formula with water above 70 deg. C to kill any bacteria that may be in the powder. Nestlé’s machine works at a maximum temperature of 40 deg. C. Nestlé refuses to put warnings and instructions on its tins of formula in line with WHO guidance – now we know part of the reason why: it spent 6 years developing a machine that does not follow the guidance. See: http://info.babymilkaction.org/news/campaignblog270511
You are right about your concerns, Mike. I provided a link to your website on my blog (if you click on the word Critics, your website will come up).