Meet Jamiee, Stephanie & baby Billie — a family who embraced every feeding twist and turned it into a journey of bonding, learning, and sharing the load, one bottle, burp, and new discovery at a time.
From breastfeeding wins to colic challenges and midnight shifts, Jamiee reflects on the early days as new parents — and how caring for your baby truly becomes a team effort.
How did you navigate feeding roles and responsibilities in the early months?
It was always a wish of Stephanie's to be able to breastfeed but as we know that is not always possible, so we kept an open mind. Luckily our daughter, Billie, took to it straight away just moments after birth so we were very fortunate that feeding became a very natural and straightforward part of our everyday life. Therefore Stephanie took care of feeding and I was tasked with the fun stuff, burping and nappies ! to try and equal out the responsibilities. In week 5 however, just as we thought we had everything under control things took a turn as Billie developed colic, which required us to take on a bottle feed now and then so Stephanie could rest. Trying to jump into the world of bottle feeding with formula 5 weeks in was pretty daunting. There are so many bottles out there that market themselves as anti-colic, slow stream, air reducing etc etc and in fact many of them didn't seem to work for us. It felt forced, especially the angles which you need to use them at and they didn't really support us or her in easing her symptoms. The caramma bottle was really a game changer and the only one that Billie really seemed to engage with and felt more safe and comfortable for us in aiding her feed. As we started to introduce solids and the breast feeding decreased we also used the bottle during the night to balance out the feeding responsibility.
How did you divide your parental leave between the two of you, and how did that affect your bonding or routines with your child?
As the non-birth parent, I took the first month off work so that we had time to settle, adjust as a family of 3. That was so crucial for us in terms of bonding but also allowing time and space for each other to feel comfortable with our roles and share all the first time nerves and worries that becoming new parents brings as well as all those very special early moments. I am fortunate to have a compassionate and flexible work place so Stephanie took the majority of the leave and I was able to work from home a few days a week to support and not feel like I was missing out on Billies day to day development. We also shared a month together where we went travelling, which I can highly recommend. It was fantastic to break some of our routines and explore a new context and culture together while introducing Billie to different sensoric experiences. I then took over for the last 2 months before also being responsible for onboarding Billie to the Nursery.
You were one of the first to try the Support Bottle. Can you tell us about that moment?
As I mentioned previously we were really struggling with colic and taking some of the feeds as the non breast feeding parent was tough. When a friend recommended the Caramma bottle it was such a relief. Almost straight away we noticed a difference in Billie's comfort and the fact that she actually ate a real amount whereas with other bottles we tried she ate very little. It was clear that it felt more recogniseable to her in the sense it resembles a breast in both design but also function. The fact that we could use it in a way that replicated breast feeding positions was so empowering and impactful.
Looking back at your first year as a parent—what moments or choices in feeding stand out as especially meaningful?
For Stephanie it was the feeling of being appreciative that breast feeding worked and was a success and it became a very meaningful bonding experience on the whole. For me, watching that bond being formed between the two of them was amazing and the Caramma bottle enabled a sneak peek into that experience, which I'm so grateful for.