Intended Use
The FingerFeeder is intended to administer small volumes of human milk and other liquids of similar consistency to infants.
Important Safety Information
- Read all instructions before use.
- Use the product only for its intended use as described in this instruction manual.
- Use by more than one infant without adequate reprocessing may present a health risk and could cause cross-contamination.
- Inspect before each use. Throw away at the first signs of damage, mould or weakness.
- Never leave packaging and components unattended. Keep them out of reach of children.
- Always use this product under medical supervision.
Cleaning
Important
- Only use drinking-quality water for cleaning.
- Reprocess the FingerFeeder prior to first use.
- Clean immediately after use.
- You use the FingerFeeder together with a syringe. Clean/reprocess the syringe according to the supplier’s instructions.
- The cleaning instructions below are general instructions. For country-specific regulations and guidelines, ask your Medela agent or visit our website (www.medela.com).
After each use
- Rinse with cold water (approx. 20 °C).
- Clean with plenty of warm, soapy water (approx. 30 °C). Use a commercially available washing-up liquid, preferably without artificial fragrances and colouring (5–15% anionic tenside, nonionic tenside, pH neutral).
- Rinse with cold water (approx. 20 °C).
- Dry with a clean cloth or leave to dry on a clean cloth.
Before first use – once a day – before passing on to another infant
- Clean and disinfect the FingerFeeder as described under “Disinfection”.
- If required by national, regional or in-house regulations, sterilise the FingerFeeder as described under “Sterilisation”.
Disinfection
Clean and disinfect in a mechanical washer-disinfector. Use appropriate inserts for small parts. Use a common cleaning detergent for washer disinfectors (NTA-, phosphate-, chlorine- and tenside-free, alkaline with pH-level 11.7–12.7).
Disinfect for 5 minutes at a temperature of 93 °C.
Select an appropriate program according to the above instructions, that includes drying. If there is no program with drying, dry the feeder with a clean cloth or leave to dry on a clean cloth.
Sterilisation
- Check that the FingerFeeder is clean, dry and intact.
- Wrap the feeder in an appropriate sterile packaging.
- Sterilise the feeder in the autoclave at 134 °C for 5 minutes. To avoid damage, do not stack or apply external pressure.
Storage
Put the clean feeder in a clean storage bag or a clean environment. It is important that all residual moisture dries. Do not store in an airtight container/bag.
How to use
Important
- Caution if using with fragile premature infants.
- It is recommended that the mother performs her first finger feeding(s) under the supervision of a professional/trained staff.
- Always check the temperature of the liquid before feeding.
- Before you start feeding with the FingerFeeder wash your hands thoroughly with water and soap. Dry your hands with a fresh towel or a single-use paper towel.
- Make sure, that the nail of the feeding finger is trimmed short and clean.
Feeding
- Place the FingerFeeder on a syringe for oral feeding (10 or 20ml).
- Insert the plunger into the syringe such that there remains some air in between the liquid and the plunger. (This allows that all liquid or supplement inside the syringe is delivered to the infant. Without the air, you might not be able to get all liquid out of the syringe)
- Fill the syringe with the prescribed amount of liquid.
- Hold the infant slightly upright or swaddled in a cloth on the lap.
- Touch the infant’s lip with your finger to encourage the infant to open its mouth.
- Wait until the infant opens its mouth widely. Then slide your (index) finger into the infant’s mouth, so that the pad side of the finger touches the hard upper palate. Carefully move the finger until the fingernail rests on the infant’s tongue. Make sure not to trigger the gag reflex.
- When the infant starts sucking, slide the FingerFeeder carefully in the corner of the infant’s mouth, next to your finger – approx. to the middle of the first finger joint.
- Depress the syringe and deliver some liquid. Wait until the infant has swallowed this bit of liquid, then deliver the next portion of liquid, and so on. Try to follow the infant’s sucking and swallowing rhythm during the feeding.
- Avoid air swallowing.
- Medela recommends recording the amount of liquid that the infant receives with each finger feeding.
Material & Disposal
Material: Silicone
Disposal: According to local regulations
Symbols
This symbol indicates that the packaging contains products intended to come in contact with food according to regulation 1935/2004.
This symbol indicates to keep the device away from sunlight.
