I believe that nipple confusion/preference does exist.  I also believe that
many women find it a handy-dandy excuse to give up breastfeeding, as in "I
wanted to breastfeed, but the nurse in the hospital (or the father, or the
mother-in-law) gave her a bottle, and after that she didn't want to
breastfeed."

Just about any *real* thing will be over-diagnosed, under-diagnosed,
mis-diagnosed, denied that it even exists, and used as an excuse by someone
to justify something they didn't want to do for whatever reasons.

It is a mockery of the complexity of human physiology, anatomy, emotional
makeup, etc. to say either:

(1) nipple confusion does not exist (therefore it is fine to give bottles,
as though "nipple confusion" were the only reason people hesitated about
giving bottles before)

(2) nipple confusion is all pervasive (EVERY baby will get hopelessly
confused if given even a single bottle or pacifier for any reason, and will
thereafter never be able to breastfeed, therefore no one should ever use a
bottle)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.                         email:
[log in to unmask]
Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352
http://www.prairienet.org/laleche/dettwyler.html

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