[log in to unmask] writes:
<< With the pad side up and touching the hard palate are we giving the
 baby a  'super stimulus' that is similar to a bottle nipple? >>
and katherine in atl writes:
<<<I think that either way you're giving the baby 'super stimulus' that is
similar to a bottle nipple.  Has anyone ever seen a baby have 'finger
confusion' or 'finger preference'. I have.  I think it can cause any of the
most of the sameissues that bottle feeding can cause.

Sometimes the reason finger feeding is done is to "wake up" the baby and get
him/her in the mode for breastfeeding.  Finger pad up is most effective for
that since these babies aren't sucking and need that extra stimulus.
Sometimes it is done to pattern the tongue into the central grove with a
front to back peristaltic action (suck training with a milk reward).  I find
pad down works best for that but I still have to start pad up and flip the
finger over.  Yes, I've seen "finger preference".  Done properly it can be
limited but there is no avoiding the finger is a long hard THING in the
babies mouth and this is especially bad if the mom has soft, short nipples.
The difference with finger feeding and bottle feeding is the reward (milk)
can be parceled out according to the behavior of the tongue.  Also, flow can
be limited innitially to help baby remember to work for a time before the
"let-down" occurs.  Flow can also be varied throughout the feeding for the
same reason.  The tube may become familiar to the infant and facilitate a
switch over to at-breast supplementation (which can be done as a jump start
and/or to deliver more milk if volume is an underlaying problem.  This
trasition to the breast is facilitated by doing finger feeding skin to skin
as close to the breast as possible so one can switch methods without lots of
repositioning.  I prefer to do it in football hold for this reason.  Another
advantage of finger feeding over bottle feeding is parental (and staff)
involvement.  When finger feeding I think many parents (and staff) are more
actively still working toward breastfeeding.  When bottle feeding I think
many parents (and staff) have crossed that line and the effort to return to
breast often decreases.  Plus there is the skin of the finger vs the
material of the nipple (if parent is doing it) and those early pumped
volumes look more significant in a syringe vs a bottle!  So much of this is
a confidence game, keep em trying, keep em involved...and pick your tools
according to the presenting problem.  Carla

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