Jeannette, One thing I would talk about is the need for parents to understand that the baby needs held and comforted. Tell them how breastfeeding provides this naturally. With breastfed infants, the breast can be used for comfort without overfeeding. With bottle feeding this is not the case. I have worked providing lactation services and feeding assessments for Early Intervention. The homes we serve often include at-risk populations. This experience has demonstrated to me how uninformed parents are about how to care for infants and even how to bottle feed infants. I have observed a 7 pound, preemie, adjusted age of 2 weeks old, being forced to "guzzle" a 6 oz bottle of formula. Mother reported feeds every 4-6 hours indicating a minimum of 24 oz of milk and possible 36 oz. This infant should be fed 18 oz total in 24 hours, with feeds 10-12 (Q2-3hours) times a day averaging 1.5 to 1.8 oz. These infants are fed lying flat on their backs, choking, sputtering and dribbling milk everywhere, all the while sending out distress signals which are unnoticed by parents and social service workers alike. They baby has reflux - of course he does. I came across this problem in almost every bottle fed infant I saw, which wasn't many in total, but still is terrible. Parents do this when feeding expressed breast milk or formula. I teach paced bottle feeding and give out intake requirements charts with explanations of how much to feed and how often. So you need to help the ones who are bottle feeding too. Many of these kids are plagiocephalic and have torticollis as well because they spend all of their time in a crib or seat, even while being fed. This requires therapy which is completely preventable by holding the baby and breastfeeding on both sides. With these ubiquitous buckets, no one hold the baby. It is a sad state. Judy Judith L. Gutowski, BA, IBCLC, RLC 135 McGrath Lane P Box 1 Hannastown, PA 15635-0001 Cell Phone 724-331-6607 Fax 724-837-0129 *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome