I think there are several ways of looking at this. On the one hand, I think
that many women who in the past would have exclusively bottlefed their
babies with formula are now giving their babies at least some breast milk.
And that's not a bad thing. On the other hand, I think that in our desire to
support women who are returning to work ("you can just pump your milk and
give it in bottles, or you can give formula during the day and nurse in the
evening") we've given the impression that this is just as good as exclusive
breastfeeding at the breast. I think the evidence is clear that each step
you take away from exclusive breastfeeding increases the risks to the baby.

I do find that giving bottles leads to early weaning - early in my mind
being any time before about age 3. I don't see many of these mothers
continuing much past a year. By then the baby is happy to walk around with a
bottle and often has shown a preference for the bottle. But I suspect most
of the mothers who give bottles are quite happy to see their babies wean at
thsi age.


Teresa Pitman
Guelph, Ontario

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