I happen to have a book in front of me whose purpose is to give parents
help in deciding how to feed the baby, advice so feeding is 'nurturing and
emotionally satisfying whether from the breast or bottle', and various
other aspects of infant feeding that are usually only provided in the
context of breastfeeding advice.  The difference here is that it is aimed
at all parents, not just the ones breastfeeding, so it could reach parents
who aren't now getting this information.  I haven't seen a book before that
really deals with the emotional needs of a baby in connection with feeding,
and discusses attachment for parents who are bottle feeding.  I did not
perceive this book as defending bottle feeding, and I particularly
appreciated that in nearly every picture of a baby, whether breastfeeding
or not, the baby is engaging in eye contact with a person caring for it, in
most cases, a mother.  It is matter-of-fact, with a section on the WHO
Code, and a section on the emotional aspects of formula feeding for the
mother.

It won't reach the non-literate parents and purists may hold that it
represents a kind of resignation to the status quo in which bottles are
normal.   I imagine that people working in settings where bottle feeding is
very widespread will find it most useful, because it presents the things
that breastfeeding automatically provides as the norm, and then explains
what you need to do if you are bottle feeding, to achieve more responsive
feeding.  I did not find that it downplayed the difference between
breastfeeding and bottle feeding.  There is something essentially appealing
about a book that includes everyone, the breastfeeders and the bottle
feeders both, instead of reducing bottle feeding information to a question
of correct technique when making up feeds.  Since it really requires a more
conscious approach to bottle feed responsively, parents need specific
information on what that means, and the author knows a lot about that.

It's called 'Successful Infant Feeding - Ensuring your baby thrives on the
breast or bottle', by Heather Welford (!).
ISBN 978 1 907952 01 2

I have no financial interest in this book.

Rachel Myr
having survived watching the televised debate here tonight on motherhood,
fatherhood, and breastfeeding, which turned out to be a lot about parental
leave in the child's first year of life, and very little about
breastfeeding, and what there was on breastfeeding was pretty good after
all!  I won't have any trouble sleeping tonight...

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