>I was informed by a midwife yesterday the at a recent study day on
>breastfeeding held at her hospital, the L.C who gave the talk said that
>bottle feeding was ok in cases of breast refusal.  She told the midwives
>that as long as the baby opened its mouth wide enough, it was ok to
>bottle feed.  I suggested cup or finger feeding instead, but was told
>that at the study day, these methods were discouraged.  Does any one
>have any thoughts on this. Which is the best method in breast refusal do
>you all think.  Lets take a vote and I'll tally up the options.

My Emma refused the breast for the first 48 hours and I almost had her
taken off me by a nurse to bottle-feed her as they saw my refusal as
harmful to my child. I am sure her breast refusal was due to rough
handling in the delivery room (that so-called "RAM" method we discussed
a while back). I suspect much breast-refusal is due to such handling, so
I would want to take a step back and ask *why* these babies are refusing
the breast? Emma took 3 weeks before she would happily accept the breast
without a fight - I believe nipple confusion was a very real risk.

I am disturbed by this. What is meant by a baby opening his mouth "wide
enough" - if such a baby were to try and latch on to the bottle as he
would the breast, he would be flooded, so surely he would soon learn not
to open his mouth "wide enough"?

I overcame Emma's problem by gentle coaxing, deliberately *not* latching
her on and allowing her to "play" with my nipple until she felt
comfortable. She needed time and patience and gentle, persistant
persuasion, not a bottle. I agree with you, FWIW. I am sorry it's only
from my own experience.
--
Anna (mummy to Emma, born 17th Jan 1995 and Alice, born 11th Sept 1996)
Email: [log in to unmask]  Web Page: http://www.ratbag.demon.co.uk/anna