Although I find that some parents really enjoy fingerfeeding, I have
yet to see any research showing that it is superior in any way to
bottlefeeding as a way to supplement.  Why is putting a rigid finger
in the mouth to suck on better than a soft bottle nipple?  The only
real difference I can see is that you may better be able to control
the flow of the liquid with fingerfeeding, for example, to reward a
baby for sucking properly.  However, if a mom was not very
enthusiastic about finger-feeding I would certainly offer the
possibility of using a bottle (rather than having her give up entirely).
Now I would certainly be upset if someone were to upset a mother
who was happily fingerfeeding and lead her to believe that using a
bottle was better or that fingerfeeding was wrong.
Warmly,
Sharon Knorr, BSMT, LLLL, IBCLC
Newark, NY (near Rochester) USA
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