I absolutely agree with Barbara regarding babies needing sucking to help them
stay or get "organized".The problem is not with the concept of a bottle as a
therapeutic device but how, when and why it is used. Certainly certain teats
are going to promote better organization and it is our challenge to be sure
we know how to accomplish that goal and which teats work best to achieve that
goal.

I am not a proponent of cup feeding and never have been. It concerns me
greatly that we have jumped onto a bandwagon without considering the possible
consequences of our actions. Cup feeding deprives an infant of sucking, it is
unphysiologic. In my experience, it causes poor coordination of suck,
swallow, and breathe (breathing being the key component in all of this,
because if you can't breathe, you certainly can't suck). Lapping milk out of
a cup is unphysiologic. babies are meant to have a breast in their mouths for
feeding, to learn more about their world, for central nervous system
regulation, and for comfort. If you look at the videos currently available
that show cup feeding, you may be surprised to see some disorganized infants.
Are they disorganized because of the method of feeding, or were thaey that
way before they were fed? That is the question. We must learn to look more
closely at these babies so as to "first do no harm"

There is no doubt that LCs are in a therapeutic position to need tools to
help rectify babies' sucking difficulties. There are many tools available to
help us do this. We need to consider which tool/intervention is going to
achieve the goal of getting baby organized and effective enough to do a good
job at breast, in the shortest period of time possible, without stressing the
baby out , or the rest of the family, in the process.

i believe we must make our choice on a case by case basis and not think that
one way or another is always the right way. Bottles may very well be the best
method in a particluar circumstance, cup feeding in another, and
finger-feeding in another. No matter what, the method chosen should have as
an end result a baby who goes back to breast and is able to stay organized
and transferring milk well.

Alison K. Hazelbaker