Nancy wrote: "Hate to burst your bubble, but as breastfeeding is an ACTIVE 
effort on the
part of the infant, and not just someone force-feeding with a bottle, it 
does
take more energy on the baby's part.  I know NICU nurses who can 
bottle-feed
a rock.  Repeated studies have shown that premies of any age  will take more
from the bottle than at breast - even with excellent lactation  support and
help."

Nancy, you are exactly right -- the baby has to participate in order to 
remove milk from the breast. I just had to answer to your comment about how 
some NICU nurses can bottle feed a rock. Well, I work with these "rocks" 
when they come home from the NICU and they are often so used to having a 
bottle shoved into their mouths that they keep their mouths and lips tight 
when we are trying to latch on. And they don't suck - just swallow the 
liquid dripping into their mouths. They also fall asleep quickly at both 
breast and bottle (which like you said means they are not removing milk from 
the breast).

I personally wish premie babies would be fed less forcefully while in the 
NICU because then maybe they would trust feedings more when they come home 
and be more willing to breastfeed. I find that babies who have all these 
defensive mechanisms about feeding are very difficult to get to breastfeed.

My other pet peeve is those babies whom the nurses can bottle feed 2-3 oz 
but when they are discharged, mom can barely get baby to take an ounce out 
of the bottle at each feeding because she is less aggressive. And mom feels 
totally incompetent so gives up all thought of breastfeeding.

Kathy Eng, BSW, IBCLC 

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