This note might be a good follow up to Ros Escott's recent posting of Apr 12. Another reason bottle feeding (and excessive noxious habits) is detrimental to an infants health is that it can cause a collapse of the airway. To put it in a positive statement - Breastfeeding children have better airways and have less upper airway infections. Overall general health is directly related to ones ability to breathe easily. Bottle feeding can collapse both the nasal (nasopharynx) and throat (oropharynx) spaces. The fact that bottle fed babies do not get the benefits of the immunological factors from the mother's breast milk makes bottle fed babies more prone to infections. The tonsils and adenoids try to ward off these infections and become swollen and inflamed. Swollen tonsils and adenoids are also factors in compromising the airway. Compromised airways lead to sleeping difficulties, snoring and sleep apnea. Since growth hormones are sleep related, the development of the infant can be affected. To better understand the above statement, you need to understand three scientific principles: Venturi Principle, Bernoulli Principle, and what happens in a "vacuum". One source for the definitions is McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. I do not have the space to go into detail on Lactnet, but I will explain it during my presentation at the ILCA conference. You will understand my presentation better if you understand the above principles. Also wanted to add a note on recent postings on Oxytocin. Both Oxytocin and Prolactin are sleep related. If a breastfeeding mother is stressed (more than normal) or has a sleeping problem other than waking up to feed the baby, her Oxytocin and Prolactin levels could be effected. Any research out there on this point of view? "We only see what we know, therefore we must know to serve." Brian Palmer DDS - ILCA member - and husband to Shirley (who will soon be having her gall bladder out!) [log in to unmask]