To Marcia, A few more thoughts on this subject. First, although some babies do learn a tongue-thrusting type of suck with a bottle, I have seen them feed from a bottle with quite good positioning - mouth gaped, tongue remaining on the bottom, etc. It can depend on how you instruct the mother on using the bottle and which type of nipple she is using. I personally enjoy finger-feeding babies and never present this option in an apologetic fashion, but if I see a mother showing a lot of apprehension or resistance over this, I let her know that there are a variety of options. And though babies have been supplemented in a variety of ways through the ages with various types of teats and cup-type devices, I think that fingerfeeding with a little tube is a pretty new phenomenom and still not used much in many areas even where the option is available. Also, although I think that the SNS is a nifty device and can work really well in the appropriate situation, babies can get hooked on that little tube just like on a bottle and they also can screw up their sucking sometimes just to get the tube positioned right where they want it ( this much more so at the breast than with fingerfeeding, although as someone else has pointed out, they can get hooked on the feeling of that nice solid finger, too). BTW, welcome to LACTNET. I hope that you will continue to post and join in our thoughtful discussions. Warmly, Sharon Knorr, BSMT, LLLL, IBCLC Newark, NY (near Rochester) USA mailto:[log in to unmask] *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html