Alexis, hey, chill out.    Are we talking about who gets the good
housekeeping seal of lactation, or are we talking about lactation?    Nobody
has authorized me to say whether or not YOU can be "truly" called a bf
supporter, and I doubt very much that God has come down in a chariot and
given you that personal mission, either.   It just doesn't seem like a good
way to be a neighbor, on line or elsewhere.

I would love to encourage Tony to delay introduction of bottles in many
cases.   But I can't see the best way to encourage him -- or anyone -- is to
tell that person that they are cast into uttermost darkness and unqualified
to ask further questions.

And, btw, while it is certainly true that early introduction of bottles is
**correlated negatively on a population basis** with duration of
breastfeeding, I am happy to say that very few things, and all of them much
more horrible than bottles, are "enough to almost guarantee" the end of
breastfeeding.   People are just too various for "almost guaranteeing."

Once we start saying things like "almost guarantee," an anecdote is enough to
prove us wrong, which really doesn't help anybody's learning much, on any
side of the conversation.

That's said, I'd also say that negative correlation should be enough to
prevent us from introducing bottles very early on a routine basis.   (And it
goes without saying that one person's "early" is another person's "by and
by," in bottle-introduction as in weaning.)


Tony, I have a question for you, though.   I've read the research that has
shown that early bottle use is correlated with earlier weaning, and it's
pretty clear.   So, when you speak to your patients, how do you balance the
benefits of dad-bonding (or mom back to work, or etc) with the clear downside
that many babies will indeed be weaned sooner than if bottles were held off
longer?     I speak as a mother who panicked, going back to work after #1,
when the baby reacted to a bottle as if it were an act of terrorism -- a bad,
bad day for all of us; so I hear what you are saying.   And I sometimes think
that part of the increase in bf initiation is tied to the increase in mixed
feeding -- there are mothers that will only bf some because they know that
they don't have to bf utterly.   But surely it is balanced against the
long-term individual & public health benefits of boosting bf duration?
What's your thinking, here?   Are you basically just throwing up your hands
on duration over the 3 months or whatever point, or do you discuss this only
when families look desparate, or what?

Elisheva Urbas
NYC

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