Several people have commented on the amount of milk that dribbles down the
baby's clothes during cup feeding.  I heard Sandra Lang lecture on cup
feeding in 1995 and she pointed out that the less mature the baby, the less
mess.  Term babies dribble a lot more during cup feeding.  This is a known
feature.  In cases where one believes one knows the exact amount needed by
the baby, one needs to account for the loss of milk to dribbling.  In cases
where one is merely letting a baby feed to satiety and trusting the baby not
to stop before it is satisfied, it isn't a problem.

Of course, if the amount of breastmilk available is very limited and you
want every drop to get into the baby rather than on the baby's clothing, you
will choose another feeding method.

I find cup feeding helpful for babies who haven't figured out that they need
to open wide when coming to breast, and for settling desperate babies who
otherwise are too frantic to latch methodically, and for showing parents
that supplemental feeds need not be given by bottle, especially when one is
confident that supplementing is a very short-term thing.  Jack Newman
recommends cup feeding if mother or father is not there, and finger-feeding
in cases where the baby is unable to take the breast but a parent is there
to feed.
In the first two cases the cup feed is given immediately before offering the
breast; in the last, when we give it depends on why we are supplementing.

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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