Greetings to all,
I have been following this conversation about the "gape." For the past five
years I have taught Moms (or Dads) who's baby needs supplementing to elicit
the rooting reflex with either the finger or the bottle nipple. The baby really
needs to remember how to open wide and pull in the artifical nipple or the
finger to preserve the infants ability to latch to the breast.
A few years ago I had a mom who's Ped would not allow her to feed her
expressed milk or put the baby to breast because she had a full blown case of
the actual flu virus during delivery. Mom pumped and dumped for 1 month
while dad bottle fed using a technique that involved stroking the lips for a
rooting reflex and allowing the baby to then "pull" in the nipple. Dad did some
finger feeding as well using the same technique. At one month mom came to
my office with "clearance" from the Ped (that is a whole different story!) Baby
latch on with a little assistance and nursed beautifully.
I now use this technique for as many babies as possible who have feedings
other than breast or pacifiers introduced for other reasons. This seems to
preserve the babies ability to latch when the need for alternate feedings no
longer exist.
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