Barbara,
I agree with you that infants should imprint on mom's breast, and that
many babies who are bottlefed in the early days can transition to the
breast.
I find it helpful to look at the infant in terms of skills: which skills
are there, which are emerging, which need to be developed.  Then the
feeding method can be designed to improve/develop the skills that are
neccessary for the baby to breastfeed.  We certainly would not want to
use a feeding method that reinforces a skill that is detrimental to
breastfeeding, such as tongue retraction to control fluid flow.
--
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC  NYC  [log in to unmask]