I have seen babies become finger feeding addicts very fast before. From my
limited experience I feel this could be just as confusing/addictive as the
bottle (I am curious whether there are finger feeding supporters out there
who disagree). I think putting the tube at the breast would help a lot.
I just did my first cup feeding BTW and was amazed how simple it was.
*****I have to admit to being a fan of finger feeding in some situations.  I
had to leave Doug for 12 hour shifts a couple of times a week when he was still
very young (I worked at a very small lab and there was no sick, vacation etc.
pay, time off was unpaid, period).  Due to Doug's craniofacial situation,
syringe feeding would send milk up his nose (through the cleft) and leave him
furious and gagging, he absolutely refused to suck milk from a saturated cloth,
the feeders that I was given to try (Haberman and Mead-Johnson Cleft Palate
Nurser) were a complete disaster--Doug wanted breast and nothing but breast was
going to do.  I had "pacified" Doug with my little finger from the time he was
a few days old, so he was familiar with comforting himself with a finger.  I
ended up seeing a LC and getting ahold of the Finger Feeder setup while it was
still in the prototype stage, the thing was a god-send for us.  I used a finger
cot with a hole poked in it for family members other than my husband, and the
feeder would stimulate Doug by stroking his palate when he would begin to get
upset at the situation.  He still would take only the bare minimum in this
manner, but it was better than him being 6 weeks old and going for 12 hours
with nothing, which is what he appeared to prefer.
Granted, finger feeding is probably not the preferred method, but it was one
way that improved my personal success with nursing at the breast a cleft
affected child.
Vickie (EDS II) and Gary  Doug 4/26/95 (UCL&AR, Kidney Anomaly) Meg due 5-6/98
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