Cathy Bargar writes:
>
>I find that so many parents really just can't quite cope with all the
>"other" stuff we think they should - cups, finger-fdg, droppers, SNS, at
>least not for all the fdgs. Often I'll rec. using the bottle for night-time
>fdgs (or whatever time period it is that they find most stressful - for many
>w/other young kids, it's the pre-dinnertime through evening stretch), and
>working with the baby at breast at other feeds.

I have noticed that there is less enthusiasm among HPs here  for cup
feeding of term babies who need to be fed and can't bf (for whatever
reason) - and we have never used finger feeding, droppers, or SNS much.

The alternative methods are awkward and difficult for the mother to do with
ease and grace - midwives who are experienced can cup feed a term baby
quite skilfully, but I am not happy for  a midwife to be feeding a baby
while the mother looks on, helpless.

However, a bottle can be given with a cuddle and with enjoyment from mother
and baby, and when the baby is not frantic, but rested and content, some
really good learning and practising about bf can take place.

The sad thing is that in almost every case I see where the baby has had to
be fed via an alternative means, the history of the feeding experience
explains why.....in a healthy, term baby, alternative feeding methods (and
the distress etc that have led up to them) need not have been necessary if
the right sort of support and practical help had been given at the right
time.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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