Coach Smith here again. I completely agree with Barbara Wilson-Clay's post.

Climbing up onto a soapbox, using my neuromuscular coordination skills.....

It's FAR past the time that we acknowledge the fact that that not all babies
can suck well. We need to stop blaming the victims (the moms) for all
breastfeeding problems. And for that matter, the docs and nurses who feed
babies some other way if breastfeeding isn't going well.

The baby's mouth is more than a black hole into which we can poke a breast
and magic happens - milk gets out of the breast and into the baby. I
calculated that there are 6 cranial nerves, 60 muscles, and 34 cranial bones
involved in suck-swallow-breathe. It's a very, very complex set of actions
involving reflex, response, and deliberate action/behavior. I can think of
no other muscle activity that is THAT complex, anywhere else in the body, or
in a person's entire lifetime. Nor as dangerous to the organism if the
activity is not coordinating well.

The baby must get breathing right FIRST. Then, eating comes next. If they
can't breathe and eat, they have a HUGE problem. Mothers are smart - they
often find at least one way that the baby can eat. Whenever someone tells me
the baby prefers a bottle, I believe that we should assume the baby has a
problem with suck-swallow-breathe unless PROVEN otherwise.

Some years ago when my mother was dying from emphysema, some days she could
not breathe AND eat so she often chose to breathe rather than eat. So she
got weaker, which made it harder to breathe, which meant she couldn't eat as
much, and round and round. Babies can get trapped in the same downward
spiral.

Bottom line?  Watch the baby. If the baby is not feeding well at breast,
there is a problem with the baby that needs skilled, sensitive help. This is
often more than a breastfeeding problem. Collaboration is the name of the
game. Let's not simply blame the solution (the bottle, for example) - let's
find the reason for the problem and work to correct it.

Climbing down now, still breathing AND walking at the same time.....

Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre
Dayton, OH USA
http://www.bflrc.com