Hello, Diane. I can't answer your questions about empty bottles and whether or not baby gets more air, or if it matters. But you also asked, "By not covering the holes with milk, do you find that the baby has to suck to drink, as opposed to swallowing in self-defense?" What I have seen over the years is, if the parents are *truly* using a slow-flow nipple, the hungry baby will have to suck if he wants to fill up his belly anytime soon. I always tell parents that when they buy a package of nipples marked "slow-flow", they should test the nipples. Sometimes, the nipples aren't slow, no matter what the packaging says. I tell them to put water in the bottle and hold the bottle horizontally. Then tip the bottle to 8:00 or 4:00 (depending on whether they are left- or right-handed). The water should drip out very slowly. If it drip, drip, drips very quickly, or just plain streams out, it's not a slow-flow nipple. All brands make mistakes once in a while, and some brands make more mistakes than others, so parents should always check the nipples before first use. But if we use a true slow-flow nipple and sit the baby upright, baby is not swallowing in self-defense. He has to work for his dinner. And he doesn't get overfed, because he simply stops sucking, like he would at breast, and the milk is *not* flowing from a slow-flow nipple. Because the babies are not drowning, they can suck-swallow-breath like they do at breast. Because they don't swallow a lot of air this way, I usually see babies finishing 3/4 of the feeding or even the entire feeding before they need to stop for a burp (winding), just like they finish the whole breast before they (usually) need to be burped (winded). The babies I have seen who get squirmy and need to stop and let out loud burps when bottle-fed this way are the babies who are having sucking problems that keep them from maintaining a good seal around the nipple, such as dropping the lip away from the nipple when the jaw is lowered for a suck. These babies get more air, and definitely get more uncomfortable, but it's because of the air they suck in *around* the nipple, not air they are getting *through* the nipple. Hope this helps, and I'll be interested to see if anyone else has experience to answer your question about the empty nipple. Dee Dee Kassing, BS, MLS, IBCLC Collinsville, Illinois, in central USA *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html