Sheri, >"Nonsense; four & a-half month >old babies don't develop nipple confusion!!" I have known several mother-baby pairs with similar problems at this age. It sounds more like what I have heard called "rate confusion" which is different than nipple confusion. It is a lot easier and faster to slam down a bottle of something than to work harder at the breast. Four month olds are notoriously distractable nursers under the best of circumstances. They are just becoming aware of the outside world and nursing isn't as interesting or worth working at for a while. It is a period when undisturbed nursing in a quiet place may be necessary for a few weeks. Most babies go through this brief, but frustrating period and then become avid nursers again. At four months my second child would only nurse when I was laying down on my bed in complete quiet and darkness (during the day or night) with all the shades pulled for about six weeks. (Some trick with a 3.5 year old brother around.) She refused to nurse under any other circumstances. This was especially frustrating because my son had been willing to nurse anywhere, any time. Having had experience with a previous child and worked with a lot of women in LLL - we got through this period because I knew it wasn't ME and it wasn't that breastfeeding didn't work. This same child who didn't want to take the time to nurse is now a hardcore nurser at age two! It is also important to know that breastfed babies do not follow those growth charts that are published by ABM companies and based on formula fed babies. Did you have LLL or another support group available to you? Sometimes just knowing that this is a typical situation that needs support and patience can help you through those difficult times. Marie ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Marie Schulte LLLL & MOM from the computer known as [log in to unmask] ;-) Visit the La Leche League of Madison web page at: http://www.terracom.net/~mjstoy/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~