The question has come up--- With all that we're now hearing about latix allergies, what about the use of artificial teats? Our Phila. Sunday paper had a large article on the subject of latex allergy, especially in health care workers. The only mention of artificial nipples was in the last paragraph where they said that gloves are usually made with a liquid form of latex, and artificial nipples with a more stable solid form,probably less likely to cause problems. (The same sentence said that no problems related to latex condom use have been reported!) This doesn't do much to address the issue. I know that there are cases of latex allergies in babies who are bottle fed---I don't have time to go through my articles right now. But there needs to be research done on this issue. Does such early and repeated exposure increase the risk of sensitivity later in life? And what about people who actually follow package instructions and boil the nipples, are they increasing risk? And those who don't throw them out the minute they get 'sticky'. this is scary. Debi Ferrarello, RN, IBCLC, who found that if her nipples got 'sticky', it was probably from something her kids were eating, and DEFINITELY not from boiling!:)