I, too, have had good success with finger feeding. The typical infant is male, screams and fights at breast. I also saw this more commonly with epidurals that were backed up with another dose shortly before delivery, vacuum extraction also a common factor. (I've always wondered if others have seen the same pattern). If you cup feed, he becomes as addicted to that as a bottle! Finger feeding reinforces BF position, closeness, smell and touch. The longest hold out was a little boy who waited 18 days to forget why he was mad at the breast. (Mom got quite expert at expressing). We finally tricked him onto the breast with a nipple shield with SNS tucked under it! Mom got rid of the shield in about 2 days and he went on to nurse for almost 1 year. I personally use cups if I just want to get calories and/or liquids into baby and finger feeding, if there is a suck problem. I always prefer to use mom's milk to increase the recognition of taste and smell. Another thing that I noted at a hospital that had 75% epidural rate. Their babies were all encouraged to be put to breast in LDR room or recovery room. Babies weren't wisked away to nursery for about an hour. These babies didn't seem to have the same "epidural effect" that I had seen frequently at the other hospital where mother/baby separation was the rule after delivery. The early opportunity to nurse had a significant impact on the infant's ability to nurse. Pat Young in SNJ, USA