This article basically says nipple confusion is a myth!

[chewymama]

Truthfully I wouldn't know, none of my babies ever had bottles but still.
Theres one line that quotes a Dr. saying "Infants who prefer the bottle to the breast probably aren't nursing well to begin with. These babies most likely aren't getting what they need fro nursing. There may be a problem with latch on or the mother's milk supply."

Here's the link
http://www.parenting.com/parenting/b...039902,00.html

I think I'll write a letter, I think this article is setting women up for failure, and is definately encouraging bottle use.

[shishkeberry]

I saw that article, too. I get that crappy magazine every month. I have no doubt that it's free thanks to formula companies, so no wonder they'd print an article like that.

[gottaknit]

I wasn't able to access the entire article (just the first few paragraphs) without signing up on their website (No Thanks!), so the tone of the article may be very different as it progresses....

That said, I have wondered myself if the scare of "nipple confusion" isn't a bit overblown. I waited until DS was almost three months before introducing a bottle (of ebm). I was returning to work on a very parttime basis and wanted DH to be able to feed DS ebm while I was gone a few hours. It was a nightmare getting him to take a bottle. He would scream and cry and DH would have to call me to come home, and then I'd be crying and it would take a day or two for DS to recover (ie he nursed non-stop! ) He's 5 months now and it is still hit or miss with the bottle.

Our very pro-AP ped says she hears about this from a lot of her parents. I really think that with the next baby, I will introduce a bottle as soon as breastfeeding is established (no latch problems, etc), within the first month.

I would like to remind everyone that bottlefeeding does not equal formula feeding. It would be ideal if every woman was able to breastfeed 24/7, but realistically, some of us need to go to work (or school), and ebm in a bottle is still far superior to formula.

[gottaknit]

Originally Posted by chewymama

"Infants who prefer the bottle to the breast probably aren't nursing well to begin with. These babies most likely aren't getting what they need fro nursing. There may be a problem with latch on or the mother's milk supply."

With the exception of that last bit about "the mother's milk supply" : (unlikely), I really think there is a lot of truth to this statement. If a newborn baby prefers to eat from a strangely-shaped rubber nipple, instead of nuzzling and nursing from his/her mother's breast, than perhaps the latch or positioning is incorrect. Why else would the baby refuse to do what comes naturally?

Of course, the remedy for this would be support for the mother to help her learn better bf technique, not just giving up and switching to the bottle.

[wasabi]

The article may be misguided in blaming BFing in some way but LLL also believes that true nipple confusion is actually rare though of course heartbreaking to the BFing pair who experiences it.

[stafl]

With my oldest DD, introducing bottles had a humongous impact on our breastfeeding relationship, to the point of almost being the end of it. Yes, she already had problems with latch, weak suck, and was unable to stimulate a decent milk supply. Introducing bottles made those problems at least 20 times worse than they already were! For many women, who don't realize their babies have latch or suck problems, supplementing with bottles can very well mean the end of nursing altogether (everyone kept telling me we were doing everything right - one ped even said there must be something wrong with my milk!). Some babies do prefer the instant gratification that a bottle nipple provides, they don't have to work as hard to get the milk out. I do think the proper term would be "nipple preference" rather than "nipple confusion" but I know too many women in real life who just quit breastfeeding right after introducing bottles created severe difficulties that they just didn't have the support network in place to help them work through their problems.

[stafl]

Originally Posted by wasabi

The article may be misguided in blaming BFing in some way but LLL also believes that true nipple confusion is actually rare though of course heartbreaking to the BFing pair who experiences it.

yeah, add that to the list of reasons I don't go to LLL meetings, even though they meet in my neighborhood. : They totally downplayed the problems I was experiencing and offered no real/workable solutions. My baby would have starved to death if I had followed their advice to stop supplementing! Sure, that's great advice for the vast majority of moms, but it would have been disastrous for me, with a ped already threatening to hospitalize my baby against my will and not let me see her much less nurse her until she gained something like four pounds in two weeks *sigh*

[soccerchic21]

Originally Posted by chewymama

Theres one line that quotes a Dr. saying "Infants who prefer the bottle to the breast probably aren't nursing well to begin with. These babies most likely aren't getting what they need fro nursing. There may be a problem with latch on or the mother's milk supply."

WRONG!!!!

I "thought" my DD wasn't getting enough because I was uninformed and we added a bottle to her feeding and that totally screwed everything up. Thankfully we went to LLL got the proper help and fixed the problem before I totally lost my supply.

[wasabi]

Originally Posted by stafl

yeah, add that to the list of reasons I don't go to LLL meetings, even though they meet in my neighborhood. : They totally downplayed the problems I was experiencing and offered no real/workable solutions. My baby would have starved to death if I had followed their advice to stop supplementing! Sure, that's great advice for the vast majority of moms, but it would have been disastrous for me, with a ped already threatening to hospitalize my baby against my will and not let me see her much less nurse her until she gained something like four pounds in two weeks *sigh*

Just to clarify thinking nipple confusion is rare is not the same as ignoring it when it is there. It sounds like in your case there were many clear signs of an issue and any LLL Leader worth her salt and following the correct procedure for talking to you about your situation should have been able to identify it. I'm sorry you didn't get the help you needed there.

I simply meant that the majority of babies who do not have issues and are willing to take a bottle are able to go back and forth without artificial nipple preference issues (and I agree that's a better phrase). If someone were to ask about nipple confusion preemptively they would be told it was rare. However if someone comes in talking about a baby who has suddenly stopped gaining well or is fussy at the breast and it all started around the time bottles were introduced well then clearly this is something to be considered and addressed.

[Gidget]

I definitely think nipple preference is more prevalent than confusion. I have never had a child get confused. Not sure what to even look for on that. My first got to where he preferred the bottle. But there were many issues involved there. Like the article said, about baby not getting what he needed at the bf'ing. The other two got what they needed quite well and would not take ANY fake nipples.

I wonder if there are numbers on babies that have nipple preference. I would like to see that one.

[the_lissa]

I love what Jack Newman says about this. If there is no such thing as nipple confusion, why do these peopel all advocate giving a baby bottle early, so they can get used to it? If there is no confusion, what is the harm in waiting 6 weeks? These are usually the same ones telling you you better get your baby on a bottle or else they will prefer the boob.

[moondiapers]

all I have to say is POPPYCOCK, complete and udder RUBBISH, if I stay to elaborate on my experience I'll burst into tears....my dd had bad nipple confusion 8 1/2 years ago, and I still cry about it if I think about it too much.

[mama24-7]

Yes, it is a myth until it happens to you. I'm very lucky that dd didn't expereince it but a freind who had no problems when her dd was born *suddenly* started having problems after intro'ing a bottle at 3 or 4 weeks.

Just one more example of what the "experts" say about others babies when they have no real clue about the IRL baby.

Wish these people would just fall off the face of the earth.

Sus

[Lil'M]

As a "volunteer breastfeeding counselor" who lives near a hospital that is extremely unsupportive of breastfeeding, I get calls all the time from mothers who are struggling to nurse their babies who received bottles early on and now refuse to latch on. Call it nipple preference, confusion, whatever you want, but I've seen many babies, who when they see how the milk (or abm) flows easily from the bottle with very little effort, get upset with the effort it takes to make the milk flow while breastfeeding. I would say about half of the calls I get from mothers looking for help are dealing with this problem. Can some babies go back and forth between breast and bottle from day one with no problem? Sure. Can this problem also develop from a baby getting just one bottle in the hospital? I've seen it happen. To me, saying that nipple confusion is a myth sounds like formula companies' propaganda. After all, who benefits from breastfeeding's failure? If a mom just waits until breastfeeding is well established, which often takes just a few weeks, this problem is so much less likely to occur. But I've worked with too many heartbroken moms who struggle to get their baby to take the breast because some bottles were given early on. Of course nipple/bottle confusion/preference exists!

[Viola]

I've heard nipple confusion also called nipple preference, and I'm thinking that they aren't the same thing, but I think nipple preference is common.

My first daughter had artificial nipples from birth and developed a preference for the real thing and stopped taking a bottle after a few weeks. She had a poor latch for months, too.

My second daughter didn't get an artificial nipple for several months and she had a better latch and eventually started taking bottles when she was old enough for solids and I wanted to give her a little water. I tried her on a sippy cup, but we also had Avents in the house from my first and she would crawl around, find the bottle nipples and suck on them. She seemed to like them better than sippy cups.

In any event, if the baby has a preference for one over the other and is used to consuming milk in a certain way, the other way may be more difficult until the baby is at a certain developmental stage. It doesn't really matter if the baby is truly confused and doesn't know what to do, or just wants what he wants and cries and refuses the thing he doesn't want. Artificial nipples can cause latch issues, no doubt about it!

[kavamamakava]

Originally Posted by chewymama

"There may be a problem with latch on or the mother's milk supply."

Here's the link
http://www.parenting.com/parenting/b...039902,00.html

Duh. The REASON there may be a problem with latch is DUE to nipple confusion.