These archives contain extracts from discussions held on the UK Midwives and Consumers email list, a discussion group for people interested in midwifery in the UK. Open to midwives, students, mothers, and anyone interested in improving maternity services in UK. Posts in these archives express the views of the individual authors, and not those of the Association of Radical Midwives.
Hello everyone,
i wonder if any of you wise listees have ever heard cup-feed decribed as force-feeding
a baby? i always understood this method of feeding a breastfed baby to be better
than bottle feeding, however while at work today (I am a student midwife), i
was told that they didn't cup feed babies as it was thought to be force feeding
and made the babies choke...when I have seen babies cup feed, the feed is baby-led
and they almost lap the milk and it is never poured into the baby's mouth. I
would have thought that it is easier to "force feed" a baby with a
bottle or syringe feed than a cup, and so to describe this as being like abuse
new to me. Is this something you have come accross? I would really be interested
to know - thanks,
I had to cup feed dd2 for well over a week when she was 2 weeks old and it
is nothing like drinking from a cup. You tip the milk so that it just reaches
their lips and they lap away like little kittens. It is wonderful to see and
so near to the breastfeeding action that she just went straight back to the
breast without missing a beat.
Lucy
No, but I recall cup feeding my daughter (as recommended by the hospital) and
it didn't seem like force feeding to me - I just tipped the cup at her lips
and she would lap up the milk. It felt very different to the one time when she
was force fed - she got
gastroenteritis and couldn't be woken up at all easily and I had to put water
in a bottle and squeeze in to her mouth when she was awake just to get fluids
in to her, fortunately she got better fairly soon and didn't need to be admitted.
Karen
There has been one paper I know of which discovered that some babies when cup fed had difficulty in co-ordinating their breathing....can't put my hands on it, sorry. It would certainly be possible to cup feed in a way that felt like forcing it, though.
Cup feeding, bottle feeding, feeding with a nursing supplementer etc are simply
tools to be chosen appropriately in the circumstances when a baby is not able
to breastfeed direct. There is no evidence that cup feeding is inherently better
than bottle feeding in all circumstances. The idea that babies get 'confused'
and unable to suck from a breast if bottle fed and
should therefore be cup fed is controversial...for some babies and some circumstances
a bottle is entirely the right tool, and for others a cup is better.
For example, a newborn taking 5 mls of expressed colostrum is probably better with a cup, because some of that 5 mls of colostrum in a bottle is going to stick to the sides.
Heather
NCT bfc, tutor
In the hospital setting, there is more of an argument for cup over bottle feeding. Quite simply, evidence shows a strong correlation between the giving of a bottle in hospital and early cessation of b/f. In our culture, a bottle is associated with formula, not breast milk. When given correctly, studies have shown no evidence of increased incidence of choking.
Babies can be seen to cough and splutter during a bottle, cup or, indeed, a breastfeed. Also, the evidence pertaining to nipple confusion seems to show thatthe important factor is whether the baby has ever been successfully to the breast. If the first feeds are from a bottle, then moving to the breast is more likelt to require the input from a skilled b/f specialist. If, however,the baby has been b/f nicely and is just "having a break" for one reason or another, the baby is more likely to go back to the breast with ease.
Of course, each case must be taken on it's own merits and no one rule fits
all.
Yours
Rachel
True.......but this says nothing at all about whether cups are any better! The evidence Rachel cites here comes from (I assume) the 5-yearly survey which asks mothers if their baby was given bottles of formula in hospital. Mothers are not asked if their baby was cup fed. Without the question, we have no answers.
A better question would be if the baby was given supplements and if so how.
I have just stopped cup feeding my baby. I did it for 4 and a half weeks as he completely refused the breast and went down from 5lb 140z to 4lb 10oz.
He never sucessfully went to the breast until a week ago and I believe that
cup feeding along with tremendous support from
midwives, health visitors and bfc's are the reason why I am now breastfeeding
my baby. Maybe a bottle wouldn't have confused him, but it wasn't a chance I
wanted to take.
I did use a syringe for the first 3 days as we just needed to get milk into
him anyway so he wouldn't dehydrate. Cup feeding was a
little messy, sometimes he would fight it and I would spill some, but mostly
he lapped it up.
LW updated June 4, 2005