Cup feeding associated with longer hospital stays

Specialties NICU

Published

Saw this posted at work. Average 10 day longer stay for cup fed babies!!?? I can imagine insurance companies pitching fits about that!

Of course this was a study with premature infants, not term infants.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070417194215.htm

Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
Saw this posted at work. Average 10 day longer stay for cup fed babies!!?? I can imagine insurance companies pitching fits about that!

Of course this was a study with premature infants, not term infants.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070417194215.htm

Thanks for the article. I've never seen or done cup feeding, and I hope to never do it. Some of our premies are in the hospital too long because parents only want to gavage feed and never give a bottle. The babies become lazy and take forever to learn to breast feed. I always mention trying a bottle along with breastfeeding so these babies can get home sooner. I odn't believe in nipple confusion.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in neonatal/paeds.

personally i detest cup feeding, and feel that finger feeding is even more barbaric and confusing (not to mention hard work!) for the baby.

baby friendly should be about informed choice, not guilt tripping the mother!

rant over

:banghead:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU.

CUP FEEDING?????

crazy! I can NOT imagine doing that at all...

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU, adult med-tele.

:yeah:Teeheehee, so much fun, cupfeeding. Syringe feeding is even more ridiculous! Im with you guys, I wish someone would do a really good study of nipple confusion...

Up Vote Up Vote ×

What is finger feeding? A few ideas pop into my mind, but none that I want to do. I've seen nipple confusion. But I think that a lot of times if a matter of getting mom to the bedside regularly to breast feed.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

Finger feeding: Put a glove on your right hand, take a feeding tube and tape it securely to the last 2 phalanges of your index finger (palm side). Cradle the baby as usual. Take 10 or 20 ml syringe fill of the milk of your choice (I don't recommend chocolate), get the baby to suck on your finger, and gradually drip the feeding into the baby's mouth via the feeding tube.

Bon appetit!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU.
Finger feeding: Put a glove on your right hand, take a feeding tube and tape it securely to the last 2 phalanges of your index finger (palm side). Cradle the baby as usual. Take 10 or 20 ml syringe fill of the milk of your choice (I don't recommend chocolate), get the baby to suck on your finger, and gradually drip the feeding into the baby's mouth via the feeding tube.

Bon appetit!!

And THAT'S not going to confuse the baby? Holy moley.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Wow, that sounds like a lot of work. Have studies actually shown that finger feeding works?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU.
Wow, that sounds like a lot of work. Have studies actually shown that finger feeding works?

I don't think any of it actually "works", meaning that the baby doesn't get nipple confused (no such thing, IMO). But it probably works in making the parents feel better and relieves some of their unfound fears.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PICU/NICU.

"And THAT'S not going to confuse the baby? Holy moley"

Ditto!!!

Oh, and has anyone ever seen those "fake boobs "with the tubing at the end??? You guys know what I'm talking about... it has an acronym. It is like a canteen for breast milk that you wear(mom or dad) with a syringe that the EBM comes out of and then you finger feed the baby so as not to "confuse" them with a bottle!!!:chuckle

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU.

Don't get me wrong .... I'm all for breastfeeding and advocate for it and help moms out as much as I can. But the nipple confusion theory just doesn't match with what I've seen and had experience with.

I see many preemies go from learning how to drink from a bottle, then after mastering the suck/swallow/breathe thing, they will latch onto the breast and go home breastfeeding like a champ.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I don't think any of it actually "works", meaning that the baby doesn't get nipple confused (no such thing, IMO). But it probably works in making the parents feel better and relieves some of their unfound fears.

I don't think that I would feel better by having someone stick their fingers in my kids mouth to feed them. Gloved or not.

I'm with RainDreamer. I only have 1 yr experience, but I've seen kids go from the bottle to breast with little to no problems.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment