A comparative study of suckling acceptance between previous cup-fed and bottle-fed newborn.

ABSTRACT

A randomized double blind clinical trial was carried out at Siriraj Hospital in order to compare the suckling acceptance between previous cup-fed and bottle-fed newborn. Eight health term newborns were randomly assigned to one of the two studied groups. The first group received cup feeding, the other received bottle feeding for at least 24 hours after delivery. After returning to their mothers, newborn’s acceptance on breast feeding at the first time was observed while the previous method of feeding was blinded to the mother and the interviewer. The characteristics of both studied groups were comparable. No nipple confusion were found in all newborns that were cup-fed, 6 newborns (15%) from the bottle-fed group were found to have mild nipple confusion but all of them could be corrected by breast feediny training. Cup feeding should be employed in case of delayed breast feeding because of better suckling acceptance for breast feeding later on.