Avoiding Nipple Confusion

Try to avoid rubber nipples, bottles or pacifiers. A baby that is unable to nurse may get even more confused if given rubber nipples to suck on. Drinking from a bottle is more physiologically stressful than nursing, and requires a whole different set of actions. Sometimes there may be a hospital policy involved.In a particular cardiac ICU, it was the policy that a baby be able to suck from a bottle, lying down, before being transferred to the ward. The theory was that if the baby could accomplish such a physically stressful feat without going into cardiac arrest, it was probably safe to move him/her into a less supervised setting.