ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the subtext about breast- as opposed to bottle-feeding and explores by raising several queries about the practice of infant observation. The emotional climate for the ‘nursing couple’ is reciprocally determined and the feeding experience, whether breast or bottle, is both indication and function of the quality of the relationship between them. Unlike the bottle, breastfeeding is distinguished by variations in volume and composition of milk and its accessibility, which differs from beginning of the feed to its mid-point of burping before beginning the second breast. In the exquisitely balanced economy of breastfeeding, supply follows demand, as the mother’s milk production itself waxes and wanes in accordance with the infant’s needs. Breast milk has built-in advantages of delivering antibodies and being available ‘on tap’ rather than necessitating sterilized bottles and teats, scooping and mixing the formula and heating it to the correct temperature.
