A lactation aid is a device that allows a breastfeeding mother to supplement her baby with expressed breastmilk, formula, glucose water with added colostrum or glucose water without using an artificial nipple.  The early use of an artificial nipple may result in the baby becoming "bottle spoiled" or "nipple confused" because it interferes with the way a baby latches on to the breast.  Actually, the baby is not confused.  The baby knows exactly what the score is.  If he goes to the breast and gets little milk and slow flow and then gets a bottle with rapid flow, especially in the first few days, most can figure that one out fairly quickly.

Why spankings, slaps, and even apparently harmless blows like pats on the hand are dangerous for a baby?

Breastfeeding mothers frequently ask how to know their babies are getting enough milk.  The breast is not the bottle, and it is not possible to hold the breast up to the light to see how many ounces or millilitres of milk the baby drank.  Our number obsessed society makes it difficult for some mothers to accept not seeing exactly how much milk the baby receives. 

However, there are ways of knowing that the baby is getting enough.  In the long run, weight gain is the best indication whether the baby is getting enough, but rules about weight gain appropriate for bottle fed babies may not be appropriate for breastfed babies.