7.1 Feeding-line device at the breast or chest
There are various types of feeding-line devices commercially available; they can also be improvised. The supplemental milk is contained in a soft pouch or bottle, and a length of fine, soft tubing reaches from the milk receptacle to the breast at the nipple/areolar complex.

© Carole Dobrich

© Carole Dobrich
As the baby suckles at the breast with the feeding line also in his mouth, milk is removed from both the breast and the feeding-line device. This is an excellent method of providing supplemental milk:
- avoids any possibility of suck confusion
- stimulates milk production
- enhances the infant's suck vigor by creating a steady milk flow, and
- lessens the likelihood of breast refusal
When to choose an at-breast feed line
It may be very useful for:
- newborn requiring supplementation for medical reasons
- mothers/parents with a chronic low supply failing to thrive infants who are still willing to breastfeed
- infants with low tone (primary hypotonia or secondary due to underfeeding)
- some cases of breast refusal in the older infant who is frustrated with a slow milk flow
Clinical tip
Newborns learn that the breast is the place which provides all their needs. An at-breast feed line can rescue a breastfeeding relationship which is threatened by poor infant-breast association.
Consider a feed line as a first choice rather than a last resort and become proficient with its use so that you can confidently assist mothers.
How to use a tube-feeding device at the breast
Assemble what you need
- The feeding line device, assembled
- The supplement
- An alert baby who is willing to latch to the breast