Cup-feeding for low-birth-weight infants unable to fully breastfeed

Every year, more than 20 million infants are born weighing less than 2.5kg – over 96% of them in developing countries. These low-birth-weight (LBW) infants are at increased risk of early growth retardation, infectious disease, developmental delay and death during infancy and childhood.

Most LBW is a consequence of preterm birth, small size for gestational age, or both.

Interventions to improve the feeding of LBW infants are likely to improve the immediate and longer-term health and well-being of the individual infant and have a significant impact on neonatal and infant mortality levels in the population.

WHO recommends that LBW infants should be fed mother's own milk. If these infants cannot be fed mother's own milk, they should be fed donor human milk (in settings where safe and affordable milk banking facilities are available or can be set up) or standard infant formula.

LBW infants who are unable to breastfeed can be fed by alternative oral feeding methods such as bottle-feeding or cup-feeding. Studies comparing these methods have shown that cup-feeding improves exclusive breastfeeding rates at discharge but these benefits are not sustained. Cup-feeding is also associated with prolonged hospital stays. However, as cups are easier to clean than bottles, cup-feeding could potentially reduce the risk of severe infections such as diarrhoea.