nipple confusion

noun

The situation in which an infant has difficulty in switching between feeding on maternal nipples and artificial nipples (such as feeding bottles or pacifiers), often resulting in ineffective sucking or refusal to breastfeed.

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Meanings

nounnipple confusion (usually uncountable, plural nipple confusions)

plural nipple confusions

  1. uncountableusuallyThe situation in which an infant has difficulty in switching between feeding on maternal nipples and artificial nipples (such as feeding bottles or pacifiers), often resulting in ineffective sucking or refusal to breastfeed.

    The midwives and breastfeeding consultants that I saw scared me with stories of nipple confusion, so I was reluctant to try a bottle too early. This led to my baby refusing a bottle and, later, breast milk from a cup.

    2017 March 28, Carmen Fishwick, “'An unrealistic pressure': mothers on what it's like to breastfeed”, in The Guardian
Cite this entry
APA

nipple confusion. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nipple%20confusion

MLA

“nipple confusion.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nipple%20confusion. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nipple confusion,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nipple%20confusion.

Source: nipple confusion on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.