by Michelle Stein posted in Parenting

When it comes to feeding babies, new parents typically fall into one of three categories: Breastfeeding, bottle feeding or some combination of the two. But have you ever heard of finger feeding"
Neither had I -- until I came across the story of Bridget Burke-Purdy from Ontario, Canada. I soon found out finger feeding isn't just a term for older babies learning how to self-feed with table food. (Think finger food.) It's also a way to deliver breast milk or formula to a child using your finger and a feeding tube.

Photo by Paper Reflections Photography
So why might parents choose this unconventional feeding method" For Burke-Purdy, it was because she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma while she was six months pregnant with her third child, Rowan. At the time, she was still nursing her 2-year-old daughter and had plans to tandem nurse, just as she'd done with her first two children. All of that changed when cancer entered the equation. I had the opportunity to engage in a little Q&A with Burke-Purdy about her finger feeding journey. Here's what she shared with BabyCenter.
Q: Did you know much about finger feeding before you tried it" Can you explain how it works"
A: "I can?t say I was an expert. I ran a peer-support nursing moms group for several years in my community so I was educated enough to know the mechanics and its purpose -- to more closely mimic nursing from the breast in order to bridge the ga...