Hello everyone, When I have seen sleepy, fatigued babies who needed urgent supplementation, I wondered if a small sterile dropper could be effective? The quantities are tiny-just a few mls and so easy to dribble gently onto a baby’s lips and into their mouth. It seemed to me a lot less invasive than bottle feeding when the supp was essential. Also mums who are favouring the bottle may be more receptive to it. I noted in the recent discussion on supp techniques that the dropper was not mentioned, so I searched the archives and found many references in 1995 and 1996 but nothing since. Is a dropper no longer a recommended strategy in these (rare) situations? Has there been a shift in thinking since then, based on something I have missed? My 3rd child was born with a palsy that affected her facial tone, making it impossible for her to maintain a seal around the breast longer than 3 sucks before she would fall off and need to re-attach. This pattern of feeding continued over many months until slowly the number of sucks increased-4 then off, 5 then off etc, but the pattern of shallow suckling was too entrenched to change by 12 months of age when she could finally sustain normal feeding. We tried every alternative to feed her during the occasional times when my nipple pain was unbearable, and the most successful method was by far the dropper. I am not going to suggest something to mums simply on the strength that it worked well for me, but wondered what other’s opinions are here. I've been out of the loop lately... Best wishes, Meg Kingsley IBCLC Australia No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.488 / Virus Database: 269.14.11/1071 - Release Date: 15.Oct.2007 06:48 *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html Mail all commands to [log in to unmask] To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask]) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask]) To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]