For the most part, Jack's mom and I had communicated by e-mail and phone, with only 2 real visits  through his first 8 weeks.  I finally suggested that she and Jack come for an entire afternoon, so I could watch his behavior and we could talk through diet, routines, whatever.  And I was hoping that - perhaps - we could finally find a way to bring Jack to breast.

Shortly after they came, Jack started fussing.  She offered a few sips from a bottle, and I suggested that we try the nipple shield again.  As it turned out, it was simply that her hand crowded the shield - no space for Jack to attach well.  When she moved her had completely out of the way... Jack latched and sucked.  Her milk let down, he swallowed, and they relaxed into a lovely nursing.  He had a bit of stomach tension and fussing afterwards, but his stomach was not as tense as usual.  We both had the sense that his fussing at this point was partly just *fear* of pain, rather than actual pain.  For the rest of the afternoon, they nursed.  No bottles.  And Jack was considerably less fussy.

The next day, aside from one bottle of her milk, Jack nursed.  A lot.  It seemed to her that he was just sipping, so the one bottle (and some pumping) reassured her.  Their night was much calmer.  The next day was better still, and he slept with his parents that night.  The whole family had the best, deepest, longest sleep they'd had in weeks, but his diaper wasn't very wet in the morning.  His stooling pattern changed from every diaper to perhaps 3 a day, for a smaller total daily amount.  

Life was a whole lot better for everyone, but they came back after 48 hours for a weight check.  I suspected that he might be taking less and feeling better as a result, and braced mom for a weight loss.  But lo and behold, he seems to be gaining about the same as before!  Perhaps his smaller stool volume reflects better absorption?  His latch on the shield isn't always great, but he triggers let-downs easily and it isn't unusual for him to take himself off when her milk releases.  I'm guessing that, for the moment, he's guarding against too great an intake at a time and perhaps even using the shield to help slow the flow.  He takes small amounts at very frequent intervals, and is simply a different baby.  For now, we're not worrying about the shield.  For now, we just want him to forget that meals ever brought pain.  

I talk often, at conferences, about how important the process (breastfeeding) is, despite our keen focus on the product (breastmilk).  Jack seems to be proof that sometimes the process can make all the difference.  Jack - pure and simple - is a baby who needed to breastfeed. 

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY  USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html