I have to agree with Heather with respect to a change of attitude with
regard to nipple confusion after spending a week with Chloe Fisher and Sally
Inch. It simplified my thinking and the way I work with mothers. I now
have no problem working with bottles and nipples, as long as the mother is
pumping in order to protect the milk supply, and using the nipples in a way
that resembles suckling.
I now try to teach hospital nurses that if they HAVE to give a baby a
bottle,( unfortunately, there are still too many excuses to do that in the
first few days,) to do it in a way that will cause as little damage as
possible to the breastfeeding. To just tickle the baby's lips until he opens
wide, instead of screwing the nipple into the baby's mouth makes a big
difference. Yes, those awful rubber nipples that the artificial milk
companies so generously supply with their cute little bottles of milk are
the worst. The flow is too fast and the babies thrust their tongues against
the nipple to stop the flow. Later they come to breast and do the same
tongue thrust and this forces the nipple out of their mouths. We suggest
that mothers who have to use bottles, use nipples with a longer teat and
wider base to mimic the tongue action that the baby uses at the breast.
Now when I am teaching hospital nurses, I explain that we cannot get every
mother and baby breastfeeding in the 48 hours that they are with us. If the
baby is not latching, we have to give the mother very clear instructions on
pumping, and bottle feeding and refer them to outpatient clinics for
continued care. About 40% of the babies I am seeing in the first 2 days do
not latch before release from hospital.
All the babies we have worked with in our clinic eventually breastfed if the
mom stuck with it long enough, and if she pumped sufficiently to maintain
milk supply.
We had babies who latched for the first time at 2 1/2 weeks, 2 months, 4
months, and all were bottle fed with a technique that protected and
resembled breastfeeding. The moms found this much easier than using
syringes, tubes, finger feeding, etc.
It was all in the psitioning and assymetric latch and I thank Chloe and
Sally for giving me this important piece of the puzzle. I wonder if I will
ever get the whole picture.
Looking forward to participating in the seminars with Barbara Wilson-Clay,
Kay Hoover, and other greats this summer in Arlington!!
Esther Grunis, IBCLC
Lis Maternity Hospital
Tel Aviv
Breastfeeding Medical Center
Moshav Udim
Israel
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