Dear Debbie,
I much appreciated your frank discussion of nipple shields.  I have only used
them once myself, after working with a mom for 2 1/2 weeks at repeated home
visits.  This mom had a copious milk supply, had an electric pump and I felt
she was a good candidate for keeping her supply up without too much extra
effort.  Eventually her baby did go back to BF and I think the act of feeding
her baby at the breast helped her to hang in there until he was ready.   I
have also seen babies (not my clients) get hooked & moms continue to use the
shields as their milk supplies gradually dwindle.

A large portion of my practice consists of nipple confusion cases and I have
wondered if I should be more ready to suggest nipple shields.  It seems in
many cases that if a mom has already used a bottle, which led to complication
of her BF problem in the first place, she is more likely to get burned out on
alternative feeding and decide to wean.  Your guidelines for use in your
practice sound reasonable.  Would you send me a copy of you consent form
through e-mail if you have it on disc?

As an LLLL, I had learned that nipple shields are a no-no and used by the
misinformed.  However, I try to keep an open mind about different methods &
tools, as I believe we have to use whatever works for the mom & baby we are
working with and no one technique works for everyone.   After reading your
post, I'm rethinking my prejudice against nipple shields.  Looking forward to
the JHL addressing this issue.  Love to hear other comments on this issue.

Ro K. Andersen, IBCLC, LLL, voting that we keep Debbie in our ranks
Winchester (near Boston), Massachusetts, USA
Ro [log in to unmask]