Place this in your file for "nightmares to avoid".

I received a call from a frantic mother whose baby has refused to
breastfeed wtihout a nipple shield. Baby is now 1 year old and still
nursing, but only with shield.  (Has grown well throughout and is otherwise
like any other breastfeeding baby-child of her age).

Mother was frantic because her in-laws LOST the shield and baby would not
nurse without it when she got home from wrok.  She sent her husband over to
get another one at 10PM so she could calm baby down before falling into
bed.  Of course, I saw him.

When he arrived and we chatted while he was paying for a new shield, he
happened to mention that when he watches the baby (he works nights and is
usually home with baby while his wife is working), she (the baby) often
will pop the shield in her mouth and walk around the house with it in her
mouth, sucking as if on a pacifier.  Now, I have to tell you I nearly
screamed in horror at this, imagining (as I am sure you are, too) what
might happen if she sucked the entire thing into her mouth.  Trying as hard
as possible not to turn white, I suggested that this was not a safe thing
to do and mentioned that other children have choked on pacifiers that were
pulled too deeply into the mouth or pushed in when child fell forward while
pacifier was in the mouth, etc.

He paused in mid check-writing and said, "oh. I never thought of that." He
then assured me he would try to keep baby from doing that.

I know there are four little holes in the nipple shield, but I wonder if
that would be sufficient air to prevent a disaster.  Just thought I would
share this to give a heads up to anyone else who occasionally sees a mother
whose baby insists on using a nipple shield in ways we might not have
thought of ourselves.

How much I learn from clients by letting them tell their stories....




Def. of LC service: "We are all faced with a series of great opportunities
brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."
Kathleen G. Auerbach,PhD, IBCLC (Homewood, IL)- [log in to unmask]
WEB PAGE: http://www.mcs.com/~auerbach/lactation.html
LACTNET archives http://library.ummed.edu/lsv/archives/lactnet.html