Two unrelated questions--

1.  My colleague went to a session last summer at ILCA done by Linda Kutner who
recommended using olive oil to reduce friction when pumping.  We've since
started recommending this to moms who were getting sore from pumping (primarily
with non-nursing newborns) and the feedback has been very positive.  My question
for those of you who recommend this is:  does the kind of oil matter or will any
vegetable oil do?  We thought we'd get some small containers of oil to give out
when we start these moms pumping but you all know how cheap hospitals are and
olive oil is a lot more expensive than safflower or something.  Is there
something special about olive oil for this use?

2.  Yesterday at the hospital I saw a mother whose one-day-old was leaving
compression lines on her nipples after every feeding.  She tells me the same
thing happened with her first baby and her nipples came out pinched-looking the
entire four months she nursed him.  This baby's latch looked beautiful--wide
mouth, fish lips, chin into the breast, more lower areola than top, and lovely
swallowing.  I even tried latching him on to make sure that he was latched on
deeply and the results were the same.  Mom's nipples are of average length and
width, no tongue tie, no recessed chin, no traumatic birth.  The only thing I
noticed when he sucked on my finger was that the palate was more flat than
usual--I did not feel any biting or overly strong suction.  Is it possible that
his flatter palate (and maybe his brother's) could be responsible for the nipple
compression or am I missing something?  If this may be the cause, is there
anything to be done about it?

Thanks for any opinions from you wizards out there!

Becky Krumwiede, RN, IBCLC
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