Assunta:  In my limited experience, I had one situation with a mother I
first saw on day 7 postpartum, with very low milk supply and a baby
refusing to latch.  In brief, the mother had been supplementing freely
with a bottle, the baby was jaundiced and ped had told her to stop
nursing.  All attempts to get this baby latched, even after feeding an
ounce via medicine dropper to calm him down, were met with screams and
frustration after a couple of sucks.  Mother's nipples were on the flat
side and her breasts were firm but not engorged.  A nipple shield with an
SNS worked wonders, and within 3 days mom had weaned the baby from the
supplement, within 2 more days the nipple shield was gone.  There was no
problem with blockage of the tubing under the shield.  Hope this helps,
Alicia.  [log in to unmask]