Well, I was trained with p-syringes, but since supplementers are so
popular and well used, I have been trying them out with the moms who
already have them or request them. I have a mom right now whose baby
never latched, who pumped with a NIII but had her milk supply drop to
1-2oz a day by 2.5 mos; she decided to make a concerted effort to
breastfeed, and we set her up with the supplementer that she already had
on had. In the beginning, we could put baby to breast with the device
turned off and let him catch the foremilk and any MER first, then we
would open it up. (I should mention that with some positioning work, I
got him to breast in a couple of minutes--- wish she had called me the
first day instead of 2 mos later!) He seemed to love this, but over a two
week period has become more and more fussy about feeding at the breast
despite good flow, and intolerant of taking the first milk before the
feed. I see him "sucking" rather than suckling, and her milk supply
almost seems to be going backwards rather than forwards. I had her
pumping afterwards as she could fit into her day....... and I am
discouraged for her. My experience with supplementers so far has been
that many babies learn to suck and do not necessarily learn to suckle and
strip properly. Comments?

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Lisa Marasco, BA, LLLL, IBCLC
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