RE:  the breech c/s baby who will only nurse with a nipple shield.  It
sounds as if the selection of a nipple shield was a good option for this
compromised infant who was totally refusing the breast.  Breech position and
exposure to c/s meds can result in a baby with rigid muscles and perhaps
depressed reflexes.  These babies sometimes have difficulty "locating" the
maternal nipple, esp. after exposure to the super-sign, larger-than-life
stimulus of a bottle teat.  If you use a shield to transition them to
breast, it often works well.  The difficulty here seems to be the speed at
which the LC and mom are trying to wean baby off the shield.  If baby gained
3 oz in just a few days, then intake is ok.  The fact that the breasts are
not being well-drained can be temporarily compensated by using pump -- which
mom has been chained to full-time, so a little post-feed pumping should feel
like a picnic.  If you switch to the newborn small size shield (not newborn
standard, which is too tall and too big around for most newborns) then the
baby will do better draining the breast.  As baby stabilizes and comes to
trust that being at the breast produces a full tummy, he/she will do the
weaning off the shield naturally.  What is the point in taking away a crutch
before the broken leg has healed?  It just produces frustration.  Better a
baby at breast with a shield than to lose the lactation -- which is what
will happen if mom conts. the pumping/bottle feeding regimen much longer.
Hope this helps.

Barbara Wilson-Clay, BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates, Austin, Texas
http://www.jump.net/~bwc/lactnews.html

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html