Unfortunately, this practice is apparantly not that uncommon. A couple years ago we learned it was being used in our NICU and the practice had spread to the mom/baby unit on nights. The nurses seemed to know that the "powers that be" would not like the practice, as it was done surreptitiously for some time. The real corker was that the pharmacy was supplying the syrup whenever requested! The department head learned about the practice and let it be known that it was to cease immediately. The "stash" of syrup was thrown away, only to be discovered back again a few days later hidden a little further away. I believe they may still use it with the neonatologist's blessing for some NICU babies, but it appears it has been eliminated from the mom/baby unit. This is reminiscent of the vanilla flavored pacifiers we had problems with a few years ago. In addition to the generic reasons not to use pacifiers, the babies were getting "hoked" on the taste and parents would come back to the unit desparate to get another one as they could not be purchased anywhere. Now is anyone surprised that this particular demon was provided "gratis" by a formula company?! Winnie Mading, IBCLC etc.- no longer surprised at what those companies will devise to get their product into babies and thus the parents' money into their pockets! *********************************************** 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