Friends, This is a pretty simplistic counseling technique for moms with very sore nipples, but I've found that it works really well to put the mom at ease and open up for productive discussion. When we're discussing proper positioning and attachment, I explain that it is normal for her to have some fear and mixed feelings about feeding. I say something like, "Your brain is telling you to do two opposite things at once. Your right brain says, no, don't put the baby on the breast, it hurts! It's protecting you from being in pain. But your left brain says, I'm a mom, my baby needs me, I have to feed my baby, I want to feed my baby." The light bulb goes off and I usually hear, "Yes! That's exactly it!" Then we can talk about how mom wants to proceed---does she want to try putting the baby to breast armed with her new knowledge about positioning and attachment, or is she more comfortable expressing for a day or two? Would a combination of the two work? What kind of healing techniques is she most comfortable with (breastmilk, Lansinoh, hydrogels?) Of course, what kind of technique I'm most comfortable with matters, too! I think it's just part of letting the mom make her own informed choices. Barbara Ash, IBCLC *********************************************** 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