Welli tell moms that the latch is good if it is comfortable AND also milk is removed effectively. I have a pet peeve about pictures of latch in materials for mom. Some of the covers of some important bf books have photos of older babies, but it would not be a picture i would show to a mom to represent a good latch. take for example the Breastfeeding Answer Book, not necessarily meant for mothers, but nurses will see all the photos on the cover. I realize that all are totally appropriate photos of babies nursing happily, but they are not all photos of what i would call a "good latch" that i would teach a new mom. I don't have the book in front of me but I received a copy this week and it really struck me about those cover shots. Maybe those photos could be moved to later in the text.? Here in rural Mississippi I sometimes use the example "have you ever been fishing?" Invariably the mom and dad will answer "yes!" Then I proceed with "have you ever hooked a fish but you didn't quite have him hooked securely, and sure enough he came off the hook before you got him in the net?" They answer "yes" to this. Well this is like latch-on. He might look latched, and he sorta is, but he is not attached securely enough to get milk. We've got to really get him hooked on. I also try to explain to moms that with a truly good latch, baby will get alot more milk, esp. with the thick colostrum. I also sometimes use the analogy of 2 hoses connected together. If the connection is loose, there is a leak and not a good connection for the fluid to flow from point A to point B. Laurie Wheeler, IBCLC, MN, RN Mississippi, s.e. USA *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html