<No wrestling anyone into submission...They can't nurse at first anyway, or they'd have BEEN nursing.> Barbara - You've just summed up my approach and philosophy very neatly! And I think this principle of non-struggling is absolutely key for babies (and especially moms!) who are having a rough time at first. I myself am one of the most relexively contrary souls you would ever know, as is one of my twin daughters, and I've learned this the hard way. (Mostly I've learned it from babies and their mothers, in fact!) The only thing I would add to your 3 "rules" is abundant support for mom (and any other family members you can get your hands on). I have almost limitless trust that, once you've ruled out and corrected the things that are "wrong", babies WILL come to the breast, unless the mother has been so distressed and jerked about that *she* withdraws from the process in some way. As my therapist used to say, "Trust the Process". Breastfeeding and all that flows from it is an inherently trustworthy part of life. I TOTALLY trust babies (even more than moms), because ultimately they are driven by powerfully evolved survival needs. When it isn't working, something is wrong, whether or not we know what it is. For me, that's the bottom line. I think that we have a really awe-inspiring opportunity to help women learn this as we work with them through barriers to this experience of nsg. the way it's meant to be. Cathy Bargar RN< IBCLC Ithaca NY *********************************************** 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