Dear Laura, I've found that you have to go with what the parents are comfortable with or can cope with. There are different degrees of stress, pain, exhaustion etc. and all of this has to be taken into consideration. Also it is important to know what you are trying "to fix", baby who can't suck, or simply needs some extra calories or fluids PDQ. It also helps to know what you are most familiar with and handy with. I've had good success with finger feeding, I have a friend who has good luck with cup feeding and we've both been "stuck" with babies who get addicted to the supplemental method. If mom can't cope with an SNS, sometimes the only answer to preserving BF is to use a shield. I guess my point is - aren't we lucky that we are aware and use alternatives that weren't available years ago with more babies getting back to the breast in a relatively intact fashion with intact parents :-) in as short a period of time as possible. There isn't any one right way or solution to a problem, be flexible is my motto. Sincerely, Pat in SNJ *********************************************** 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