Cindy,
One thing I didn't see in your report was whether or not she had
tried skin-to-skin cuddling.  (Of course, with return to work
looming, the time for this will be limited-too bad it wasn't started
earlier.)  I also remind parents of babies who seem to be rejecting
the breast that baby should spend at least as much cuddle time in
the vicinity of the breast as "work" time.  If every time the baby
is near the breast, they are trying to get it to do something it
doesn't want to, baby will grow more and more adverse to being
there.  I recommend lots of cuddle time with baby's cheek on the
breast and mouth as near the nipple as baby will allow and with no
pressure on baby to feed.  Hopefully this will get baby to sense
that it's a nice place to be and not just a place where he's being
pushed to do something he has become averse to for some reason.   Of
course, if baby starts rooting for the nipple, mom won't refuse, but
she will make a "gentle" offer and not push it if baby then gets
"antsy".  Perhaps encouraging baby to suck on a clean knuckle or
fingertip while cuddles at the breast can also be a transition.

Yes, this is one situation where I might try a nipple shield.  For
the same reasons that a baby can become "hooked on" a shield and not
want to nurse without it, baby may accept it as part breast, part
bottle-an intermediary between bottle and breast.

Of course we all know this "can't be nipple confusion" because
"there's no such thing"!

Winnie

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