Do I dare tell this story?

The mom of a 4-something month old approached me about getting her thriving baby off a shield.  Prominent nipples, no discernible problem with the baby, just what they were used to.  We tried skin-to-skin, sleepy times, half-full (she'd been doing all these for months) silly games.  ("Suck on my nose? How silly!  Suck on my elbow? How silly!  Suck on my chin?  How silly!  Suck on my nipple?" and the baby would cry.)   We adjusted positioning (the shield had been allowing a good flow without a good latch - something to remember when trying to get rid of a shield).  We even tried cutting the shield.  Not trimming the tip, but cutting it in half so that it cupped the nipple only from "beneath".  Nothing.  

By now the baby was nearly 5 months old.  We talked it through carefully, then used an idea that had been kicking around in my head for years.  I feel as if babies latch based largely on what they feel on their tongue.  That was my idea behind using a half shield, but a shield is just way too stiff for that, besides the risk of a sharp edge.  What I'd been picturing for years was a really flimsy "half-shield" that could be slid away *during* a nursing.

I tied a string tightly onto the open end of a deflated, latex-but-washed, party balloon that was maybe 6 cm long.  I held the limp balloon so that it overlapped her nipple on the lower-jaw-side of the breast, and kept a death-grip on the string so that I had a secure hold on it in case - heaven forbid - the baby somehow managed to start swallowing it.  Here's what the baby seemed to say:

"Hmmm.  Feels artificial, and that's good.  But it sure is a crummy nipple shield.  I can't even find all the parts of it.  Better open my mouth wider and try to gather more in.  Boy, is this a lousy nipple shield!"

The baby opened wide, fussed, opened wider, complained, sucked, coming on and off and complaining most of the whole time, but never crying and never rejecting it.  At times the baby would take the bare breast, still complaining, still opening really wide as if searching for the missing parts.  The balloon itself was so flimsy that it just seemed to disappear once the baby was latched, and there didn't seem any need to pull it out.  It was big enough that the end of it was always well outside the baby's mouth.

After maybe half a feed, mom wisely said, "I'm going to go home now.  She'll fall asleep in the car, and she'll wake up still kind of hungry and ready to eat again.  I have a feeling I'm not going to need either the balloon or the shield again."  She took both home, just in case, and we went over safety precautions.  But indeed, she never needed either one again.  The next few feedings were fussy, with fits and starts, but within a few days the mom said she felt her daughter was enjoying nursing more than ever.  

Yes, it was latex, no, it wasn't at all designed for this purpose, yes, it had to be a certain kind of mother I'd even consider trying this with, no it might never work again...  but it's a reminder to me that all the tools we need are *not* on the market yet, and some of them could be very, very simple and already in our heads.

If you want a photo of the arrangement (don't have any of the baby using it), e-mail me privately.

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY  USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com

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