Pardee H;

>From  information given, the care provided by the LC's (IBCLC, I presume)
>sounds appropriate.  If nipples are inverted, short, flat, soft, whatever
>and baby cannot latch well, nipple shields may be used to get baby on
>breast.  If baby cannot get on breast, he cannot breastfeed.

I do not know if the baby could not latch on well. She only saw each LC
once. There have been no follow ups encouraged. The 2 different LCs gave
different recommendations about when to supplement but both recommended the
shields.

> If baby is not breastfeeding, milk has to come from somewhere.  If baby

of course, this is correct. The baby has to eat. I am not stupid.

>get on breast to do that.  Avent bottle is one option.  I find less problems
>using it than with finger feeding.

she was using Avent until the recent publicity in Consumer Reports about
toxins in bottles. Clear Avent bottles can be harmful if milk is heated in
them according to the Consumer Reports article. So you might want to rethink
your bottle recommendations. You can read their report on their web site.


>So....what are the goals?    Keep milk flowing.   Mom must pump (this aspect

This is what I have a problem with. There are no plans to get rid of the
shields. There has been no discussion -0- about the benefits of
breastfeeding. She understands the benefits of EBM but not the benefits of
breastfeeding. Mom is pumping - the EBM that I references is the Moms. She
is being told to supplement. She is not being told what to do to increase
supply. No one has called her for weeks.

It just seems to me that the LC's that she spoke with should have a plan in
place to get her to breastfeed without "aids". What does it say to a mother
that they cannot feed their child without help forever? I think that
undermines her confidence. Not to mention that this child will most likely
need more and more ABM supplementation because no plans are in place to
increase milk supply. Unfortunately, she believes that "you get what you pay
for" and so free advice from me or LLL is just not of any value to her.

Thank you for your response. After the very nice information I received
about the benefits of nipple shield use, I can see that with an interactive
LC - one who follows up with clients - their use can be helpful. I do not
think they should be just given to someone without plans to wean off of them
and without any follow-up care.

Rachael Barlow

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