>So just to let you know that it *is* possible to easily wean off a nipple
>shield once the baby is breastfeeding well with it, once his intake is
>really good and with careful attention to technique.

Pamela - great story! I have also witnessed abrupt weaning off shields.
Some babies are reluctant to even try to suck without the feel of the
plastic in their mouths, but my favourite trick here is to squirt some
breastmilk into baby's mouth as he is about to attach to the bare breast
(timing is everything!!) to make him swallow.  This sets up the reflex
swallow/suck cycle I heard about from someone famous (Kittie Franz??) and
baby follows this swallow with a suck before he realises the shield is not
there, and *voila*, he's away as he is now getting milk.

Hope this helps someone else some day when dealing with a baby 'hooked' on
a shield.

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Joy Anderson B.Sc. Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. IBCLC
Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia Breastfeeding Counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
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