The reason the baby still needs the shield and won't take breast without it
is not "addiction"  (a very value loaded word when applied to such a small
baby.)  A normal baby would not need a shield, and even a baby who has begun
to imprint on the larger-than-life stimulus of a shield typically can be
transitioned back easier with more positive suggestion to the mother and
gentle persistance with regard to the baby.  This is a 3 week old who isn't
back to birthweight -- probably in such a caloric hole he/she can't
suck their way out of a paper bad. Feeding the infant up quickly to
birthweight
would improve energy for feeding.  The longer this goes on the worse it gets

 Most infants can get adequate
amounts of milk through a shield and I have seen many drive full milk
supplies with shields in place.  So either this is a pretty dysfunctional
kid (facial tone issues, immaturity, small, weak, sick, oral-facial anomaly)
or this is a mom with a really puny milk supply, or both.  Possibly the
wrong size shield has been employed and baby is just perched out on the tip
sucking air.  Perhaps the base diameter of mom's nipple and the base
diameter of a large shield on top of that have created a teat too wide for
the baby to seal off on. In which case, a shield may be the wrong tool for
the job and the problem is out-growable and not curable with a shield.

 The data supports the fact that shields increase intake for the weakly
feeding infant if the baby is using the right size shield and is
well-latched.  But a shield won't magically protect the milk supply of a
weak baby.  That has to be augmented from the beginning of the shield use
with post-feed pumping.  Those volumes must be monitored, and intake weights
are helpful to see how much milk the baby can transfer.  You can't blame the
shield if the sizing or the protocol for use aren't appropriate.

Barbara Wilson-Clay, BS, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates
LactNews Press
www.lactnews.com

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

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