<But I do think they could be receiving their
own mother's milk, even just trickled into the corner of their mouth so
you're doing nothing to mess up their suck.

This protects the lactation (my original aim) and keeps the baby in good
condition without unduly harming him.>

Denise,

Tell us more. As this thread is starting to develop, I find myself
thinking of those actions that cupfeeding
a newborn stimulates.

A mom is usually thrilled to see that "there is something there". Even if
that one drop of colostrum dried on the nipple, it might still have an
odor and taste that would stimulate the baby to lick eventually. Even
this would be teaching him/her that extending the tongue might bring some
kind of reward.

All this could be "killing two birds with one stone" in that more moms
would learn fingertip extraction (versus waiting till breast is full
enough to massage and leak with MER's, which is what I recently saw
labeled "hand expression" on a highly advertised training video for
HCP's.).

It would also give the mother a chance to practice it and be expert
before she leaves, which, if done regularly and frequently, as you say,
would tend to protect the lactation, partly because it helps to stimulate
MER's, moving milk forward out of the alveoli, which favors production.

I would like to see how many others, at least in the hospital/first 24-48
hours are using this idea, and perhaps encourage others to try it out and
discuss their experience.

Jean
*********
K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC
Dayton, Ohio USA

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