OK, here's mine for the week -- uh, day. These are the days that make me want to open that bookstore.... Saw a mom in the hospital about a month ago, who shared that she didn't have enough milk with her little girl, now three, so she supplemented and the baby eventually "weaned" at 6 weeks. We talked about preventing that this time and getting in for a check if she felt as though her milk supply was faltering. When she called to see me (about two weeks ago) because the baby was "always" hungry, and I evaluated her bf, her milk supply was marginal, but the baby was sucking at the breast rather oddly. Though he could maintain a latch, it was almost as though he was using all the negative pressure in his mouth to extract the milk like a straw. She had been giving him a bottle, and when it was clear that he *was* still hungry after feeding twice on both sides with maximal breast compressions -- etc etc etc -- she gave him some formula -- in an old Playtex nurser -- the short stubby nipple kind. Lo & behold, he's sucking on the rubber nipple exactly the way he sucked on the breast. I pointed this out to mom, suggested that this was part of the problem, and that perhaps she'd like to try a different bottle to supplement while we worked at bringing up her supply (not amenable to an SNS -- my first suggestion -- or a cup -- my second suggestion) so that we could entice him to use his *tongue* appropriately. She came back in for a weight check yesterday. He's almost 6 weeks old, and he's gaining OK -- she's still supplementing, though down to 4 ounces a day. When I asked her if she had switched bottles so that the sucking would improve on the breast -- no, she hadn't. I tried to explain (again) that nipple confusion doesn't just mean the baby won't latch on -- that it can mean that the baby doesn't suckle correctly at the breast. Her response was -- "I'd like to start giving him more formula now." Sigh. Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC -- Wheaton IL Lactation Education Consultants www.lactationeducationconsultants.com *********************************************** 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