For demonstrating at breastfeeding classes or staff inservices, I find that a "natural size" doll from a toy store is just fine. I think the benefit to something like "Lactessa" is the fact that you can put your finger in the mouth and show how to evaluate oral anatomy and suck. For positioning, however, nearly anything will do. When visiting with moms postpartum in the hospital, I do not take a doll with me. You'd be surprised at the variety of "creatures" I have "nursed" in demonstrating latch, positioning etc. I nearly always find some kind of doll or stuffed animal in mom's room whether it belongs to baby's big brother or sister or whether it was given to mom as a gift. I have used everything from Beanie Babies to huge teddy bears to show the principle of holding baby so he can get the lower jaw on effectively or why cross-cradle may help him latch better at the beginning than the more traditional cradle hold. I can show how mom's fingers should support at baby's neck rather than pushing on the back of the head. I have even used the nose of a stuffed animal to show how to place fingers for hand expression or breast support! Winnie *********************************************** 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