Cindy, One thing I didn't see in your report was whether or not she had tried skin-to-skin cuddling. (Of course, with return to work looming, the time for this will be limited-too bad it wasn't started earlier.) I also remind parents of babies who seem to be rejecting the breast that baby should spend at least as much cuddle time in the vicinity of the breast as "work" time. If every time the baby is near the breast, they are trying to get it to do something it doesn't want to, baby will grow more and more adverse to being there. I recommend lots of cuddle time with baby's cheek on the breast and mouth as near the nipple as baby will allow and with no pressure on baby to feed. Hopefully this will get baby to sense that it's a nice place to be and not just a place where he's being pushed to do something he has become averse to for some reason. Of course, if baby starts rooting for the nipple, mom won't refuse, but she will make a "gentle" offer and not push it if baby then gets "antsy". Perhaps encouraging baby to suck on a clean knuckle or fingertip while cuddles at the breast can also be a transition. Yes, this is one situation where I might try a nipple shield. For the same reasons that a baby can become "hooked on" a shield and not want to nurse without it, baby may accept it as part breast, part bottle-an intermediary between bottle and breast. Of course we all know this "can't be nipple confusion" because "there's no such thing"! 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