As with Pat Drazin's case, I too am confronted by mothers of preterm babies who have been told (or so they say) that the baby is too little, too young, too weak, too uncoordinated, too ANYTHING to breastfeed and therefore she must pump and bottle-feed for 1 week, 1 month, until baby hits .... lbs (you pick the weight), etc. In most cases, I suspect such advice is a way of getting out from under the "responsibility" of helping the mother breastfeed by someone unsure how to do so. Do we have any NICU nurses out there who can speak to this issue? In nearly all cases, when the mother is motivated, the baby usually comes around. The key seems to be the mother"s willingness to set aside all the conflicting information she has already received in order to "start fresh." Thoughts of others would be helpful here. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %% "We are all faced with a series of great %% %% opportunities brilliantly disguised as %% %% impossible situations" - definition of a %% %% lactation consulting service. %% %% Kathleen G. Auerbach, PhD, IBCLC %% %% [log in to unmask] Homewood, Illinois USA %% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%