Barbara Wilson-Clay: You say you are becoming resigned to being the "Queen of Silicone." I'd be happy to serve in your court--call me Lady Cher!! I, too, spend a lot of time defending and using nipple shields--I was one of the people who had an article printed in the Dec. 1996 issue of JHL. I wrote that article, by the way, simply because I doubted that anyone else would write something positive. How thrilled I was to find out that they were all positive!! Because of the problem with Medela's back-order of nipple shields, I went to a local baby store that carries them and bought up their stock (at $5.99 apiece!) just so I would have the peace of mind that I would not run out. Cher Sealy, RN, BSN, IBCLC (Lady Cher)