I couldn't agree more with Carol on this one. I rant and rave about force feeding in the NICU all the time. I have gotten to OT's on my side now and we are insisting on Habermans for our NICU preemies who will get some prolonged bottle feeds until they go home to breastfeed all the time. Some of the nurses will want to use the red nipple to "get more in the baby" but we insist this not be done...that a gavage feed would be a better choice. Oh, yeah, our neonatologist is also in agreement on this one! He will leave an indwelling NG until baby can consistently do it with the breast or Haberman. Now, we just have to turn around several decades of "conventional nursing wisdom." It also takes a bit of convincing for the parents who feel getting rid of the tube is a good thing.....meaning their baby is more "normal." Susan Keith-Hergert RN, MS, CPN, IBCLC (former NICU nurse) Mercy Health Partners Cincinnati, Ohio *********************************************** 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