Tiffany Coppersmith-Heaven describes her experience of using a Supplemental Nursing System - July 2021
If a mother isn’t able to produce all the milk her baby needs and has to supplement either with formula, donor milk or her own expressed milk, rather than using a bottle, there is the option using an at-breast supplementer, often called a Supplemental Nursing System (SNS) or a Lactation Aid.
The benefits of using an SNS are that the baby receives all their feed at the breast, which:
Saves time as there’s no need to offer a bottle after a breastfeed.
Helps with milk production because the sucking at the breast is stimulating.
Removes the risk of the baby rejecting the breast in favour of the bottle - something that often happens when babies are regularly supplemented via a bottle.
The disadvantages are that learning to use an SNS can be hard as they are fiddly to use, and they’re not easy to clean.
𝗧𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗵-𝗛𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗡𝗦:
‘𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘕𝘚’ 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺. 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘓𝘶𝘯𝘢, 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝟽𝟻𝘵𝘩, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝟸 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 ‘𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦’ 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘐’𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘬 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺. 𝘜𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘣 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘶𝘱𝘴, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘻𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘐𝘉𝘊𝘓𝘊, 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘕𝘚 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰. 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘣𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦; 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘶𝘮𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘕𝘚, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵. 𝘋𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴. 𝘐 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘕𝘚 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘶𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘰! 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘕𝘚 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘓𝘶𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝟻𝟶𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘕𝘚 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘕𝘚 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘡𝘰𝘰 - 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘕𝘚 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵. 𝘈𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵, 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘕𝘚 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘣 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘺𝘴! 𝘓𝘶𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨.
For more information on using an at-breast supplementer, see: https://breastfeeding.support/supplementing-at-the-breast/