Latch Incentives For infants unable to latch independently, latch may be assisted with a milk–filled dropper or other tool such as a syringe or tube feeding device. These may require another person’s assistance. Placed at the side of the mouth as latch is initiated, small boluses of colostrum or milk can be provided to initiate fluid flow, as flow regulates suck. Some infants engage in rapid side–to– side head movements making latch difficult, painful, or impossible. As the infant is guided to the breast, touching the midline of the upper lip with the dropper will eliminate these movements and orient the baby to the breast (Figure 2). As the baby latches, placing a few drops of milk in the corner of the mouth will encourage a swallow followed by a nutritive suck (Figure 3). If other latch techniques fail, a nipple shield may help initiate latch and compensate for weak sucking, as late preterm infants may lack the strength to draw the nipple/ areola into their mouth and/or generate the –60mmHg of vacuum (Geddes et al., 2008) to keep it in place. Mothers can hand express colostrum/milk into the shield tunnel or pre–fill the tunnel using a periodontal or oral syringe for an immediate sucking reward.