My 2 month old daughter required a nipple shield when she was first born because she was little. I hated using it because it falls off and it's just terribly inconvenient, but I was grateful that it allowed her to nurse. We worked very hard to wean off of the nipple shield and she was doing great for about three weeks. All of this time she's been getting one bottle of breast-milk at night. All of the sudden at about 7 weeks she started getting very fussy at the breast, crying and arching her back and stiffening her body and refusing to nurse. I know she's hungry because it's the first feeding of the morning after having slept for 4 to 5 hours. I don't think it's reflux because she starts doing it before she has anything in her stomach. One time when she was doing this I put the nipple shield on to see if it would make a difference and Voila! She nursed without hesitation. This says to me that she just prefers the nipple shield even though she can nurse just fine without it, but I'm telling you this little girl is a stubborn one! She will refuse me and fight me for 15 minutes at a time and then just go to sleep. I know she's hungry and I feel terrible not feeding her, but I also don't want to set up a bad habit just because she prefers the nipple shield. When I am able to coax her (feels more like forcing her) to nurse without the shield, she only nurses for about 4 minutes or so. I just don't understand the regression and if I should cave and give her the nipple shield or stand my ground because I know that she can nurse without it. I never thought a 9 week old could be manipulative, but it sure appears that way to me! I love her so much, but I am frustrated!!