Mel, I have some ideas for you for latching. With my son (who was almost 3 mo. on gotcha day) getting him latched was not a problem. Keeping him latched was. I was using a Lact-Aid and it was extremely difficult to use. He had been exclusively bottle-fed since birth and he wasn't used to having to work so hard for his milk.

I am now using the Medela SNS with my daughter. It actually has 6 levels of milk flow. It comes with 3 sets of tubes (small, medium, and large). But each set of tubes has two levels of milk flow. You can get more milk flow if you open the second tube (each set of tubes is actually 2 tubes) as this provides anther vent hole. What I do is I tape the second tube so it is pointing up and then open it up after baby is latched and sucking from the first tube. You have to close it back up prior to unlatching the baby or the milk will flow out of that tube.

If you use the large set of tubes with the second tube open as a vent you should get a flow that is more like the flow from the bottle. You really want the baby to be getting enough milk when latched or she will get frustrated and reject the breast like my son did.

Also, if you haven't already, you should study the latch videos on Dr. Newman's site. Some of them are also on YouTube. Helping your baby to get the proper latch will help your supply. Proper latch is what sends the signal to your body to make milk. Bad latch doesn't send that signal.

Getting a good latch with the SNS is extremely difficult and requires a lot of practice which you won't have time for with an older baby. Have you considered working with an LC that has a lot of SNS experience prior to going to Africa for your gotcha? I would recommend that. Don't know how you would do it without a baby, but I think it could be very helpful.

I hope this helps.

I wish I had more time. I have learned some wonderful tricks with the SNS: a better way to tape it than on the instructions that come with it, how to get a good latch with it, how to get a latch without the tape, etc. For me using the SNS exclusively (no bottles) is really doing wonders for my supply.