[mks81]

has anyone got a link so I can have a look at a shield, possible it attached as well?

I had flat nipples for my DD9 and though I have heard of them recently, no one ever mentioned them to me back then.

[Hooray Henry]

OP your baby is beautiful!

I used shields for 6 months with DD, until she refused to attach to them and pulled them off herself. We then fed til she was 21 months. My efforts to wean her off shields prior to 6 months were unsuccessful, I hope you have more luck.

[trinyweeny]

ABA nipple shield info

There is small photo of one attached.

Medela Nipple Shield

[amabanana]

Well done OP!

I have severely inverted nipples and after much perseverance am continuing to feed DD2 at 21mths with no shield. I had to pump and feed her EBM for the first 4 weeks. Then I fed her with the shield until about 6-8 weeks (I can't remember exactly) when I weaned her off them. I found that she needed to be a bit bigger to be able to get enough breast tissue in her mouth to suck out the nipple. I found the Medela shield to be the best IMO as it does not have silicon over the nose area but has enough for it to stick on properly. I have tried them all!

To help get my nipple out in the beginning I tried feeding her after first using my pump for a few minutes, which didn't empty the breast but helped to stretch it out a bit.

Best of luck!

Oh, and I just love her name.

[meggs1]

My midwife made me a little sucky thing out of a syringe with the top cut off, the same size as the nipple, to draw it out about before latching.

[Lokum]

Heaps of good ideas here.

We used shields until 7 months - very flat nipples, and a very small, sleepy baby with small mouth and slight tongue tie. I did try from time to time to feed without, but it took until 7 months. We continued to feed without until 14 months.

I do remember how hard it is with a frantic newborn, their hands, your hands, the shield sliding everywhere, milk dripping on everything. I used to get DH to come and help hold DS sometimes until I could get everything and everyone in their place!

I agree that wrapping baby tightly so they're less wriggly helps. Generally though, if you can't wean from the shields in the short term (I hope you can) they do get much easier to use, for you and the baby.

I fed in front of a certain group of friends for months, and they didn't even realise I was using shields!

If you do have the misfortune to be stuck with them for a while, make sure you replace them regularly. I was sterilising mine in the microwave, or giving them a quick boil from time to time, and I had one shield literally disintegrate into pieces in DS' mouth.

After that I replaced them more regularly, and just went back to hot soapy water to wash them.

[Le-a]

I used a shield for about three weeks after my milk came in and my boobage got so mammoth that my nipples became flat. Yowzah, them were some big boobies... Luckily my midwife took one look at me and gave me a shield.

I too found them fiddly, and difficult to use in public, and messy, and time consuming. But with out it, I'm not sure that we would still be breastfeeding now, at 15 months.

Im not sure how I weaned off the shield, I think I just decided one day, that the next day I was going to try one feed without it. And to my surprise it worked. Not every time, but gradually things became easier, and DS got better and my nipples stretchier.

I wish you all the best, please dont feel like you have to rush to get your DD off the shield, don't pressure yourself.

[EmilyStrange]

I had inverted nipples that gradually came out through the course of my pregnancy, weird I know. I used Medela nipple formers in the last few weeks of pregnancy too, which I believe really helped me. While I was in hospital, all the midwives who saw me breastfeeding commented that I had "good equipment". They didn't believe me when I said I'd always had inverted nipples until recently!

My midwife made me a little sucky thing out of a syringe with the top cut off, the same size as the nipple, to draw it out about before latching.

I saw on the Pigeon website that they had this device called a nipple puller... Might be worth looking into? Best of luck, OP!

[klr70]

Little Clementine is only 3.5wks. You're doing a fabulous job - she's gaining weight & looks adorable. It takes time to establish BF - the LC at the hospital told me "it takes 6 weeks to establish BF. You & baby both need to learn how it all works. Give yourself time to adjust." Best advice I was given.

My DS (now 7mths) fed successfully for the first feed after birth, lulling me into a false sense of security (I remember thinking "that was easy"). That was the ONLY time he latched on... The midwives commented on my flat nipples & recommended I see the LC (AFTER all sorts of poking/prodding/hand expressing, etc). The LC advised the use of a Medela nipple shield. I found it unwieldy - hard to get it in the right place, wouldn't stay there, & then I had to get DS to latch on... but I persisted (being incredibly stubborn had to come in useful sometime! )

I also got some medical tape & taped the shield in place (tape all round at first, then only a strip top & bottom) - this really helped, as once the shield was taped on, my hands were free to get DS into position. Eventually (about a week or so), I could get the shield to stay in the right place without the tape (which was great, as I was starting to have a reaction to the adhesive).

Every so often, I'd try a feed without the shield. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. If it didn't, I went straight back to using the shield. I was also giving EBM every second feed or so, to give my poor sore boobs a chance to recover! I can't remember exactly how long I used the shields for, around 4mths, I think. I figured so long as DS was getting breast milk, it didn't really matter how it was being delivered. Eventually, more & more feeds were without the shield, until one day, we just didn't need it anymore. Now, at 7 months, DS feeds really well.

As others have advised, a good LC is worth their weight in gold. Mine gave me the confidence that I could BF successfully, despite the frustrations & pain that I encountered in the early days.

HTH

[GingerTea]

I have been breastfeeding my first baby for 13 weeks and my nipples were very flat to begin with. He was only small when he was born - 2.2kg and coupled with my flat nipples the lactation consultant recommended i use a nipple shield. I have only attempted to feed without it a couple of times. Agreed that it feels clinical. And my DS sometimes knocks it off with his hands too (grrr). The good news is that after 13 weeks my nipples are no longer flat - the constant suction has popped them out and if i wanted to i could probably try feeding with out the shield.........but ive kind of put it in the too hard basket. Yep - its an extra thing to keep track of and clean, but its just so easy for him to latch on!! It definitely gets easier, so hang in there