Nipple Shields

[SmilingandWaving]

Hi I'm a bit new to this & just wanted to get some advice on using nipple shields.

I had my little boy 2 weeks ago yesterday & am determined to breast feed for as long as possible. I hadn't quite expected it to be so difficult & painful though. We had problems getting him latched on from the start & ended up feeding him with a syringe the 3days we were in hospital.

The midwife thought he might have a tongue tie & my mothers convinced its to do with the size of my nipples but in the end I was so sore I ended up using the nipple shields someone had given me. They are a lifesaver & we've been having no problems since.

However, now I'm worried that I won't be able to feed without them & I'm not even sure if this is a problem or not. Is there any reason why I can't just go on using them? If there is what can I do to make it easier to stop?

Sorry if this is a bit of a ramble

As I understand it, nipple shields are a bit like condoms in that they reduce stimulation. This means that while your baby feeds your body will not be stimulated to produce milk in proportion to the baby's needs.

I used them to get me through some really painful early days and I think limited use is OK but you should continue to get real-life help and definitely sort out whether tongue-tie is an issue.

In my experience (and this may not be the correct advice) some pain is normal, especially as the baby latches on, and you just have to get through it. But make sure there isn't a fixable cause first!

I would suggest getting someone to check the tongue tie- and get it cut if there is one.

Some women do use nipple shields without any probelms for the whole time that they bfeed, but as teapot13 says, they can cause you supply problems further down the line.

Oh and I doubt it's anything to do with the size of your nipples!

Hope you get some help soon.

I've been using nipple shields since DD was a week old. She's now 4.5 months and we are still using them. There's been no problem with supply as DD is thriving. I dunno if existing advice is out of date with regards to long term use regarding nipple shields but in my experience they have not affected supply. I heard that babies just take longer during a feed to get the milk they would receive than if they were feeding without. I don't know if that's the case!

I think it's better to feed without them if you can because they can be a faff to put on when breastfeeding in public. It can be difficult to wean babies off them, hence why my DD is still using them but as she's getting bigger she's had a few feeds without them. They saved my life though. DD wouldn't latch on my naked nip. I had a hellish first week with her expressing and trying to feed her by syringe. I'm so grateful they exist!

I have eight Medela ones on the go and carry one around in my bra all the time so I never leave the house without one. Would love to feed without but it's no biggy. Baby and I are happy

I was given a nipple shield in the hospital after getting very sore feeding. Used it for about a week, then asked mw how to wean off it. She said, hmm try latching baby without, I stuck dd on the breast and never looked back. If your son is feeding fine with the shield, then it shouldn't be a problem without.

It's a good idea to check the latch to prevent future problems though. Get a bf expert to have a look, or use a book or the internet for tips. As the baby gets older the mouth gets bigger and they get better at sucking so it all gets easier. Good luck!

No problem using nipple shields. Information about shields causing supplies to dry up etc. is completely outdated, see here for a good summary of recent research.

I stressed for ages about this and felt guilty about using shields for a really long time, which actually made me dislike breastfeeding if I'm honest. It's so emotive and i felt like a complete and utter failure. Ridiculous now I have perspective on it! But I fed DS for 4 months with shields, LOADS of milk and no problems.

HTH and my top tip is - just don't worry about using shields. It'll be fine.

I used shields and it was absolutely fine. i do think they reduce efficiency of baby drinking - I got blocked milk ducts at first and dd had reeeeally long feeds) but no supply issues. When dd had her tongue tie cut I tried without and it was fine, when she was hungry she would take anything! I'm in favour of doing whatever makes it feasible for you to feed your baby.

I still have pain though, it's one thing after another - at the moment I'm getting vasospasm so trying to keep nipples warm after a feed while using cold cabbage leaves to ease pain of engorgement due to oversupply!

Whats the alleged 'problem' with your nipple size - too big or too small? Sounds like rubbish to me but I'm no expert!

Thank you so much for the replies. Its amazing all the things you find to stress about with a newborn.

He seems to be feeding fine & normally feeds for about 2 hours at a time which I thought was about normal for this stage.

The health visitor is coming to see us tomorrow so he'll be weighed & I'll ask again about the tongue tie as can't seem to get a definite answer out of anyone at the moment.

I have tried a few time without but still seem to be having problems with latching on so will have to have a word with the HV & watch the dvd again.

My mother seems to think my nipples are too flat to get a proper latch but I don't really think it's an issue as I've tried starting with the shields to pull them out & then taking them off but still have problems.

A friend of mine has used nipple shields for the whole 5 months she has had her baby girl.

It has not decreased her supply and without them her little girl was having real problems latching on.

She will probably always use them now. But, does it matter if it's working?

i fed ds1 for 17 months with nipple shields - he gained weight fine and is now a big bouncing 3 year old. i am now feeding my twins using them - at 12 weeks already, weight gain is fine again, so we will just carry on as i did before.

pepperonipizza - the info at that link is realy interesting. using shields has meant i could breastfeed for a long time - mentally i don't think i could do it any other way - with ds1 i got deep breast thrush at the same time as trying without shields, which put me off trying again as i associated feeding without them with excruciating pain. this time the twins were in special care as they were 6 weeks early - i needed to get them feeding to get them home, and when they latched more easily with the shields than without it was a no-brainer to continue using them

smilingandwaving - good luck with your ds

Hi, if your midwife thinks your dd has tongue tie, and you have flat nipples it's worth investigating the issue.

My midwife pointing out my dd's mild-moderate tongue tie the day she was born, almost just out of interest and said it shouldn't be a problem with feeding. However I have one flat nipple and one very inverted one and it turned out that the combination made for very sore nipples for me and I think also frustration for dd sometimes as she had to work very hard to suck out my nipples but was restricted by the tongue tie (the inverted one only protrudes about 5mm from my breast during feeding and sinks back immediately after).

We read up on it on this site: www.tonguetie.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2, it has info on how to assess how severe the tie is. We decided there was no downside to cutting the tongue tie and potentially good upside (less pain for me!). We had to actively ask the pediatrician to cut it though as he reckoned if she was feeding fine we didn't need to bother. But as far as I was concerned if it didn't get less painful I would have to stop bf. You have to make your own decision though with the healthcare profs.

The shields helped my pain and helped dd latch on in the early weeks, but at 7wks she has been happily latching on with no problem for the last couple of weeks without shields, and my nipples are TINY!! (well... almost no problems - sometimes she insists on trying to suck my bicep even though my nipple is staring her in the face...)

Just to add, she was only feeding fine initially because of the shields.