inverted nipples, breastfeeding after stopping for 6 weeks

[ronniponni]

I started bf when my baby was born but the she got dehydrated and it broke my heart to put her onto formula. it seemed that I had not enough milk and my inverted nipples made it hrad for her to latch on. I nearly gave up completely as milk was gradually reducing.

I found that one of the main reasons to not having enough milk is bad expressing machines. I went for a hire one (not cheap, £55 first month and £35 each following month) but god, was it amazing! my baby is 3 month a and I have lots of milk.
my problem is that I have not bf for 6 weeks and I would like to go back to it, but where do you start. people say you can do it, but my baby is now very aware of the bottle etc. and not interested in my breast. I have also been told to chuck the dummy, I managed to reduce it, but can not get rid of it completely without having nightmares at night, she is so used to it. Anyone who managed to got back to bf after a long time?

anyone with inverted nipples with similar problems?

I think you probably need some RL help to get your baby latching and feeding well (I presume you had problems with this when your DD was first born hence the dehydration).

Could you ring one of the bf helplines or find your local bf group/cafe/lll meeting etc?

What happens when you put your DD to the breast? Is she interested in trying? Could you do this at every feed?

Who has told you to chuck the dummy? Have you already had some help with this? What else did they suggest?

Sorry for all the questions . I'm sure someone more experienced will be along shortly

I have one inverted nipPle and after several very frustrating Days that didn't work at all, got advised to try a nipple shield. The MW who suggested it assured me the modern silicone ones do not affect supply and I use a boots one. DD has no problems switching from bottle to boob using the shield as I think the feel and action is quite similar. FWIW I think six weeks of bf with the shield has brought the nipple out- And I can sometimes feed on the inverted nipple without the shield as it now stays out after tweaking when before it didn't. Oh yes, in the beginning I used a lansinoh latch assist to bring it out before putting the shield inplace, now I can just tweak it out.

Good luck!

cheers! my nipple also now comes out when I tweak it, but she is not interested in it anymore. she'll lick it or maybe suck once if I am lucky. she wants to hold the bottle herself, its like a conditioning back to the nipple I guess. so the problem is less the nipple (unless breast too full), but her interest in it. feels like the teat (special one from medela who allows to switch from nipple to bottle) is very long and touches her pallet and as my nipple does not do that she is not interested.

have some great support from volunteer but would love to talk to someone who has stopped for long time and managed to get baby back onto breast.

to question if I do put her on at every feed, no, as when she wakes up and is hungry she will get very angry if I try to do so. the only way to try is when she has fed a while ago. its real maths to coincide this with my boobs being full as well...

DD1 was in Special Care for the first week of her life & largily fed through a nasal canula. I have very inverted nipples & when first put to the breast she was totallt uninterested - then DHhad the idea odf syringing a little breast milk into the nipple shield - one drop of it coming out of the shield & she was off slurping. She needed to be shown the point of sucking. I'm told the sucking action between a shield & a bottle teat are very similar so perhaps you could start with a shield?

I used Medela sheilds (from Babies R Us) for 22 months without it affecting my milk supply (as my nipples always retracted after feeding & DD1 got used to breast feeding that way). Am currently feeding DD2 with shields asstill have the same problem - if you do go down this route, then buy a good number - I have two in aglass of milton by the bed so I don't hav turn on the lights to find a lost one in the night, one in the car & one in the changing bag so I'm never without. They can be steriled in the dishwasher in an emergency.

Good luck

Ronni, your breasts are never empty so I wouldnt worry about trying to time it so they are 'full'. Perhaps just try putting her to the breast when she is happy (not hungry) to see how she goes? But I really think you should get some RL help, do you have the bf helpline numbers? The volunteer you mentioned, are they a peer supporter? Not sure what advice they can offer, is there a lactation consultant/infant feeding specialist or whatever they are called you can see too?

I had problems just like yours and have spent many hours cursing my useless nipples.

Nipple shields helped enormously, both in being more plasticky so more 'familiar' to son and in making the whole business much less painful for me. It did take ages and a lot of determination on my part to get him breastfeeding again. I used the quite floppy ones, think they were maybe Avent? And I used them for ages.

I thought it would be easier with DS2, but no, still needed the shields with him too.

Good luck!!