Nipple shields have affected DD latching on properly - any tips?

[kathyann]

After about 5/6 days of breastfeeding well (apart from some pain), my nipples became very sore & cut - there was a lot of blood so I was advised to use nipple shields for a few days until this healed and also to allow the engorgement to calm down. DD took to shields really well which i was pleased about and she fed great! However, after few days i started to try and go back to normal - sometimes she fed okay, but mostly she was eventually latch on (after a lot of encouragement) and then after a few sucks keep slipping off again. She seems to have changed her latching on technique to suit the shields. For convenience I would love to ditch the shields - but I also want to ensure DD is feeding enough and currenly she seems to be doing this better with the shields. Any advice please?

I BF my dd for a year with nipple shields, I think I tried to wean her off too late, at 10 weeks! However, there is some great advice on the kellymom website if I remember correctly, and I did go to my local babycafe who suggested tips such as latching on without the nipple shields during nightfeeds when little one is more sleepy and may be more receptive to going without the shields.
Other things to try include plenty of skin to skin time, or latching on initially with the shields, then taking them off after a few mins once you have got a flow established.
Hope this helps!

yes kellymom.com has tips. I weaned ds off nipple shields at about 5-6 weeks - I saw a bf counsellor who helped me to get him to latch on properly without them. Don't think I could have done it without that help!