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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Do I really need to spend money so I can Breast feed?

31 replies

YellowFeathers · 18/06/2006 20:15

I'll get straight to the point.
I have one inverted nipple. This was one of a few reasons I couldn't breast feed my dd.

This time I have heard about the Nipplette but tbh I really don't want to spend £30 on it as I don't see its nessecary.

Is there any other way I can get my "inny" nipple to become an "outy"? Grin

OP posts:
FrannyandZooey · 18/06/2006 20:18

I haven't any experience of this but found several useful looking links for you

\link{http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/bfhelp-mother.html#inverted\on Kellymom}

Hope you can sort it out.

Original poster
YellowFeathers · 18/06/2006 20:19

Thank you very very much Smile

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FrannyandZooey · 18/06/2006 20:30

Just another thought, might it be possible to get the Nipplette on prescription if it is necessary for you to have it to breast feed? It could save the NHS a lot of money in the long run :)

Ellbell · 18/06/2006 20:38

Have heard that 'dry' expressing (i.e. pumping using a breast pump) can help. I have quite flat nipples, though not actually inverted. The advice is not to do this after 36 weeks though, as it may stimulate labour. (I discovered that I could have done this at precisely 36 weeks, of course!) I'm not sure how often/for how long you should do it.

Aren't you nbg? I have a pump that I am unlikely ever to use again and live near Barnsley. You can have it if you want it. (In fact, I can post it to you. It's not heavy.)

Ellbell · 18/06/2006 20:43

PS Very busy at the moment, and am away Weds-Fri this week, so may not be on here much. Feel free to CAT me if you want the pump (it's old, but it works). I'm not ignoring you, I'll get back to you when I get back home.

tissy · 18/06/2006 20:44

pretty certain that wearing a nipple shield on the appropriate side before baby is born can pop it out.

BonyM · 18/06/2006 20:46

You could just use the breast that doesn't have the inverted nipple. After all, breastfed twins only get one breast each! You'd probably be a bit lopsided though Grin.

CristinaTheAstonishing · 18/06/2006 20:48

£30 isn't that much vs cost of formula :)

Caligula · 18/06/2006 20:55

If it really works and nothing else does, I would think £30 is very cheap versus formula - about 6 weeks worth?

JennT · 18/06/2006 20:56

I thought you could do nipple stimulation FROM 37 weeks because you don't want to start labour BEFORE(and using a breast pump is the same thing) then. I found I got very strong contractions after only 10 mins so didn't continue. Was told at NCT you need to do it for an hour three times a day to try to induce labour.

JennT · 18/06/2006 20:56

I thought you could do nipple stimulation FROM 37 weeks because you don't want to start labour BEFORE(and using a breast pump is the same thing) then. I found I got very strong contractions after only 10 mins so didn't continue. Was told at NCT you need to do it for an hour three times a day to try to induce labour.

Original poster
YellowFeathers · 18/06/2006 20:57

Ellbell, (yes I am nbg) thank you very much but we are moving on Wednesday to the north so am a bit manic atm plus I will lose internet connection on tuesday! The other thing is that I'm 32 weeks now so not sure how much good it would do in that space of time.
Very kind of you though, thanks Smile

Bonym, I was thinking about that but one of the other problems I had was that while dd latched on beautifully on the other breast it didn't produce any milk which was making her very frustrated and she couldn't latch on to the other at all!
I don't know if things would be different this time but I am determined to give it another try.

OP posts:
Original poster
YellowFeathers · 18/06/2006 21:02

Ooops
have been doing my own nipple stimulation!
Best stop for now then.

Yes £30 is cheaper than formula, can't get away from that one but I just wanted to see if there was a way of doing it myself.
I thought the nipplette was a way of Avent cashing in Wink

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poppiesinaline · 18/06/2006 21:05

The Nipplette was invented by a Plastic Surgeon. I was working for him at the time he was 'inventing' it and was involved in arranging for the patients with inverted nipples to use it in a trial. The results were very good.

Original poster
YellowFeathers · 18/06/2006 21:07

Really!
I don't doubt it doesn't work I would just rather find a different way of doing it IYSWIM.

If push comes to shove I will buy one.

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jabberwocky · 18/06/2006 21:11

Before I had ds I had inverted nipples. We had various problems with bfing for the first 3 months and I wound up exclusively expressing for the next 10 months. After using the breast pump for that long one was no longer inverted at all and the other was merely a bit flat. Interestingly enough, in this second pregnancy the flat one is looking more and more normal.

poppiesinaline · 18/06/2006 21:13

there you go, jabberwocky found her own version of the Nipplette Wink

Original poster
YellowFeathers · 18/06/2006 21:15
Grin

On that link F&Z did, it did say that they "come out" after a first baby.

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jabberwocky · 18/06/2006 21:51

that's what I was thinking Blush

NotQuiteCockney · 18/06/2006 21:55

I thought Nipplette was invented for cosmetic reasons, not bf. And from what I know, they fall off if you're leaking colostrum. I'd just use a pump.

(I had quite flat nipples pre-DS1. That changed.)

IlanaK · 18/06/2006 22:11

Just wanted to correct the comment that nipple sheilds can help. It is not nipple sheilds, but breast sheils - very different. There is some evidence to show that wearing these for 20 minutes before a feed can help draw out the nipple. Expressing can also help, as can manual stimulation. A nipple is only truely inverted if it cannot be drawn out by someone or something stimulating it. Otherwise, you may just have flat nipples which are just another way of saying your nipples differ from your neighbours. What I mean by that is that all breasts are different.

Laura032004 · 19/06/2006 08:09

If you've only got one side that needs the niplette, you can buy it as a single pack on the Avent website. It's only £19.99 that way.

tissy · 19/06/2006 08:27

I stand corrected- if it's breast shells you want- I've got a set which you can have for postage- couldn't get the hang of them, myself!

malachismum · 19/06/2006 19:22

I saw another nipple pully outer! It was in Boots next to the Niplette but it was £9.99, cant remember who it was by though.hth

Original poster
YellowFeathers · 19/06/2006 19:26

Maybe its not inverted then, just flat.
It does come out a little bit if pulled Blush but goes straight in again.

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