6 month old and starting using nipple shields for damaged nipple

[Lorelei353]

My 6 month old DS has grown two teeth. When they were coming in he bit me on one nipple. He doesn't do it now and I've learned to spot the signs that he might do it however he did it about 8-10 days ago and it's not healing. It's a bit like an ulcer and is so painful to feed. It's not infected (I don't think, but GP is doing a swab later today to rule out thrush etc.) and I'm dreading feeding. DS won't consistently take bottles. He'll take some from a sippy cup but not proper feeds and I'm wary of not letting him feed from that side. We only started introducing solids a few days ago so he's still breastfeeding a lot. I'm also trying the Kellymom suggestions of using saltwater, Lanolin and cold compresses before feeding. Still agony though.

When I spoke to my GP on the phone she recommended using nipple shields as an interim measure. Anyone have experience with them and introducing them so late? Good idea?

shameless bump.

Sorry, no specific advice for you. But i used sheilds for DS from about day 5. He was a lazy bugger and I have slightly inverted nipples. I know they are frowned upon and we did try to stop using them but ended up using them until I stopped bf at 10 months.

Incidentally, DD is a ferocious bf and only needs pointing in the general direction of my boob. Although at 4 months I guess I too will be dealing with teeth on bare boob some time soon

I would have thought that if your DS is already occasionally using a sippy cup and you are using the shield only on one side it should be fine. From what I remember the main arguments against shields are it might affect supply (I wouldn't think that was an issue at 6 months) and that it might cause baby confusion.

Hope you are healed soon!