Nipple shields

[CaipirinhasAllRound]

My baby is only 6 days old and I'm bfing but have really sore nipples. I've tried different positions and the rugby ball hold seems ok on one side but not great on the other. I've bought some nipple shields today and have had a really good long feed with less pain but having finished my nipples look quite raw in places and are really sore
I'm not sure if this is pain from existing damage or new damage from this feed. I have been trying to be careful with the latch position without the shields but didn't with the shields so he was just on nipple, do you still need to try and shove as much boob in as poss with the shields?

I used them for eight months with my DS1 and he only ever sucked the pointy part of the shield, he didn't latch on in the same way as a baby would need to without the shield.

Caipirinhas, can you get a midwife to check you are using the shields in the best way?

Normally, the baby would latch on to the shield as if he was latching on to the breast - so yes, the nipple (with the shield on) would be quite far back in the baby's mouth.

Usually, a baby just latching on to the very end would not be getting the best chance to feed well or remove the milk well and there's a risk of further damaging the nipple - but this fortunately does not seem to have affected you, StuntNun :)

I wasn't very clear sorry, DS1 had the whole of the pointed part of the nipple shield in his mouth when feeding but didn't take a mouthful of breast tissue as a baby latching on without the shield would do.

I used a shield with DC1 as she wouldn't latch properly. I wish I never had as she never got the fatty hind milk and lost weight; I ended up binning it. With DCs 2 & 3 I slathered my nipples in Lansinoh (sp?) before and after every feed and basically bit my lip not to cry until my nipples got used to it.

If you can bear it, then go with the pain but get some Lansinoh (I had tubes of it in every room I might feed in!). But obviously, this is just my opinion / advice and you have to go with what feels right for you.

Good luck and congratulations!

I have been using medela contact shields for 12 weeks now and my baby is thriving and just jumped up a percentile. As stuntnun says he latches a bit differently from latch on the breast. He takes in the whole pointy bit and a bit of the tissue around the nipple get sucked into it but he does not take a big mouthful of the breast. There are videos on how to use them properly, if you google you should find them.

I feed my 4 month old with nipple shields as she won't latch without and find them a godsend - I wouldn't still be breastfeeding now without them.

It's important to make sure you have the correct size - I bought the ones they had in boots and realised they were much too big when I got them home and had to order some medela ones in a small from amazon which work brilliantly. My dd feeds with the whole pointy bit of the shield in her mouth and the nipple gets pulled itl the shield with some space at the end. I've had it checked by the lactation consultant and she said that's how it should be.

Good luck with it - I hope they help

I found breast feeding excruciating but was determined to do it. I didn't know about shields at first so I expressed with manual tommee tippee pump. For the first few days, it still really hurt and was red raw until it healed from the previous damage. Then my breast feeding help woman told me about shields and they were fantastic.

Did u turn them a bit inside out to get them on?