Losing the nipple shields after a tongue tie division?

[SellyMevs]

DS has a posterior tongue tie which made feeding impossible without using nipple shields. He's had it snipped this morning and I'm now looking for advice on how to lose the shields.

He didn't latch immediately after the procedure, he was inconsolable and was happier being rocked to sleep. He's now woken and got upset because he was hungry and I was making it hard work for him by not using a shield! Unfortunately when he gets upset, he doesn't really turn to the boob for comfort, he prefers to be rocked so we've caved to use a shield now but I'd like to lose them eventually.

Any advice? My nipples are still painful from the last 6 weeks of him chewing on them.. We would just love to finally establish feeding properly and lose the formula top ups.

I've not done this personally (DD had tt but never took to a shield) but here's a suggestion.

Could you express for 30 secs or so before you start to BF, so the letdown is already there and he doesn't have to work to get it? Obviously this would hopefully be a temporary measure only but might help with the transition.

Similarly, could you massage boob/semi hand express while he has the nipple in his mouth, so you are basically squirting milk into his mouth and making it an easier/quicker reward for him?

Following....I'm for a breast feeding support group on wed & hope to get advice on losing shield.
Problem for us is that he doesn't seem to want to open his mouth wide enough for the breast!

We've managed to open the mouth wide enough, but he's too busy wailing to stop long enough to latch. He's getting calmer with each feed so I think he's just very cross with the doctor from this morning.

We managed a couple of "ok" latches before the snip so I'm positive he can make the transition afterwards, I just need him in the right mood! I will try expressing a little milk to tempt him. We have lots of breastfeeding support booked in for later in the week so I'm sure we will get there!

Selly, I had the EXACT same situation just about 3 weeks ago. posterior tongue tie divided at 3 weeks after pumping breastmilk for bottles then moving to shields. he didn't latch on after the divide either. we kept trying starting with the shield then taking it off halfway through the feed. still nothing. then day 6 after the divide he just latched! 2 weeks later we're not using the shield at all anymore. also, just a suggestion, try taking a bath with him. thus was suggested to me in the last week as we're still struggling with getting a good latch, and he popped right on with no assistance!