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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Nipple Shields - what ever happened to them?

38 replies

Creena · 05/02/2007 19:22

Hi there. I'm 24 weeks pregnant with my third child and there is a gap of 10 years between this one and my current youngest. I've noticed that things have changed a little during those ten years!

I plan to breast feed this baby and have been looking at various shops and websites to remind myself of what I need. One item that I found to be incredibly helpful when I had DS all those years ago was nipple shields - they were clear, silicone (I think) shields with a teat effect that you placed over your nipples when feeding if your nipples were sore and/or cracked. As I've found breast feeding really difficult in the past, I really wanted to buy some more of these as they were the one thing that I found helpful. Sadly, I can't seem to find them anywhere, including the shops where I bought them last time!

Whatever has happened to nipple shields? Can they still be found and if so, where?!?

OP posts:
BettySpaghetti · 05/02/2007 19:26

They were definitely around 2.5 yrs ago when my DS was born as I used them for a few feeds during a particular painful spell.

At the time I bought them in Boots I think

LIZS · 05/02/2007 19:31

You mean this sort of thing ? Avent did them too.

LawdyMissTutter · 05/02/2007 19:31

i got them when i was pg with ds 2 years ago -- from john lewis i think

never unwrapped them and just gave them to a pg friend y'day otherwise you could have had them

kathryn77 · 05/02/2007 19:47

tesco - i used them and they sell avent onces in tescox

amidaiwish · 05/02/2007 20:05

here they are at the bottom of this page shields
free P&P if you use code KF1ZZ140 at the checkout!

Twinklemegan · 05/02/2007 22:01

Would highly recommend the Medela ones on LIZS's link.

funnypeculiar · 05/02/2007 22:07

I've got some avent ones that I never used in my bathroom cabinet - yours for postage if you want 'em??

cece · 05/02/2007 22:16

I got mine from Boots

sauce · 05/02/2007 22:18

My babies would have starved without them! Avent makes them still as does Medela. My nips are tiny.

Original poster
Creena · 06/02/2007 19:04

What a relief - thanks for all of your replies!! I gave up breastfeeding with my two older children because of the difficulties I had with it. I'm determined that once this baby is born, I'm going to stick with it and make a success of it. Knowing that I can still get hold of some nipple shields is a relief.

I'm sure I'll be back for more advice in May once the baby is born - thanks again everyone (especially funnypeculiar for her kind offer - I might well take you up on that)!

OP posts:
determination · 06/02/2007 20:53

I got mine from Mothercare last time, but that was 2.5 years ago. I must say tho that they made my nipples worse purely because they would slightly move during the feed then rub on my nipple but, they were also beneficial as my dd refused to latch until i used them. I had tried everything from creams, shields, shells, expressed milk, airing them and found that the Silverette were by far the best for naturally healing and preventing sore nipples.

Original poster
Creena · 09/02/2007 09:51

Thanks for that link, Determination - that site looks pretty interesting overall. I'd never heard of silver cups before! I think I'll spend some time looking for sites like that - I'm only 24 weeks pregnant at the moment but I'm already worrying about whether I'll be able to successfully breastfeed this one. I found it so difficult with the other two (engorgement, mastitis, cracked nipples, a milk supply that took all of one day to dry up etc) that I stopped after a few months. I really want to give it a proper go this time and I'm hoping that arming myself with lots of info and top tips will help!!

OP posts:
justbeme · 09/02/2007 10:06

Theres a lot of them for sale on ebay as well.

deaconblue · 09/02/2007 10:34

I bought them in Mothercare. They do their own brand and Avent ones, although I found the Avent ones were better as allowed more skin contact for ds. Have a look on Mothercare.com. would do you a link but am crap with computers

deaconblue · 09/02/2007 10:36

Just found them. £4.99 on Mothercare.com, breadtfeeding accessories section. I used them from ds being 2 weeks old to when we finished at 25 weeks.

mears · 09/02/2007 10:47

You can definitely get them as you have seen but they are not recommended in the same way they were 10 years ago Creena.

Reason being that the focus is to ensure the baby is attached to the breast correctly which will prevent damage. Nipple shields are used when the nipple is already damaged which means that the baby is not on properly. The shield helps with the pain but does not teach the baby to attach properly. They also can reduce the amount of milk that you produce by up to 40%. That is OK if you have a really abundant supply and you can cope with it. It isn't helpful for a mother who does not.

The best thing to do is prepare before the baby is born. Hopefully your maternity unit runs breastfeeding workshops which teach you how to ensure your baby is on the breast properly. Builds your confidence and alerts you to possible problems. Good luck.

Original poster
Creena · 09/02/2007 10:59

Thanks for that, Mears - some excellent advice there. I intend to only use them as I did in the past - after my nipples bite the dust and succumb to cracks!! I made good use of my MW and HV too, making sure that I was in the right position and latching on correctly etc. The problems kind of started after a few weeks - my baby would be constantly attached to me and always hungry. I totally failed to express anything either; the most a managed was a meagre dribble! This led me to believe that it was more a problem with mulk production/supply, so when I eventually gave up and switched to formula, my baby seemed immediately satisifed and my milk supply dried up and stopped altogether in the course of one day. I didn't even get any leaks.

I am determined with this one to make a success of it and will certainly find out if there are any breast feeding workshops running, as you've suggested. You're totally right about preparing before the birth and getting confidence levels up, too. I'll be doing as much info gathering as I possibly can!

On a related note, I've seen that there are lots of 'guide' books to breast feeding out there - can anyone suggest which ones are particularly good and worth getting hold of?

OP posts:
Original poster
Creena · 09/02/2007 11:00

mulk production/supply? What's that?! I meant milk, obviously!

OP posts:
mears · 09/02/2007 19:03

breastfeeding - the essential guide is a good easy to read book (written by a friend of mine}

determination · 09/02/2007 19:15

yeh i have that book too. Its cheap, jargon free and very easy to read. I actually finished it within 1 hour! It is the kinda book that makes you feel like part of her (trotters) family...

margo1974 · 09/02/2007 19:18

I bought mine at mothercare about 8 weeks ago

Original poster
Creena · 10/02/2007 13:37

That's excellent, Mears - again, many thanks to everyone. Starting to feel a lot more positive about my breast feeding ability now!

OP posts:
Twinklemegan · 10/02/2007 23:21

Just wanted to say I'd have had to give up breastfeeding altogether if it hadn't been for nipple shields. They got me over a terrible period when I was too scared to put DS to the breast it was so agonisingly painful. So they do have their uses.

accessorizewithbabysick · 11/02/2007 22:14

Mears, I was wondering whether you meant that supply was reduced by up to 40% or whether the baby is getting up to 40% less (which is what I had previously thought - thus they feed for longer?). Can you point to any more information about this, please?
Thanks!!

determination · 11/02/2007 22:27

info on nipple sheilds

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