Mixed feeding when using nipple shields

[bluesky45]

My baby is just over 2 weeks old. He has never fed from the breast without a nipple shield. He struggled with feeding when he was born and while spending some time in NICU I was given nipple shields to use with him and we had a break through. He has since fed well and is gaining weight well but we use a shield each time. I don't have a problem with using them and they are doing the job just fine. However, our plan was always for my partner to give some expressed milk in a bottle to allow me to sleep. I had read to wait 6 weeks before doing this to avoid nipple confusion. Would this advice still apply if we are using a shield at each feed anyway? Or will my baby not get nipple confusion as the shield is similar to a bottle teat? Or should I still wait til 6 weeks? Thanks for any advice. I can't find any info online about this issue.

I still exclusively use nipple shields when feeding and my girl is now four months old!
Shes had a poor latch since she was born and just doesn't like a bare nipple.
I use to express milk as well and my baby took to the bottle easily due to being familiar with the bottle-like teat from the shield - that was from birth as well. We've never had any problems but I suspect it worked so well because she shields and her old bottles were both Medela, so they were both a similar shape on the teat.
I hope that makes sense!!

Thank you so much for your reply, really helpful! I haven't found much information online about any of this. The midwife said there was no problem using the shields long term, it's just abit more awkward for me but I haven't read anything about anyone actually doing it, everything says they are a short term solution. We use medela shields so I might try medela bottles too. It's great to hear there is less chance of nipple confusion, I could really do with giving my partner a bottle to do one night feed with so I can sleep abit longer! Hope it continues to go well for you!