My DS is 14 weeks old. I’ve been exclusively BFing since birth and using nipple shields for pretty much every feed for the past ten weeks.
This was because I had bad cracking and bleeding nipples in the beginning due to a bad latch. I’ve been super apprehensive about stopping using shields, as I’m scared my nipples will get sore again. The sterilising is a faff but it’s fine.
However, yesterday I managed all his feeds without. It was fairly painless. His feeds were all shorter than normal and he went longer in between. I’m worried that he wasn’t getting enough in the time and that he will lose weight. He was coming on and off a bit and kept looking up and smiling. He was his normal happy self and had lots of wet and a few dirty nappies. The only differences in the day were shorter feeds and them being less frequent.
Feel free to give me a virtual slap for being a paranoid FTM. I also have PND, so I feel very anxious about everything, especially around feeding as I feel like the shields mean I’m not doing it ‘properly’. I keep wanting to use the shields again today because he’s been doing so well with them and I ‘know’ they work and he’s familiar with them. He’s going up centiles and is on about 85th for weight.
Should I persevere without and trust he would let me know if he’s hungry or unhappy getting the milk, or go back to my trusty shields?