Avent nipplette - anyone used it?

[Piccalilli2]

I was unable to establish breastfeeding with my first child and was told by the breastfeeding counsellor that one of the reasons was that I have flat nipples making it difficult for dd to latch on. I've seen the Avent Nipplette advertised which is supposed to help with this and am thinking of trying it out with baby number two (due in April). Has anyone got any experience of using it that they can share?

I used the avent and medela nipple shields with my daughter because i have one flat nipple and found that they really helped. I was advised to try the nipplette but couldn't find them! Another thing that you could try is using a pump imediately beofre you put her on to draw the nipple out. Now that she is bigger (she's 17 weeks old now) she can latch on without help- i pinch up the nipple and skin around it and she has a strong enough suck to get it in!

I was told to avoid nipple shields as they can confuse the baby and affect your milk supply. I have to say that it didn't seem to confuse her and she feeds now without a problem. My milk supply was a bit up and down so i expressed to maintain it for the first couple of weeks. Once it was established it didn't seem to matter whether i was using a shield or not.

Good luck!

If it's the thing I used (can't recall proper name) that was like a teat that fits over your nipple, then it was an absolute god-send.
We couldn't get it together at all until fantastic mid-wife suggested this on day 4.
We didn't look back. I fed well until I went back to work, which was when I wanted to stop.
Can't recommend it highly enough, if it allows you to do what you want to do, without feeling pressure to continue or pain !!
Good luck.

I had one COMPLETELY inverted nipple and also used nipple shields i would not have been able to nursed without them also due to two dd's which had no clue how to BFed at all! They both ended up depending on them and it was extremely difficult to wean them from the shields.

An alternative you could use during pregnancy to prepare would be Nipple Formers Alternatively use a pump prior to feeding to tease your nipples pout for latching

Thanks everyone. I tried shields last time and found them completely useless but might try the nipple formers and using the pump first sounds like a good trick.

hi there. i used the nipplette during pg but to be honest - it hadnt really changed much for me. i found nipple shells helped and now the baby herself seems to be able to draw teh nipple out.
good luck

I had flat nipples and spent those weeks of agony cursing that I hadn't used something like the Nipplette beforehand (but then I thought my nipples were normal...who knew??).

I actually bought a Nipplette in desperation at about week 8 or so - of course it didn't work as it just got full of milk (that's how desperate I was ) but I fully intended to use it after I stopped bf so I'd be better prepared if there was a next time.

The good thing was that I managed to get through it and ds has now permanently fixed my nips! I reckon it's worth a try though, even if to just feel like you're doing something to prepare. I think Chicco sell a similar thing at about a quarter of the price btw.

Thanks bookthief. I thought my nipples were normal too - I was quite absurdly upset when the midwife wrote 'flat nipples' in capitals on my notes like she thought I was some kind of freak. Sounds like the Nipplette or similar may be worth a try though