Transitioning DS from the nipple shield to the bare breast

[McEwan]

Our DS was born 6 weeks early, and spent two weeks in the neonatal unit. In that time, he graduated from the feeding tube to a combination of on the breast with a shield and a bottle. He came home 1 week ago and is now exclusively on the breast but with a shield.

The next and last step is to graduate from off the shield to the bare nipple. Any tips or advice?

Gestationally, DS is 37.5 weeks old, so we see no rush and we don't want to stress then, but any tips are gratefully received.

Following with interest as I’m in the same situation (albeit different circumstances). No advice of my own, sorry, but my BF counsellor advised me to try starting off a feed with the shield then remove it when baby takes a natural break from the feed and see if they’ll then latch back on without it - and if not to put it back on and carry on with it, try again another time. She also advised looking up biological nurturing and spending half an hour skin to skin with baby each morning and afternoon to just allow them to explore the breast and see if they seek out the nipple by themselves. She said to be patient and not put any pressure on yourself or your baby and see what happens. I haven’t started trying these tips yet but I will soon- good luck and hope some of this is helpful