Advice on nipple shields...please...

[squigglywig]

Hi,

I've been breastfeeding my DD since she was born (8wo) using nipple shields as we had a real battle in hospital to get her latched on. After a week they gave us the nipple shields and we've not had a problem since.

She's gaining weight very well, feeds regularly, plenty of wet nappies etc. etc.

Should I be trying to wean her off them (my nipples are still very flat, even at the end of a feed) or should I just be grateful that it seems to be going ok?

Thanks!

Well done sticking at it squigglywig.

I used a nipple shield for a little while until ds1 bit through it (no teeth at the time mind you).

I don't think there's any 'should' about it. What happens when you try without? Which are you more comfortable with?

DD is 9.5 mo and I still feed her with shields as she won't feed without them (and she bites me if she hasn't realised that the shield isn't there and tries to latch on anyway). I would've liked to have fed her without the shields but it just never happened. If I had taken her to the cranial osteopath sooner then she may have developed a strong enough suck to feed without the shields before the shields had become a habit for her. The main issues that people get with using shields are ones surrounding supply and weight gain. I used to have oversupply issues even with the shields and my DD puts on weight quicker than the growth charts suggest she 'should' so shields are not a problem for me. Don't worry about your nipples being flat though as you can feed perfectly well with 'flat' nipples.

Would you like to feed without them? I would suggest trying to wean her off of them ASAP if you do want to feed without them.

Hi,

It'd be handy if I could feed without them. I've no qualms about feeding in public (brazen lass, me )but faffing attaching the shield in a shopping centre can be a bit, well, awkward.

If I try without at the moment she does try to latch on, but she can never seem to really get there, and certainly never gets to the sucking stage. In the end she just becomes frustrated.

At the moment my supply is fine, and her weight gain is fine. I just worry that it might affect supply in the future, and also, stupidly, that it's just not "normal".

Have you tried feeding in the bath without the shields?

I got ds1 to latch on after 2 months of expressing and the odd success with nipple shields, in the bath. Had to try every night for ages though!

I completely understand the difficulties that you are experiencing (including the public feeding issue). I've been told that you can get supply issues at about 3+ months because the amount of calories a baby needs at that stage is greater than a smaller baby needs but whether that is true or not I'm afraid I couldn't tell you. I used to be able to get DD to latch on by gently squeezing my nipple between my thumb and forefinger as suggested by a prem baby feeding expert. This drew my nipple out and meant that even though DD had a weak suck she didn't have to draw the nipple out herself, just keep it drawn out whilst feeding.

I've been trying the past day or so to move her on to the smaller sized shield (using the medela ones) in an attempt to gradual wean her off them. She really doesn't seem keen though, and when she's getting tired at the end of a feed she's finding it really hard.

I've looked at lots of videos of how to get her to latch etc. but just can't seem to make it work. I really, really, really don't want to have to give up if I hit supply problems at 3 months. Are any of the shields better for this than others?

i would certainly start trying to get her to latch at every feed without the shield. It is far far easier to feed without them.

My both dds refused to latch for approx 3 days.. then we used a shield and continued using it until around 12 weeks then i managed to wean them from it. I successfully bfed my dd1 for 25 months and dd2 is not 12months and still going strong.

Are you using contact shields so her nose is touching the skin on your breast?

OK, I know that I'm not talking from the most experienced point of view having not weaned DD off of them, but, in my experience you want to move to the larger shields not the smaller ones. This is because it encourages the baby to open their mouth more rather than just sucking on the end of a small false teat that is nothing like your nipple. I found that the medela shields were fine whilst DD was still pre-term but they were not suitable when DD got bigger. The BF counsellor recommeded using Avent shields if you use any and I must say they are far better than the medela ones. They are much thinner so you get more sensation when feeding and they offer more skin-to-skin contact than the medela ones. Having managed a few feeds without shields, I would say that the Avent shields feel much more like 'the real thing' and do encourage better positioning of the baby.

If you look here you will see how different the Avent shields are.

I had exactly the same situation , kept on using the shields until around 3 months (Avent, as it happens) and then we gradually changed to not using them when dd and I were more confident. It was well worth it all and we kept feeding for 10 months. it is fine to keep using them, keep relaxed and it will all come in time. And I fed anywhere and everywhere, even though I'm quite shy normally

well done so far! I used shields with ds from about 8 weeks til he was 4/5 months, mainly because it was so painful feeding without them. Didn't have any supply problems, the biggest issue was the faffing around when feeding in public. Discreet it wasn't.
Anyway, ds just suddenly went off them, and luckily his latch had got better (think his mouth just got big enough to get the right amount of nipple in!) so it was ok to feed without the shield. If he hadn't, I would've carried on using them. I lied to the gp and hv about it though as they were all openly against shields, which didn't help me much. But I really didn't have any of the problems that I got warned about. Do whatever fits best for you.
x

Bugger! Will go back to the bigger ones then. I thought the smaller ones because that'd be closer to "my" size - but I know nothing

I think I'm going to keep trying to get DD to latch on without the shield when she seems like she might give it a go but try not to get too worked up about it - it sounds like it might be easier when she gets a bit bigger. I'll definitely be switching to those avent ones though - thanks!

Well done squigglywig for getting this far - I have been using nipple shields for five and a half months now, so it is possible to feed for prolonged periods with them. Although this is not what's advised, i've found it the only way i can bf my DS, and i've made the decision that my breast milk is the most important thing, not how he gets it.
I use the Avent shields, but also the Mam ones here
I've also been making sure that i get my DS weighed every couple of weeks, to make sure that he's putting on weight well (which he is) as one of the problems with shields can be a drop in supply and the baby not getting enough milk through the shields.
HTH

Squigglywig you are doing really well. The reason that the bigger ones are better is because more of your areola gets drawn into the part of the shield that is in your LO's mouth and when you feed without the shield you are trying to get the whole of your areola into the baby's mouth. The medela shields are good for tiny (prem) babies with a weak suck as they aren't always able to feed witht he bigger shields or directly on the breast if they have a poor suck. However, you do end up with the baby 'nipple feeding' rather than breast feeding when you use them and this will affect your supply.

Do you mind me asking what the exact nature of the problem is with getting your DD to latch on? How are you trying to get her to latch on without the shields at the moment?

Hi,

My nipples are tiny and very flat (the areola is quite large though). DD just can't seem to get latched on at all - she seems to fall off. If she does get a decent mouthful of the breast for a second or two she falls off again almost immediately.

I had fantastic support in the hospital with bfc and some truly wonderful midwives and none of us could make it work.

I really want to get rid of them as I desperately don't want to stop breastfeeding if I have trouble with supply. I just don't know what else to do though. I don't have a bath sadly - but have tried laying back on loads of pillows etc. but that doesn't help either. DD just ends up really, really cross!

If you do find that your supply is affected, it is advised that you express after each feed. I found that I had to do this with the medela shields but didn't with the avent ones after a few days of using them. If I had thought about it at the time, I would have made sure that I had massaged my breasts a bit more before expressing them or maybe even hand expressed to try and stimulate my supply more from the feel of skin-on-skin. I also had to make sure that one or two feeds a day were with me and DD stripped down (her in a nappy, me with a breast shell taped onto the non-feeding boob) to maximise skin-to-skin contact. This helped my supply no end, especially if I did the first feed of the day in bed like this.

Try not to panic about getting off of the shields just keep on gently plugging away. I was advised to latch DD on with the shield and then whip it away without any fuss at all when trying to wean her off of the shield.