Nipple shields

[Sorrento79]

FTM baby born 8 days ago at 38weeks. c section

we've been struggling to breastfeed, latch very variable/infrequent and lots of falling asleep after a minute. No evidence of eg tongue tie. He can manage a bottle and is feeding well that way. My milk has come in, i am using a pump to express (volumes not great though, i can't quite get tye pump right i think). Am also offering the breast several times a day and about 1-2 times a day he'll do it.

i have got a video call with a breast feeding consultant tomorrow and will take her advice, but am wondering if she doesn't mention it if i should ask about nipple shields? I've read about them and sounds like they might help, but i can't quite figure out why there is a need for them to only be used short term - are they harmful in some way?

They saved me with dc1 (who I suspect after dc2 had a bad tongue tie probably had an undiagnosed tongue tie). However they are a huge faff (cleaning them, finding them quickly, holding them in place) and definitely gave dc1 worse wind/colic. I managed to drop them after 8 weeks or so and his wind instantly improved. However without shields he wouldn't have latched at all so I'm glad I used them in the initial stages.

They saved my life! I had an awful time trying to establish breastfeeding. Then one midwife came in and gave me some shields to try. Why I had been left to struggle like that and no-one had suggested them earlier, I'll never know.

I used them for a while but then found I didn't need them any more. They are brilliant!

I used them with DS as had massive boobs with quite flat nipples so he struggled to get a good latch. They were brilliant and helped me feed him until 8 months (went back to work so had to switch to bottle as I couldn't pump anything).

Nipple shields can be a helpful aid when breastfeeding. I used them with both my daughters, and ended up feeding each for 12 months. They are a faff to clean, but don't be afraid to try them if you are struggling. And don't believe any naysayers that tell you that nipple shields spell instant disaster for breast feeding. They were especially brilliant with my second child. I had the most awful thrush (right up into my armpits) and a nipple erosion (don't ask), and using nipple shields helped us limp.along while that healed. We didn't even start weaning til she was 7 months old, because she was such a boob monster!

A mw suggested them to me too. I didn't find them faffy at all, very easy to use and managed to successfully bf when I was considering giving up.

Oh and my top tip is a little Vaseline round the edge to get a good seal over your breast

DS had a bad tongue tie, they helped me get him back to BF after he had it snipped gradually weaned him off them as he got more comfortable

My baby couldn't latch without them. They're the only way I was able to breastfeed. Would definitely recommend

Shields saved my journey too, DD had a tongue tie cut at 7 weeks but even that didn't help. I always tried her without the shields every so often but she never latched until she was about 5 months old and after that we stopped using them until she didn't BF anymore. I would've given in a long time before I did if not for the shields and I wouldn't have known about them if my sister in law hadn't used them

Crack on OP - I struggled for ages with my first, bleeding away and in huge pain. She struggled and was losing weight/dropping centiles and honestly it was awful as we could not get discharged from the midwife. Nipple shields resolved all of that and I fed my first using them until 10 months when she cba to breastfeed anymore. She went up to the 92nd centile.

used then with my son too and fed him until 16 months with shields.

honestly was so stress free. I bought loads so had clean ones always around. Try wearing a clean one in your nursing bra when you go out for ease of use.

hate the nonsense around shields and it not being proper breastfeeding/you are doing something wrong/need to wean off them. Nothing to be ashamed of and for some babies it is the only way they can manage.