Nipple shields, tell me they're OK?

[bakedpotato]

DS was born 5 days ago. I always struggled with breastfeeding DD 3 yrs ago, i never got the famous endorphin high, but i kept going through guilt etc (mixed from 3/4 mths, 2 breastfeeds maintained till 8 mths) and, as a result, had a rather miserable experience of early motherhood. I'd really like to enjoy the experience this time and I do think DS is a better feeder, but i'm struggling again with the discomfort, and this time i'm clear that i'm not going be a martyr to it and make my life and that of DH and poor DD grislier than it has to be.

Various midwives have told me the positioning is fine, but whatever, there is a problem with pain, esp when latching on. My main MW says i have signs of nipple trauma, tiny colourless blisters on the old nips, but seems to think the thing is just to persist regardless. She is very pro breastfeeding, which is great, but when i mentioned nipple shields to help me through this rough patch she said they inhibited milk production, and basically implied using them would be a mistake.

well, DS is a hungry chap, i'm struggling to keep up with him as it is, and i have to say that i did buy some and started using them yesterday and it's fantastic: the pain goes, and i can feel my uterus contracting gently which i think (?) is linked to let-down (it feels great btw), and he is soused in milk, esp by day. The last 2 nights have been a bit fraught, i guess my supply has got to catch up with his appetite, but i'm sure i'm feeding him for longer and in a better state of mind than if i wasn't using them, so it has to be good, right? or am i making a terrible mistake?

I have been trying to use them only for alternate feeds, but it's so much more pleasant with them... do i have to give them up?

bp at the lost EBM!!!
It's liquid gold!!
I once thawed out a bulging freezer bag full, picked it up and it went all over the floor-about 7 oz!! Dh couldn't work out why I was so upset. Only a b/feeding mother could know!!

Great news, BP, though about the ebm. Just look at the progress you've made since your first posting last w/end - this is almost like an online diary of bfing.

i've come a long way, baby! (suedonim, thank you for that good tip about letting the shields bear the brunt, then taking them off for the rest of the feed, i'm doing that regularly now. and even when i wear them, i'm getting him to gape first)
MW just came and weighed him and, yippeee, he's over his birth weight. considering it took DD weeks and weeks to get there, i feel quite dizzy with triumph. don't want to sound like an oscar winner, but gee, i couldn't have done it without the lot of yous.

Just checking in to see how it's going, bakedpotato to hear things have improved, and about the ebm! Aaaargh!

baked potato, congratulations and respect to you for persevering. well done, I used nipple shields with ds1 for about 8 weeks before giving up finally. they did work though.

I'm glad it worked for you, BP. I only discovered it because I was so paranoid about losing my milk supply with shields (never had much milk to spare) and experimented a bit.

two questions.

1. expressing. i don't seem to be getting as much off as i did yesterday -- yesterday AM got 4 oz quite quickly (2 oz from a single boob just before i stuck him on at 2 diff feeds); got half that today at same time. should i read anytihng into this? does anyone have any advice?

2. without shields, DS is still twisting and pulling around on the breast. he seems more content with the shields, even quite late in the feed when i'd have thought the ledown wouldn't be playing much of a part. DD also did this twisting thing, i hated it: it kept changing the latch. any ideas, anyone? (i rang La Leche League when at wits' end with wriggling DD, and a counsellor said she had never heard of such a thing. just what i wanted to hear.)

DS seems to be doing fine, he's sleeping pretty well still. but these two things are preying on my mind.

Don't read anything into the amounts you are expressing. Some days you woll get loads, other days you won't.

The twisting thing I am not sure about. Can you do a feed in front of B/F counsellor till she sees what is going on? Babies seem to suck shields better because the firm shield presses against the top palate more and stimulated a different type of sucking. More like sucking from a teat.
Possibly DS just needs to learn what to do more efficiently. As you use the shields less, he should improve more.

bakedpotato, am late to this thread but just wanted to say that I could have written some of your earlier posts!

I had a dreadful time with painful bfeeding for at least 4 months. Clearly there was some problem with the latch, but no-one could figure out what it was. I used nipple shields (carefully) for about 7 weeks and they saved my sanity.

I expressed every day and found the amount quite variable as mears points out, so no need to worry about minor blips. I did that thing of expressing in the morning for the evening wibble - it worked for me, as the cluster feeding made me really sore and having some ebm to hand gave me a bit of a break.

dd is now nearly 5 months and I've finally discovered what a painless breastfeed feels like! There was no instant cure- it went gradually from agonising to very painful, to uncomfortable, to brilliant!

Just wanted to say that it all passes, and I really, really enjoy and appreciate breastfeeding now....

... and so will you!

Good luck!

thanks, welliemum. ah, the entirely painless breastfeed... how lovely.
however, i do recognise the idea of a slow gradual improvement, things aren't easy yet but they're so much better than they were. you give me hope!