My one very Inverted Nipple and Breastfeeding!

[OTTMummA]

Hello to everyone, im new here, i have a 2 yr old son and wasn't successful at b/f him, i managed to double pump and bottle feed for 4 months, and then my milk just ran out, and i put him on formula
He could never latch on, dispite having a large mouth and long tounge, i still feel guilty i didn't try hard enough and long enough, i tried the nipplete, but because my breast are big- 42G they never stayed on long enough to make a difference.
Me and my Husband are planning to try again in the summer, and i depserately want to b'f exclusively for as long as possible,
my problems are:
1: 1 severley inverted nipple,

2: other nipple is small and flat

3: large areolas, and big breasts, seemed to suffocate baby when trying to get him latched.

4: dispite pumping every 3 hours and 4-5 through the night for 4 months my nipples never got better!

any advice would be great, i know babies don't nipple feed, but i wanted to use a nipple shield, and the lactation consultant made me feel awful for even thinking of this :S, so i didn't.

please help, i want this sorted before i concieve.

Have you looked on the kellymom website? As it is extremely helpful: weblink

There shouldn't be a reason not to BF - to quote something on kellymom: "Babies breastfeed, not "nipple-feed", and if a baby is able to take in a good mouthful of breast, most types of inverted or flat nipples will not cause a problem during breastfeeding. However, some types of nipples are harder for the baby to latch onto, especially at first, but in most cases, patience, persistence, proper latch-on technique, and perhaps a few other helpful measures will pay off"

Go to BF clinics as soon as you can for advice after having the baby, and keep perservering my lovely!

I certainly found with my second baby the BF cam easier. Hope its the same with you x

Hi there - hope this gets to you as have only just come across your thread.

I have totally inverted nipples & (luckily forewarned by my equally 'blessed' mother) invested in some nipple shields before the birth of my DD. Was told by NHS & NCT counsellors that I wouldn't need them & that the nipple would get sucked out during feeding.

My DD ended up in Special Care for a few days after the birth & the hospital kindly supplied me with an electronic breast pump & did tube feeding. Even with the pump, my nipples stayed firmly flat! On day 3 I took off my bra & the lovely special care nurse said - "I'll get you a shield then" - we squirted a little of the expressed milk into the shield and we were off feeding happily & without any problems for the next 22 months.

I did get a few negative comments from the health visitors & tried to latch her without them but failed so figured that breast milk through a shield was better than no breast milk at all. The only issue was remembering to always have one on me - particularly when we got to the last six months & only bedtime feeds but found leaving one in the glove compartment of the car & sterilising it with boiling water when required did the trick.

Did a lot a research on the web & couldn't actually find any data (as opposed to 'facts') to say why exactly sheilds should be a problem. We have the technology so I say use it.

Good luck & don't beat yourself up that your nipples aren't perfect - shields will do the job (when historically I assume a wet nurse would have) and you'll be able to wear tight t-shirts again once you've finished feeding without 'waving' at people