if you use or have used a nipple shield. question

pinkbubbles

how did you nurse in public? i have tried several times and i can't get a hang of putting my nipple shield on underneath my hooterhider. it's aggravating. i want to be able to nurse my baby wherever i am at. not walk around until i find a place i can nurse without worrying about having to use my hooterhider. is this what i am going to have to get used to until i have weaned off the nipple shield? any tips to make it easier??

brooke929

Honestly, unless we were at someone's house, I always just took a bottle of milk with us. It was *way* too difficult to nurse with the shield.

I know that's not the answer you were looking for, but the few times I did try to nurse in public with the shield, it was a disaster.

Good luck! Hopefully you'll be able to wean soon.

AmyDrinkie

I have the exact same problem.  I have to hold Ian on my lap while I grease my nip up w/ lanolin, then hold the shield in place while I get his mouth on it.  The lanolin helps it stick to my boob better and helps draw my nipple into the shield when he starts sucking instead of me having to get the shield on exactly right.  It's quite the circus, especially if he's flailing b/c then the Hooter Hider is flapping in the breeze showing everything!

abbbeyc

To this day, I've never been able to make it work. DD won't nurse without the shield, so I just take a bottle with us. A couple times I could get her latched on discreetly, but then she'd break suction and we'd have to start all over again. She got super frustrated with this process and threw a huge fit every time. Bottle is much easier!

pinkbubbles

LOL ?your experience is exactly what i am dealing with! i am this close to not giving a damn if people see my nipple haha.

AmyDrinkie:

I have the exact same problem.? I have to hold Ian on my lap while I grease my nip up w/ lanolin, then hold the shield in place while I get his mouth on it.? The lanolin helps it stick to my boob better and helps draw my nipple into the shield when he starts sucking instead of me having to get the shield on exactly right.? It's quite the circus, especially if he's flailing b/c then the Hooter Hider is flapping in the breeze showing everything!

sarahintx05

Same thing here!  I can't get DD to latch without it, so we HAVE to use it.  I take a bottle if I have to feed her while we're out.  I also find that it's so messy because DD will pull off and keep the shield in her mouth and it will be full of milk, so milk dumps everywhere.  She usually does this about 3 times per session.  It's much easier to clean up at home, I have tried doing it out and I end up covered in milk and with a fussy baby.

EASwimmer

it sucked but i did it. 

btw he weaned himself at 7wks.  5-6wks was 1/2 and 1/2 with the shield.  7wks was all of a sudden he refused it.    GL

Good2BdaMommy

I've only nursed in public once, mostly b/c of the shield. I just bring a bottle of expressed milk. We're still trying to wean, and it's slow going. My biggest motivator is just to be able to nurse wherever I want!

redhead2466

Here is an excellent article about weaning from the NS....it is what I used.  Honestly, I feel for you, I fought going off it forever but finally bit the bullet.  What I did was not use the NS on the left boob first, and it was another week or two until I tried DD directly on my nipple.  I would think if your LO has any confusion this might not be a good idea, but it worked for me.  Plus I had one nipple that was less sore (the one I still used the NS on at first)while I weaned off the other one....HTH

https://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/wean-shield.html#weaning