Do I need a different size breastshield on pump?

FarmingBride

I have looked online at different pictures and looked in my Medela handbook that came with my pump.  But I still can't quite figure out if I need a different size breastshield.  I had the newborn nurse at the hospital watch me pump and see how far down my nipples are drawning into the tubes of the cones.  She thought I needed a size smaller possibly, but she really didn't know and wasn't much help....gerrr! 

 Where the PersonalFit Connector & the breastshield ends intersect is how far in my nipples are being drawn.  From that intersection back towards my breast is solid w/ nipple/breast.  My nipple tip will cone out in front of where the PersonalFit Connector & breastshield intersect. 

Is that how far they are suppose to be drawn in?  I mean the tips of my nipples are about 1/2 inch away from touching the back side of the PersonalFit Connector. 

Sorry if that was too much information!  Just hard to explain how your boobs get sucked into those cones, haha!

Holly_Doll

My nipples do the same thing so I am curious to see what others think about this. I was looking into getting small breastshield - if I can find them in a store and not online. If I need a small I want them sooner than having to have them shipped to me from online.

 I have to use small nipple shields when I started to BF but now he can latch on without the shields - so I figured if I need small for the nipple shields then the breast shields need to be small?

 

TimsMayBride

I think that it isn't a matter of how far they're being drawn in, but which parts are being drawn in.  It should take in all of your nipple, but not the areola.  At the hospital, one of the LC's told me I needed a larger shield because I have large breasts, but that one drew in so much areola it rubbed skin off!  Fortunately one of the nurses had a bunch of different sizes to test out and turns out the standard 24mm one was best.

vtkgirl77

I'm not familiar with your pump so I can't envision your situation but in my situation, I am sort of in between sizes. With the regular size, part of my aerola gets drawn in but with the smaller size, my nipple rubs a little. So, what I do, is I use the regular size but I put lanolin on my nipples before pumping so that it does not chafe. That seems to work and I haven't had any soreness.

olivia1978

Many women need larger size shields, but it's extremely rare to need a smaller than standard size, as the standard size is already way too small for most moms.  The signs of having a shield that is too small are rubbing along the tunnel while pumping. I've talked to several LC's who say there are no clinical cases of problems due to "too big" shields, and have found that many women who end up buying the smaller inserts actually needed a larger shield.

 I think the pump companies have gone a bit overboard with having 50 sizes to choose from; it just confuses everybody.