nipple shields?

Manderlin923

Does anyone use these?

My baby is 8 days old and he is not really latching on to my nipples. If he does latch, he might suck for a few seconds but then when he opens his mouth they slip out....a lc  suggested nipple shields because mine are pretty flat and so far so good- he's nursing great with them. But I'm worried that I shouldn't be continuing to use them and the lc isn't able to come see us until next week. She said not to stress about it and we'll figure it out but I feel like he's maybe getting into a habit that will harm our bf success?

On the other hand, I'm thrilled he's nursing at all and getting my milk so is it really something to worry about? WDYT? 

 

sunset11/7

i tried a nipple shield because one of my nipples has a deep crack and the nipple shield can help ease the pain however my baby would not take the the shield because it was too long compared to my nipples which are short. But I found that if I pulled my nipple out (stretched them) just before he would latch on he did much better. GL!

little__bit

I used the shield for 3 months, and I have mixed feelings about it.  One the one hand, it was the only thing that enabled BFing at the beginning.  My son could not latch without it.  I was in terrible pain and he was getting no milk.  I doubt I be BFing today if it weren't for the shield.

On the other hand, it had real disadvantages for us.  First, it was harder to NIP because of the "set-up".  And they're messy; I got so sick of washing them.  More importantly, in our case they really obstructed milk transfer.  My son would nurse 30+ minutes at a time, and I believe it's because it slowed down the transfer of milk.  He was a large baby at birth (9 lb 7), but he didn't regain his birth weight until a number of weeks after delivery.  He never had the early growth spurts like other babies.  He was solidly in the 20th percentile for weight untiI went off the shield.  A few weeks after we weaned from the shield, he shot up to the 50th percentile.

This anecdotal evidence only, but when we have baby #2, I will do everything I can do nurse without the shield from the beginning.  

ETA:  I don't have any good advice for weaning from the shield, except to try nursing without it at least once per day.  It may not be successful for awhile, but one of these days, your LO will catch on.  And you will be SO GLAD you persisted with it.