Weaning off nipple shield- tips?

Totoro1979 · May 2009

I have flat nipples and been wearing a nipple shield to feed LO since birth. I would like to start weaning him off of the nipple shield if possible- it's just so messy and a real hassle. I tried a couple of days ago and he didn't really like the real nipple- hopefully I haven't spoiled him on the fake nipple. I'm wondering if I will have to wear the nipple shield forever since my nipples aren't really going to unflatten. Does anyone have any tips/tricks they used? How long did it take for yours to wean off?

jewelsonu · May 2009

i starteed tring when ds was 1 month. I night he was crying and DH was washing the nipple shield so I just tried and he took my nipple. So I slowly started trying once a day without the shield. It took me about a week to get him off of it completely. I didn't get rid of the shields for couple weeks later just in case there was a problem. Try switching him to the nipple in the middle of the feeding. be patient. try once a day. good luck! Make sure you have lanolin cream for when he does latch on without the shield. you might be sore.

KarBear · May 2009

Be patient. I never really tried weaning, but around 10 weeks, I just put her on w/out it, and she latched. A couple days later we were free of it for good!

mjcleve · May 2009

Try not to rush it. While it's annoying sometimes, you need to do what it takes to continue to EBF successfully.

I would just try without it every once in a while....once a week or so. Around 12 weeks, DS finally latched on well without it for a whole feeding. I continued using it on and off for about a week and then threw them away! I had flat nipples too...not anymore thanks to a year of bfing.

Good luck!

Weaning off nipple shield- tips?

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