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Anyone - nipple shield on one side only?

rc1276rc1276 member
in Breastfeeding

I've been using a nipple shield on my left side at the recommendation of an LC (flat nipple), after days and days of LO refusing that side. Now I have the opposite problem -- he likes the side with the nipple shield and fights me on the right every time. He'll ultimately latch but not until we've had 10-15 minutes of frantic head shaking, screaming, sucking for 5 seconds and releasing, and crying (him and me).

Fortunately, he's gaining weight really well, but I find myself dreading feeding him because it's always a fight.

So, a few questions ...

1) Anyone else faced/facing this problem? 

2) Suggestions to wean from the shield and/or suggestions to get him to more easily accept my other breast? I've tried slipping the shield off a few minutes into the feeding, and sometimes it works but mostly it doesn't.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

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Re: Anyone - nipple shield on one side only?

  • AJluvsLIAJluvsLI member

    I noticed when I use the nipple shield too much he will be more lazy when feeding without.  Usually, I start with the shield, and once he's eaten enough to not be super fussy, I take it off and get him to go without it for as long as possible,.

    Also- I use these breast shells medela makes when I'm not nursing that help because i  have flat nipples.  Days I wear them I notice he feeds much better and without the shield.   This is the link: https://awaybabyessentials.com/item_34/Medela-TheraShells-Breast-Shells.htm

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  • iuploriiuplori member

    I had to use a shield for almost the first two weeks b/c of flat nipples, and I just persisted in trying to get her to nurse about 5 minute with it on and then try to slip it off.  Most of the time, it wouldn't work, but eventually, she caught on on my left side, which seemed to start to pop out more. 

    Thanks to my emergence c-section, I had six days in the hospital, and lots of help from their LC's.  One LC told me to start with the side that didn't need the shield so she would have that feeling established in her mouth.  The idea was that it was easier to go from no shield to shield rather than the other way around.

    I wore the shells too, like the pp said, which helped the situation. 

     

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  • nikkinack1nikkinack1
    I have the same exact problem and have tried unsuccessfully to stop using the shield.
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