How to wean from the nipple shield?

Re: How to wean from the nipple shield?

• bhawk0527 member

  June 2010

  I can't tell how old your baby is but I had to use mine for like a month. She wouldn't open wide enough. It is a PITA to clean & always make sure the dog hadn't ate it LOL but if it works, it works

  After that though I would start with it and then take off 1/2 way through or so so she'd get use to not having it.

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• trishk101

  June 2010

  I used one for 3 weeks and was scared I would never get rid of the shield. Try not using when you and baby are calm and at home. I also suggest taking it away after the baby gets going. For me switching sides worked also, but I'm not sure why, perhaps just to start over if my DD was getting frustrated.
  

  

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• Marc's Mrs. member

  June 2010

  Ditto PP's.  LO has to be somewhat satisfied the first few times.  If she's starving she won't want any part of it.  After a while of doing it this way, you'll be able to feed from start to finish w/o the shield.

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• spout3 member

  June 2010

  I feel your pain! That was me for the first month!

  At around 3 weeks old I would start with the shield and then take it off mid way through a feeding and she would latch on to my nipple, but she could never start a feeding without the shield.  I did this at almost every daytime feeding.  it took about a week + for her to finally be able to do with without the shield.   one day she just latched and that waas it!
  

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• bebehblog

  June 2010

  We used the shield for what felt like FOREVER. I swore I would end up using it for our whole first year but eventually he stopped needing it because 

  - The baby's mouth got bigger and he was able to get my somewhat-flat nipple in his mouth better

  - My nipples became more drawn out so he could latch better without the shield to help

  - My supply regulated (a little) so I wasn't so engorged and he could compress my nipple more effectively

  - I ended up with thrush (probably from a poorly-cleaned shield) and the baby simply refused to use it. I don't know if it hurt his mouth or if he just knew it was uncomfortable for me but around 4.5 months he just stopped using it.

   I had tried to wean him off using the methods the PPs talked about but it was really just a matter of the baby growing out of it. We're still going strong, shield free, at 14 months.
  

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• konaboomom

  June 2010

  My experience is pretty similar to other posts. What worked for us was I would nurse LO on one side and then when she was ready for the other, she would nurse without the shield. I think because she was pretty satiated she would nurse on the other side easily. I agree is it such a pain to use the shield, eps when you try to get out of the house and NIP. But we have been going on 2 weeks strong without the shield and it is fantastic.

   My best advice is not to try and wean at night (just nurse and try and get your rest) and make your best attempts during the day. GL!!!

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• NovemberNZ

  June 2010

  He weaned himself at 12 weeks. I tried to feed him one day and he was screaming.. so I took the shield off and he was fine. We never turned back to it!  I did try to wean it from him beforehand, like you, but it never worked.

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