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Breastfeeding
Previous shield users, COME IN!
So after having the WORST week of my LIFE with LO!!!, I have regained some inner mommy strength and want to get back on track with her feedings. Me and LO have had our problems with BF. I recieved a shield from the hospital after she wouldn't latch/flat nips and was happy she "learned" how to BF. But at week 3 she became really gassy/fussy all day long and I did everything to try and fix it....drops, changing my diet..and then last Friday she STOPPED eating off me and would get frustrated and pull away because my milk wouldn't letdown unless she sucked for awhile...getting in air the whole time. So I've been pumping and giving a bottle (which she got as well in the early weeks too). So she's had 3 different nipples from bottles, a nipple shield, and a paci and I wondered why she wouldn't take my breast when I tried! So I want to get to a point where she's eating off me WITHOUT the shield. Any advice on getting her back on track? I spoke to a LC on the phone and plan on going to 2 support groups this week to try and figure out how to get her to latch. Just wanted any advice/support if you've been there!
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Re: Previous shield users, COME IN!
BE STRONG!
Stop with the bottles completely until she nurses WELL!
Before each feeding pump a little first and then place her on the breast so she doesnt get impatient waiting for the letdown.
Use warm washcloths before each feeding if you dont want to pump. It helps with the letdown.
After you can get her to nurse exclusively for a few days with no troubles then you can try and wean the shield. Start by letting her nurse for 10 mins or so and then take the nipple shield off halfway through the feeding and get her to keep sucking. Therefore milk will already be flowing and your nipple should be protruding. If she does it for a few seconds- minutes then great!! If she gets frustrated, give her a minute or two to keep trying and then put it back on. You dont want her to get tooo frustrated.
I did this with my little man for about 3 days and then i just took it away and stopped offering it. I would make sure to get my nipples hard at least before each feeding so he could grasp on well but we were fully nipple shield weaned by 3 months!! Good luck! I wish i could have weaned sooner!
the LC at the hospital helped me start to wean from the shield even before we left...she would drizzle either glucose water or breastmilk I had already pumped over the nipple so he got the instant gratification and was motivated to keep sucking. the technique is somewhat messy since there's milk or water all down your front, but it really worked well to encourage my little guy to latch on and keep going. I only used the shield for two weeks and sort of went "cold turkey" one day, once he latched on for one feeding, I was just persistent the next times. He figured out what he had to do quickly. But, getting the nipple hard first was key, either manually or pump a bit to get your milk down too.
Good luck! it can be frustrating but it will work eventually!
I would "preload" the nipple shield with BM before I tried to latch LO on. Same idea as PP for instangt gratification.
My LO wouldn't latch without a nipple shield. Sometimes he would pull off in the middle of eating and I would remove the shield before he tried to relatch. Mostly at first he would try to latch, realize the shield wasn't there, get mad and scream. Everything I read said to not force it. So I would put the shield back on and relatch him.
I thought he would never nurse without a nipple shield. After about 1-2 weeks of casually trying and 1-2 days of really trying, he figured it out and we haven't needed the shield in over 1 1/2 weeks. Try to be patient, I know it sucks but most likely your LO will eventually figure it out.
I start out using the nipple shield then knock it off either when she pulls off or during a burb, literally mid-nursing. She sometimes will just latch back on and keep going. Doesn't always work, but worth the try!