New to board - Nipple shield question

littlev · January 2012

For those of you who have used nipple shields, how long did you use it, and was it difficult to transition to nursing without it? DD pinches my nipple and cuts off the flow of the milk so for her first 10 days she was very underfed and I ended up with severely cracked nipples. The LC we've been working with just gave us a nipple shield to try and it keeps her from pinching so I'm going to stick with it until she's a little older and able to suckle without pinching (she's 1 month). I've been pumping and bottle feeding and only nursing a few times a week because it has been pretty counter-productive until introducing the shield. I just don't know anyone who has ever used one so I'm curious about your experiences.

cottonlily84 · January 2012

Well my first one hurt really bad so I saw the LC again and got a bigger one. I used them until DD was about 2 months and I went back to work. It was a frustrating time - it hurt, took forever, DD wasn't growing and had 2 FTT dr visits. Pumping/bottle feeding just became so much easier and worked awesome for both of us at that point. She's almost 4 months now and this past weekend I nursed her without it (b/c the bottle wasn't warm yet!) and she latched right on. I've done it almost everyday without it since, no problems. My issue is that my nipples are so small she had hardly anything to latch to and she was a preemie. I'd always hoped she'd get stronger and do better later on and I think she is now. Honestly, I think bottle feeding helped me nurse her. Those nipples shields are like twice the size of my nipple but the bottle nipples are much smaller and more like the real deal. They actually transitioned her well to the breast, which is backwards!

FarmvilleLover · January 2012

The nipple shield worked for me as far as taking away the pain from my nipples when he'd feed (he has a shallow latch and is tongue tied). But I also have low supply so I've found that pumping and supplementing with formula has worked best for us.

MamaAllison · January 2012

I used one for three months. It helped us nurse and I had no supply issues with it. Some people look down upon it but hey, it was invented for a reason and I think anything that helps a mom nurse longer, more frequently, or more comfortably is a good thing! I used a medium even though I have small breasts and nipples, in my uneducated opinion this helped LO learn to open her mouth wide and also allowed for a better latch since I was able to suck in a lot of the aereola as well. I tried to ditch it a few times w/o success and she just wasn't ready, when we ditched it for real it was just one day we didn't use it, then we used it only in the morning when I was engorged, then within a week not at all!! Hth. Good luck!

Marion&Kit · January 2012

We used a nipple shield for the first two or three weeks - my nipples were fine, and it wasn't hurting, she just wouldn't latch at all without it. Even with the shield, sometimes she wouldn't.

After my supply was finally steady and she was nursing with it pretty comfortably, we pretty much just went cold turkey and took it away. It was an intensely frustrating two or three days, but it gradually got better with each feeding. Sometimes it would take upwards of 10 or 15 minutes to get her to latch without it, though.

Now at 5 months she's perfect with latching, absolutely zero problems. Good luck! It can be done, just do whatever's comfortable for you.

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