Nipple shield users, come in

Kfran84 · November 2013

I know there were a few of us bf'ing with a shield due to a variety of issues.

Now I'm not so engorged, I'm trying to wean off the shield. I honestly don't mind the shield, it's just messy and I think LO swallows too much air with it.

Anyone else weaning from the shield yet and results?

LO has gone from eating every 2.5 to 3 hours with shield to about every 1.5 hours with bare breast. It's kind of exhausting. I wonder if he's just not as efficient at the breast yet. We've only been off the shield for the past two days.

The other possibility is that he's hitting a growth spurt simultaneously to me trying to wean.

CAileen · November 2013

I've been slowly trying to wean. We've been using a shield since we were in the hospital because the night time nurse gave up on trying to help us figure out nursing properly. It's now been a full month and she just does not even want to try without the shield.

I've been less engorged lately, but when I try without the shield, she will scream and continue to root around like she can't find my nipple. Once she gets that worked up, it's impossible to try to get her to latch. It's been very frustrating for me, but I think they had me using the wrong size shield, so I've switched to a smaller size and will see if that helps, since it is closer to the size of my actual nipple.

Kfran84 · November 2013

chelsiechristine said:
I actually only use the shield on one breast because LO takes my left one no problem. I just starting using it because I become very engorged when my milk came in, so I'm hoping he won't need it long!

@chelsiechristine Do you see a difference in his fullness/ satisfaction between the two?

We only made it one hour between the most recent feedings. That means he was only off my boob about 45 minutes. I put the shield back on. Good Lord.

onenewmama · November 2013

Hi All. I have been lurking for a bit and have found it really helpful to read others' experiences as I get a hang of this new mom thing--which has been pretty tough so far!

My son was born 11/10 and has had latch issues since the beginning so we've been using a nipple shield that the lactation consultant gave us. I thought things were going pretty well with the shield (other than it being a major PITA to have to always have the shield ready to go and get in just the right position to nurse) but unfortunately at his 2 week weight check he had not gained any weight and is still below birth weight. So I just started to have to pump more and supplement that way. I have been pretty much bottle feeding with bm and just letting him nurse once or twice a day for comfort (still having to use nipple shield) He is taking 3-4 ozs of bm at each feeding and already seems more content and doesnt need to feed a often. His wet diapers are way wetter than they were before even though he had been still getting enough wet diapers before--I know now that maybe they weren't full enough.

Anyway, I wish I hadn't scaled back on pumping when I thought things were going well with the shield bc now I am having a hard time keeping up with him and am depleting my freezer stash. I had so much milk the first week but I have now realized how much my supply has suffered. I think it would have suffered even more without the shield, though, bc without it he couldn't nurse at all. Good luck to all the nipple shield mamas!

artistlife · November 2013

I am slowly trying to wean from the sheild. She took the breast for the end of the feeding last night. About 5 minutes. She still can't latch on to the breast at the beginning because of the size of my nipple. I have to wait until my nipple has conformed to the sheild. My #1 rule is to not frustrate her. She needs to eat. She eats with the shield. I am not in a hurry. I am still pumping 2x a day to make sure my supply keeps up.

hollowway · November 2013

I had to use a shield with M because she was getting bottles in the NICU and had latching problems after (nipple confusion). I have started to wean her off the shield. Its a slow process and feeding her takes longer. To get her to latch I have to sandwich my breast and help her latch. The shield doesn't make her latch properly so we're learning what a real latch is. Today is day two and I haven't used the shield since yesterday morning...

Jdelli27 · November 2013

I started using a shield because LO would not latch and if she did it was only for a few minutes or she'd get frustrated and or fall asleep. When I use the shield she latches on well to both breasts and I can hear her swallowing and see the milk in shield when she does let go.

The LC at the hospital never told me such a thing existed. I was really unimpressed with them. My neighbor actually told me when I was telling her about my latching problems.

It's been about a week of using the shield and there are times when lo will latch on no problem without it. Rare but it happens. I alternate back and forth between nursing and bottle feeding her the bm. It's been working well and she adjusts to each.

I pump every time she eats whether it's nursing or bottle to keep my supply up. Part of me likes to feed her a bottle bc I know for sure she's getting whatever amount is in the bottle as with the breast I don't know. I'm still a bit nervous bc she had jaundice the first week and lost more than the normal percentage of weight within days. But I know there is no reason to be nervous with only nursing bc she does have the appropriate amount of diapers a day....but still!

BSnipes35 · November 2013

I had to start using the shield because of a cracked nipple. LCs said his latch was perfect, but he bites down so hard. I got my right nipples healed with the shield and magic nipple cream. Then he cracked my left one. So, now I use the shield 90% of the time. I'd rather use the shield than deal with cracked nipples. The pain is awful, and they were worried I might get an infection. He surpassed his birthweight by five ounces at his two week check up. And he has plenty of wet and dirty diapers. He had lost almost a full pound, so even though I've read all about shields preventing them from getting enough...and I do worry, as a mom should...but I can't nurse with torn up nipples that bleed everywhere.

mcguire26 · December 2013

I use a nipple shield during every feeding. At first I had concerns about trying to wean LO off of it so he could learn to latch without it. But it is working for him and he has gained appropriate weight while using it. The LC explained without it, most likely he is having to try to hard and burning more calories than he is consuming. I would say if it is working for you then continue to use it. Don't beat yourself up over it. It's all about finding what works now. As we all know we have to take it one day at a time and continually adjust to their demands.

babymama619 · December 2013

I too got the shield in the middle of the night from a nurse that was quick to give it rather than help DD latch when my milk came in.With the next nurse I expressed my concern with using it and that I would have to ween her off of it. She reminded me my primary job was to get her fed, so I continued to use it. I was instructed by the LC to let her continue to use it until she regained her birth weight and hit 40 weeks gestational age (she was 10 days early). She has a little mouth (only 6lb2oz at birth) and I have large breasts and small nipples so it was a tricky combo. We did a weighted feeding with the shield and she was nursing like a rock star, 2 oz in 15 minutes at 1 week.

We successfully weened off of the shield last week, It took us 5 days and we have been off of it since Monday. I"m a nut for data, and I've been tracking our nursing time, so here is what it looked like weening her.

Day 1 - 8% of nursing was shield free

day 2- 17%

day 3- 5%

day 4- 36%

day 5 - 71%

day 6- 100%

We did a weighted feeding on the morning of 5 of this too, just to make sure that she was getting enough and she was getting plenty, 3 oz in 15 minutes. I wanted to really make sure before I really made the push for her to come off of it. She was definitely not as smooth of a nurser initially w/o the shield. She was choppy with swallowing and breathing. Now, 6 days later, she's very smooth although she pulls off more often than she did with the shield, probably because milk flows faster than it did with the shield.

My baby is also very patient, and I try not to let her get too hungry (I wake her to eat). That combo meant she would let us try for a shield free latch for a good 3-4 minutes before getting frustrated.

For weening the LCs told me:

*keep presenting the bare nipple to her

*keep trying to get her to latch as long as she isn't frustrated

*pump beforehand to elongate nipple and give her an immediate reward of milk without having to work too hard (didn't really help me)

*start nursing with the shield and then pull it off and relatch her

*offer 2nd side w/o shield at all

*Don't let baby get too hungry and feed often for lots of practice

here are some articles I read before weening:

https://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/tips-and-solutions/112/nipple-shields

https://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/child/wean-shield/

Kfran84 · December 2013

@babymama619, your story makes me hopeful and think I just need to stick with it. I need to get with someone for a weighted feeding because my feeling is that he gives up on the bare breast before he's really full bc its harder.

babymama619 · December 2013

@kfran84 my hospital and another in the area have bf support groups with the scale so you can do a weighted feeding without having to pay a LC for an outpatient visit. Maybe yours does too? Although my LC said insurance is now required to cover at least 1 out patient visit (kind of like the breast pump requirement).

Also, they suggested breast compression during nursing to speed the milk flow, like is LO is falling asleep or stops sucking. Not massage (I was corrected with my technique) but compression. Just push down or squeeze the breast.

EagleWife · December 2013

Hi Nov Mamas! Just thinking about all of you with brand new babies and popped over here for some nostalgia. Congratulations on all of your new little squishes! :x

I wanted to add that I used a shield with my LO for 2.5 months. I kept offering the bare nip to her without it after getting through the first painful weeks and she finally started accepting it then. I honestly don't think I could have gotten through the first 6 weeks of BF'ing without using it. The 6 week growth spurt was one of the hardest times for us. I still shiver when I think about it.

The frequency that OP mentions sounds more like the 6 week growth spurt than the shield weaning. When we finally stopped using it, my LO went from nursing ~4 hrs per day to ~1.5-2 hrs per day. I felt like I had so much free time!!!

@AmyG* rocks and got the July '13 board through a lot of BF-ing issues. Anyway, just wanted to say weaning off of it can work, hang in there, and good luck!

kbcrawford11 · December 2013

LO is 1wk1day. We've been using the nipple shield 100% of the time because LO gets frustrated after 3-4 attempts at latching. His mouth is small, my breasts large and small nipples. LC said its fine to use them but that we need a plan for weening. Meet with LC tomorrow

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