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December 2013 Moms
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Nipple shield on one boob - good or bad?

mamatobe27mamatobe27 member
in December 2013 Moms
My little guy was latching great on both until my "real milk" came in a couple days ago. My boobs were so large and he would latch on the right still but not the left due to the size and that my nipple wouldnt pop out as much. I freaked out and posted in a moms group im on in facebook and one of the women is a lact consultant... She said get him off the shield asap for he could get to used to it and pump the left boob every 2 hours. So i did that a few times and the boob was still pretty large compared to the right he was feeding from. He will latch on the left with the nipple shield and now am avoiding her instructions. I'd rather feed from both and use the shield only on the left. I dont want to give up on BF but will if i have to pump every 2 hours for one and feed from the other every 3 :( is my plan to shield one and not the other ok?? Thanks!!!
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Re: Nipple shield on one boob - good or bad?

  • haliepellhaliepell member
    I had to pump a little on one side to get my nipple to come out bc I was so engorged for him to latch, now that my milk is regulated I don't have to do that anymore, maybe try that to see if it works
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  • mh89mh89 member
    edited December 2013
    hercules03 said:

    Sounds fine! That LC is clueless!

    She's not necessarily clueless. I agree with her that you should get off the shield if baby latches well without it when you're not engorged. Shields can cause nipple preference and lower supply and are a huge pain to wean from, so if you don't need it for flat/inverted nipples I wouldn't use it. Also if you use a shield you'll stay engorged longer since baby removes less milk when they feed from one.

    I had the exact same thing happen to me when I became engorged and this is what my LC had me do - hot pack or warm washcloth before feeding to get milk and blood flowing, pump for a few minutes to pull the nipple out, feed baby without the shield so they remove more milk, cold pack after feeding to help with swelling, rinse and repeat every two hours for 24 hours. I also wore gel pads between feedings and used lots of lanolin when I pumped.

    One day of doing that and my engorgement was gone and my breasts were back to normal and baby was able to latch without the shield. I had been so ridiculously rock hard and engorged I couldn't feed without the shield either. It was a pain in the butt 24 hours, but better to deal with extra work for one day than to need to use a shield full time for months (I had to use one for the first 5 months feeding my first daughter and hated it).
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  • mamatobe27mamatobe27 member
    Thank you ladies. Right now I think Ill use the shield on the left and also try what you recommended about compresses in 24 hours. Honestly when i pump, its not that much andy boob isnt as relieved as when I use the shield so I feel like he's getting a lot from the shield too and its always still fuller than my right.
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  • swirl25swirl25 member
    I had to use a shield with DD1 and I only used it on one side till it healed -- on the nipple that had more damage and gave me more pain. It was fine and we never experienced any long-term issues. I wouldn't worry about what that LC said.
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  • watercolor5watercolor5 member
    mh89 said:
    Sounds fine! That LC is clueless!
    She's not necessarily clueless. I agree with her that you should get off the shield if baby latches well without it when you're not engorged. Shields can cause nipple preference and lower supply and are a huge pain to wean from, so if you don't need it for flat/inverted nipples I wouldn't use it. Also if you use a shield you'll stay engorged longer since baby removes less milk when they feed from one. I had the exact same thing happen to me when I became engorged and this is what my LC had me do - hot pack or warm washcloth before feeding to get milk and blood flowing, pump for a few minutes to pull the nipple out, feed baby without the shield so they remove more milk, cold pack after feeding to help with swelling, rinse and repeat every two hours for 24 hours. I also wore gel pads between feedings and used lots of lanolin when I pumped. One day of doing that and my engorgement was gone and my breasts were back to normal and baby was able to latch without the shield. I had been so ridiculously rock hard and engorged I couldn't feed without the shield either. It was a pain in the butt 24 hours, but better to deal with extra work for one day than to need to use a shield full time for months (I had to use one for the first 5 months feeding my first daughter and hated it).
    This is good advice.  I'd keep expressing milk from that side right before you feed your baby from it.  Do try to break the nipple shield habit as soon as you can- it's a stopgap solution, you don't want it to be a longterm way of feeding.  I'd at least make the baby try to latch and nurse without it each time before resorting to it. 

    That said, I used it with DD1 longer than my LC recommended, and though weaning from it was a pain, she breastfed fine after that and my supply didn't suffer too much, so at the end of the day, do what you need to do.
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  • KbrittonhartKbrittonhart member
    I had to use the shield on my left for about 3 months before DD1 would latch onto it without a shield. However, the shield never prevented her from latching to the right boob without the shield the entire time I breastfef...
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  • readyornot12345readyornot12345 member
    My lo won't latch at all without using a shield so we use one. Then I mostly pump and bottle feed. My supply is low so I have to supplement with formula for now. Hopefully supply picks up soon.
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  • mamatobe27mamatobe27 member
    Great news.... Hes been latching on his own since yesterday evening!! I did use the shield for about a day but then i thought "lets try without" a few times and he latched. I think it was just bc of being less engorged and i had to even out the boob size to match the other - there really wasnt a huge difference between the 2 nipples. I didnt pump after feedings with the shield either bc i would be scared of getting an over supply. Lets hope he stays latching and thank you again for the advice! :)
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  • mh89mh89 member
    mamatobe27 said:

    Great news.... Hes been latching on his own since yesterday evening!! I did use the shield for about a day but then i thought "lets try without" a few times and he latched. I think it was just bc of being less engorged and i had to even out the boob size to match the other - there really wasnt a huge difference between the 2 nipples. I didnt pump after feedings with the shield either bc i would be scared of getting an over supply. Lets hope he stays latching and thank you again for the advice! :)

    That's great!!

    The shield is a very helpful tool, but definitely a pain in the butt to use long term, I'm glad you don't need it anymore!
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