Breastfeeding after using a shield

swood2004 · March 2015

Hey ladies! My son is 1 month old and I have just been able to get him to begin breastfeeding without using the breastshield. He has been exclusively breastfed but we have had to use the breastshield up to this point. I have been feeding him without the shield for 3 days now and it is now very painful. (I even cry some of the time.) The pain is the worst when he latches on but it does hurt throughout the feeding and my nipples are very sore all the time. Has anyone else has this issue? If so will it get better once my body gets used to it and how long will that take?

cndupree15 · March 2015

I had to use the shield the entire time i breasted with my first because of this problem. Apparently breastfeeding is not supposed to hurt that bad. I am a fan of the shield so maybe you could go back to it? You shouldn't have to go through that much pain. Unless it hurts with the shield too?

junebugjam · March 2015

My nipples hurt very badly when I started. Lanolin cream was very helpful. They stopped hurting after a week or so, but it got worse before it got better.

maryxc1 · March 2015

With both my kids, it was very painful for the first couple weeks. Like you, the pain was worse when they first latched, but still hurt the whole time. The lactation consultants worked with me on their latches and different positions to hold them that worked better with my nipple anatomy (there really is such a thing). It slowly got better. I also use coconut oil instead of Lanolin because several lactation people recommended it.

reneamac313 · March 2015

Breastfeeding shouldn't hurt that badly. Any time is does hurt it is a sign that something is wrong and it usually is an issue with the latch or positioning. I know that with nipple shields babies rely more on suction than correctly applying pressure to the breast. Now that you aren't using it your baby may still be trying to rely on suction to the nipple and that is extremely painful. That's something that won't feel better with time. I would try contacting a lactation consultant for some support and best practices when it comes to that. Another option could be pumping and bottle feeding.

EarthyMama · March 2015

I had major pain issues with nursing my first. She had a great latch but was a really strong sucker and my nipples were short. So the pain for me was due to my nipples needing to stretch significantly to accommodate her nursing. It was excrutiating for a while, but here's how we made it through: -- only one breast per feeding and block feed that breast for 2-3 feedings in a row -- a manual breast pump to pump the other breast for these feedings, feed to baby right away or store -- nipple shells, these are worn between feedings and keep anything from touching your nipple so it can heal -- pharmaceutical grade lanolin to thickly coat nipples between feedings. The last two were crucial forme with baby 1 and this latest baby. At the beginning i had to give each breast a full 24 hr break of just pumping, then, as the nipple healed, i was able to reintroduce more and more direct breastfeeding. By 3 months, our first little one was exclusively breastfed again. This time around, it only took breast shells, lanolin, and 1.5 weeks. Make sure you get a breastfeeding friendly bottle if you go this route. We used comotomo brand.

cj5407 · March 2015

I've been using the nipple shield for 2 weeks. I'm hoping to get rid of it soon. The weather has canceled my lactation appointment since discharge from hospital. Hoping to learn something on Thursday.

EDWHIP · March 2015

First of all, I want to say that I feel your pain. I am going through bloody nipple torture myself. Some say it is due to a poor latch, but I think some people just have more sensitive nipples. Baby latches just fine here, but it still hurts. There are definitely some positions that feel better than others. I find the football hold helps on the side where it hurts more. Here are some tips that I have been using. 1. Apply nipple cream after each feed and air dry 2. Use your breast pump prior to each feed to prime the nipple (i find that the part that hurts is getting the nipple from the flat to erect position) 3. Take motrin a half hour prior to feeding 4. try..TRY to relax. Easier said that done, I know!

Good luck!

EDWHIP · March 2015

smcniff · March 2015

Are your nipples bleeding? Nursing was incredibly painful for me and it turned out that my DD was tongue tied. I second everyone's suggestion that you find yourself a good lactation consultant.

smcniff · March 2015

Zipmilk.org is an easy way to find one who will come to your house. Just realize that you will have to pay them out of pocket and then send the receipt to your insurance.

annageorgina · March 2015

I had major pain for the first few days when my LO latched, and I developed a few blood blisters on my nipples so the pain actually made me cry out sometimes. My midwife recommended lanolin cream. I was able to get a really good version called Lansinoh from the chemist, although I'm in England so it might be a different brand name where you are. It's made a HUGE difference - I would recommend giving it a try as I have almost no pain at all now. Good luck :-)

leannerobb · March 2015

Try expressing some breastmilk onto your nipples after a feeding and letting it air dry, then using lanolin cream.

ColleenS629 · March 2015

I didn't use a shield this time but I did with my twins. When I stopped using the shield I did have pain because my nipples had to get used to BFing without the shield. It took a couple of weeks for it to stop.

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