Breastfeeding

chelsealeigh94 · October 2015

So while I was in the hospital my baby had a really hard time latching. I had 3 lactation nurses come in each day and try and help me. One said my nipples didn't protrude enough for baby to latch on so she gave me a nipple shield. I read that using a nipple shield lowers my milk supply and I really don't want to carry one around. Any advice to get baby to latch without one?

tracij12 · October 2015

Do you have a pump? Try pumping for a minute to get the nipple 'ready'. Or have you tried feeding with the shield for a few minutes and then removing?

I have heard plenty of women successfully BF with the shield with no supply issues. I did with DD1 for 6 months, but for me it was just annoying to have to carry it and was an extra step that made BFing in public even more daunting.

Good luck!!

MandahGirly · October 2015

I BF with a shield and don't have supply issues. Yes it is annoying to use at first but it made BF possible for me because i have flat nipples and LO has a lazy latch. She is 22 days old and already we are using the nipple shield maybe 50% of the time. I also started off using a 24mm shield then went down to 20mm and now I'm using 16mm. I've noticed that my LOs latch is better and my nipples come out more than they used to. I say if you want to BF then using a nipple shield is not a bad thing.

chelsealeigh94 · October 2015

@MandahGirly why did you change sizes?

cbolton19 · October 2015

I have been nursing with a shield too. And my milk supply is fine. I have even been able to pump and freeze some already. My baby is 9 days old now. I try without the shield at least once a day, and it seems to be helping her open her mouth a bit wider.

MandahGirly · October 2015

@chelsealeigh94 I met with a LC consultant and she gave me the smaller size. When I was in the hospital they have me the bigger size but too much milk was filling the shield so LO didn't really have to work so hard to use it. So when I went to my appointment she gave me the smaller one to try. Then I saw that they made an even smaller one so I figured I would get it so that it'll feel like my actual nipple size. It also doesn't fill up with as much milk as the other sizes.

komorebi · October 2015

The new shields don't cause as many issues. But to avoid any issues you can always pump or hand express for a few minutes after. I've used a shield twice and it was very helpful. I was always told it would hurt my supply but recently I've found good evidence to the contrary and a ton of anecdotal evidence that it's been a breastfeeding relationship saver.

vamomtobe · October 2015

Not sure if this would help in your case, but I had a lactation consultant show me a trick to reduce the "puffiness" of the areola that was making it difficult for LO to latch. Press down gently with two fingers on either side of your nipple for 10 seconds or so and repeat until you see a difference. Also, use the "c hold" where you compress your breast to be flatter and easier for LO to fit in her mouth, and release once you've got a latch. Both helped me establish a good latch without using a shield.

christina4436 · October 2015

MandahGirly said:
@chelsealeigh94 I met with a LC consultant and she gave me the smaller size. When I was in the hospital they have me the bigger size but too much milk was filling the shield so LO didn't really have to work so hard to use it. So when I went to my appointment she gave me the smaller one to try. Then I saw that they made an even smaller one so I figured I would get it so that it'll feel like my actual nipple size. It also doesn't fill up with as much milk as the other sizes.

I had been wondering about this- I have been using the bigger one since hospital but now I should try to the small one Bc it's closer to my nipple.

Kari Merks · October 2015

With my first we struggled for 6 weeks with BFing. She had a hard time latching properly and I had inverted nipples (good news: that goes away with a year of BFing). I used a shield for those six weeks without any supply issues. I always tried latching her on the bare breast at the beginning and end of every feeding and then one day it just worked and we ditched the shield. I say do whatever works if you're determined to make BFing work, but you should have a support system and set short goals to meet (like just make it to the next feeding).

katieprophet · October 2015

I used a shield when my nipples were really bad, and once they healed I would use them to get him to latch and then once he had it I would remove them. We haven't had to use one in a week, and he's only 2 weeks old. If you're using a really small size I would just check to make sure you've got areola in there, because that's what LO needs to suck on to get milk.

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