My baby boy is one month old today. Three days ago we had a breakthrough and were finally able to nurse with a nipple shield.
We started with a bad tongue tie, high short front palate, and clampdown bite reflex. We worked on the bite with fingers, got him to nurse from my mom, and finally got his tongue clipped at 12 days old. Then my mom's 2 year old upped his demand and there was nothing left for mine to practice with, so it was strictly SNS and finger. So he got nipple confusion, refused mine like always and started refusing my mom's. My supply dropped to nothing as my pump's motor died and I got dehydrated, we had to supplement with formula so he got constipated and so unhappy. I got my supply back up with lots of work and tears. We got a nipple shield, he still refused and got angry. So we fed him via syringe and nipple shield on my finger until finally he took the shield on my breast. Such a relief, finally being able to feed him, and he nurses constantly now and is so much happier.
But I want to be rid of the shield. I have breast shells and plan to try to switch him soon. But I'm worried, because when he used to nurse from my mom his latch was good, but on the nipple shield he's gotten in the habit of nursing with his bottom lip in, and I think his tongue isn't all the way under it. So when I switch to breast, how do I break these habits and get his lip back out?
We started with a bad tongue tie, high short front palate, and clampdown bite reflex. We worked on the bite with fingers, got him to nurse from my mom, and finally got his tongue clipped at 12 days old. Then my mom's 2 year old upped his demand and there was nothing left for mine to practice with, so it was strictly SNS and finger. So he got nipple confusion, refused mine like always and started refusing my mom's. My supply dropped to nothing as my pump's motor died and I got dehydrated, we had to supplement with formula so he got constipated and so unhappy. I got my supply back up with lots of work and tears. We got a nipple shield, he still refused and got angry. So we fed him via syringe and nipple shield on my finger until finally he took the shield on my breast. Such a relief, finally being able to feed him, and he nurses constantly now and is so much happier.
But I want to be rid of the shield. I have breast shells and plan to try to switch him soon. But I'm worried, because when he used to nurse from my mom his latch was good, but on the nipple shield he's gotten in the habit of nursing with his bottom lip in, and I think his tongue isn't all the way under it. So when I switch to breast, how do I break these habits and get his lip back out?
