Nipple Shields...

[TIFF4NY]

Hi everyone... I'm a first time mother and my daughter is 2.5 weeks old. Due to my massively large boobs (42G or something insane like that) and moreso the fact that I have flat nipples, I've had to use a nipple shield since day one with her. I'm happy that I'm able to breastfeed at all but I'm concerned about the long term affect of this. I have done the manual pump to pull out the nipples, but she still can't/won't latch properly. I don't really know what else to try other than to wait until she's grown more and her mouth is bigger. On occasion I will try to slip the shield off and see what she does, but she just suckles on the tip of my nipple as if it's a straw. She kinds of does that with the shield too as opposed to a proper latch position. She gets plenty of milk from this and is growing well but I'm worried that she'll never be able to latch properly. I originally thought that maybe once she's older and bigger she'll be able to latch better but now my concern is more about her technique... Do I have any hope of getting rid of the shield and having a latching baby? I personally don't mind the shield, but obviously I'd prefer less hassle when feeding her and I don't want it to affect my supply.

Any advice or tales of experience would be appreciated. TIA.

[pumpkinhead]

If she's not latching properly, regardless of whether it's using the sheild or not, you really should try to correct the latch until you have one that is somewhat satisfactory. have you tried the asymetrical latch at all? (video here http://www.breastfeedingonline.com/newman.shtml , about 2/3 down the page)

I would try feeding your baby at least 10-15 minutes before she is usually hungry and every time start without the shield 1st. If she refuses to latch without it, just put it on and try again. Eventually she may surprise you, latch on and nurse at some point without it .

Are you seeing a board certified lactation consultant? If not, I would recommend seeing one. I haven't personally heard of using a shield due to large breasts. Flat nipples, yes, but not large breasts. Some women who are larger find it helpful to put a rolled recieving blanket under their breast while nursing to offer a bit more propping support. It's easier for a baby to get a good latch this way as well.

It is definitely reasonable that with a bit of work you should be able to eventually ditch the sheild . Congratulations on your new girl!

[Mama Lo]

I also had flat nipples when dd was born, and after trying pumping to get them and a lot of other things, I was finally able to breastfeed using nipple shields. I worried about using them too, I tried a couple of times to nurse without them with no luck. I went to Babies R' Us and purchased a smaller size shield hoping to size her down to me, I used that for a while and then finally after two months I tried again without the shield and she got it! Just like that we were done with the nipple shield! She latched on perfectly and never looked back She is now 14 mo and still nursing.
Good luck Mama, it will happen, just don't give up

[aleatha5]

My son was 4 weeks early, "sleepy", and I have big breasts and flat nipples, so we needed to use a shield. I hated it for all the same reasons you do. And like you, I tried everything. I used to cry because he couldn't just latch onto me. But then, one day around 6 weeks (who am I kidding, I know exactly it was 6w 2d) he latched on. And he never went back. I thought maybe we would continue to need the shield for nighttime nursings (since he'd be sleepier) but no! He was done with it. After that point the one time I tried to use the shield he spit it out.

Give it time, keep offering the breast first and eventually your LO will come around.

[OperaDiva]

I had similar issues, and HATED the nipple shield. We tried to go without several times in the first few weeks with no luck. The thing that finally worked for us was nursing for a few minutes with the shield (until my overactive letdown was over), then take it off and re-latch by pinching the areola into a "sandwich" and shoving it as far into his mouth as possible, and he was able to latch on properly. With your little one being so young, I wouldn't push too hard yet, it really takes most babies 5-6 weeks to get the hang of things.

[dakotablue]

I had used nipple shields in the beginning until my nipples became drawn out, which took like a week. Then I was DONE. DS was used to the feel of the shield though and that milk pooled inside it so he didn't have to suck as much as chop.

What I ended up doing (I'm a behavioral psychologist) was take one horrible day to get him off the shields.

I got my breast ready (nipple out with some milk on it). I would put him to my breast..he would get mad.
I then set him away from me (like in front of me on the bed but not in my arms) and gave him a pacifier that had the same 'feel' as the shield. he would suck happily then get angry that there was no milk.
I would then bring him back to my breast. (taking him away from my arms also effectively removed 'milk is here' smell) and after a few back and fourths he would latch.

This went across three feedings with much frustration the first time, but he would eat for a while...but fell asleep sooner then normal. After that I haven't had a problem since. I would recommend however to make sure you are not over engorged because my nipples will 'flatten' a bit again when I'm too swollen (which usually only happens if I skipped a breast in the last feeding, I do every other)

I just knew for myself if I didn't get him off the shields my supply was going to be affected and I was loosing steam on enjoying breastfeeding.

He's 5 1/2 weeks now and we have no issues.

[twinsplusone1]

I agree they suck and one day maybe 2-3 weeks into nursing ds i just stopped and he got it...keep trying. Your breasts were made to do this it will work.

[cascadesmama]

i'm going to add one more voice to the chorus of "your lo will get it eventually." dd is 3.5 months and just this WEEK we've finally gotten off the shield. i thought about trying to do it all in one day like a previous poster said but i decided that would be just for me and it wasn't bothering me that much. i also had a friend who said that at three months her ds one day decided he didn't need it and never wanted it again. we needed the shield in the beginning because i have very dense breasts (read they're hard like they're engorged even when they're almost empty) and we didn't have a good latch to begin with and my nipples got shredded - they were literally falling apart - dd would have pieces of my skin on her lips when we were done nursing. yuck. so we got a shield when she was about 10 days old and i was healed by about 20 days old. but she was hooked. like your others have said, she prefered it because she could be lazy about sucking etc. i DO think it taught her bad habits. however, as she got older and her mouth got bigger, i would just put her on at the beginning of a feeding when she was hungry and willing to deal with most anything to get the milk and she slowly worked her way up to 5 minutes or so without the shield. when my letdown was over though and she was semi-full and more just wanting to nurse to fall asleep, she would protest the lack of the shield because i think it was easier for her without it. i never let her cry at the breast for more than a minute or so and would just put the shield on after a short while of repeatedly latching her back on. really i think what helped us get off the shield was her getting bigger.
sorry, that was a bit long winded, but basically i would just give it time. and in my experience, even though it did teach her bad habits, when she was big enough it didn't really matter and she has been able to transition to just the breast really well. although it took about 3 months too long for me! i hated that darn thing after i was all healed up. but i'm glad i was patient for dd's sake.
good luck!

[TIFF4NY]

Yay! My LO has successfully latched twice now for approx 5 minutes each time. The last time she was stroking my breast so furiously that my milk came in fast enough to seemingly knock her off. When she couldn't re-latch we used the shield but I'm ok with that. I'm happy with the progress!! Thank you for the tips.

[_betsy_]

I also have large breasts and had flat nipples with my first. I used a shield for about a week and a half and then weaned myself odd it. DD didn't seem to prefer either way, it was ME and my intense pain upon latching that led to shield use.

When I had given my skin a chance to heal, and the nips some time to get drawn out, and I began to be able to so much as think about nursing without the shield without crying, I began to wean off it. I started with overnight nursings, when DD was sleepy and easier to nurse.

Good news is that DD2 was a super easy nurser from the start with no latch or nip issues!

[nia82]

While I have rather small breasts I did have to use nipple shields for the first three weeks of DS's life. It was under the supervision of ICBLCs from day one...
They encouraged me to take of the shield approx. 4 minutes into the feeding, which never worked, until we ended up in the hospital for a minor fever (and dummy me was ueber scared) and I didn't have the shield on me - and suddenly, he latched! I had an obnoxious amount of milk though - I went from a 32C (mind you that C is not that big) to a 36D, I sprayed inches far with my milk.
I had totally flat nipples before, but the situation made me desperate and somehow it worked. We then weaned from the shield and at 2 months we got rid of it completely. You will too. Good luck mama!