Inverted Nipples

[Jenne]

Okay, I can never find threads when I am actively looking for them. I'm sure there are threads around here about this...feel free to just point me in that direction!

I will be a first time mama sometime in late January or February 2011. I believe I have inverted nipples because when I cup my breast in a C shape and apply pressure my nipple retracts. I know there are ways to help the nipple not do this but am unclear when I need to start and how difficult this will be to treat. Do I call my lactation consultant now? If not, when?

I'm not *worried* I am just researcher/planner and don't know enough about this issue to have a plan yet! I know I have plenty of time as well.

Any btdt advice is welcome!!!

Thanks!
Jenne

[annettemarie]

I'm going to bump this out to the main forum.

[Homebirth_Mom216]

I dealt with this issue when DS was born. I know that wearing breast shells before baby comes is *supposed* to help but I don't know if it helped me that much, to be honest. Hubby and I were completely committed to making BFing worked, but it was REALLY tough those first few days. Here is how it worked for us.

When DS was born, we couldn't get him latched for the first entire day, so DH picked up some nipple shields at BRU (also avail at Target, I think). When the next baby comes I will DEFINITELY have these on hand beforehand just in case there are problems again. With the shields, DS was able to get that colostrum out no problem and it was such a relief that he was eating. We always tried nursing without them before trying with them and it was painful and unsuccessful for probably at least one or two weeks. DH would make me try without the shields for a good amt. of time before giving up and using them just to make sure we could stop using them ASAP. I was sooo glad that DH was strong and always made us try without the shields first because when baby and mama are both crying, you just want to do what is easy and not always what will get you where you need to go KWIM?

Anyways, after a week or two, DS's latch got stronger and the nipples got pulled out more from him nursing even with the shield and we slowly were able to make the complete transition to no shields. Then I nursed our son happily without much issue for the next 19 months and am sooooo glad that we stuck with it and made it through those really hard first couple of weeks. DS is healthy and we have such a close relationship that I really think is largely due to nursing.

Oh, the other thing that was really important was positioning. Since the latch was so tricky, we wanted to make sure we were doing everything possible to get baby in the best position to give him the best chances of getting latched. DH would read and reread our LLL book and would watch me and remind me of things I forgot about position - it was so helpful. I still call DH my "LC" for lactation consultant!

I guess I would just advise really familiarizing yourself with the sections in LLL's book on latch, positioning and nipple inversion and yeah, making sure that you at least have contacted an LC who can come to your house in those first day or two to give you some advice. We had a homebirth midwife who was coming to our house everyday for those first few days and offering a lot of advice for us. I would also maybe suggest really thinking about the benefits of BFing and internalizing those to the point where you are ready for a commitment that might be really trying for a couple of weeks. It is so worth it!

[texmati]

hey!!! I am due on the 24th of Jan!

I would get the rec of a good lc, but know that you may not have an issue. We used shields for the first 3 days. Not exclusively, but long enough to draw out the nipple, then I'd take the shield off and relatch. In a few days I didn't need it any more. I agree with PP, my DH was the one who would encourage me to go sheildless and relatch.

[kanga1622]

I second the nipple shield -it was the only thing that worked for us right away. I also used breast shells for the first week+ but that just caused me to leak more due to the pressure.

You need to continue to try without the shield and eventually you will get it - some days he'd get 0 feeds without the shield and others he'd get 2 or 3 in a row. We had to start trying at his earliest cues because if we waited until he was too hungry, neither of us had much patience.

At 16 days old we quit the shields cold turkey in an effort to increase my supply (he was a slow gainer in the second week) and after about two days of trial and error, he had it down.

[Jenne]

Great! Thank you for the replies! Did any of you try extracting the nipple with a breast pump beforehand? I think I read that pumping for 20 minutes every few hours will help too. I know not to start this until like week 38/39 due to it bringing on contractions but I'd like to do all I can beforehand to help with this!

Thanks!

Jenne

[texmati]

Originally Posted by Jenne

Great! Thank you for the replies! Did any of you try extracting the nipple with a breast pump beforehand? I think I read that pumping for 20 minutes every few hours will help too. I know not to start this until like week 38/39 due to it bringing on contractions but I'd like to do all I can beforehand to help with this!

Thanks!

Jenne

I would not do that. Esp if your nipple becomes an outie sometimes ( like what you describe.

[Quinalla]

My right nipple is inverted, my left thankfully is not. It was hard for my DD to get anything from the right breast for ~2 weeks, though she did have some success mostly using what the lactation consultants I talked to called the "breast sandwich" where you smoosh with your fingers the nipple with some aerola and get it all in the baby's mouth super quick so they latch deep enough to feel something in their mouth so they will start sucking. Her problem wasn't latching on ever, she always latched, but she wouldn't suck because with the inverted nipple it didn't trigger her suck reflex which was already lazy/sleepy anyway. I never tried a nipple shield since I had the left breast and we actually supplemented with a bit of formula since she was also so sleepy at first (she would latch on, suck 2-3 times and then be asleep). I pumped the right when I could to try to keep my supply up, but she still prefers my left even now and it has a much higher supply than my right (based on pumping and her satisfaction with the right vs. the left).

I think getting a few lactation consultants on speed dial now, making sure to see one very soon (24 hours at the latest IMO) after your baby's birth, having a good double electric pump or rent a hospital grade pump (buy the parts you will need ahead of time) and probably having nipple shields on hand too. But yeah, it tends to be hard at the start when their mouths are small and they are figuring things out, but baby's definitely have the suction to get those nipples to come out once they figure out what they need to do.

[Parker'smommy]

I've read about moms wearing nipple shields while pregnant to help draw out the nipples and to "train" them. I don't think it's painful and it wouldn't hurt to try. Good luck!!

[Jenne]

Thank y'all again for the replies! So much knowledge!

Jenne