Hi everyone

I hve just had my beautiful bay boy 24 dayago and beenlovin the experience. Howeveri have been breastfeeding him through a ' nipple shield' since i couldnt get him to latch on me in the first few weeks. my nipples are too small for him to latch on. i have heard that nipple shields are not good for the long run. could anyone suggest me anything about them and how i can get rid of the nipple shields with out giving my baby any discomfort.

many thanks in advance

regards

Anu
chetana replied. dear anu

i have a 4 month old baby. i have used nipple shield and now no longer use it.

i exactly know what a blessing is a nipple shield.
i used a nipple shield because i had horrible cracked and sore nipples after 4 days of nursing my baby after birth. i used it almost till 3 months. after that i gave him my breast directly. He was fussy...i had to many times use the shield while feeding. But gradually i have been able to give him milk without using the shield..

let me tell u why i stopped using the shield.
1) first and foremost my son had colic...immense gas. the nipple shield was compounding the problem further.(although the dr said that the shield culdn' t cause gas...i felt otherwise.
2) secondly carrying the shield everywhere u go is a big problem. Sterilization before eery feed was a problem while going out.
3) thirdly when we use the shield, baby' s tongue doesnt effectively stimulate the glands..hence milk production isn' t that great also the let down reflex takes time to happen.

what i wuld suggest u is donot think too much abut the shield...its only 26 days since ur babies birth. At the same time do try to give him ur breast directly. Its a slow process...but u wuld surely be able to remove the shield fm ur feeding sessions. Also in my son' s case i started giving him my breast during the night feeds...since he used to be sleepy....he wuld usually latch on. U can try the same.

i donot think small nipple size shuld be a problem. if moms who have inverted nipples can feed the baby successfully then surely u can also overcome this small difficulty. I wuld suggest u use a nipple puller....ur kid wuld latch on better...the rest of the job ur baby would do himself.

take care and beset of luck
chetana mitali replied. Hi ANu,

I have heard that nipple shields cause infections but i also know of ppl who have used it till 8th month, so i guess it depends on how it works for u . Also i have heard that it causes more gas & hence baby gets colic.

I could not feed my child cause even i had a nipple problem - i did not know of nipple shield. Do let me know how it goes for u - i want to feed my next child with the help of nipple shield