I found out a few hours after giving birth to Baby H that I had flat nipples. I guess I had never really pondered the state of my nipples before, nor compared them to other nipples, so I had no clue they weren’t “normal.”
After birth, Baby H would latch a little bit and then after a few sucks, fall off the breast. She was definitely interested in breastfeeding, but just wasn’t catching on. So, we had our nurse request the hospital’s lactation consultant for us. The consultant was very nice, sharing all of the wonderful things about breastfeeding and how great it was for my baby. We told her about our struggles with getting Baby H to nurse and after taking a look, she let me know about my flat nipples. It was at this moment that I was really kicking myself for not taking a breastfeeding class – I realized then that breastfeeding might be a little more complicated than putting the baby on the breast and letting her go to town.
Anyway, the consultant handed one of these over to me:
Of course, making sure Baby H is healthy and nursing well is the most important thing to me. But that doesn’t mean I’m not conflicted with whether or not we should have ever introduced the shield. The lactation consultant simply handed over the shield to me without ever sharing the downside of using the shield – the baby becoming “addicted” to it – or with any instructions on how to wean her off of the shield. She simply gave me the shield, showed me how to use it, made sure Baby H latched with it and left us to our own devices. I was too exhausted after labor to wonder what we were getting ourselves into.
Fast forward to today. Baby H is now 6 weeks old and we are still using a nipple shield. A couple of weeks back we transitioned to this shield:
I’m hoping that with a lot of persistence, we will be shield-free in the next couple of weeks. Baby H has shown that she can nurse without it; I think she just prefers the ease of the shield! It’s a lot less work for her. But while it’s easier for her, it would make nursing much easier for me if we got rid of the shield. It’s hard to think about ever nursing outside of the comfort of my own home, as Baby H loves to pull the shield off! I can just imagine the shield hitting the floor while we’re out in public.
In addition to switching to the smaller shield, some other tips I’ve picked up to help with the transition include:
- using your breast pump for a couple of minutes before nursing to “draw out” your nipple
- nursing one side with the shield and the second side without the shield (this works well for us)
- nursing with the shield at the start and quickly removing the shield (this doesn’t work for us; baby gets mad I took her shield away!)
- nursing without the shield when baby is tired, baby may be less likely to notice the difference
- not fighting the baby – if baby is fussy without the shield, don’t force them to continue without, as it can turn nursing into a negative experience
One thing I do need to ask a lactation consultant about is whether or not I should wait to introduce a bottle until after baby is completely transitioned off of the shield. I wonder if introducing another plastic nipple would confuse things even more!
Have you used a nipple shield? If so, how did you successfully transition away from it?
Breastfeeding Problems part 9 of 13
1. Pumping Supplies by Guides2. Mastitis Misery by mrs. wagon
3. Elimination Diet Adventures by Mrs. Superhero
4. Tips & Tricks When Baby Refuses the Bottle by Checklists
5. Breastfeeding Woes by breastfeeding
6. Clogged Milk Ducts (and How to Treat Them) by Mrs. Bee
7. Probiotics for Preventing Thrush by Mrs. Bee
8. Mastitis by Mrs. Bee
9. The Shield Between Us by Mrs. Hopscotch
10. Too Much of a Good thing (or dealing with an oversupply) by Mrs. Superhero
11. Battling Oversupply by Mrs. Sketchbook
12. Unsolicited Breastfeeding Advice for New Moms Part II by breastfeeding
13. Mastitis by Mrs. Chocolate
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
Oh the shield. When I was in the hospital, we also had trouble BF and a nurse told me I had one flat nipple (which I didn’t think was true and which my midwife later dismissed). She gave me a nipple shield in the middle of the night, so I just used it. Mind you, I had no milk yet, either. Baby winnie was small and just had trouble latching. When we got home, I used it on the one side and it seemed to help him latch….but then my other nipple became blistered because he preferred that side….so I used the shield on that side too. On top of that, we had to supplement with formula for a few days until my milk came in because BW was low birth weight – he was introduced 3 different nipples in the first week!! After a week, I almost quit breastfeeding because it was so difficult and emotional. Then I learned the trick of pumping a little before feeding to soften my breasts and help pull out my nipples a little. After a few days of doing this, BW had no trouble latching and we finally got into a BF groove.
apricot / 425 posts
Both of my nipples were (are?) flat and we used the Medela shield for the solid 6 months I nursed my daughter. It was easier for her, it didn’t bother me, and it wasn’t important enough for me to wean her off of them because she was doing so well and i didn’t want to mess with it. We used the Tommee Tippee bottles for daycare and we never had a problem going back and forth between BFing and bottles.
olive / 55 posts
I didn’t find a nipple shield for a few weeks and when I did it was amazing!! We used it from about week 2 through 7 or 8 … when I slowly transitioned off it. I remember trying at week 6 and he refused, then again at 7 and he was okay with it, then by 8 we were completely off it. I think it can be transitioned off … just give both of you a little more time.
kiwi / 575 posts
This is great insight into breastfeeding. Thanks for sharing!
I have a “dumb” question as an expectant first-time mom: how do you know if you have flat nipples (sorry if it is TMI)? I don’t think I have them but I don’t know what they look like and so I very well could
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
Oh yeah we used the thing. I have a few choice words for them too. I have one inverted and one flat nipple. As you can imagine the inverted side was pure hell for little Stroller. As soon as my milk came in, he couldn’t latch anymore. So I used a nipple shield. And it constricted milk flow. I got mastitis so bad I was in the hospital for two days without my baby when he was 10 days old. We then went to see an independent LC who taught me how to get him to latch without it straight away. We threw the damn things away and never went back. He figured it out when he was hungry enough. Easily one of the biggest mistakes I made was to not see an independent LC sooner rather than use the shield.
As for the bottle, baby S was on two different nipples on me, a bottle and a nipple shield at 2 weeks. He never got confused about anything
It takes quite a bit of perseverance but if boob, no shield is all that’s available to eat and you don’t back down, it will work. Good luck!! I hope your transition is as easy as ours ways. As they get older and their little mouths get a little bigger it just gets easier.
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@winniebee: we had to sub in with formula for a couple of days early on, too, because she lost too much weight early on (took a bit for my milk to come in). Fortunately our doctor suggested we use a syringe to give her the formula so we didn’t have to add in another nipple. But yay for you for getting into a good BF routine without the shield early on! I think in the first couple of weeks I was scared to try because I was so paranoid about her not gaining weight!
@ktdid23: wow – 6 months of shields! I do agree though that Baby H is doing fine with them & I haven’t had any problems, so if we had to use them for longer, we would probably both be fine. I’d like to be shield free though
I hate how she always pulls them off!
@momentspassslow: hoping our transition is as smooth as yours!
@ALittleP: I’m not really sure. I guess when you squeeze your breast you can see that the nipple goes flat, which is how it would be in baby’s mouth.
@Mrs. Stroller: Yikes! I’ve head that you can get mastitis because of the shield..that’s terrible that you had such a rough experience!!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
have you tried wearing breast shells throughout the day?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001XDKTXQ
they will keep your nipples drawn out and you won’t need to use a shield. it will make it much easier for baby h to latch on. eventually, you should be able to wean off everything once baby h is used to nursing without any assistance!
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@Mrs. Bee: ooh no I haven’t! Thank you for the suggestion!
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@Mrs. Bee: and I just realize I have a set of these!
guest
I have to use a shield too because my baby sucks his lower lip in and doesn’t get a good latch. We’ve been to the lactation consultant 6 times in the last 7 weeks trying to ween my LO, but no luck. We use a bottle once a day and the lactation consultant said to get a low flow nipple for the bottle so that it’s not too easy, making him lazy and weening more difficult. The consultant said there is little difference between the shield and the bottle.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
@Mrs. Hopscotch: We did the colostrum w/ syringe, too! We had the same issue with DS too where he lost nearly 10% of his birthweight in the hospital….seeing as though he started out at 5 lb 5 oz it was VERY distressing and I was sort of a wreck worrying about his feeding and cried basically every single day the first week. We had weight checks on days 4 and 12 and he gained steadily so after day 12 I stopped worrying so much. Luckily, in the end, he didn’t seem affected by too many nipples….we still try to give him a few ounces of pumped milk a day when I need a break!
clementine / 889 posts
Ughl… nipple shields! We were told to use them by the nurse at the pediatricians office, and I didn’t know any better. I do have pretty flat nipples, but DS had a tongue tie which was the larger problem. At 8 weeks we cut his tongue tie, then after that healed, I began weaning him from the nipple shields. I hated using them. I’m not that modest, so I didn’t have huge problem nursing wherever, even with the shields, but they were a pain to get on right and half the time DS would knock it off before he got latched.
One thing I did figure out is that a dental retainer case made a great case for the nipple shields so I could throw them in the diaper bag and they stayed clean. I used the medela shields that had a cutout on the top part. Made it easy to toss in the bag and go. And it helped me from losing the shields since they are clear. I had been using a ziploc to keep them clean, but I could never find it.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@Mrs. Hopscotch: yay i hope it works out! i used shields in the beginning with charlie and know what a pita they can be. i never breastfed in public with him ever.
but with olive it’s so easy and comfortable, i nurse anywhere and everywhere! you’ll get there!
GOLD / pomelo / 5167 posts
I have 1 flat nipple, or as I would like to say slanted. So the milk doesn’t come out as easily as the other. This is what made Mavrick not want my right boob and a shield didnt work either. So there I was a 1 boob breastfeeding mama.
Luckily Sienna is better at nursing on the slated nipple then my son was, but all in all… shield or no shield… its all pretty much annoying (because the child always prefers 1 better than the other)
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
As I am TTC, I wonder if my nipples will change when I get pregnant. I actually google flat nipple and found a good drawing of what they look like. Right now, I know I have an inverted nipple. The other one might be flat. Maybe when I get pregnant, my boobs and nipples will fill out and maybe I won’t have this problem. Anyway, thanks for writing this post. Good to know I have options.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
So… I’m using one already. I have good nipples but they are horribly sensitive. Even pre-pregnancy/baby, I couldn’t walk around without a bra. I thought she wasn’t getting a good latch but it turns out, she’s latching fine, they say it’s so painful because of the sensitivity.
I am planning on hiring a lactation consultant after my milk comes in just to make sure things are going well and to see if she has any suggestions. If the shield is going to keep me breastfeeding because it doesn’t hurt as badly, I think I’ll keep using them. We’ll see what happens in a few weeks, though. Hey are annoying. Holding screaming baby, tying to get shield on, etc is a pain! When the shield was suggested to me, I thought of your blog post, so I had to come on here and re-read it.
hostess / cantaloupe / 6486 posts
Up until today, I had no idea that I should be trying to wean DD from the shield! While we were in the hospital, an LC was not available to us. DD had a fantastic latch but she kept falling off & getting aggravated, especially on my left side. The nurse brought us a nipple shield about 3 hours before we were discharged, with no real instruction. We’ve been using it for over 3 months now. I try on occasion to go without & she can stay on for about 5 minutes but after a while she gets annoyed. It does make nursing in public more of a “dance” but it doesn’t effect my production or her intake so I guess we should stick with it!