For Nursing Moms...

I never used one but my friend used one for 6 months. She said that she tells everyone about them because they were a lifesaver. She never had trouble nor was it a problem when she stopped using it. Good luck!

I have had to use a nipple shield with both of my sons...my nipples just never came out from being inverted to this day, even after 20 months of breastfeeding combined! I nursed my first son with a shield for the full year that I breastfed him and am on the same track with my second (8 months). With my older son, I worried that my milk would dry up ALL THE TIME but it never did. His weight was always okay, and I pumped 6-8 ounces at a time per side, so I never had an issue with my milk supply - it was all irrational fear I suppose...I never question my supply now with #2 :)

Research is showing that the new thin, silicone contact nipple shields (like Medela brand) do not affect milk supply like the old style, and they are safe to use long-term. If it works for you and your baby, go for it!

One other thought: If you end up using the shield for a while, I would get a Shield Shell. I have one for each nipple shield, and keep one in the diaper bag, one in the nursery, and one in the family room. They are awesome for keeping the shield clean and protected between feedings, which is extremely necessary between my 2-year-old and my dog! Plus the Shield Shell makes finding my nipple shield a lot easier in the dark. I ordered mine at www.shieldshell.com.

I had to use one with both my kids but I weaned them off of it at about 2 weeks. Once they figured out how to nurse I figured they didn't need it anymore. I would start with it on and sort of slip it off after a few minutes and they did fine. It only took a couple of times before they got the hang of it.

I can't personally speak to that, but my cousin is nursing successfully with a nipple shield and the baby is 4 months and gaining well.

My friend's lactation consultant recommended one, but another she spoke with managed to get her nursing without one and wasn't a fan.

Maybe you can find a support group in your area that has more experience abnd can help you troubleshoot in person?

I had to use it with both of mine. My problem was engorgement. My kids loved the sheilds because it made it so easy to eat, since milk collected in it. I weaned them off after a few weeks and my production stablized. I nursed my daughter for over a year, and am still nursing my 1 yr old.

I used one with my son. The lactation consultant in the hospital gave it to me for a couple of reasons. I had to had the maximum dosage of pitocin allowed, and apparently that makes it so that baby's jaw can't quite open wide enough for about 72 hours. I was hugely engorged and my son couldn't open wide enough. Plus because I was engorged, my nipples wouldn't stay hard when we tried to get him to latch on.

So when I told her that she gave me the shield. The next day I commented that he seemed to be able to open wider and that is when she asked me whether I'd had pitocin. When I told her yes, she said it was pretty common and would pass in about 72 hours.

She never gave me any weaning advice and I couldn't get my son to nurse without it for months. At my 4 month pediatricians appt I asked his doc about still using it and she told me I needed to try to wean off it because it can cause you to not produce as much milk. Something about the baby's latch and the breast not getting the full sucking feeling.

I was kind of annoyed at the LC for giving it to me when the jaw opening problem passed in a few days and he wouldn't have been getting much milk anyways. If I had just waited it would have been fine. But after using the shileld he got lazy and wouldn't latch without it. It tooks weeks to wean him from it. I was lucky to have been an overproducer I guess, because I never had any supply issues. But both my pediatrician and another LC told me supply issues can happen.

If the LC had helped me to pump a little before latch on and just told me to give it a couple days, I'd probably never have had to use it. But on the plus side, my nipples didn't get horribly cracked or anything, which was nice. I did eventually get him weaned from it, and I nursed successfully until about 2 years old (5-6 mos of that with a shield).

I had to use a shield when my son was first born, but after a few weeks, he was able to nurse fine without it, so I was able to nurse until he started bitiing me!

I had to, and might again for #3, use a nipple shield for a flat nipple. It was not completely inverted, but without it, made establishing breastfeeding difficult, especially with #1. My lactation consultant suggested it, and also gave me a weaning schedule for it. If I remember correctly, I used it for a full feeding for a week, maybe 2..?.? And then, I would put it on to start a feeding, and then once the nipple was pulled out, I would release babe, take the shield off and put babe back on. I did have to work extra hard with feeding on that nipple because my other is significantly larger, and not flat.

I should say I used 2 different kinds of shields. One was a shield that you put on for a feeding, very pliable with holes for milk. The other one that I used after weaning was a 2 piece thing. I think it was from Medela. The part that sat against the breast was a bit pliable with a hole in the middle for the nipple to be placed. It attached to a 'half sphere' thing that had holes on one hemisphere of it. The idea is that the holes are placed at the top, so if you leak it doesn't get out, but allows air to reach your nipple. It's a pretty solid piece of plastic. I don't know the science behind it, but it kept my nipple 'pulled out'.

I know this is getting long, I apologize! I was able to breastfeed both #1 and 2 until they turned 1, #1 went to 15 mths. And I only used the shield for the first few weeks. You can train your nipple, and eventually your babe will become accustomed to the 2 different nipples they are feeding from, and maybe need different positions as well. But babe will get enough, it will get take some patience on both your parts. Good luck!

Contact the lactation consultant at the hospital where you delivered. With my oldest, I had a ton of trouble with nursing in the beginning. There were complications during my c-section and I didn't see him or get to try to nurse him until he was 5 hours old. He came early too because my water had broken (I was not in labor when I first got to the hospital), so I don't think my milk was really ready to come in.

Having said all that, they tried to having me use a nipple shield and pump in the beginning but it took me meating one particular consultant who tossed the shield and worked with me until we got the nursing going. She had me pumping too for the first few weeks and over the first month or two, I called her ALL THE TIME because I didn't feel comfortable I knew what I was doing.

I successfully nursed my son for 13 1/2 months with no nipple shield after leaving the hospital. I've since nursed two more of my sons for 22 months and 27 months and am going to nurse my 4th son I am expecting in 8 weeks. (Though I fully plan on cutting him off before the 27 month mark... LOL)

Good luck. Don't give up. You CAN do this. Definitely call the hospital though and talk to their lactation consultants. :)