Moms Experienced W/nipple Shields

I LOVED my nipplesheild. OMG...I had completely forgotten about them. I used mine for 3-4 weeks, and the transition happened via sleep dep, and not being able to always find it at night.

((I got so engorged when my milk came in (each breast was Bigger Than My Head, approx the size of a helium party balloon... the non-mylar kind)... that my son couldn't latch, and then he was allergic to lanolin, so the ordinary nipple ointment was a no-no.))

Gradually my size reduced, over several weeks, and my nipples toughened up. When he woke starving in the night, & I couldn't find the durn thing, he'd eat. Maybe one or two feedings a day for a week or two, and then I lost it and never bothered to find it again.

Remind your friend, the important thing is the milk, not the delivery system. So many women can't nurse at all, and so many babies don't even have a lactating mum (adopted, etc.) that she and her baby are both really really lucky. Who cares about a piece of plastic? :)

R

I used the nipple shield with mine at the beginning, he wasn't latching on. 1 day while I was nursing with the shield in front of a lactation specialist, she put her finger to the inside of the baby's mouth to break the seal and just pulled off the shield and put the baby back on, and it worked! No shield after that!

I used them in the beginning - the first 2 weeks for sure, maybe a total of 4 weeks with declining frequency. If she latches him and gets letdown with the nipple shield, has she tried pulling him off after a minute or so and then relatching to the nipple? That way the flow has already started so it should be easier for him to suck.

I used one with my daughter for two months because she would not latch on without it. I felt like a failed breastfeeding mama becuase I didn't feel like I was 'really' breastfeeding. I would occasionally try without it but my daughter would just get mad and not eat!

At around two months, she just GOT IT one night. She latched and we never had a problem fromt there on out.

With my son (4 months) i never had to use one as he's latched well from the beginning.

I'd tell her to keep trying without it, but not right when she is first feeding teh baby because he/she may be really hungry and latch on hard. Wait until the nipples have had time to 'pull out' with the shield.

I would tell her to keep on with the nipple shield until the baby is ready. It took me 4 months to get my baby girl weened off of the shield. How I weened my baby was to start feeding her with it on and then once she ate for a little bit I would remove the nipple shield. It took me a couple weeks to completely stop using the shield so tell your friend it'll happen, it just takes time! :D