Problems with Breastfeeding Due to Nipple Shields

Keep Trying!!!!! I have had problems with both of my boys, and 3 weeks is still young to be a pro at eating. Give it time, don't stress, and it'll all work out. You will eventually be able to wean from the nipple shield.

I would go to La Leche League they are meeting in chesapeake today at 10am at the lifetime center next to Chesapeake General. If you can't make it I would call them or go to their website. They have the best advice on breastfeeding.

Keep it up, your daughter will get it! Sounds like she already has! Good to hear that things went well!
I used a nipple shield with my son for the first 6 weeks(the first week we used a feeding tube and had him suck from our finger) and was so worried he would never latch on. He would get so frustrated and would just scream at me when I would try without the shield. Finally after a breast infection, I had to get him off the shield and it took about a week, but he finally got it. He would cry, but I would keep putting him on until he latched and each day it got better and better. I breastfed him until he was 10-months old, it gets so much easier.

Try pumping the breast that your daughter does not like to feed from to help keep them the same size. Im not saying it happens to everyone, but I ended up w/ lopsided boobs because my daughter preferred one over the other. Also try a football hold on the non preferred breast. Maybe getting her at the same angle as she is on the other breast might help. It might also just be that your supply is down on that side.
It is normal for your nipple to be wacky looking after she gets off of it. But be sure to not pull her off, gently pry her lips from around your nipple, breaking suction first.
If all else fails that nipple sheild is a big help. I had to use one as well, but unfortunately I was not able to continue to BF. If worse comes to worse and youve done your best and have to give it up, dont beat yourself up over it. I know its a special bonding time but you can still bond w/a bottle and formula as well. I fought hard to keep bf'ing my last 2 children and lost the battle. The first time was super rough and traumatic for me, but the 2nd time around I was a little easier on myself.
Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

I had a similar problem with my son, the fourth lactaation consultant we went to finally told me that although he had a strong latch he was pulling his upper lip under. This caused a cut in my nipple, make sure that the upper lip is fully on the outside of your nipple.

Hi T.,

I'm glad to hear things went better for you today. Hope it stays that way. My baby is 4 months old and he's left my nipple in a lipstick shape several times. My breast got really lumpy and hard every other week for the first 3 months. Now we change feeding positions every time I feed, or at least when I'm able to and that's helped a lot. Your baby will appreciate all your efforts :) Good luck!

Hi, Unfortunately I am familiar with this problem. The lipstick shape is not ok, and latching on/nursing should not be painful. I have the same problem, and I haven't really figured it out. The LC thought my baby had a tight frenulum, but the doctor I saw disagreed. My baby does have a high palate, which might be causing it. Anyway, you should go back to the LC and get evaluated. I am resigned to using the nipple shield indefinitely, which is really inconvenient; but for me it's preferable to switching to formula. In your situation, someone may be able to help you correct the problem though - definitely get it checked out!

T....I feel your pain...literally. My first child, Gaelynn, was born in 2000. I had no support from anyone that had previously breastfed and because I was pushed out ofthe hospital a day early due to lack of space I never met with the LC. I had Demerol during delivery and the narcotic was passed to her via cord and she didn't eat for the first three days....yes, three. My milk came in that morning and by the time I got to WalMart to buy a pump my shirt was dripping onto the floor. I also had slightly inverted nipples at the time and she was too cranky to try and latch on to pull them out. So I wore the cups to push my nipples out and then as I leaked into the cups would fead her the milk with a syringe.

Anyway the enough with the back story. When she finally latched on and began to nurse I had no idea that we were doing it wrong and could not figure out why I was constantly in pain. No matter how hard i tried I couldn't get her to latch correctly by myself and ended up with the "lip stick" shaped nipples as well. My problem was that due to my inexperience i neglected to seek help early and ended up with double mastitis. My husband came home and found my in a cold sweat with three comforters piled on me and the baby and I was rattling the bed frame I was shaking so much.

Pulling through mastistis that first time was the most difficult thing ever during the nursing of all three of my kids. The only way to unclog the ducts nad soothe the surrounding breast tissue was to nurse, pumping did not do it. To make matters worse I had half inch splits in both of my nipples. I was constantly blistered, though I never had thrush.

So I have told you the horror, now let me tell you the victory. I am very stubborn. I refused to allow the pain that I was experienceing deter me. I sought help from as many lactaion consultants that I could find, LLL, and any mom's that would talk. I found a consultant that physically assisted me in latching my daughter on and found the correct latch after 2 months of agony.

I nursed her exclusively with bottles for daycare (I worked there too) for 18 months before going back to school. We coslept at night so it was much easier...I have also coslept withte other two and will with our fourth when he arrives. It makes nursing so much easier.

The next time I developed mastitis I spotted the symptoms immediately and treated myself with warm and cold compresses, massage and constant nursing and pumping.

You can get through this. If you make it a month you can make it one more. Seek hlep from your local La LEche League.

Hi, I understand your pain and frustration. It was difficult for me, too. I had inverted nipples and the hospital nurses suggested the same system you used. It was awful for a week or two, then I visited the lactation consultant. The LC suggested changing positions (football hold, cradle) every other time at the breast to avoid the nipple getting too chafed in the same spot. Some things the LC said also didn't work for us to get the "proper" latch. I don't think my son ever latched on "correctly." It looked like lipstick, too. And it DID hurt. But it did get easier after the first month, and we nursed happily for 8 months.
So I'm not sure I have advice, because each baby has different tolerance levels. But what I can offer is support. Persistance was the key for us. At 5-6 weeks I still wasn't convinced that breastfeeding was going to really work for me. But soon I forgot all about those trying days.
Oh, one piece of advice I DO have: my son lost weight also in the initial week. Do NOT let the doctor make you over worry about this. Within a month he bloomed and shot right to the top of the charts for both height and weight. They even tried to say that he was a "failure to thrive." I believe they had to label him just so the insurance company would pay for the more frequent doctor visits, when Ian was obviously not underweight or malnourished.
The key I learned through all of that was: trust your own instincts when it comes to feeding your child. It may not always be easy, but it will work out.

A few things... I went thru similar efforts (the awful tubing!) with my first child and I nursed 13 months, it gets easier and easier, and in a few months you will enjoy it a lot.

Look up "all purpose nipple ointment" and get your OB to prescribe at a compoundign pharmacy. It will help with irritation and prevent infection. My lactation consultant recommended it and it realy helps.

I never used a nipple shield, but I heard they can cause problems so I suspect you are not unusual. Often when a breastfed baby has problems, the easiest thing to do (besides persistence) is to modify their situation/context/behavior. With my second, she developed latch-on problems out of the blue around 8 weeks. My LC advised to change position. She was used to nursing in a cradlehold and was all of a sudden latching poorly. The LC said try the football for a while or sit her up a little or lay down with her... and she was like a different baby. It was like she associated the poor latch with one position but nursed fine in other positions. So try a change of scenery and nursing position and see if that helps. Babies can be smarter than we thingk and are funny about certain things.

Hope it helps. I am sure you will get some other great advice, but of course, call you LC as she will also have ideas.

Enjoy the little one.

She may have another problem that was overlooked before! The burning may also be due to thrush. I would be happy to ralk with you and see what I can do to help or get one of my LC's to come and help you if you are in the area. Don't give up! Most all problems can be fixed. I own my own doula company and we now have IBCLC lactation consultants who work for us. Please don't hesitate to call. ###-###-#### Holly Schmidt Mothering Mommies, LLC

Hi T.,

First off congratulations on your new baby! And HOORAY for you for doing the BEST thing for her by breast feeding her!!! :) I promise it WILL get better and easier!!!

Yes, your nipple is supposed to be 'lipstick' shaped when she pulls off. She actually has lots of it sucked up into her mouth when she's nursing so that's totally normal.

There are some great books and resources out there for breast feeding. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding is good. Also, you can look at the La Leche League site, its www.llli.org. Their local leaders are amazing and some even do free house calls to help out new moms with issues just like you are describing. Another website is www.kellymom.com. And if your lc was helpful try her again. Good luck to you and hang in there!!! Take care, S.

I know it must be hard sorting through all the advice you have been given. Another great resource that may give you more clarity on the topic is KellyMom.com, it's a website all about breastfeeding and everything related to it. Good Luck! and don't give up it will get easier.

I would suggest calling local La Leche person- google their website for help...most times, they will come to your house to help you out w/ latch. I got more help from them than did from Lactation Consultant at our local hospital.

Hope helps, I've been there and no fun for nursing to hurt. Currently still nursing 13 mo old:)

Hi T.,

After reading your post one additional thing that I want to mention is that you should investigate as to whether your baby and/or you may have thrush. You mentioned that your child will suck then pull off and scream and pulls back with all her strength. This is a symptom of some babies who have thrush. My daughter and myself had thrush and she would do this. I found out that thrush can make it painful for babies to nurse and so they may pull off the breast and scream or may not want to attach at all. Additionally, you mentioned that the pointy side of your nipple is white. White patches on your nipple is also a symptom of thrush. I too had a white patch on my nipple and did not know what it was for weeks. No one really told me about thrush but upon researching the symptoms I found out that my daughter and I had it.
If you google thrush you can find out more information and if you think it is present then both you and your baby will need to get treated. Contact your child's pediatrician and then you will need to be seen by your doctor. It is very treatable but the sooner the better. Usually the mother will be prescribed an antifungal cream to put on her nipples and the baby will be prescribed a medication to coat the inside of their mouth. Also make sure you air your nipples after each nursing and change out nursing pads frequently this will help deter the develpment of thrush. Hope this is helpful.

Take Care and Good Luck!
P.W.

I had to use a nipple shield for the first 2 months with my son. He was ready to go off of it by that time since it was easier for him to breastfeed because he was older and stronger. One thing of concern with using the nipple shield is it slows down the rate of milk flow – my son started not getting enough at the feedings due to the nipple shield and was not gaining enough weight and this jeopardized my supply. Our lactation consultant showed me a new way of having him latch and we have been nipple shield free for 10 months now! I recommend following up with a lactation consultant to help with the latch and hold to get rid of the nipple shield. Mine also said most babies are ready to go off of it on their own at around 2 months, which was the case in my situation.
Good Luck!

T.,

Please, please, please go to the La Leche League site, and look around there for this topic. There is an abundance of amazingly good and accurate information there. Also on this fabulous site are ways to hook up with local LLL leaders, who are wonderful volunteers who help women with exactly the types of problems you are having. I have worked with local LLL volunteers over the 13 years I've been breastfeeding my five kids (not all at once, of course!!), and have found them to be so highly trained and helpful. There are some really good lactation consultants out there, but some of them have little true experience and even less training-- they can take a weekend course and call themselves consultants in some states. The LLL league volunteers, however, go through extensive training, rigorous testing before being allowed to help women in an official capacity, and do all of their helping for free. The site is: http://www.llli.org/nb.html
They are also not allowed to become leaders if they haven't breastfed one of their own babies for a year or longer, so they have the personal aspect of it, as well--the being in the trenches.

Please go to that site. Your nursing relationship is at stake right now, and if supplementing begins again, your milk supply will diminish, and more supplementing will happen. A vicious cycle will ensue, and soon you will find that you are giving up altogether. You and your baby need this relationship to thrive-- there are over 400 components in human milk which the artificial milk manufacturers would love to be able to replicate, but which they are unable to. They wish they could, because those 400 components are so good for the human baby who is designed to thrive on human milk! Just the disease protection alone, not to mention the allergy/asthma protection offered by the breastmilk is priceless. It may be something which serves to protect your baby for the rest of its life against the propensity to develop disease as opposed to being able to fight it.

Give yourself and your baby a gift, and go look around the LLL site. I can't recommend it enough. You are such a good mama for reaching out to find answers-- your baby was born to the right mama :)

Big hugs,
JennyC.

Hi, my daughters, both of them, would only nurse on one side for a long time, and I just kept starting them on the side that they would not take and switch it up a lot to get them to drink on both sides. Eventually they liked that side and we had no more problems like that. As far as the shape, it's sad but true, the nipple can looked squished and weird once it gets out of their mouth. I was amazed at how long my nipples could stretch. And the whiteness should just be the lack of blood while baby is sucking so hard, it just goes back to pink quickly does it not?
We used the nipple shield also and I loved it but after a few months it leaked a lot and we stopped using it. They are both done with nursing and bottles and growing like weeds, so hopefully this helps a bit. Good Luck.

Does the burning sensation increase after the latch is broken? Does the pointy side of your nipple go from white to purple? This may be Raynauds. If this is the case the best way to describe what is happening is to say that when your daughter nurses she is cutting blood circulation off to your breast. My nipple was always pointy shaped too, all the way up until my son weaned at 16 and 1/2 months. If you have Raynauds the best thing to do is to keep your nipples as warm as possible. Cold intensifies the burning sensation. Also cut out ALL sources of caffine.

I had a lot of similar problems. My son preferred my left to my right. I used nipple shields for about 1 month. And had this terrible buring pain in my breast. It all wored out in the end. It was a long road, so just take one day at a time.

Its so funny I had your first issue with6 my first and your second issue with my second. In terms of your first issue all I can say is that I used a nipple shield for 14 months. My son never latched on to me. So I would have done anything I h6ad to to get him to latch on to me. Your second issue is a hard one. I had a great nursing consultant. Who I went back to five different times. It just took a lot of unlatching and latching back on. You might want to go back to the nursing consultant or find a new one. If you can find a great one they really help a lot. The other good news is that as they get bigger th6ey also get stronger and better at latching on. But the lipstick nipple is not rite or okay. So keep at it it is all worth it in the end and you'll have many months of amazing nursing once you get over the hump. annabellaknits.etsy.com

If the baby is getting enough to eat, and doesn't hurt you, it doesn't really matter what if the latch is "correct".

Try starting a feeding with the nipple shields on, then removing during the feeding, once your nipple has been stretched out a little.

Hi T.,

I just wanted to let you know that you are doing great. My son, who is now 28 months, would not latch on in the beginning. I used a nipple shield for four months... by the fourth month, he latched on without a problem. Initially, he lost ounces similar to your baby and put on weight pretty slowly but other than that, he did great.

I let all of the stress go and just allowed myself to do what worked for him. I never did anything but breast milk even in the beginning. I did pump and anything i pumped i gave to him in a bottle or syringe. I would try to latch him on without the shield occationally. The LC told me that he had a high mouth bridge and his mouth wasn't stimiluated by the touch of my breast (i have smaller nipples too). By the fourth month, both my breast nipples were larger and his mouth was a little bigger so we worked it out.

I'm on baby number two - 9 weeks - and have had NO problems with her. I think because I'm more relaxed and my son pulled my nipples out a little making it easier for her.

I suggest you Keep up the nipple shields if that makes you less stressed! She will outgrow the need for them eventually.

Let me know if I can help you with any other questions about this and good job nursing!

C.

T. it sounds like you are doing a fantastic job! I also went through similar issues and found those initial weeks difficult, depressing, and scary. You want so much to feed your baby and make her happy. I used a nipple shield with my second daughter due to an inverted nipple. She just couldn't latch on to it properly and I was incredibly sore. When I found that she hadn't gained enough weight, I decided it was due to the nipple shield and had to stop using it. Something that I found useful, especially when that breast was a bit engorged, was to briefly hand express before putting my baby to that breast (my right). This helped reduce some of the engorgement (making the nipple more pliable for her tiny mouth) and drew out the inverted nipple. To be properly latched, the baby needs to have her whole mouth over the areola with her tongue down along the bottom teeth and your nipple going upward. I found that my baby was clamping down on my nipple and positioning her tongue along her upper row of teeth. When she did this I would use my finger to break the seal around my breast (to avoid pulling at the tender flesh) and reposition her by "sandwiching" my breast while repositioning her with the breast angled toward the roof of her mouth. If you're still having difficulty and want to ask someone to help with the latch, you could contact your local La Leche League group. Here's the URL for the one in Kensington/Bethesda that I go to http://www.lllofmd-de-dc.org/bethesdakensington.shtml. I know it is super difficult right now, but I it does get easier. In a few weeks, your baby will nursing like a pro and your breasts will be much less painful! Keep up the super job you're doing!

The shape of your nipple after feeding is what mine looks like sometimes. Sort of a lipstick shape and it is always a little white at the end. I don't think mine is ever perfectly round. And I fed my first for 15 mo. and am now nursing my second child. If it is painful, that is different but it often is painful in the first few weeks while your baby and you are learning. Having to pump a little when your breast is full before your baby can latch well is normal too. Keep trying to give her both sides and eventually she should take bith. In the meantime maybe pump from the side she won't take to keep it producing more milk. Hopefully others have good suggestions. www.kellymom.com can be a good resource online.

T.,
I see this issue a great deal when I do post partum visits with my doula clients. Especially if they have hospital births. Since I don't know where you went for your lactation consult. I do suggest the breasfeeding center on K street. Most good lactation consults there will give you plenty of time and make sure that you come back and see if you can work without the shields. It is very common to favor one breast. You might want to try nursing her on the left for a small amount of time, then go to the right when she is not so fussy. I don't know what the burning is. If you break the seal with your finger before she pulls off that soreness might not be so rough. It is fine that your nipple comes out elongated. I'd also suggest calling the La Leche League leaders in your area for help. They will come to your home at no charge; or you can go to a meeting.
If you have other questions, please feel free to contact me.
Congrats on staying with nursing for both you health and your baby's mental and physical health.
L. M.
Birthbliss
HypnoBirthing childbirth education and doula services

It does matter if the latch is correct.

Lipstick shape is not OK. Once sheilds come off you will have sore cracked nipples.

You should see your lactation consultant. This site is not a good place to go for this kind of advice. Most mothers who nursed have never even seen a nipple shield, much less know how to wean from it.

If you cannot find a LC near you, please seek out your local La Leche League (llli.org)

Good luck!

I have flat nipples and had to start out with a nipple shield. I had the same problem trying to get him off of the shield and onto the breast. Then I looked at it from this perspective. Even though I have to use a shield, he is still getting the benefits of the breast milk, I am still producing well, and I do not have to worry about yeast infections and other chaffing around my nipples. My solution was I just used the shields. The lac consl. Told me to get him off it and I stopped going to her. I was able to breastfeed him just fine for three months before my body stopped producing milk (Very common in my family, we can never make it past 3-4 months if that far before our bodies stop making it). If the shields make you comfortable and the baby comfortable, and the baby is eating fine from them, then go with it. We are all made different and sometimes have to go through extra lengths to do what is best for our children. Do not worry about it! He is a year and a half now and we never had problems transisting to bottles and sippies.

Now the latch issue probably has something to do with your nipples and the fact that she can NOT latch on properly. In the old days, we had wet nurses, now we have the shield. I would suggest going back to the shield so she is eating equally from both sides and you are not being hurt. I bought about 5 (you can get them at babies r us and other baby stores) and kept them in these little plastic containers with snap on lids, like the small ziploc ones you get in a 6-8 pack. That way I could toss one in the diaper bag, have one by my bed, etc. and be able to switch out the dirty one for a clean one while the birty one dried.

Good luck and email or message me if you need any more insight!