Nipple shields - who uses them or has used them?

[Tobysmum]

My baby wouldn't latch on in the hospital and they gave me a nipple shield to use which I am still using (my baby is 3 weeks old today!) He seems to be gaining weight and I am producing milk pretty well I think, but I know there are some people that say that they deplete your milk supply and they shouldn't really be used long term, also that they can cause mastitis etc (I have already had that!) My baby will not latch on - I keep trying him but it's very hard and he gets frustrated. In an ideal world I wouldn't use the nipple shield as it's not as convenient, difficult to feed in public or just do it quickly as I have to get the nipple, has to be washed etc.... not exactly spontaneous feeding! That said, my baby is getting breastmilk and that's the most important thing for me.
Has anyone else been using one?
How have people found using one long term?
I have also been pumping 2-3 times per day just to ensure my supply is maintained. Also, my baby sleeps 4-5 hours at night (and sometimes during the day)
Please let me know your comments! Good or bad stories please!

[Samuel's mum]

I'm not able to share from my personal experience but I wanted to post anyway. Hope that's OK.  I have a friend who used one for a few days when her baby was about 2 weeks old. She found it really helped with nipple soreness but she was then able to stop using it. She felt it probably stopped her from giving up breastfeeding so was well worth it.




Ignore the rest of this post if you're not in the mood to hear anything negative about shields.


It sounds as though you know the potential problems. This is from the Dr Sears site:
With a shield in place the breast does not receive the same kind of stimulation that it does when a baby sucks directly on the breast. This leads to a reduction in milk supply.
It is apparently less easy for the baby to compress the maternal milk sinuses which is also why plugged ducts and mastitis are more common.
I know you will be ressured from hearing from other people who have used nipple shields long term but is weaning from the shield something you are prepared to consider? You may find that a couple of conversations with a helpline/breastfeeding counsellor about how to go back to just the breast would prevent all these potential problems long-term. It sounds like it won't be easy in the short-term but could be a lot less hassle a few months down the line.

[Sia]

I used a nipple shield for several weeks after 2 months of painful breastfeeding and about to give up.  I hadn't used one until then because I thought from what I read and heard that it would cause more problems than help.  In fact it really helped clear up my damaged nipples and I think it gave my son some time to get a bit bigger and better at feeding. (I used on both nipples for 1 week and then just on one for another week or 2) That being said I would also highly recommend going to a trained lactation consultant.  With my first son I didn't and end up stopping after 6 VERY painful weeks.  With my second son I went to a consultant in the first few weeks and she helped considerably (learned a totally different way to feed than from books and nurses)....The shield help fix the damage that was done in the first weeks and wouldn't go away.  Hope that helps.

[Julie001]

I was also given a Nipple Shield to use in the hospital when I had my son.  Apparently he has a high palette!  When I tried to give him the breast without a shield he would have none of it and we would both end up in tears.  I have been using the Shield for the past 4 months and I haven't encountered any problems at all.  My son is growing and putting on weight at a normal rate.  My milk supply couldn't be better.  In the beginning I had a lot of negative reactions from people (nurses and other mothers mainly) when I told them I used a shield - they warned me my milk would "dry up" etc.  I spoke to a lactation specialist and she told me that a lot of the problems such as decrease in milk supply relates to the old fashioned type Shields that were made of a hard plastic.  The shield I use is a very light silicone and is quite small so my breast is still being stimulated by the baby.  The lactation specialist did advise me to lightly stroke my breast from the top down towards the nipple when feeding.  I would suggest you talk to a lactation specialist if you have any concerns.  I have 3 shields (use one while sterilising the others).  Good Luck!

[Tobysmum]

I have consulted a La Leche League Counseller - 2 in fact.  They both gave me conflicting views unfortunatley.  The older lady was very negative and was annoyed that our hospital is actually giving them out - but I've heard she's very "old school" and is remembers the thick rubber shields.  The other lady (who I don't believe is actually as well trained) thought that it wasn't a bad thing and that the important thing is that he's getting breast milk.  So far it doesn't seem to be reducing my milk supply - I pumped the breast that he hadn't used this morning and got 4 ounces - I've onlly been pumping about twice per day for under one week.  I intend to try and keep pumping to keep up my milk supply.  I am certaining not adverse to weaning him off the shield - in fact, there's nothing I'd like more!  At the moment he isn't having any of it - my nipples are so soft that I don't even think he registers there is anything there.  I am going to keep trying but it's pretty draining and hard work.  The awkward part is holding your breast to make the "nipple sandwich" to make it firmer - you need to have about 10 hands!

[CinciBaby]

Hi,

Just wanted to jump in.. I have been using a nipple shield to feed my DS from 5 months. At first, I was really concerned about using it (after reading on the internet). But, my little guy was early and it was the only way he would BF.. so we stuck with it! I have tried weaning him several times, but he wasn't interested. I haven't had any supply issues. (Also, I had a friend that weaned her little one from it around 2-3 months, so it can be done!)

I think as long as you're using the thin, newer kind (mine's by medela), you'll be fine and your LO will let you know when you don't need it anymore.

[cleomax]

My babe was on a nipple shield until 7 weeks. It was rough - all the things that you mentioned everyone said to me too- milk supply, mastitis, etc... I tried weaning her at 3 weeks and it was brutal! We had 24 hours of miserable feeds ( I tried 10 minutes of only breast where she screamed and fought and it seemed worse  - like she was going to hate breastfeeding). I finally decided that it wasn't worth it and just gave her the shield, which she ate with happily. I would wash it after every feed  - and I had a back-up clean one. At about 4-5 weeks I tried once a day or so, when she was in a good mood, to introduce just my breast for her to suck on. A couple times it went great and then it wouldn't go again for days! The football hold with her tucked under an arm and facing my breast worked the best - that way my hand (and a pillow) was behind her head to keep her on- once she got off I would give her the shield back if it was going to be a struggle - I wanted her to enjoy the experience. She just kept getting better and better at it and then one day she had it and we didn't use it ever again. Don't beat yourself up ! Every babe is different and yours may just need extra time to get used to breastfeeding (who can compete with that nipple on the shield?)
It will happen!
Once my babe did get off she would feed for only 15-30 minutes compared to almost an hour with the shield, and I did feel like my milk went up a little, but overall she was still breastfeeding and growing well and getting enough milk- so the shield was ok for that long. 

[Mama Doodles]

My DD is 18 weeks (8 weeks corrected age). She was fed my expressed breast milk through a nose tube for her first nine weeks in the NICU. At Week Six I was 'allowed' to introduce the breast and her wee mouth prevented a latch. Lactation consultants at that hospital gave me a nipple shield. Now that's the ONLY way she will breastfeed. Without it she screams and cries and wonders what in the world I'm doing to her. I feel so awful, but the shield is much too small and compresses my ducts. (She won't take the larger shield.) My nipples are like hamburger. I had mastitis twice; plugged ducts once. So... I've been consistently pumping for these 18 weeks -- seems like forever -- and feeding her by bottle. I would have loved to get rid of the shield. It was so awkward. We have no lactation consultants back home here in the Yukon and my public health nurse has been contacting LCs by email. She advised at this late date and with DD so enamoured of bottles, that the shield weaning would be insurmountable. So I'm beating myself up but at least she is getting breast milk. My supply is diminishing b/c I'm getting no mouth contact, just those darn pump funnels! But I'm trying to get to six months... My biggest problem is the guilt. Plus 'friends' who cluck their tongues and tsk tsk the bottling.  Sigh.

[nicholas's mum]

I, too, used nipple shields in hospital and for the following 4 weeks with my ds because he couldn't latch on.  The lactation consultant I saw also said that the newer thin silicone shields aren't as bad as the old thick rubber ones.  She also said that, while it would be great to get him to breastfeed without them by 6 weeks, not to freak out about it if we couldn't because she's known of people who used them for 6 months with no problems.

I did manage to get him to suck from me by starting him on the shield to draw my nipple out (for some reason, they'd go soft and flat as soon as his mouth came anywhere near me ) then whipping it off quickly and try to get him to attach then.  While it didn't always work everytime, he soon managed to attach that way regularly and then without the shield at all.  It usually took up to half a dozen tries to attach without the shield each feed for about a week before he managed to get the idea.  Even though it frustrated him (and me) at that time, I found that when he cracked up and started to cry, he'd then really suck hard and attach fine. Uh!

Anyway, he's 7 months old now and there have been a whole bunch of other feeding issues that we've had to resolve since then. Talk about getting one thing down pat then some other problem comes up!  But we still seem to manage to get through them, even though it can be really confusing and upsetting at the time.

Also, I've since found out that sometimes chiropractic adjustment can help babies suck better.  Apparently the birth process can put the neck and skull out a bit.  I only started taking him to the chiro at 5 months, but his feeding has improved since.  Just thought I'd mention that if you're open to it.

Anyway, hope this helps a bit, but don't worry if you have to keep using them.  Just as long as bub keeps putting on weight etc.

Kath

[CaedensMama]

I used one as well - maybe 3-4 weeks consistently and then off and on (kinda weaned myself ) over the next couple weeks. I'd say we were completly done by 6 weeks. I found it much easier to nurse with it on, and much less painful and I think it helped thru those early days. I did not notice any difficulty in tranistioning to none and my son is a champion nursing and still is!

[Messa]

I used a nipple sheild as my daughter had a poor suck they said she "thrust" her tounge.  Well I had a horrible time of it.  I tried to wean her off of it and she was't having it, I too had to use the shield first to get the milk flowing and elongate my nipple (because the nipple shield was so long she was used to having that right off the bat)  I would take it off an she would latch and suck but not for long she seemed to realize that something was different.  I kept getting clogged ducts, I got mastitus 2X and lost my milk supply at 3 months my dd started to lose weight and the ped said I needed to bottle feed.  It sounds like you are doing better because you are also pumping and that is supposed to stimulate all the ducts so.... I would definetley suggest going to see a lactation consultant and trying to wean as soon as you and baby are comfortable with weaning.

[daisymelan]

I used a nipple sheild as my daughter had a poor suck they said she "thrust" her tounge. Well I had a horrible time of it. I tried to wean her off of it and she was't having it, I too had to use the shield first to get the milk flowing and elongate my nipple (because the nipple shield was so long she was used to having that right off the bat) I would take it off an she would latch and suck but not for long she seemed to realize that something was different. I kept getting clogged ducts, I got mastitus 2X and lost my milk supply at 3 months my dd started to lose weight and the ped said I needed to bottle feed. It sounds like you are doing better because you are also pumping and that is supposed to stimulate all the ducts so.... I would definetley suggest going to see a lactation consultant and trying to wean as soon as you and baby are comfortable with weaning.

Hugs to you.  Sounds like you had a long, rough battle.

[Messa]

TY, it was rough and every time I gave her the bottle that first day I cried, .   I felt like a failure that I couldn't feed my own baby.  I felt better in a day or two and now she is growing and sleeping better so I guess I did the best thing for her.

[Finns mum]

For some reason, my baby latches on fine to the left breast but not to the right one! He would latch on nicely, take a few swallows of milk and then pull himself off, so I'd have to keep repeating the procedure. After a few days of this, my nipple began to get really sore, so I tried using a shield on the advice of my midwife. This reduced the pain, and he latched on and stayed on for a full feed. I used it for a couple of days to let my nipple recover and then tried again without, only to find the same problem. Now, I always use a nipple shield for feeding on the right breast, as it seems to be the only way he'll feed from it - I have tried to go without every now and then, but keep having the same problem. My midwife said just to go with whatever worked best, and suggested one of the reasons he needs it might be because the milk is actually coming out too quick for him, and the shield helps. It certainly hasn't reduced my milk supply, so I guess I'll keep going with it for the forseeable future!