Weaning off nipple shields

[redlemonade]

My daughter is 4 weeks old and, unfortunately, we had to use nipple shields (with guidance from LC) from early on as DD had tongue tie which tore my nipples apart! At one stage she vomited blood and I panicked, thinking she was really ill, until I looked down and saw the blood coming from my nipples

So, please, no comments like 'why would anyone use nipple shields?' (I had a woman in a bf support group who said to me 'omg I don't understand why anyone would use those things - my daughter probably has tongue tie but I just power through' - I felt like saying, 'girl, if your daughter really had tongue tie you'd know for sure'.)

We had her tongue tie snipped 2 weeks ago but I'm really struggling to get her off the shields. She did well for a while and would latch on without the shield occasionally in the middle of a feed but the last few days have been tough in that she's getting upset when I take the shield away I don't want her associating breastfeeding with something distressing so I don't let her get too upset.

This morning I called the LC and she said that although most babies will wean off eventually, some babies never do. I'm scared we'll be one of those few that never wean! I cried my eyes out after because I feel like such a failure. Our birth experience was pretty traumatic and now I'm really starting to feel like a terrible mother - I can't give birth without intervention and I can't breastfeed without intervention!! I'm really miserable about this

What's made me feel like we won't make it is that she'd latched on well for some feeds until last Friday, and then she just stopped! She's getting agitated now; it's awful

Does anybody have any advice or positive stories? I want to make breastfeeding work but shields are so messy and inconvenient! Thanks in advance!

 

[Night Flower]

I also have to use the nipple shields and dont see anything wrong with them. Why do people not like these? It allows us flat nippled people a chance to actually breastfeed without any issues.

 

[Rachie004]

Red, I'm afraid I can't offer any advice about the nipple shields but after everything you've been through, the last thing you should feel like is a failure. You should feel proud for perservering through so many challenges, lesser people would have given up a long time ago You're doing amazing, please don't be hard on yourself, things have been difficult enough as it is xx

 

[Mummafrog]

I have no advice or experience.. but I just wanted to wish you all the best of luck and strength through this tough phase of trying to teach her to feed without the shield. You are so not a failure, you are her super hero, you grew her, birthed her and have given her four weeks of beautiful breast milk by an incredible amount of self sacrifice and by doing everything you possibly could
I truly admire you because having a newborn has made me feel literally mad at times, so sleep deprived, sometimes ill, sometimes so emotional I thought I couldn't carry on and I have been lucky enough that everything has gone smoothly in terms of feeding etc.. I can't even imagine what it must be like if there is ANY problem, even minor and trouble feeding is such a big one.

No matter what, giving her these four weeks has helped her tiny system so much and given her the best start.
Really hope that soon you'll be feeding with ease

 

[bcos21]

I couldn't get my son to latch even though the LC said everything looked fine he would get frustrated. I used nipple Shields and honestly, one day around 5 months he just started latching on his own and didn't want the Sheild. He is 9 months and still nursing. I tried to wean him off them sooner but he wasn't having anything to do with that, he would cry. I think they decide when they are ready.

 

[redlemonade]

I also have to use the nipple shields and dont see anything wrong with them. Why do people not like these? It allows us flat nippled people a chance to actually breastfeed without any issues.

I personally just find them messy. Lots of people (mistakenly) believe they affect supply but my main issues are inconvenience, plus I think they give her gas

I know I couldn't have bf without them but I'm desperate to get off them now the problem has been rectified!

 

[redlemonade]

Red, I'm afraid I can't offer any advice about the nipple shields but after everything you've been through, the last thing you should feel like is a failure. You should feel proud for perservering through so many challenges, lesser people would have given up a long time ago You're doing amazing, please don't be hard on yourself, things have been difficult enough as it is xx

Thanks Rachie. I probably am pretty hard on myself It's just horrible when EVERYTHING goes wrong, you know?

 

[redlemonade]

I have no advice or experience.. but I just wanted to wish you all the best of luck and strength through this tough phase of trying to teach her to feed without the shield. You are so not a failure, you are her super hero, you grew her, birthed her and have given her four weeks of beautiful breast milk by an incredible amount of self sacrifice and by doing everything you possibly could
I truly admire you because having a newborn has made me feel literally mad at times, so sleep deprived, sometimes ill, sometimes so emotional I thought I couldn't carry on and I have been lucky enough that everything has gone smoothly in terms of feeding etc.. I can't even imagine what it must be like if there is ANY problem, even minor and trouble feeding is such a big one.

No matter what, giving her these four weeks has helped her tiny system so much and given her the best start.
Really hope that soon you'll be feeding with ease

Thank you Your response means a lot, that was lovely to read. I know logically I'm not a failure but emotionally I do feel like a lump of fail today

 

[redlemonade]

I couldn't get my son to latch even though the LC said everything looked fine he would get frustrated. I used nipple Shields and honestly, one day around 5 months he just started latching on his own and didn't want the Sheild. He is 9 months and still nursing. I tried to wean him off them sooner but he wasn't having anything to do with that, he would cry. I think they decide when they are ready.

Thanks - maybe I need to be more patient! Good to hear it worked out for you x

 

[Boozlebub]

I had to use nipple shields to begin with and around 4 months DS started pulling them off mid feed so I started removing them mid fee and he started to latch without them. I then started the feed without them and only put them on if I felt he was having some difficulty. Also continued using them at night for a while. Now at 5 and a half months we feed without them all the time. But still keep one clean and nearby to use if needed!

You will get there I promise. You are doing a brilliant job and your LO is benefitting so much from your breast milk! Good luck xxx

 

[redlemonade]

I had to use nipple shields to begin with and around 4 months DS started pulling them off mid feed so I started removing them mid fee and he started to latch without them. I then started the feed without them and only put them on if I felt he was having some difficulty. Also continued using them at night for a while. Now at 5 and a half months we feed without them all the time. But still keep one clean and nearby to use if needed!

You will get there I promise. You are doing a brilliant job and your LO is benefitting so much from your breast milk! Good luck xxx

Thank you! It's great to hear stories like this. Did you wait for your LO to pull the shields off or did you try to wean him off them prior to that?

My DD decided to latch on a couple of times today without the shield and then refused with the rest of the feeds!

 

[Boozlebub]

I had to use nipple shields to begin with and around 4 months DS started pulling them off mid feed so I started removing them mid fee and he started to latch without them. I then started the feed without them and only put them on if I felt he was having some difficulty. Also continued using them at night for a while. Now at 5 and a half months we feed without them all the time. But still keep one clean and nearby to use if needed!

You will get there I promise. You are doing a brilliant job and your LO is benefitting so much from your breast milk! Good luck xxx

Thank you! It's great to hear stories like this. Did you wait for your LO to pull the shields off or did you try to wean him off them prior to that?

My DD decided to latch on a couple of times today without the shield and then refused with the rest of the feeds!

I didn't even think to remove them until he started yanking them off and then wanting to feed without them so I removed them when he took them at first. After a week or so I started to remove them the first time he pulled away mid feed and he then latched on no problem.

I think you could remove them mid feed and see if LO will continue the feed without them. If yes then carry on but if not, don't feel disheartened and just put it on again and try again at the following feed!

 

[cncem]

With my first child, she wouldn't latch, or I didn't know how to get her to, it didn't help that after her birth I had a bit of carpal tunnel still lingering from pregnancy, and couldn't hold her to my breast. I decided to exclusively pump and give her breastmilk, and it was a Holy pain in the tush, I bonded with the pump more than her it seemed like. With my second baby I was determined to breast feed no matter what, and he wouldn't latch either so my LC gave me some nipple shields to use and he was able to latch onto those and we breastfed. I bought some breastpump wipes and after each feeding I would wipe out the shields and kept them in a baggie in my purse or diaper bag, easy peasy. I had several of them, and I kept one in diaper bag, one in purse, several at home so I always had one around. It really wasn't a problem, and I liked that I could see the milk in the nipple shield before going into my son's mouth so I knew he was getting enough. With this baby I'll try to breastfeed without but I know I have those and an awesome pump to fall back on in case she won't latch. I don't think you should feel like a failure at all. Your baby is getting breastmilk and that is all that matters.

 

[redlemonade]

I had to use nipple shields to begin with and around 4 months DS started pulling them off mid feed so I started removing them mid fee and he started to latch without them. I then started the feed without them and only put them on if I felt he was having some difficulty. Also continued using them at night for a while. Now at 5 and a half months we feed without them all the time. But still keep one clean and nearby to use if needed!

You will get there I promise. You are doing a brilliant job and your LO is benefitting so much from your breast milk! Good luck xxx

Thank you! It's great to hear stories like this. Did you wait for your LO to pull the shields off or did you try to wean him off them prior to that?

My DD decided to latch on a couple of times today without the shield and then refused with the rest of the feeds!

I didn't even think to remove them until he started yanking them off and then wanting to feed without them so I removed them when he took them at first. After a week or so I started to remove them the first time he pulled away mid feed and he then latched on no problem.

I think you could remove them mid feed and see if LO will continue the feed without them. If yes then carry on but if not, don't feel disheartened and just put it on again and try again at the following feed!

Thanks! That's what I do, I remove them mid feed. Sometimes it works fine and other times she gets frustrated that latching without the shield is harder. It's difficult not to get disheartened tbh!

 

[redlemonade]

With my first child, she wouldn't latch, or I didn't know how to get her to, it didn't help that after her birth I had a bit of carpal tunnel still lingering from pregnancy, and couldn't hold her to my breast. I decided to exclusively pump and give her breastmilk, and it was a Holy pain in the tush, I bonded with the pump more than her it seemed like. With my second baby I was determined to breast feed no matter what, and he wouldn't latch either so my LC gave me some nipple shields to use and he was able to latch onto those and we breastfed. I bought some breastpump wipes and after each feeding I would wipe out the shields and kept them in a baggie in my purse or diaper bag, easy peasy. I had several of them, and I kept one in diaper bag, one in purse, several at home so I always had one around. It really wasn't a problem, and I liked that I could see the milk in the nipple shield before going into my son's mouth so I knew he was getting enough. With this baby I'll try to breastfeed without but I know I have those and an awesome pump to fall back on in case she won't latch. I don't think you should feel like a failure at all. Your baby is getting breastmilk and that is all that matters.

Thanks I know the main thing is that she's getting my milk. One thing that I can't get used to is nursing in public with shields actually! How do you do it discreetly without people seeing the shield/LO pulling it off mid feed?

 

[HBGirl]

Thank you for this thread! I have been using sheilds since day 8 and to hear that they tend to self wean is encouraging.

 

[HBGirl]

Aaaand........tonight she calmly latched and fed without the shield!

With regards to the nip question. I attach the shield under a cover, get her latched and drop the cover. I can tell when she is going to pull off and just lift it slightly. I was super uncomfortable at first but got used to it.

 

[redlemonade]

Aaaand........tonight she calmly latched and fed without the shield!

With regards to the nip question. I attach the shield under a cover, get her latched and drop the cover. I can tell when she is going to pull off and just lift it slightly. I was super uncomfortable at first but got used to it.

Wow fantastic that your DD latched without the shield today! Did you do anything or was it spontaneous? Thanks for tip on covering up in public! I bf in public yesterday for the first time and she pulled the shield off right at the end! I only just caught it before it flew across the floor :/