can't get baby off nipple shield! want to quit all together!

[@llli*drish10]

My baby has been using a nipple shield since he was born. I think we would have been fine without it but I didn't know better when the nurse gave it to me. She said I had inverted nipples but I don't anymore. My baby is now 6 weeks old and I can't get him to nurse without it! I went to a lc and she gave me some tips and said he is gaining weight and is getting enough milk but I still want him to nurse without it. Its frustrating because he always knocks it off my breast and makes it impossible to nurse in public. It also takes longer for him to nurse than if he didn't use the shield. I try taking the shield off at least once every feeding but he wont even latch on. I also take baths with him and do a lot of skin to skin but nothing is working! I don't want to be nursing him at 6 months still with the shield!!
is anyone else going through this? Any advice?

[@llli*mommal]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new baby! I am sorry the "helpful" nurse got your baby hooked on a shield when he didn't need one. I hate it that shields are handed out like they have no drawbacks! You will eventually be able to wean from the shield, I am sure of it. It is just going to take patience and persistence. This link has some good tips: http://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/child/wean-shield/

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

I was given one by a nurse who said I would never be able to successfully breastfeed because of my inverted nipples when I was transferred to the hospital postpartum for emergency surgery despite already having done so at my midwife's! It took a couple months to ditch the shield entirely. Like you, I hated the thing...it fell off all the time, and NIP was harder than it needed to be.

Try taking it off halfway through a feeding and seeing about latching baby then. Give it time.

[@llli*arthursmumsy]

I am also still using the nipple shield given to me at the hospital. My little guy just turned 2 months and he has only breastfed 2x without it, where I slipped it off and he didn't seem to mind. Both times were somewhat of a fluke, though.

It's gotten so frustrating using the shield, that I've resorted to bottle feeding him formula and adding in whatever milk I can pump...which isn't much at all, and I feel so terrible and guilty!

I really want to lose the nipple shield and get my production UP! As of now, I'm taking fenugreek capsules and drinking small amounts of heavy dark beer here and there -- maybe like a beer every 2 days.

I get so jealous of other women I know that produce and produce and produce!!!

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

I am also still using the nipple shield given to me at the hospital. My little guy just turned 2 months and he has only breastfed 2x without it, where I slipped it off and he didn't seem to mind. Both times were somewhat of a fluke, though.

It's gotten so frustrating using the shield, that I've resorted to bottle feeding him formula and adding in whatever milk I can pump...which isn't much at all, and I feel so terrible and guilty!

I really want to lose the nipple shield and get my production UP! As of now, I'm taking fenugreek capsules and drinking small amounts of heavy dark beer here and there -- maybe like a beer every 2 days.

I get so jealous of other women I know that produce and produce and produce!!!

You have no supply becaus you are supplementing, mama. Stop supplementing, nurse, even with a shield, and your supply comes back. I mean this in the nicest possible way.

Milk supply is demand based, so if you don't have a demand, either from baby or from a pump (if you are choosing to pump, you need to pump 8-12 times a day for a total of 120 minutes), you have no supply.

No need to be jealous...just nurse

[@llli*lintrax]

Don't quit! Even if you can't get him off the nipple shield... you can continue. I was given one with my first child... couldn't get her off it! We nursed 12 months in total, I pumped at work and a couple times a day. It was far from ideal, but I'm glad I did it. Even made it work in public and I am a really modest person. (just need another person nearby to help...)
Best of luck to you!

[@llli*lilysmama]

My baby was on a shield for a while too. I found that trying to get her to nurse without the shield when she was not hungry worked better. When hungry, she got too upset and frustrated to try without it. I found that starting with the shield and then removing it partway through helped. I also did a nipple sandwich (sorry, I have no clue what the proper term is!). Basically, I used one hand and smooshed my breast so the nipple and areola were flattened like a sandwich. That made it easier for her to get a deeper latch. Over time, she was able to latch without smooshing. Keep working at it! You'll get there!!!

[@llli*djs.mom]

Don't quit. A baby nursing with a sheild is still nursing. Even if the shield never goes away, it's still an end to your milk.