>8 week old baby, thriving on breastmilk and breastfeeding, however mom's
>nipples are still extremely painful and pinched whenever baby comes off the
>breast.
>
>Mother has been using a shield off and on on the left side (mostly on)
>because of the pain, but for the last 3 days has been using the shield on
>both breasts because of the pain.  Her nipples are not pinched with the
>shield when he finishes and he transfers milk effectively with or without
>the shield.  At this point the shield is mostly for mom's comfort.
>
>The only position in
>which the mother has found no pinching is when she is lying on her left side
>and pretty much propped over the baby and offering the right breast.  He got
>a *good* mouthful, she says and her nipple wasn't pinched.  The bad part was
>that the flow was so great that the baby was choking and it was very
>uncomfortable for mom.
>
>Baby's weight gain is stellar...

I think Jean Cotterman is on the right track with this one.  Some years
back, Jean pinch-hitted for Anna Utter at a conference, doing Anna's
presentation on oversupply.  Anna was the first person I'd ever hear speak
on overactive let-down/oversupply, and part of her talk (when I heard it)
was devoted to the nipple pain mothers can feel (she said one mother held a
stick between her teeth while nursing, like biting on a bullet).

I think the nipple shield makes sense for both mother's and baby's comfort,
though perhaps mom can take it off once the bulk (literally) of the feed is
over, to give baby practice on a calmer, slower breast.  And spending a few
hours on one side before offering the other might begin to make that calmer,
slower breast their normal experience.
--
Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY
www.wiessinger.baka.com

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