Anyway I have a mom that was sent
>home from the hospital with a nipple shield.  She has flat nipples and was
>beginning to use the breast shields but got a late start on that and then the
>baby was born about 37 weeks, by the way these are not the flattest nipples I
>have ever seen before.  Anyway baby is doing great with the nipple shield but
>mom and the peds want to get him off of it.  Mom admits it is a crutch because
>he does so well.  Mom has a huge milk supply and it just runs out of her.  We
>have tried the gradual trimming away of the nipple shield but baby choked a
>lot and mom got worried.  Mom has stated that his suck is stronger as of late.
>Baby is about 3 weeks old now.  Trying to slip off the nipple shield didn't
>work either, boy did he get mad.  Any thoughts?  I have tried to acess the
>archives about this and how long can someone use a nipple shield and about the
>safety of St. JOhn's Wort but I can't get through.  I'll keep trying but
>please help me if you can.  Thank a bunch!!!!
>
>Toni RN

Toni, I wouldn't be in too much of a rush to get rid of the shield under
these circumstances. It is just adding to mum's stress, by the sound of it.
I have seen mums feed whole lactations (many months) on nipple shields. As
long as baby is attached correctly (looking like shield isn't there) and
getting plenty through the shield, it's OK. In fact a couple of mums I have
seen have found it to be valuable to control OALD for their babies. I
wonder if this is happening here.

She can try all the usual suggestions for getting rid of the shield - try
each feed, but not for too long if baby doesn't accept nipple (don't let it
get to be a battle - that's just counter-productive); try when baby is
sleepy; try at the end of a feed for comfort sucking; try the remedial
co-bathing 'trick'; give lots of skin-to-skin contact, eg in a sling or in
bed; keep trying with patience and a *belief* that eventually baby will
prefer the bare nipple. I have had success with squirting milk into baby's
mouth as mum tries to attach baby to bare breast. If you can get baby to
swallow, he may just take a big suck and he's away.

Good luck.

******************************************************************
Joy Anderson B.Sc. Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. IBCLC
Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia Breastfeeding Counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
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