I’m snuggling with babes right now before nap time so why not a thread for mothers who want to breastfeed, but have flat nipples?

So the first day, we tried latching a lot but my nips were very flat. Lactation nurse was encouraging and chalked it up to swelling (I had ALOT of swelling) and give me nipple shells to help evert my nipples for latching. They helped a bit, but we still had a lot of swelling.

I had my pump, so I would turn it on a gentle setting for about 2 min and use it to draw out my nipple. Still better, but not perfect. LC said that was a smart tool to utilize. When babes didn’t eat much through the second night, we hand expressed and used a syringe. (Not my pic)

We talked about using a nipple shield, but we would have good latches then struggle. We kept doing lots of skin to skin in the mean time. They told me not to actually pump if I could avoid it (pumping too early=oversupply) but babes didn’t eat when we got home.

I had some formula samples, so I mixed up an ounce of formula so it would wake him up a bit, but not overwhelm his newborn tummy. And that helped. We went to the doctor and he had dropped 12% of his weight. It wasn’t just water weight. He was a little dehydrated, too.

My pediatrician scheduled me to see lactation by Friedan, but it was Monday. So to keep baby healthy, we all agreed I should pump after latching and give a bottle of my breastmilk as a supplement. We went back for a weight on Wednesday and lemme tell ya- colostrum is magic.

He gained almost a whole pound in 3 days. I was pumping and doing tons of skin to skin and latching when he could. But we noticed his latch was shallow and he was sucking a lot of air sometimes. We talked to lactation about it. But ya know how kids can be

We went to our appointment after about 5 days of me pumping and he had a perfect latch, of course. Weighed feed- 2ounces! So she suggested we discontinue pumping. I was stoked! But we got home and he struggled to latch again by the end of the day.

So I started pumping 3-5 min before feedings, tried to latch, then gave a bottle to supplement. I cried a lot. I wanted him to latch. I wanted that bond. Then I remembered-nipple shields. Talked to my ped about it and he said it was worth a shot and better than no latch at all.

So I ordered like 2 different sets. The Lasinoh ones, 24mm worked best for me. And he latched like a champ. I didn’t care if there was a piece of silicone between us- my baby was getting MY milk from ME. It was beautiful.

I should’ve been under the guidance of a LC while using nipple shields because they can hinder milk supply in some mothers. I had an oversupply due to all my pumping unfortunately. I think a couple more LC appts would’ve benefited me, but I was winging it bc I didn’t know better

I didn’t and still don’t have a ton of women close to me who breastfeed. It can be hard, especially without proper guidance. I found a fact based lactation group on Facebook ran by IBCLCs. I had posted in it one day asking questions, and that’s when I received guidance on shields

One of the LCs suggested I try a nipple everter if I wanted to wean from the shields. At this point, I’d been using shields and pumping for 3 weeks almost. And nipple shields can be a bitch to keep clean. So I ordered one. I wish I had this thing from the start!

So we used this bad boy for another 2 weeks, and then we didn’t need any additive devices anymore. My nipples had adapted to the combo of pump, shield, and everter and finally protruded enough when naturally stimulated by baby. And now we are 8 months and going strong

THINGS I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY: I would ask for more LC appointments just to follow up regardless of if I thought I was doing well or not. I probably could’ve saved myself a ton of heartache and work if I would’ve just asked to be checked out again.

I would’ve been able to get help with my shields and weaning from them properly as my breast anatomy changed. And I probably could’ve switched to LC the everter sooner and avoided an oversupply bc that shit isn’t fun.

I have a deep freezer full of milk. That sounds fantastic and it’s a blessing, but it’s taken a lot of tampering off to get to where I could go 2-3 hours comfortably without pumping or nursing.

None of this if official fancy medical advice, just one mom’s experience so PLEASE- IF YOU WANT TO BREASTFEED AND YOURE STRUGGLING, REACH OUT! SEE AN IBCLC!! You can supplement with your milk. You can keep going