Experience with Nipple shields and tongue tie baby?
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My little one had tongue tie and we used mam nipple shields for about 5 months. I have flat nipples so struggled to get a good latch, even after the tongue tie was released. I found that we would be feeding for upwards of 30mins at a time, and, in hindsight, I don't feel like she was properly full all of the time. However we persevered. I would occasionally try her without the shields but she would get frustrated and I'd go back to them. It wasn't until she was around 5 months that she just decided she didn't want to use them anymore and latched herself on 🤣🤣 From the beginning we used a mixture of breast and expressed in a bottle. We then introduced formula when she was about 3 months and combi fed. Hope this helps xx
My LO was tongue tied and we had this corrected at Day 6. He struggled to latch and even nipple shields didn’t work for us as I’ve got flat nipples and struggled to even fit them. I bought a hands free pump and would pump a little as my milk wasn’t coming in properly as well, then I’d try to get LO to latch onto my nipples once it’s protruding. Worked sometimes and other times I’d just give the bottle of formula as LO was quite impatient and would wail. He’s almost 6 weeks now and latches onto one breast after a couple of attempts but he’s getting better by the day. Can’t get him to latch onto my right breast as I struggle with positioning and he gets impatient. It will get better
@Theresa it will get better!! With my second, we got to 6 weeks and I gave up. With my 3rd (now 10 months) I kept trying and trying until she got it. Even now, she feeds twice a day on me, and has 2 bottles. I have enjoyed every part of it, even the bits at the beginning which took their toll on me. You've got this mamma!!
@Sarah thanks Sarah. Initially felt like I was failing but I’ve started to feel so much joy from being able to BF him even if it’s only for 5mins
Are you able to get with a LC? Maybe they can help guide you on the latching process. It would be better for baby to re-learn without shield.
I didn’t use a nipple shield but with our experience with bottles you’ll need to adjust his lip manually every time so that he learns how to properly flange his lip. We sometimes still have to fix our son’s latch manually when we give him his night bottle at 17 months. Following though because I’m about to have our baby girl and will use a nipple shield this time around because she’s definitely gonna have mouth ties as well.