Breast sheild?

Shaina - posted on 12/02/2009

Thank you all for your suggestions : )

Becky - posted on 12/01/2009

Occassionally after my son started getting teeth (he has had 8 teeth since 7 months) he would get positioned in a way that would rub me wrong. If it would get bad enough, I would pull him off and reposition him. I did use nipple shields in the first couple of months for pain but I did notice that my son wasn't able to empty my breasts out. So you don't want to use them long term. You should only use it for short term use to get the pain under control.

Grace - posted on 12/01/2009

I used breast shields for the first 5 weeks of breast-feeding and my son did very well with them. Medela makes a very soft, pliable silicone breast shield in several sizes depending on your nipple size. I got mine from my local lactation consultant. Good luck! I'm not looking forward to the teething stage, myself.

Nicole - posted on 12/01/2009

The breast shield is not what I would recommend. Breast shields can hinder milk supply. And since your son is older, he may refuse to latch on the breast with the shield.



I posted the following in another forum where the mother was experiencing a similar problem:





Sometimes babies change their latch after their teeth erupt or their teeth exagerate an already bad latch. Either way, it is important to make sure that she is latching correctly. Here are some tips from kellymom's website about correcting a bad latch in the teething baby:



~With an older baby, the weight of the baby can cause baby's mouth and teeth to "drag down" on the breast tissue. See if you can position baby so that her weight is supported well. Use pillows or a chair with arm rests to support her as much as you can. When she is nursing on the left side, bring her bottom in a little bit closer and vice versa. Don't let her nurse in a position that lets her weight and gravity cause her mouth to pull down on your breast and nipple. Try moving her body slightly in different ways (higher, lower, side to side, etc.) till the pressure on your breast is lessened.



~Latch baby on and position her head so that it is tilted back more to get the pressure of the top teeth off your breast. For example, if baby is nursing in the cradle position on the left side, bring her body toward the right a bit. This will bring baby's chin up, with her head a bit cocked back, and that moves the pressure of baby's top teeth off the top of the nipple. Don't let her chin rest on her chest.



~Some other ways to get baby's head tilted back more: ask your child to look at you while she nurses, or hold a book up high to read to your child and have her look at the book.



~When you support your breast with 2-4 fingers underneath and thumb on top, push in against the chest wall with your index finger just before offering the breast. This will cause the nipple and areola to point down more, so that they don't rub against baby's upper teeth. This technique is often suggested for moms who have nipple soreness due to their nipples rubbing up against the roof of baby's mouth.



~Ask baby to open WIDE and show her with your own mouth. Tell her that it hurts mommy and ask her to try again until it feels better.



~A generous application of lanolin before and after feeding may be helpful, as will rinsing your nipples with cool water after feedings. When babies are teething they produce more saliva which can be irritating to nipple tissue. If baby is eating solids, sometimes food particles left in the mouth can also irritate nipple tissue, so it may help to rinse out baby's mouth or give baby a sip of water prior to nursing.



~Any time you experience soreness, go back to the basics of latch just as you did in the early days.

Michelle - posted on 12/01/2009

advent do some...and i reckon they will help but ive never personally used them myself, they are quite hard and even though somewhat flexible, i dont see how a baby can like sucking on pastic., others i have seen i toys r us are softer but they seem small and id be scared of my dd choking on them...id talk to the HV about it..could you not use some nipple cream inbetween feeds?