Flat nipples - how to breastfeed?
Hello mummies! I just delivered bb couple of days ago, and different nurses have been telling me that i cant latch bb well and he doesn't want to suckle because i have flat nipples. This is quite discouraging. Bb has been so sleepy and refuses to latch – he rather sleep and hasnt been drinking formula milk much too. Anyone with similar experiences and tips? Thanks in advance!
Hi mummy! I had the same experience!! I was told by lactation consultants to try a nipple shield - I didn't do this so I'm not sure how effective as I ended up pumping and bottle feeding because my family and I enjoyed the shared responsibility. We just made sure to have a lot more skin contact and cuddles in. About the sleepiness - does your baby have jaundice? Do check with your paediatrician even if baby didn't have jaundice at hospital! My baby's levels increase only when he left the hospital and peaked at about 1.5 weeks after birth. Jaundice can cause them to be super lethargic - I remember it was so hard because my baby wasn't hitting the minimum amount everyday, I couldn't even wake him up from sleep no matter what I tried and when he was awake his wake windows were so short I couldn't even do anything other than feed. You've just gotta keep trying to wake baby and keep offering milk. There's also different kinds of jaundice and mine ended up being breastmilk jaundice (he couldn't process breastmilk properly). When I switched fully to formula for a few days - jaundice cleared a lot faster
Read moreLC told me to start with the flat side first cause once baby gets the normal nipple first, she won’t want to work for it when switched. What I did was to pump slightly to pull out the nipple first, then let baby latch. I also tried nipple shield which works equally well. Initially she will fuss but subsequently accepted that she has no choice. I stopped latching at 4.5m (she has 2 teeth 💀) and did exclusive pumping (way easier for me). Fast forward, 18m of pumping, my nipples got “pulled” out and became protruded instead.
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Even I had the same problem when I delivered my baby 3 months ago. I used the nipple shield for the first few days and later I used to put the shield for a couple of minutes until the nipple pulled out and after that I used to remove the shield and the baby could latch directly.
yes, I used it the first couple of weeks after the delivery and I used the Ardo brand nipple. You can get the size according to your preference.
hope this can help... https://sg.theasianparent.com/nipple-shape-and-breastfeeding wishing u the best 💕