Tuesday, May 19, 2009

An Issue of inverted nipple and of nipple shield

No matter how many kinds of infant formula are available in the market nowadays, still breast milk is best for babies. As new parents, we want to give our babies the very best. Breastfeeding is the best bet for babies.

More than two decades of research have established that breast milk is perfectly suited to nourish infants and protect them from illness. Breast-fed infants have lower rates of hospital admissions, ear infections, diarrhea, rashes, allergies, and other medical problems than bottle-fed babies.

Yes, I agree with this. I for one wanted my baby to be breastfed until 12 months but I have an issue with inverted nipple! My baby was only breastfed for three weeks with much struggle on his part! I strive for that lofty goal of breastfeeding but I fall short even I did what my friends, nurse and doctor asked me to do the following:

1. "Make" a nipple. Use the "breast-sandwich" technique to get more breast tissue into baby's mouth. Hold your breast well back on the areola, with your fingers underneath and thumb on top. Press in with thumb and fingers while at the same time pushing back toward your chest wall. This elongates and narrows the areola, which enables baby to latch on more easily.

2. Use a breast pump to draw out your nipples before feedings.

3. Following the "Latch-On" Basic Positions.

It’s too late for me when I found in TESCO LOTUS' baby’s section a display of nipple shield for mothers who have problems with inverted nipples. I didn’t have any idea of this before. If I knew about this, maybe now I’m breastfeeding Hyzyd.

this is a sample image of a nipple shield

A nipple shield is made of thin, flexible silicone and is used to cover a mother's nipple and areola while the baby is nursing. The baby sucks on the nipple shield rather than directly on the breast.
A nipple shield can be used to protect a sore nipple during feedings. A nipple shield may also be used when a baby is having difficulty latching on to a flat or inverted nipple.

But take note of the two problems associated with nipple shields.
First, with a shield in place the breast does not receive the same kind of stimulation that it does when a baby sucks directly on the breast. This leads to a reduction in milk supply. Second, baby learns to latch on to the nipple shield, rather than to the breast. Weaning from the shield can be difficult.


If you are considering using a nipple shield, get help from a lactation consultant, so that you can work on resolving the problem that has made it necessary to nurse with a nipple shield.

Finally, should I feel guilty of not breastfeeding my baby? For me, I am not because I am a woman who wanted to breastfeed, who tried, but was unable to breastfeed. Who knows I will be successful next time.



Shortybear’s Place

4 comments:

  1. I feel the same, I wanted to, I tried, but I couldn't.
    TFS

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  2. I was not able to breastfeed my daughter because she was left in the hospital for almost 2 months. I was able to pump breastmilk though and feed it to her thru the bottle. I did it for 2 months... then no more breastmilk that I could pump so I stopped.

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  3. Oh this is really true!And I believe that because of breastfeeding my kids were healthy ,thanks for the breast feeding & you shouldn't feel guilty about it,afterall you tried at first.Good luck next time,now that you'd found this nipple shield.:)..hugs!

    ReplyDelete

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