Something wasn’t right: I knew breastfeeding could be uncomfortable, especially for a first-time mom like me, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to hurt like this. By day four of new motherhood, my nipples were chapped and painful to a point where I dreaded nursing my newborn. The baby-friendly hospital I delivered at had encouraged me to breastfeed but had offered little in terms of actionable advice. Desperate, I cast about for solutions until I remembered a discussion about nipple shields for breastfeeding in one of the many hours of childbirth preparation classes I’d attended. I tried one and, much to my surprise, it worked, providing relief both for me and my baby, and saving my breastfeeding journey along the way.
Even before I received a positive pregnancy test, I was sure I wanted to breastfeed my future children. Of course, I had a rather simplistic and romanticized notion of breastfeeding, imagining it to be innate and effortless. I read books and attended multiple classes, and as my due date neared, I thought I was prepared.
It felt strange, but I assumed this was a normal feeling of discomfort that all new mothers experience.
But the first time I attempted to nurse my newborn daughter, I awkwardly held her in a position I had practiced with a baby doll. I squeezed my breast the way I thought I was supposed to, leaking colostrum. It took me multiple tries and the assistance of a nurse in the room, but my daughter latched, sort of. It felt strange, but I assumed this was a normal feeling of discomfort that all new mothers experience.
The next few feedings were the same: I would struggle, a nurse would step in, and while my daughter was getting some kind of nourishment out of my breast, it started to hurt. I had a supply, and my daughter had good suction, but I still felt like something was off—not to mention the pain. I figured there was an issue with her latch and requested a visit from the hospital’s lactation specialist. Unfortunately, she was unable to meet with me until I was being discharged and my daughter was fast asleep. While she tried to hurriedly walk me through possible solutions, she wasn’t able to see me nursing in action and didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know.
The pain made me dread nursing, which then caused me to feel incredibly guilty.
This left me on my own by the time we all got home, and my nipples were sore and cracked, regardless of the continuous balms and cooling pads that I applied. I started manually expressing and using a syringe to feed my daughter. This ensured she was getting something to eat, while giving me a little more time to recover between feedings. I hoped that after my milk came in, things would get easier. They did not.
The pain made me dread nursing, which then caused me to feel incredibly guilty. I couldn’t get in to see a lactation specialist for a few more days, but I knew I couldn’t keep this cycle up much longer. A few of the moms I knew had turned to exclusively pumping, so I knew that was an option. However, what little intuition I possessed kept sticking in my mind that the issue came down to something with my daughter’s latch. In my new-mom stupor, I remembered hearing about nipple shields for breastfeeding in a class I’d taken. Even though I wasn’t sure exactly what a nipple shield was, I was desperate to find relief and figured it was worth a shot.
I drove to Babies-R-Us and purchased a two-pack of nipple shields that included a hard-shell carrying case. As I came to find out, a nipple shield is a thin, flexible silicone mold. You place it directly on your nipple to give it the ideal shape and structure needed for a baby to latch properly. After getting home and sterilizing them, I gave it a go.
My daughter immediately latched, my milk let down, she drank to contentment, and it didn’t hurt. I cried tears of joy and relief, shocked and a bit proud of myself for having figured it out. By the time we made it to the lactation specialist appointment, we were both pros with the nipple shield. She was getting enough at each feeding, and my poor nipples were beginning to heal.
But a simple nipple shield, a nursing accessory that costs less than $10, was the perfect solution and allowed me to continue breastfeeding.
It turns out that while my nipples weren’t inverted, they were simply a bit flat and soft, making it difficult for my daughter to get a deep latch.
But a simple nipple shield, a nursing accessory that costs less than $10, was the perfect solution and allowed me to continue breastfeeding, just as I had wanted. I took a shield with me everywhere and popped it on before nursing. The only inconveniences were finding it in the diaper bag and washing it after each use (a small price to pay, in my humble opinion).
Within a few weeks, my painful, cracked nipples were restored to total health. Nipple shields are mainly used for short-term assistance and usually only used for the first month. Every few days, I would attempt to nurse without the shield to see if I still needed it. It took a little longer for us, closer to three months, but eventually, I was able to nurse my daughter effectively and (more importantly) without pain!
When my son was born two years later, I was prepared. While I still needed a nipple shield for breastfeeding at the beginning, I only needed it for the first few weeks. Overall, I was much less stressed out about nursing the second time around, thanks in part to my trusty nipple shield.