Shield Be Gone!

Alas, our breastfeeding troubles are almost over!

It has been 24 hours+ since I last used my trusty nipple shield. A couple of weeks ago, we had visited Deborah van Wyck, the Lactation Consultant who has been helping us since the baby’s first week of life.

“She just won’t recognize my bare nipple!” I sobbed.

I thought I would never be able to wean baby from the nipple shield. I was convinced that the she would forever depend on the nipple shield to get a meal. I had offered her my breast without the shield everyday – sometimes more than once – and was always met with tears and frustration (hers AND mine!).

But that day at her house, Deborah urged us to give it a shot right there. Of course, baby made me look like a liar and put on a great performance. She took my bare nipple and never turned back.

From that point on, baby would take the breast, shield or not, which I found to a best-case scenario. I fed her without the shield during the days and during her fussy times and throughout the night I would use the shield – my sensitive nipples needed some rest.

I figured I was experiencing the pain that most new breastfeeding moms experience. It was as though we were starting from scratch since I had had almost two months of feeding exclusively with the shield – a much needed barrier since my nipples had suffered trauma three minutes after baby’s birth.

So, here we are. Baby is 2.5 months old and after tears and drama and a whole lot of persistence, I can finally say that yes, breastfeeding is going well.

Our next challenge: Getting baby to drink from a bottle too. This mama wants to get back to yoga class!