At my wit's end!

Is there anyone out there who has had to breastfeed with nipple shields??? It makes it so difficult to tandem feed. Plus, my left nipple keeps getting bit and bleeds. I keep having to go back to nursing only on the right side which is ridiculous when you have two babies, so we have to bottlefeed as well and fit pumping in there somewhere. Also, they are going through a growth spurt to make matters worse!!!!!!!!!!
I'm seeing an LC again on Monday because I don't know what the heck to do. This is very stressful.

 

The breast shield was such a pain. I can't even imagine using one with two babies. My daughter got off it at 7 weeks. Looking back I wonder if I could have got her off sooner. After many many times of trying, what finally worked was having her on it and mid feed pulling her off and putting her to the breast.

 

I know I do need to do that, and I have tried it a few times but one baby was only able to latch on for a minute or so. It is hard to practice it when there are two. I'm hoping that as they get bigger it will get a little easier.

 

I just weaned my LO off of it at 6 weeks. I tried at 3 weeks, but didn't stick to it. It was more me than him though--I think I had grown comfortable with it. I really just went cold turkey. The first few sessions weren't great, but it's been fine since. I considered doing what a pp did and yanking it midway through the feed. I didn't end up needing to, but that's worth a try. Honestly, if you can do it, it's much better w/o the shield.
I do realize it'll be harder to wean 2 babies than 1!! Good luck.

 

We were able to wean off the shield about 4-5 weeks. We started with attempting 1 feeding a day without it and as they got better we went to 2 feedings, 3 feedings, etc.

 

When I was a new breastfeeding mom of twins I had 1 baby who nursed with a shield and one who did not. I personally could not and DID not tandem feed until I got to know each individual baby and got to know their nursing style. Even if your nipples are cracked & bleeding, with correct positioning & latch you should be able to nurse comfortably. If the latch/positioning isnt good well then it continues to re-injure the site. Sometimes if its bad enough you will have to give that breast a day of rest (from the baby) and pump only on that side. If a breast is not continually reinjured they heal amazingly fast.

Glad you are going to see your LC. If you dont find her to be helpful, dont be afraid to find another.