Experience with Flat or Inverted Nipple: Prepping for Baby #2 - Chicago,IL

The concern with nipple shields is that they can affect baby's ability to remove milk from the breast and thereby decrease your milk production. I think the best practice is to put a nipple shell on prior to nursing to draw the nipple out, then latch using nothing on the nipple. Baby will naturally draw the nipple out if they can get latched on. I would recommend attending a La Leche League meeting prior to giving birth, they can be a great help with creative solutions for issues like this. Good luck!

I had a horrible experience with my first and had to wear those shields that pulled out my nipples because they flattened. I leaked all the time, had to wear washcloths in my bra and sleep on a towel. It was a nightmare, I was a fountain.

Good news - NONE of this happened with my second! I rarely even leaked - I didn't have to wear a bra stuffed with stuff. No problem with the latching.

So you might not have any problems with the second. I would call the LC just in case, but I say wait and see what happens you might have the same experience I did.

I think you can wear a shell in advance to prepare. Talk to your LC like you planned. She'll be sure to help. Good luck!

My nipples are (were) both inverted when my first was born and I wore the shells to pull them out. However you have to be careful, because one of the shells almost took my nipple off. It ended up cutting into the areola when I became engorged and was really painful while healing. I only needed the shells the first week. Talk to La Leche League consultant and your gyn about whether or not it's ok to start prepping prior to the birth.

I wore nipple shells. I too have "flat nipples" and found breast feeding difficult because of this and because I never became engorged and had little milk to offer. I lasted about 9 weeks before I dried up, but wore shells for the first five weeks. They are strange at first because you feel like you are wearing armor over your boobs and you look like you are wearing a bra from the 1950's, but eventually they were just part of getting dressed. By week six my daughter was really good at latching on and pulling the nipple out on her own, so I stopped wearing them. Even with the shells, I had difficulty breastfeeding at night because you cannot sleep with them on since you my roll over onto you stomach while you sleep and put pressure on your mammary glands. Good luck.

Hi J.~
I only nursed my second child, so I didn't think to prepare in advance. However, I had a LC assigned to me while in the hospital after her delivery. My nipples were both some-what flat, making it difficult for my daughter to latch on also. My LC provided me with 2 nipple shields. I only wore them throughout the duration of my hospital stay, which was 2 or 3 days, I don't remember. Fortunately, I was able to nurse on my own without the shields by the time I was ready to go home. I wore them 24/7 while I was in the hospital though. It might just be something you need to force at first, but I'm sure everything will turn out & "function" just fine!
Good luck & congrats with baby #2!!!
J.