My second baby, I was extremely sore but the baby was thriving. Gallons of milk, she had even gained weight at three days, but I was in shreds, physically. The breastfeeding counselor who is close friend, told me that I was the worst case she had ever seen of traumatized nipples and a midwife said that "I was in 1% who just can't breastfeed.

Baby number 3 (I don't give in easily) By day 4 my life had been taken over by feeding, I couldn't even breathe deeply because of the pain and if anyone touched me at all, even my other children I was extremely aggressive.

One of the midwives said to try a nipple shield and I was not for it. Everyone says that they are bad news. I had tried it before and they had only drawn more blood. Something made me try again and here was the answer from heaven. First of all, of course there was some blood but soon I was feeding with no worry and at 12 weeks with no shields. I totally breastfed for 5.5 months and partially until 10 months.

My point is that shields are more guide wires than protectors and they helped me because they forced my baby to open her mouth to the right degree. All of my babies had particularly small mouths and I am sure this was the problem. The two points I would like to get across are that

1. Silicone Nipple shields - do not on their own dry up your milk supply.

2. Leaving nipples that are cracked and/or bleeding to the dry air encourages scab formation and further trauma: Keep the traumatized area soft like you would a sore at the corner of your mouth.

Go back to the Breastfeeding page.