Medela ContactTM Nipple Shield 20mm Small - Medela 67218

i read every book on breastfeeding before my son was born. i thought i had it figured out. what a huge shock when he was born and could not get him to latch on. not even for a tiny bit. the lactation consultant insisted i use a nipple shield. i kept refusing since every book i read says nipple shields were bad. in the end i broke down and used one and what a life saver! it's the only way i would have been able to nurse my child. we tried weaning him from the shield for months but all it did was cause stress and anxiety. i finally gave up and decided to use it as long as i needed it. i have been almost nursing for a year with this shield. i never had any kind of supply issues (no supplementing). i am so thankful these shields exist. breastfeeding was very important to me and made it possible.

UPDATE. my son weaned himself at 16months and i used the nipple shields the ENTIRE time with NO issues.

The name attached is my husbands but anyway. Our daughter was full-term but under wieght because of scarring on the placenta. She had a very difficult time latching on and sucking because of her tiny mouth and my not so tiny breast. We also found that I had and inversion problem as well. When the nipple shield was introduced, she had no issues attching and getting down to business. Make sure that you have the right size but seeing a lactation consultant or your doctor. We started with the 24mm and it was too big for both of us. The 20mm was a perfect fit for both of us. Also, a tip to keep them in place without falling off or flipping up use a touch of lanolin on the rim and it will stick without any troubles and no leaking if they fall asleep with milk in thier mouth.

My son was a preemie (born at 34 weeks) and had trouble latching on to my flat nipples. This nipple shield helped us get started with breastfeeding and was also a lifesaver when I came down with mastitis. I used this shield for three months. I kept trying to wean my son off the shield almost every day for those three months, and at three months we finally succeeded with a little help of lactation consultant :-) I reintroduced this shield for a brief episode of mastitis (which happened because I tried to cut down on pumping...) a bit later because breastfeeding was just too painful without it; my son didn't mind at all and I was a lot more comfortable until mastitis went away. Now he does fine with the shield, without the shield, and takes the bottle, and the pacifier with no nipple confusion or anything. I like this "contact" version a lot better than the regular "non-contact" shield. It conformed to my breasts better, stayed on better, and it was nice to have my son's nose...Read more