Refusing to breastfeeding

I had to use a nipple guard for a few days to heal my nipple earlier this month and found it wasn't nearly as effective as feeding without it. I wonder if you LO gets frustrated as they carnt get the milk out as quickly as they can with a bottle due to the nipple guard?

@Isabella aww yeah I was worried it was this but we have been using one from the start and he doesn’t know how without. It was suggested at the hospital as he wouldn’t latch and I’m not sure how he’s not feeding how to solve this

Have you tried contacting your health visitor, they may be able to put you in touch with some breast feeding groups to help support and guide you

@Rebecca I would try and find a local breastfeeding group as they are honestly brilliant. I was struggling so much with breastfeeding only a matter of 2 weeks ago as one nipple was so damaged they helped resolve it all and I'm back to loving it again. Now just got to try and work out how to up my pumping volume. Hospitals sometimes won't work with you for enough time to help with the latch and nipple Shields is an easy go to and are great when needed they saved my journey but I wouldn't recommend them for more permanent use.

Can you try not to use the shield maybe?

@Rebecca hey, might still be worth trying every so often in that morning feed without the shield? We used one from the same reason and at 14 weeks my son just decided nope I don't want that anymore! And his feeds went from 30 mins + to 5-10 mins

Not much help, but also in a similar situation. My little boy seemed to suddenly stop one day at around 4 months old and has refused since 😣 expressing for now but would like to be able to get him to latch again

@Abbie yeah it’s really tough. Do you have shields?

@Maria yeah thanks I’ll try again but last time it just made him super angry 😂🤪

@Melissa yeah I’m going to try again. In the past he hasn’t accepted this.

@Isabella thank you. I’ll look into this

@Rebecca yes I’ve bought some shields, I tried them once and he latched for a minute then started crying, now I’m worried about making him distressed again! 🫣

My little girl used shields for 6 weeks and I thought she would never be able to feed without them but she surprised me I started with just a little at the end of a feed and she started to get the hang of it so just to share that in case its helpful x

We are in a similar situation, but have managed to get some bf back. I think it was triggered by a combination of the world getting a lot more interesting for her and my supply dropping and therefore my flow slowing as well. We’ve used nipple shields all the way through, but one think I wasn’t told until she went on nursing strike is you still need to pump once/twice a day for 10-15 minutes even if feeding as you boobs are less stimulated when using shields. We did see a lactation consultant and she said to stop bf completely for a week or so, but add in skin to skin time when you nipple is available, but you baby is not being asked to feed. Also babies are easiest to feed when drowsy, so try as see if you can feed in the night and if that goes well, add in the one before bed. We are now back to 3 to 5 bf and 2-4 bottles depending on what our day looks like as I don’t try a bf out and about as that still is very hit a miss x

@Mish

Oh that’s so helpful, thank you. He’s now accepting one at 5am and one at 9am ish but not very long and that’s with shields. Did you off the boob at night without shields?

@Rebecca that’s great to hear! I could early on, but now if I do she latches and then unlatches straight away and just waits for me to put a shield on