Contact Nipple Shield for Breastfeeding, Large 24mm Nippleshield, for Latch Difficulties or Flat or Inverted Nipples, Made Without BPA

The medela nipple shield is truly useful when it's needed, but please keep in mind how difficult it is to change a habit once an infant has started down any particular road! Our personal experience with the shield started b/c my infant was in the NICU for 10 days and developed "nipple confusion" - he was more comfortable with bottles and pacifiers b/c that is what he started with early in life. I'd highly recommend using this product ONLY if you have had a lactation consultant recommend it. It may seem like a great short term tool, but if your infant becomes dependent on using it, it is a long and painful process to wean them from using a nipple shield. Infants use a different mechanism to express milk if there is a nipple shield in place compared to feeding from the breast alone. For instance, they don't have an opportunity to use the correct asymetrical latch where they use their tongue to massage out the milk. Instead, with the shield they mostly get their milk by "pulling" the milk out by suction. Thus, my child never really developed a great latch mechanism, and I am stuck just dealing with it! Furthermore, your child may get used to the feel and shape of the shield and reject the bare nipple. Additionally, a lactation consultant can assure that the shield is the correct size for you. Finally, you may need their help to wean from the shield. Medela has a webpage discussing use of nipple shields that you may find useful. Summary of reasons the nipple shield is useful: 1) Helps if infants have nipple confusion and are having problems latching. The silicone feel and the shape of the shield resemble a bottle nipple, so it can be a bridge to plain breastfeeding. 2) Engorgement - often times infants have trouble latching onto a very engorged breast. I use the shield to start some morning feedings, and once the engorgement is improved I take the shield off. 3) Slows down flow - this is both a good and bad thing. The flow of breast milk is decreased b/c the milk comes through small holes in the tip of the nipple. Thus, if you have an oversupply of breast milk that is overpowering your infant, this can help modulate the flow. 4) Helps nipple recover if they are painful, chapped, or cracked - but given the other methods to get over this I don't think painful nipples alone are a reason to start using the shield frequently. Furthermore, the pain may be a sign that your baby is latching poorly and it's probably better to troubleshoot the root cause than getting stuck using a shield. Summary of potential negatives about the shield 0.5) ***The most important consideration *** Babies often get hooked to the shield and then you have to go through a long weaning process. Even after a baby is weaned, they may have a poor latch due to bad habits they picked up when using the shield. See below for more information about weaning. 1) swallowing air - Use of the shield can lead to increased intake of air while feeding thus causing your infant to be more gassy/colicky 2) leaking - yes the nipple shield can leak, but I don't think this is a reason NOT to use of the shield if your infant truly needs it to feed. It's going to leak more if you need to use lanolin (see next bullet point). If you have a lot of milk production, the milk will actually pool in the shield after your infant finishes feeding. Thus, I would keep a towel with me at all feedings to soak up the excess milk, but half ot the time, my active infant would knock the milk filled nipple shield off my breast, soaking my shirt! 3) pain - the shield can cause pain, for more it was located on the areola b/c the shield was rubbing against the sensitive skin. Thus, I needed to start using lanolin BEFORE putting the shield in place. This was quite a mess and a headache b/c then there wasn't a seal, the shield would slide around, and milk would leak everywhere! 4) fear of losing shield - I was so nervous about losing the shield while out of the house that I wasn't comfortable till we had three shields. As someone else noted, it's transparent and thin, so it's not easy to see once it's misplaced. I once thought I lost one shield, only to find it days later on the bathroom floor! 5) extra hassle of having to wash shield + using shield on the go - it's a pain to have to wash something prior to every breastfeeding episode. At night, it really helps to have 3 or more shields so you have backups. When you're out of the house for a full day, this might mean you have to wash your shield in a public restroom, which is a bit suboptimal! 6) slows down flow - as stated above, this could be a good or bad thing. If you have slow flow from your breasts, your child could get frustrated with the even slower flow while using the shield. My breasts have different flow rates and my child would literally scream at me while feeding with the shield on the slower breast. 7) ? decreased milk flow - I can personally attest that this nipple shield does NOT cause a decrease in milk supply. From reading lactation references, it seems like this is a problem from older shield designs. Weaning babies from the nipple shield ------------------------- If you search online, often times moms talk about infants that reject feeding straight from the breast in lieu of the shield until they are 3 to 6 months old! For me personally, my child used the shield until he was 1.5 mo old. IT seemed like I couldn't get my infant to latch well with the shield off. Then a lactation consultant evaluated the feeding. She taught me that the subtleties of the latch are less important once the child is out of the newborn stage. She also thought that I should just "suck it up" and start having my baby feed straight from the nipple, even though it was painful. She was right, I did develop more tolerance as my child nursed straight from the nipple, but unfortunately I still am having occasional problems with painful/cracked nipples. I suspect it is because my baby has a poor latch. Here are a few tips I have picked up about trying to wean him the shield A) Don't do it when he/she is super hungry/agitated/crying. They will not be in any mood to try new things B) Consider trying to breastfeed without the shield when they are in REM sleep b/c they are more pliable at that stage C) Try feeding with the shield on, getting them feeling more relaxed, then trying with the shield off. This also works well b/c they have helped to elongate the nipple with their suction D) If you can, try to have a lactation consultant observe the feeding. I know it's tough b/c often times you are weaning at home and you no longer have access to the L/D or NICU lactation consultants. But it's super useful to find out ways to make the latch better without the nipple shield. There is a nice article at KellyMom about weaning from the nipple shield for your reference!

This has totally saved us during breast feeding! They come in different sizes so you can get the one that fits you best. The silicon is soft and won’t scratch your babies face, it does seem to get softer the more it is used. They have been very durable for us after a few weeks of using them. If you get a good seal, there isn’t much leakage on the sides. If your baby is having trouble latching I highly recommend

I never knew something so simple could save my life as a new first time mom. If you want to breastfeed, but have flat nipples, or if you breastfeed and it HURTS, THIS IS FOR YOU! Trust me. Order it as it is 100% worth it! I recommend you get the right size though. This nipple shield is very thin, comfortable to use, and easy to clean. I hope this helps!

My third time breastfeeding but my baby did not have a deep latch in the beginning. This caused my left nipple to be really injured. The pain was so severe that it caused me to be tensed up and not able to find a comfortable position. My baby would constantly cry and latch off and on causing more damage. It got so bad to the point I was in tears wondering if I would be able to continue breastfeeding. I was hesitant to purchase a nipple shield because I used it with my first and developed mastitis twice and my supply was depleted after only 6 weeks. I blamed the shield for this. This time I knew I would only use it temporarily to give my nipple time to heal and it sounded better than trying to find the time to exclusively pump on that side. After only a week of using the shield, I am completely healed and was able to breastfeed without it all day so far today with no issues! It was such a relief of pain immediately when I got the shield. My only complaint is that it is difficult to stay on. Once baby was latched it’s not a problem but if baby was fussy and moving around it would come off and make a stressful situation worse by having to reattach it in the middle of a meltdown.

Our son was born at exactly 38 weeks via cesarean. I was informed by LC that the triad of being male, being on the cusp of preterm, and being born via csection all predisposed him to being a subpar nurser. When latching he would immediately suck his lower lip under and nurse that rather than my nipple. This caused immense pain for me and frustration for him because he was not getting anything to eat that way. Breast feeding was a priority to me and lactation worked hard to fix his latch. Ultimately, a nipple shield was introduced to help protect my nipples from further damage and also to help him grasp on to something a little stiffer. The nipple shield did not fix his latch, but rather allowed me time without pain to correct his lip with my finger. Now at 5 weeks old, he latches perfectly himself every time. Perseverance in correcting the latch or pulling him off and redoing it when it’s painful did in fact teach him the correct way to do it. We still continue to use the shield as he prefers that over my natural nipple now, but I have been told by LC that over time that may change or he can be weaned from it. It is inconvenient, and at first I though that there was no way that I could exclusively breast feed with the shield long term- too hard post csection to place baby, get breast feeding pillow, place nipple shield, keep squirming arms away from knocking it off, etc. Now after doing it so long, I don’t think it will be a problem at all if he continues to only want the shield long term. I would continue to use it the entire time EBF if that is what it took. The medela shield specifically is what we were given in the hospital, and I have since ordered several more to keep on hand in case one gets lost or is not clean. It is very thin and allows the nipple to be compressed similarly to how it would be naturally. He definitely gets enough to eat while using it as he gained 2 lbs between leaving the hospital and his 2 week follow up. The most important thing to remember about this shield, however, is to read how to place it before just sticking it on there and nursing. The shield must be flipped almost all the way inside out and then “rolled” onto the nipple. It creates a suction that pulls the nipple into it and helps keep the shield in the correct place when in use. I was not initially told this when given one in the hospital, and baby’s squirming and rooting caused the shield to slip out of place and cause damage to my nipple. Ultimately, I believe that this is a great tool for those struggling with a poor latch or extremely painful nipples. The medela brand seems to be the superior brand as it is so much thinner, recommended by LC, and used by hospitals. That said, I think that if you’re considering purchasing this, you should attempt to visit a LC first and allow them to correct the latch/positioning and suggest a shield first. Due to inconvience, I would not purchase this unless a LC had specifically told me to try it. And, as in my case, the babies will typically become attached to the shield because it takes less work to nurse from a shield than a breast and they often do not like to switch back. Update: At around six months old, my son learned he could get more milk more quickly if he ripped the shield off and latched to the bare nipple. He now refuses to nurse with the shield and is EBF no problem. There was some tenderness at first, but not anything like what I experienced when he was brand new. I 100% believe the shield ALONG with LC helped us get past those first few painful months without using formula and I am grateful for that. I stand by what I said previously though- I wouldn’t purchase this without being recommended to do so by a specialist first.

Only comes with one and no case. Ones purchased in the store, come with two and a case for similar price. These are easy to clean and use and last a while! These really helped while my baby and I were first learning to breast feed.

I am an RN and I work with women and newborns in the hospital after delivery. I bought this for my daughter who had a preterm baby who just couldn't stay awake for more than a minute after he latched. This helped him remember where he was and stay alert to have more successful feedings. A lot of the nipple shields I have seen women bring with them are absolute garbage. Sometimes the shape is ridiculous. Usually it is just that the material is way too thick. This medela shield works well for its purpose. It is the same one we stock in the hospital. I do wish medela offered more sizes, especially smaller sizes. Make sure you get the correct (or closest) size for you. I strongly recommend working with a lactation consultant or other qualified support before introducing a shield. Lots of breastfeeding issues are better solved another way. That being said, if you do want to try a shield, this is a good one.

This nipple shield was an absolute lifesaver! My baby had terrible latch issues and I was in so much pain. The shield allowed us to continue breastfeeding while working on proper latch technique. The ultra-thin silicone feels natural and my baby took to it immediately. Easy to clean and sterilize. Without this, I would have had to give up nursing entirely!