TMI ahead. Told here in hopes of helping another women having breastfeeding difficulties.
I had real problems breastfeeding Brendan because of the one-two combo of him having the tied tongue and me having flat nipples. 1 of those would make newborn BFing challenging but both made it impossible. Even the lactation consultants flatly told me that he just wasn’t able to latch on at that time. So in order to better serve (haha) my next child, I have been researching what I can do to make it work this time.
I tortured myself with a new BFing book back when Bren was still an infant. It discussed flat nipples and the remedy was to wear nipple shell (not to be confused with shield) while pregnant. A nipple shell is a plastic dome that fits over your areola that holds the tissue surrounding your nipple in but leaves a hole around the nipple to let it, well, hang out. I can see how this would help but most probably the best time to use it is right before trying to get baby to latch on. Well, I bought them and tried them on yesterday. They are a bit awkward but do temporarily draw them out. I don’t know about permanently…
Also suggested was to pump the breast with a breastpump to draw out the nipple immediately before each feeding attempt. I knew that one but it seemed that I was always pumping and to drag out the electric pump everytime the baby was screaming… well, it didn’t happen. Not only that, but I no longer own that pump.
So last week I went online and researched pumps. I still want the whisper wear hands free pump (I think I am a pump junkie) but I went ahead and won an Avent Isis manual pump ($23 factory sealed!!!) on Ebay. I’ve have heard great things about it (Please share your opinion of it and whether or not you could use 2 at one time, I’m curious!) and I think I could use it not only to do normal pumping for an occassional bottle but it’d be easier to bring out for the 1 minute draw the nipple out pumping. It’d be easy enough to pump one side while feeding with the other too because in the end it was supply that did our BFing in.
Anyway… so I won the pump and can’t wait to get it in the mail and check it out. I then checked out the Avent websites and came across something called a Niplette. Sure enough, it is a thimble-like device that you attach to your nipple and create a little vaccuum with to extend your nipple. It makes your body create additional nipple tisue to keep it extended. You wear it 8 hours per day and you have “new” nipples in 1 to 3 months. I’d think it a quack but it is doctor invented and sold by Avent. Supposedly it has helped 150,000+ women with very few returns. The drawback- it’s $62 after shipping!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ugh. For a stinking ounce of molded plastic! I’ll find the money though and it has to be NOW since you are supposed to use it before you get pg. So you get to look forward to Tales from the Torture Chamber really soon. Heh.
I am going to have a Supplemental Nursing System on hand so if I do have to supplement, it’ll be by breast, plus this time I plan to birth at home and avoid the whole hospital scene. The midwife I will probably go with is also a La Leche leader and personal at-home breastfeeding support is included in the fees.