Hi Bosco!

You are doing a really great job.
You have had some pretty good advice already, so I won't give you any except that from a few GF's experience, it can be hard to wean from a nipple shield, and a day stay or LC might be able to help you with that side of things.

Instead I will share some of my b/f experience with you.

My milk didn't come in til day 5, and I had a 10lb+, very hungry baby, with tongue tie and poor attachment.

I felt like every feed was a nightmare, to the point where I willed my son sto stay asleep so that I wouldn't have to feed him Hardly the best way to bond with him, huh?

I could only attach him in the football hold, and had 2 flat nipples. He refused a nipple shield. So I would sit on my living room couch, with 3 pillows stacked either side of me, naked from the waist up (it took me a good 2-3 months to master the art of feeding while clothed. the times I did try I would end up totally frustrated, ripping my top off halfway through.) Boy did my dad get a shock when he walked in on me feeding! *lol*

Visitors I'm sure felt uncomfortable, I know I did, and the thought of feeding in public scared me a lot.

I took it day, and then a week at a time, until about 14 weeks, when it all sort of clicked, and for the first time, I enjoyed feeding my son, at every feed. No less than 3 days later he got his first tooth, which was interesting, but manageable.

In this time I had blisters, vasospasm, Milo has his Tongue tie snipped, I went to 7 breastfeeding day stays and had 2 LCs tell me to stop breastfeeding if it was imapcting my realtion ship with my son.

I asked them if the nipple trauma and pain etc would go back to normal when I stopped breastfeeding. they said yes it would.

I was told that he didn't feed for long enough, and I never felt like hie got enough, but he was a great sleeper, and was gaining 200gm/week.

So at that point I decided that as long as DS was putting on weight, and remained healthy, that I'd keep feeding him.

We lasted until 6 months, when he stopped gaining weight almost entirely. That was when I switched to formula.


Phew - sorry that was so long, if you got through it all thanks for reading.