Hi,

To be honest, I would suggest you don't need to express at all with shield. It is largely a myth that shields reduce your supply. (but of course for many women the poor attachment which lead to the nipple shields in the first place is the cause of the poor supply) However, you seem to be doing great. Over the next week or two see and LC or breastfeeding counsellor and see if you can ditch the shields - for your ownlong term convenience.
Thanks Barb. I've spoken to my LC and we both think I can safely stop expressing unless there's a side that hasn't been draining well. I've been doing that for the last few days and feeling fine with it. I'm also going to start attempting to attach DD without the shield part-way through feeds. I feel like my nipple is a better shape after feeding than expressing, so will try little by little, particularly on days when DS is at daycare (as he generally wants to get as close as possible to both of us while we feed! There's lots of "cuggles" going on!).

And big thank yous to the rest of the cheer squad it makes my day.

I feel a bit nervous about attempting shieldless attachment as I've never had any success historically... so will just try remind myself to keep calm, keep baby calm - and if it's not working (or hurting hideously) then stop & try again another day. Because our initial latching WAS very painful (but that has now settled considerably) sometimes I'm not sure how much pain is normal and how much isn't. I know that BF'ing "shouldn't" hurt, but it certainly was toe-curling pain for those first 30 seconds initally. So saying, that isn't the case now so I suppose I should assume that a good shield-free latch will hopefully be painfree.

And finally, Annika's weight gain is great... another 305g in 8 days... but our MHCN thinks she has thrush. Her tongue is looking quite white-coated. My nipples seem to be fine... but I've started using the daktarin gel on both nipples and A's mouth after feeds. I figure I'll also make sure I eat well (not too much sugar) and take some probiotics. Any other suggestions? Also, I'm now wondering if I should wait to attached shield-free once the thrush has cleared up? And do I need to sterilise the nipple shields differently or more often (currently do microwave steriliser once a day).

TIA!
Belfie