Why are nipple shields so bad?

[Fee]

At the end of the day I would rather see a women BFing with a nipple shield then not BFing at all.

I agree. I'm so grateful that such a thing as a nipple shield exists!

[~Raven~]

Using nipple shields kept me b/f Caleb. Silly me fell asleep while feeding him which resulted in him slipping and grazing my nipple quite badly
I used one on the sore side for 2 weeks while it healed. I've not used one since he was 3 weeks old and he refuses a dummy or to take a bottle so it didn't cause any problems with nipple confusion for us!

[Fee]

chocolatecatty, you've inspired me to try without the shield. I go through patches where I get inspired and try without it! Anyway it's going okay so far. I am still using the shield for the first feed of the day though. But I did quite a few feeds yesterday without it. Yay me!