# Success Stories for BFing with Inverted Nipples?



## mommaJ (May 3, 2005)

Please share them....I know they must exist.

The short story--DD never latched on, I didn't know about MDC, mid-wife couldn't help, I pumped and pumped and pumped.....you get the picture.

So anyway, I am certain that DC2 (not yet conceived) WILL nurse!! I will make it happen. I cannot be the only person around here with inverted nips. It seemed that was the reason that DD couldn't latch on, but certainly there are success stories. Share them so I am even more prepared.

Thanks!


----------



## sunshinesister (Oct 8, 2005)

no personal experience with this, but Ina May Gaskins writes in Spiritual Midwifery :
"I have had the greatest success in helping women with flat or inverted nipples when I have noticed the problem during pregnancy. I encourage the woman to have her mate help coax her nipples into a nice shape for the baby. As Caseaux, the famous French obstratrician of the 19th centery, wrote: "Direct and repeated suction is, doubtless, the best means that can be employed." ... It helps to soften the nipple if a little milk is manually expressed. If this is difficult to do, try getting into a warm shower before the next nursing session. Don't stop drinking fluids."
so it's not much, but at least it's encouraging that it can and has been done successfully!!


----------



## Jill0905 (May 11, 2005)

i HAD flat nipples. it came to my attention after my milk came in. ds just did not have the suction to pull them out. so i bought a pump to help. well after seeing how nice the milk went to a bottle so fast i started to bottlefeed. after 2 months of that i started to wonder if i was missing that connection with him. so i bought a nipple shield and used that for about a week. after that my nipples wont go down!!!









ds has been breastfeed for about a month now and i love every minute of it!!!


----------



## desertpenguin (Apr 15, 2005)

I had one inverted nipple, and I am still bfing my ds who is now 1 yo. It isn't impossible! They also have nipple shields you can get from the store that apply gentle pressure that will coax the nipple into a more extroverted position, if I'm making sense.


----------



## amybw (Jul 12, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mommaJ*
Please share them....I know they must exist.

The short story--DD never latched on, I didn't know about MDC, mid-wife couldn't help, I pumped and pumped and pumped.....you get the picture.

So anyway, I am certain that DC2 (not yet conceived) WILL nurse!! I will make it happen. I cannot be the only person around here with inverted nips. It seemed that was the reason that DD couldn't latch on, but certainly there are success stories. Share them so I am even more prepared.

Thanks!

I could have almost written that! I posted for help recently too.

Good luck!

( the shields/shells never worked for me)









Amy


----------



## JessJoy (May 5, 2005)

I have huge breasts. One flat nipple and one inverted.

I was under the illusion that my dd would latch in in a few weeks. It took 7 weeks of constant pumping and trying. At times I thought I would lose my mind. We went from finger feeding to the nipple shield to a bad latch and bloody nips to an okay latch to a great latch. For each transition, I HAD to go to a lactation consultant.

THe reality is that sometimes the baby just needs to grow. My breast were so big when she was born--they were 5 times the size of her head! There was no way she could latch on to my giant flat nipples until she grew!

Good luck!

Jess


----------



## amybw (Jul 12, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JessJoy*
I have huge breasts. One flat nipple and one inverted.

THe reality is that sometimes the baby just needs to grow. My breast were so big when she was born--they were 5 times the size of her head! There was no way she could latch on to my giant flat nipples until she grew!

I totally think that was our problem too!


----------



## zaksma (Mar 18, 2005)

mommaJ- I could have writen your post myself. Except that I am pregnant and am determined to breastfeed this time- with a little help from the experts here at MDC and LLL.


----------



## mominchina (May 31, 2005)

Posting this late...but I hope it will help someone.

I have (had?) truly inverted nipples. My midwife said mine were the most severely inverted she had ever seen. When I was born my Mom's doc told her that I wouldn't be able to breastfeed when I had babies. So, you can imagine the uphill battle we had!

Fortunately, I was very determined, and was surrounded by hubby, my mom, and my sister who were all determined to help me make it work. Dd wouldn't latch at first, so I pumped for about a month and did a combo of finger feeding and bottle feeding, all breastmilk. (it was exhausting!) Then I switched to a nippple shield. I wished I had just used the nipple shield from the beginning, but everything I read made them sound like a bad option. But after meeting with a LLL leader and a LC, they both assured me to go with the shield, and faze it out later.

So, we used the shield for about a month, and gradually dd was able to nurse without it. Once we weaned from the shield, my nipples bled quite a bit, but they eventually pulled out nicely, and dd nursed for more than 2 years.

I'm expecting #2 in May, and am trying to be prepared for any problems. I've been wearing breast shells to keep nips pulled out, but I do have the old pump handy just in case we have a slow start.

HTH!


----------

