I used a nipple shield for about 9 months with Micah. For those of you not in this particular 'know', this is affixing a piece of plastic over one's nipple so as to make it easier for the baby to latch on and nurse. It rates on the pleasure scale somewhere between cleaning grout and having a filling: definitely not something to look forward to, but bearable.
One of the (very small) reasons I wanted another baby in the first place was to enjoy things I didn't get to enjoy the first time around - like nipple shield-less nursing. I was - am! - hella determined for this baby to nurse, sans shield. Stick the boob in, that's that. Finito.
Wellllllllllllllllllllll...... there was a posting on the board today about a mama being thrilled her baby is finally nursing after 6 months. 6 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!! She has been pumping and bottle feeding her little man for 6 FREAKIN' MONTHS!!!!!!!!
Holy smokes. Talk about determination and perseverance! Besides being completely put to shame over my woes with nipple shielding (ha!), I'm now worried that Moxie might not latch and I'll be put to test to show that same kind of determination. Wince. Oh, so no fun.
But this baby MUST have breastmilk. The brain boost she'd get from it could, as someone else said, make the difference between her being a grocery store bagger or owning her own business.
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Stick her on the minute she comes out, and don't give up! She'll do fine, even with low tone.
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