Latching for Short Nipples

I have short nipples. I only learned about this after I gave birth and my baby struggled to latch. At first I worried that my baby might be tongue-tied or lip-tied so I had him checked. He had an excellent suck so it was me. My nipples, as the medical experts described them, are cute.

It is frustrating that lactation nurses, breastfeeding books, seminars and videos do not anticipate that others may have short or inverted nipples. This is my way of helping people like me, the unfortunate ones who go about life thinking they have good old regular nipples only to find out during delivery that they in fact, are not normal. 

Here are the ways I used to let the baby latch. Some did not work for me but who knows, maybe it's just me.

Nipple Puller Lactation nurses used a makeshift nipple puller made out of a syringe. They used two kinds, one with a small diameter and another with a big diameter. The first pedia, he has had four so far, of my son advised me to pull my nipple for five minutes, which easily translates to forever because of the excruciating pain. By the time I give the baby my nipple, it has gone back to its original cute state.

Tugging and Pulling Another technique the lactation nurses did was to put my nipple into my baby's mouth and tug and pull until my baby is able to suck. This worked a total of two times. I could never replicate it so needless to say this did not work for me.

Ordinary Farlin Nipple This was suggested to me when I got home. This is just a very small nipple. You just place the nipple atop your nipple and let the baby suck. This works but there is just too much blinding pain involved. The hope is to elongate the nipple but my nipple remained cute, only this time, it was also flat.

Medela Nipple Shield I read about this from a breastfeeding book. My baby liked this because he was really able to get some milk. I did not like it because the Medela name is embosed on the thin film of silicon that can either rub on my son's upper lip or chin depending on the orientation we prefer. This also hurt like crazy. At one point, when I pulled out my breast from my son's mouth there was blood. I do not mean a tinge of blood. I mean blood pouring out. You would think that would be the last time I would use it but in my desperation, I still used it at least three times more.

This is not recommended by lactation experts because this can cause nipple confusion. 

Breast Shield I never got to use this but I read that this helps those with short or inverted nipples as this pulls out the nipple during the day for as long as you wear them. I almost bought a pair for myself. I am glad I did not.

What worked?

Good old plain trying.

When my baby is calm, meaning, he is not kicking and screaming for milk, I try to latch him using different positions. The position that worked for me are as follows:

Laid Back Position I laid down with pillows supporting my neck and head and I had my baby on prone position atop my breast. I squeezed my breast flat like a sandwich, or at least as flat as I can so it fits my baby's mouth. I made sure he can breathe and then I let gravity do its thing. Just like that, my baby was able to latch.

Side Lying Position I did not want to try this before because I felt it was a complicated position. It is not. My baby was able to latch using this position as well.

To help the baby latch, I push the underside of my breast into my baby's mouth so he can get a good latch. I keep my hand there so the breast does not slip out.

The more I latched, the more the baby learned to adapt to my short nipples. I am happy to say that now we can do the cradle position and not have any problem. I can now take my baby anywhere and not have to worry that he might starve.

I still bring pumped milk in bottles just to be sure though.