Stop Wearing Maxi-Pads in Your Bra!

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Nursing moms – or nursing-to-be moms – listen up:  Stop wearing maxi-pads in your bra! 

Disposable nursing pads are essentially maxi-pads, right? And if you’re postpartum, you’ve seen enough of those for a lifetime. There is no reason to use disposable nursing pads anymore.

Disposables:

  • Stick to your sore nips – ouch
  • Make weird circles on your shirts – not flattering or discreet
  • Hardly soak up much milk at all
  • Move around inside your bra and do no good *the sticky ones aren’t even that sticky
  • Dry out your nips
  • Are crinkly
  • Are a waste of money

So, what’s my favorite nursing product? WOOL NURSING PADS

These bad boys are now my GO-TO gift for baby showers – even if they are not on the registry.  A lot of women don’t even know they exist, thus they aren’t on their wishlist. They are certainly not a big box store thing, but they are on Amazon!  Even if a mama plans to nurse just for a little bit, they are well worth it.  

Wool Nursing Pads:

  • Feel good and cozy, the wool is so soft – think thick cashmere lining your bra. Yes please!
  • Keep the nips warm, which is key, because sore nips when cold feel like knives jabbing you.
  • Soak up loads of milk.
  • Are not cold against your skin since the milk they absorb combines with the lanolin to form lanolin-soap, which is antimicrobial so they never stink. (What?!)
  • Can be worn for 1-3 weeks without washing them. Yeah, you read that right.
  • Are large and cover your whole breast, so no weird shapes in your shirts and keep your milk ducts warm and flowing too.
  • Actually nourishes your nips because of the lanolin in the wool – score! 

I have to credit my sister with this one, introducing me to wool nursing pads.  Thanks sis!  She was my nursing consultant from afar, she lives in Flagstaff, AZ and has two babies of her own. Nursing was something we both wanted to do very much, but both struggled with the pain for at least 6-8 weeks, to the point of tears when the kid would want to eat because we knew it was going to be painful. :/ You’re NOT alone if that is you! The good news is that we have happily and effortlessly nursed after those first few months of struggle.  He gets a little mama milk before bed and that’s it these days – it works for both of us.  My goal was 12 months, and now we are just cruising.

Personal recommendations:

  1. You want two pairs, one to wear while the other one dries (since that can take a few days).
  2. I like the extra thick ones but they have different thicknesses you can explore.
  3. Do NOT wash these in your laundry and definitely don’t dry them.  Read the instructions and wash them with lanolin-soap and lay flat to dry. I ruined a pair by tossing them in the wash- whoops! 

Nursing is NOT an easy thing – and for most of us doesn’t just happen beautifully, painlessly, or effortlessly.  It takes knowledge, support from other moms directly, and constant encouragement.  

I had read lots of nursing books before I delivered so I would know what I’m up against and have some tools in my toolkit (I read way too much).  These are the two books I found most useful:

  1. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, by La Leche League. This one is quite…how do I say…’fluffy,’ ‘hippie,’ or ‘woo woo’ – but it also was the book that taught me the most about mothering. That term I didn’t really get until I read the book.  It gave me the confidence I needed to be a mother and not just ‘become a mom because you had a baby.’ This was a one time read, then pass the book on kind of thing.
  2. The Nursing Mother’s Companion, by Kathleen Huggins.  This one is more straightforward. Excellent and pertinent information, I found myself referencing it very often for the first 3-4 months of nursing.  It was reassuring and highlighted key things during each nursing stage.

What’s your ‘must-have’ nursing accessory/product that you would recommend to a friend in need?

 

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Kate
I’m the most extroverted introvert you’ll ever met. I’m happiest curled up reading and not talking to anyone. But, find immense reward in taking BOLD chances. My background is as a physician - I am a hardcore science nerd, spending my former years attending medical school and being all things “doctor.” Then I traveled the country with my husband being an official baseball wife - which is hilariously not glamorous. Once back in Dayton, spent a few years as a personal trainer working with clients suffering from cancer, chronic illness, and the “I can’t do it syndrome.” In 2014 I co-founded Kate’s Plate, which is a healthy cooking service here to transform lives and the way we do family dinner. Also, I am the ‘CEO’ of Beyond The Game Sports Training, my hubby’s sports facility, and teach healthy cooking classes at Dororthy Lane Market’s Culinary Center. I very much struggle to switch modes from balls-out entrepreneur to gentle mommy mode on the daily. My son, Cooper, is 1 and a spitting image of his father, Jeff. He is obsessed with his grandpa and has the darndest little smirk. Jeff and I are Centerville natives, and came back here to plant our roots and give back to the place who made us who we are today. Random facts: I hate to shop, I eat a lot of butter, I'm a hippie at heart, I’ve taken flying lessons, I don’t watch TV or do Pinterest (gasp!!) Favorite things about being motherhood: Nursing (calorie burning bonus, hello!), watching daddy make the kid laugh so hard he can barely breathe, and the way the moments of parenting bring me back down to earth, back to the here and now

4 COMMENTS

  1. I will start breastfeeding again when baby number 4 comes this summer-I will definitely be checking these out! Thank you!

    • Baby 4! Congrats Jamie, summer is right around the corner! I’m not kidding when I say these were a lifesaver…hope you get some good use out of them.

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