Candice923's Full Review: Gerber 6 Pack Reusable Nursing Pads
Since delivering my twins on March 14, I have tried very hard to nurse. They were in the NICU for 13 days, which meant that I had to pump as much milk as possible to be stored at the NICU for the times when I wasn't present for a feeding, such as overnight. I went through loads of disposable breast pads, which started becoming pretty darned pricey. I asked my mother to pick me up some breast pads while I was at the NICU one day. She came home with a box of disposable breast pads, a breast pad holder, and the Gerber 6 Pack Reusable Nursing Pads.
I was actually pretty happy that she had gotten the Gerber pads. I figured that they would be the most absorbent and comfortable to wear in my sleep bra at night. I had an experience with massive milk let-down while I was sleeping, and I soaked the entire front of my nightgown. I was happy to have the extra protection.
The Gerber Reusable Nursing Pads have a "natural, 100% cotton inner layer". This layer is covered by a textured side, which is to be worn toward the clothing, and a smooth side, which faces the breast. They are stitched together around the circumference of the pad and are extremely flat when you first take them out of the box. Unfortunately, these pads are very easily seen through fitted clothing. They measure a little over 3" in diameter, and don't form to the breast. So, it looks like you are wearing shields over your breasts if you wear a T-shirt or some other form of clingy clothing. I only wear these at night, so that doesn't bother me. Plus, after wearing and washing them for about 2 weeks, they become softer and start fitting a bit better. (I still wouldn't wear them under and fitted clothing, though.)
While the twins were in the NICU, I used the pads every night and I never had a problem. Then again, I only had that big let-down experience at night just once. Also, since I had a C-section, I wasn't moving around a lot while I slept. I didn't get out of bed without the help of my husband. Movement was at a minimum, and the Gerber Nursing Pads stayed in place.
However, the twins came home and I got better. My sleeping habits changed. For the first week, my husband and I were up every three hours, feeding the twins, changing them and other infant-related activities. My C-section was healing, and I was able to get up to go to the bathroom more often. My milk came in more and I started pumping throughout the night. Since the Gerber Reusable Nursing Pads don't have any sort of way to adhere the pad in place, I was soon waking up with the pads completely out of place, if not out of my bra entirely.
One aspect of these pads that I don't like is the absorbency. Yes, they are absorbent... But at what cost? I woke up one morning and went to remove the nursing pad. i leaked during the night, and it formed some sort of glue between my nipple and the breast pad. Pulling them apart was like ripping a scab off. Fortunately, I didn't bleed, but it hurt like heck.
Since these nursing pads are reusable, they must be washed. Unfortunately, users are directed to hand wash and lay flat to dry. I just used Dreft to take care of them, as that is the gentle detergent that I use on all of my twins' clothes. They are quite easy to wash and dry, which is nice. I was worried that the soap would get trapped in between the layers, but that isn't the case at all. The pads rinse easily of all soap, and clean quite nicely.
The price simply can't be beat. The box of six pads cost $4.59, not including tax. That's less than $1 per pad, and you can get a lot of use out of them. That is, of course, if you don't mind wearing loose-fitting clothing to hide them...
To tell you the truth, I still use these pads at night. I only had a couple of mishaps with them completely falling out of place, and I woke up to feed or pump before I leaked. Yes, my nipple getting stuck to the pad is uncomfortable, but it is also infrequent. The pads do what I need them to do at night: protect my pajamas from any sort of leakage.
Are there better reusable nursing pads on the market? Probably. I just haven't tried them yet. Would I prefer to use my disposable pads every night instead of the Gerber Reusable Nursing pads? Absolutely, but it just isn't economical. Do I recommend these pads to other nursing moms? No, because most moms that would use these aren't like me. If you are only going to use these at night, then sure. However, you simply cannot wear them under close-fitting clothes without being noticed.
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