Helga17's Full Review: Gerber 6 Pack Reusable Nursing Pads
I knew before giving birth on October 26 that I would be nursing, and having heard stories about letdown and leakage I wanted to be prepared. I walked into my local baby supply store armed with gift cards leftover from the baby shower and examined the selection of nursing pads, both reusable and disposable. The research I had done ahead of time told me that the disposable ones were more reliable and discreet, but if I could get away with washable I’d save a bundle and be more environmentally friendly. I chose three different brands of washable and two of disposable and figured something that I picked out would probably do the trick. My plan was to primarily use the washable ones, but have the disposables on hand for emergencies or occasions where I needed to be a little more careful.
Cost and Initial Impression
The Gerber washable nursing pads were definitely the cheapest at about $5 for a 6-pack. (The others ran about $6-7 for a 4-pack.) Upon opening all of the washable nursing pads I realized there was good reason for this cost difference. The Gerber pads are smaller in diameter, thinner in thickness and have weird stitching along the edge that make them look thrown together.
Function
I’ve only been at this for a couple of weeks, and I’ve heard that different women have different experiences with letdown, so how well this functions probably has a lot to do with the individual. Most of the time, when little Bernie is feeding his regular every 2-3 hours I don’t really have a problem with large leakage… maybe a small spot and for that these pads do just fine. Sometimes, however, he’ll take an extra-long nap and when he does, the minute he starts crying I become a fountain that belongs in the movie version of A Clockwork Orange. When that happens, within seconds these pads are less than useless and I end up needing to change my entire outfit. The milk just leaks out the bottom… but it doesn’t seem to leak through the front, which is interesting. Fortunately, this phenomenon is becoming somewhat predictable as even the better pads are not able to completely contain these moments.
Comfort and Looks
When these pads are in, you can see the outline of the edge through both bra and shirt, and unless I’m wearing a really thick sweater, it’s pretty obvious through any shirt… whether it’s tight-fitting or loose. Also, when going to remove these pads the stitching around the edge leaves a rather sizable indent in my breast. If I weren’t varying the kind and size of nursing pad I was using, I think this indent would become a bit of a sore spot. Lastly, while these pads do soak up light leakage, the wetness doesn’t get wicked away from the surface touching the breast, so if it’s left to sit there being wet for too long, the wet surface kind of becomes one with the skin and makes the nipple overall more tender than it needs to be. If changed immediately after a bit of wetness occurs, these pads are OK, kind of.
Washability
The directions say to hand wash and lay flat to dry. I don’t hand wash anything because I’m too lazy for that nonsense, so I put them through my washer with my delicates. They wash just fine. I do air dry them though, because the fabric softener in drier sheets reduces any fabric’s absorbability. (Note: That includes bath towels too.) So far, they’re holding up beautifully to being machine washed.
Final Conclusions
If I had it to do over again, I would not have bought the Gerber reusable nursing pads. I would have bought more of the ones that were a little more pricey. They work better, are more comfortable and more discreet… but that’s another review. Since I did buy them, I do use them, but I use them when I know I’m not going anywhere and I don’t care what I look like. These are definately the worst of all the pads I tried.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.