by CathC » Jun 09, 2005 10:28 am
My early review...
Yes, the Lilypadz work, but I don't know if that is always a good thing!
They do inhibit leakage very well. I was able to wear them at night without a bra (very helpful when I had mastitis on the far left side where the seam of my bra sits.) The only time I would get a slight bit of leakage under the silicone was when I was very overfull and nursed the opposite side.
I didn't use them while my milk came in, because I didn't want to inhibit the flow during that time. I also would take both pads off at night in order to let the other side "drain off" excess milk while I nursed. I did have a problem one night though. This may not be an issue for others. It probably depends on your flow and how often your baby nurses (and how "regularly".) Micah nursed and nursed and nursed one evening. Then he went four hours and then three hours in between feedings that night. I woke up with the entire left side and underside of my left breast full of clogged milk ducts. My goodness - I was in SO much pain. I had already had mastitis crop up in the same area and was already on Augmentin, so my only concern was to get it all drained and feeling better, which took all day! I think what happened was all the nursing Micah did before bedtime told my body to make all this milk and then I put the Lilypadz on and my breast was not able to drain off the excess when Micah went for such long periods of not nursing. My right side was fine, so I do have a tendency to have problems with the area that clogged (had mastitis there last baby, too.)
So, they work very well. I would recommend them. I would NOT recommend using them the first few weeks though while establishing your milk supply. Personally, I have stopped using them until Micah gets on a more regular nursing schedule. I don't schedule my babies - I let them find their own schedule which takes a few weeks. Once he's regular, I will start wearing them again during the day when I can easily monitor if I am getting overfull. I will have to wait and see about the nights. If he's going to be such a good sleeper, I may always need to drain a bit a night to prevent clogged ducts and mastitis. That's okay! I'd rather sleep for longer periods with a nursing bra on than shorter ones without!
Okay, well there's my early review!
Blessings,
Cathy