Continuing the Breastfeeding Product Reviews series (see Medela Nipple Shields and Traditional Medicinals Mother’s Milk Tea if you missed those), this week’s product for review is Soothies Gel Pads for Nursing Moms. I have heard mothers recommend Soothies for sore nipples during the early days of breastfeeding. Have you tried them? Did they help with nipple pain? What was your experience — would you recommend them to a friend? Please leave a comment — short, long, good, or bad!

Here I am, mother of three, with nearly six years of breastfeeding experience, a year-and-a-half as a breastfeeding counselor, and nearly two years writing this blog. You would think I would know how to prevent any and all breastfeeding problems. Really though, the problems I have dealt with over the years are the reason I became a breastfeeding counselor in the first place. And this time around, while I could not prevent problems, I knew better how to deal with them.
1. Painful latch. For the first few days, I winced as the baby latched on. I checked for a good …read more

There are many breastfeeding products I have never tried. Over the next few weeks I will be featuring three different products in the hopes that readers will contribute their reviews in the comments section. So please do leave a comment — long, short, positive, negative — I want to hear your input on what worked and didn’t work for you. First up are Medela Standard Nipple Shields (16mm). For a long time women were discouraged from using nipple shields (particularly the rubber variety). Now there are improved versions made of silicone, but still women are cautioned against using them unless …read more

The breastfeeding story series continues with this installment from Kerri, mother of three:
“I knew I would breastfeed. When my oldest was born, I didn’t take any classes or even read all that much. I assumed it would come naturally to me like it had to the few friends of mine who’d already had kids. It didn’t. It was painful, I bled, I scabbed, it was awful. The help that I tried to get was not helpful. The advice was just to keep putting the baby on, no matter what, every 2-2.5 hours. I would try to feed her, then would …read more