Product Review: Milkies Milk Saver

I first read about this product on some mom blog. The lady just raved about it and I'll admit that the idea intrigued me. When I was breastfeeding William, I remember that nearly every time, whichever side he was not eating from, would leak enough to completely soak one of those disposable breast pads. I would just throw away ounces and ounces of leaked breast milk and it always bothered me as I spent SO much time pumping, saving and freezing the stuff. It really is liquid gold and I could cry if I spilled so much as an ounce. So the idea of being able to save that milk really appealed to me.

So I bought one. It sat in my box of breatsfeeding supplies until Eleanor was about 6 days old. I had kind of forgotten that I even had it. And then once I remembered, I was skeptical that it would even be worthwhile to use. This time, unlike last time, the side that was not being fed on, didn't really leak much. I was able to reuse the disposable pads throughout out most of a day. So I didnt think that I would be able to collect much with this device.

Nevertheless, I had bought it and I didn't want to not use it, so I brought it out and the next time it was time to feed her, I stuck it into my bra. Your nipple fits into the little hole you see in the picture above and when your milk lets down, the milk that leaks out of your nipple, falls into the little collection chamber. The first time I used it, I was absolutely shocked to see that at least an ounce had collected into the chamber! Thats a lot of milk to save from one nursing session! Plus if you figure that I am feeding her 9-10 times in a 24 hour period, that can really add up to a lot of milk that is not being thrown away! Two other good features is that you can throw it into the dishwasher to sterilize it, and the case that it comes in, acts as a stand to hold it (as shown in the above pic).

The only down sides to this product that I have discovered, is that you absolutely cannot bend over while wearing a full one (the milk spills out all over and soaks your clothes) and you have to remember to put it in before starting a feed, something I am not always good about. Other than that though, I find it simple to use and really effective at helping me to make the most of every breastfeeding session and reduce waste. I highly recommend this product to all breastfeeding moms!