Metal Mummy

I’m a huge breastfeeding advocate, so when we got the opportunity to review some breastfeeding products, I jumped at the chance. Knowing that, by putting the word out there, expectant mums can get more information about the products available and be more inclined to give it a go – that’s a good enough reason for me. However, because I don’t breastfeed Freyja anymore, I needed a suitable guinea pig to help me out. Luckily, I had one in mind. There are loads of products available on the market, made by many of the well-known companies – some are better than others, some I’ve used, some I’ve not. Opinions voiced within this article are those of my friend and myself – I’d be interested to hear other people’s comments on these products and whether you agree with us on things.

Lansinoh Manual Breast Pump

When I had a nosey at this when I first received it, I was quite impressed. It’s a lot more attractive than others on the market (it could be because it’s purple and I love purple). I remember the breast pump I used, and although it worked well, it wasn’t the prettiest one money can buy. In the box, you receive the pump and the bits it needs, 2 standard 150ml (5oz) bottles, 2 spare valves, a spare silicone diaphragm and a cleaning brush. At an RRP of £24.95, it’s cheaper than a lot of others on the market.

Really comfortable to use. Doesn’t hurt at all, which considering the tenderness of my amateur udders, is wonderful! It’s a really attractive design, but takes a while to express – I suppose that’s down to it being a manual pump though – maybe I should invest in an electric one to make things easier for myself! The only other thing I would say, is that although it’s a 5oz bottle, I could quite easily fill that at the moment in one sitting. It would be nice to have larger bottles – can you get them?

I did a bit of research and it seems as though the standard size is 150ml (5oz) bottles – which should be more than enough for most ladies, unless you have the “amateur udders” that my friend has! The only major bad point I can see is that it’s not an electric pump, but Lansinoh do these too – I’ve heard good things about these gadgets, but to be honest, when I had Freyja, I had other things to spend £90+ on. For a reasonably priced, easy to use breast pump, the Lansinoh is perfect. The thing I liked the look of was the little bottle stand it comes with. I remember back in my expressing days, the bottle toppled over on a couple of occasions, so this added extra is a clever move. The only thing I wasn’t that keen on is the bottles – they are narrow necked, so unless you buy an adaptor, you can’t use any other type bottles with it. You also don’t get any teats with it, but then as babies age, they’re gonna need different sized teats anyway, so they’re just something you can get yourself.

I really like this breast pump, and my friend agrees with me. It’s simple to assemble and take apart, and comes with a couple of milk storage bags which is an added bonus. I still have some of these storage bags in my kitchen drawer – they were marvellous, and still are (unless you decide to use them as storage bags for other things – one of our male friends gave us a very strange look when we gave him some cuttings off our parsley plant in a “my mommy’s milk” storage bag…)

Lansinoh Disposable Nursing Pads

I would have been lost, and extremely damp, without these babies. I remember when I was pregnant, my boobs were leaking from 28weeks onwards, so needless to say, these pads came in extremely handy. I tried loads of the ones on the market, and I have to say these were the best. For me anyway. With an RRP of £2.49 for 24, they are reasonably priced, and so much more absorbent than some of the other competitors. I also remember trying the washable ones that you can find on the market, and they were useless! Not only were the small, but they didn’t stay in the right place, so I ended up with a breast pad popping out the top of my bra and a leaky nipple below it. Useless. Anyway, back to these ones.

I really liked these. Mine didn’t leak until after my son was born, but once they started they just didn’t stop! They were like radars – as soon as my son was in their vicinity, they’d tingle and start leaking. I had some other ones before you brought these ones round to me, and I have to say these are better. The adhesive tape actually works and stops the pad from sliding around (although they did crumple up a bit a couple of times – don’t know why really). Considering how thin they are, they didn’t leak at all. I was really impressed and will be sending my hubby off to buy some more, because I’ve almost run out!

Lansinoh Breast Pads come in various quantities, 6 for RRP 99p, 24 for RRP £2.49 and 60 for RRP £5.49.

Lansinoh Latch Assist

This was a completely new concept to me, but one that would have been very handy if I’d have known about it when I was feeding Freyja. I’m not even sure if it was on the market last year, but it looks like it could really help new mums with the whole latching-on process. To me, it looks like one of them bogey-sucker things, just a massive one, for really big bogies, like one you could use on an elephant or something. But in actual fact, it attaches onto your nipple, and you press the plunger bit to draw out the nipple, which should, in theory help your new baby find your nipple and latch on easier. The bit on the side of the box says that it is for “…breastfeeding mothers experiencing engorgement or swollen breasts, and to temporarily correct inverted or flat nipples…” It’s products like this that would hopefully tempt women who believe they couldn’t breastfeed, because of inverted/flat nipples to give it a go, so I’m definitely all for this device. But does it work?

I used this because my son was struggling to find my nipple a few of the times I tried to feed him. I found that the way my breasts are, my left nipple is quite flat, so when feeding him from this one, it was quite a painful task. He would eventually latch on, but only after I manually helped him. With the latch assist, it was so much easier and after using it, my son would latch on and feed contently, and the process didn’t hurt at all. The only con I can think of is the mess it sometimes makes when you draw the nipple out, it can leak, but that’s not a problem really and it’s to be expected!

With an RRP of £7.95 it’s not too badly priced, although may be a bit on the expensive side. But then, if you’re struggling with feeding and your baby can’t latch on as well as they should do, I’d say it’s worth the cash.

Lansinoh Lanolin Cream

God, this takes me back. I remember last year, when I was in the peak of feeding Freyja. She was around 3 months old, and had one hell of a suck on her. My nipples were shredded. It was getting so painful to feed her, but I was determined to keep going. I used the nipple shields you can get, and they were a big help in the early days. I also tried a few of the creams you can get. I remember one that was really gloopy and thick – I wasn’t a big fan of that because you had to time when you put it on, so that your baby didn’t end up ingesting it. I’m not one for time management, and I’m crap at doing things when I should be doing them. There was another one I tried – I can’t remember what the name was, but it worked. I was aware of the Lansinoh Lanolin at the time, but didn’t use it – I think I just picked up the first one I came to. I was interested to hear what my friend had to say about this one. With an RRP of £9.95, it’s a bit pricier than some of its’ competition, but to be fair, if it works, I’d be willing to spend a tenner to ease sore nipples. It’s made from pure lanolin and doesn’t have to be removed before feeding – that’s an automatic tick in the pro column in my opinion!

“This is amazing stuff! It’s quite waxy, but personally, that’s not a bad thing. I found it easy to apply and it didn’t run anywhere, so it stayed where you wanted it. My nipples can be really sore – especially as feeding/latching on was such a problem. I had a few cracks on them which had scabbed over, so you can imagine how sore they were. But this stuff fixed it all! There’s nothing in it that can be harmful to me, or my son, so I feel safe applying a little before he feeds. It’s amazing how much this has helped. Brill.”

I remember when I was first breastfeeding Freyja, she made some really weird noises when she was feeding from me. And it knackered. I remember the breastfeeding specialist popping over to see what the problem was, and she thought it may have been because Freyja had latched on wrong. It wasn’t, it was because she was a gobbler and a really noisy feeder, but that didn’t help the pain. If only she had whipped some of this stuff out of her magic bag! Think I may keep hold of this stuff for my next one…

Hypoallergenic, natural and suitable for dry and sensitive skin. So what if it’s a tenner. I would have thought it should be a must-have for every breastfeeding mum.

Brilliant stuff and I’d recommend all the products to any of my friends who may find themselves with a bun in the oven one day soon!