Gerber Nursing Pad Reviews

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Monday, November 20, 2006

I've decided I'm going to start doing product reviews on the Lactivist. After all, promoting breastfeeding isn't just about organizing lactivist events and sharing stories and advice...it's also about helping moms arms themselves with the best products out there to make life easier. To that end, I'll be reviewing the products that I use or try on my own, but I'll also be doing some reviews of products that have been sent to me for the express purpose of being reviewed. If you'd like to see your product reviewed, feel free to drop me an email to chat about it.

So, my first review is for Gerber's disposable nursing pads. These run about $6.00 for a package of 60 pads and are advertised as being "breathable" and as "drawing moisture away from the skin." I picked up a box a few weeks ago at my local CVS and thought I'd give them a try.

The Lactivist Says: No thanks!

Pros:
Inexpensive
Disposable
Thin (they don't show through a bra/shirt)

Cons:
Too small
Does not stay dry

I've gotta tell you, for a company that's synonymous with babies, Gerber needs a few lessons about how to build a nursing pad. My first complaint is that they're simply too small. They're probably about 2/3 the diameter of most other nursing pads that I've tried and since they don't have the peel-off "stick" on the back, they can move around in your bra. Put those two issues together and it's not uncommon to end up leaking into your bra rather than into the nursing pad.

My next complaint is that the pads not only fail to stay dry, but they also fail to hold any amount of fluid what-so-ever. I was using these at about week four of breastfeeding and I found that I would soak completely through a pad every single time I nursed Emmitt. In other words, just the amount that leaked out of one side while nursing on the other was enough to render the pad unusable. Even worse, the pads weren't simply full, they were soaking wet on BOTH sides. That meant that milk often made its way to my bra AND that my nipples were spending their time surrounded by warm, wet pads. NOT a good thing since yeasts just loooooooove warm, wet places.

I worked my way through the entire box simply because I hated to throw them away, but that usually meant that every time I nursed Emmitt I had to run back to the box to get a replacement pad. (On the plus side, that also meant I used them up in a matter of days.)

Sorry Gerber...I think you can do better.

Labels: Product Reviews

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