Breastfeeding moms know the sensation of leaking breast milk. Embarrassingly enough, leakage happens to everyone, and often in the most inopportune places such as in the shopping mall or grocery store, or sitting down to dinner with friends, like it did for me, yes, all of these! Of course, breasts can leak all the time, even in bed while you’re sleeping. Breast pads are the answer to your prayers – no more worrying about noticeable leaking!
Breast pads are great but really, you have to find the type that is right for you. You want breast pads that work and don’t leak themselves, but you also don’t want something too bulky in your shirt. When I started out as a new mom, I had a lot of milk – so much so that I used my son’s diapers, cut in half and pressed inside my bra, to keep from leaking all over the bed at night. What I didn’t know when I was a new mom was that my breasts would react not only to my own baby, but to every crying baby and that they would leak whenever they wanted to, whether I was feeding or not.
My own horrifying experience was my first real night out with friends. Husband had the baby and I was out having a night out with the girls. We were sitting in a very nice restaurant, celebrating the renewal of our ladies night out, and the next thing I knew, my shirt was soaked. How could this happen to me? I cried and was ultimately embarrassed as my best friend handed me her sweater. I had pumped right before I left after feeding, so both of my breasts should’ve been “empty”. This is when I found out that I needed breast pads and I went on the hunt for the right one.
Light weight breast pads are very thin and have some adhesive on the back that sticks inside your bra, which is a mother of an invention, because these breast pads don’t slip out. However, these are quite thin, so if you’re a heavy leaker like I was, then you don’t want these.
Heavy weight breast pads are for moms like me who leak a lot. Most often, these are cloth-like and soft and are re-useable. They are washable in the laundry and save you some money in the long run because they’re not disposable like the light weights are. You have to put these on properly (following the directions on the box) or they could leak. I used to use a small piece of carpenters two sided tape to stick these inside my bra when I was going out to ensure they stayed in their place.
I hope that these two lifesavers of mine (I did use both, continuously throughout my many breast feeding years) will help you stay dry and free from embarrassing milk circles on your shirts.
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