I have quite a few posts from the early days with Rory, some drafted in my head and some half written on my phone, about new baby essentials and items I found really useful during my second time round with a newborn. Eventually, they will all make it to published stage, but the first one I wanted to talk about is the Medela Breast Care set.
With Arlo, I think I packed a whole box of breast pads, and a large tube of lanolin cream – not realising that it was highly unlikely I’d start leaking loads from minute 1, and quite unrealistic that I’d use up a full tube of lanolin in a few days.
Really, what I needed was a very small number of pads, a travel sized amount of lanolin, and perhaps a backup secret weapon just in case I experienced an unexpectedly bad case of soreness whilst in hospital. ie, all I needed was exactly what comes in the Medela breast care set.
The set comes in a little yellow zip bag and includes:
15 disposable bra pads (these are individually wrapped – not sure why the odd number, but plenty to see you through the first few days before your milk comes in)
A 7g tube of PureLan (Lanolin gel, the same stuff as Lansinoh, etc)
2 Hydrogel pads (to provide instant cooling relief for cracked and sore nipples).
Having all the breast care bits pre-organised for me in one space-saving toiletries bag that I could just chuck into my hospital bag meant one less hassle in the daunting haze of new baby preparation.
The breast care set also came in very handy during the first three or so months when you need to carry breast pads with you everywhere in case of leaks. I used to have breast pads lose in my bag, or randomly stowed away in pockets that I’d promptly forget about. Having a dedicated little bag for all my breast care stuff meant that I could always find my breast pads quickly. (Admittedly, you could do this using any small bag, but the addition if the travel sized lanolin and the gel pads make the breast care set a worthwhile purchase).
The Medela breast care set is a practical hospital bag accompaniment, and also makes for a very thoughtful pregnancy/new baby gift (if you know if the recipient plans to breastfeed).
RRP: £14.99 from Amazon.
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I received the Medela Breast Care set free of charge for the purpose of this review.
3 comments
I’m one of those lucky buggers who’s never needed breast pads but I actually really like the little yellow bag. It’s one of those things I’d buy for a completely other purpose and give the contents to a BFing friend, ha!
Never needed breastpads? Amazing! To think of all the times I’ve forgotten to take pads out with me and had to rip a nappy in two and shove that in my bra instead – I’m very jealous!!
I think I packed nearly a whole boxful of breastpads too – thinking about it now, I have no idea why! x