Whether you hate pumping, don't have the time or are just too darn lazy the Milk-Saver by Milkies will surely be your new best friend. I fall into the category of all of the above; I don't enjoy pumping, I'm always so busy and when I do have the time I am just too lazy to do it. The Milk-Saver is an ingenious product; simply insert the Milk-Saver into your bra on the side you are not nursing on and position your nipple into the hole. While the Milk-Saver seems very large and uncomfortable it is surprisingly very unnoticeable in your bra for both you and others viewing you. When you feed your baby on one side you will naturally let down on both sides, normally this results in wet breast pads or a wet shirt on your non-nursing side but with the Milk-Saver you will now be catching this milk and you will be able to freeze it for later. Some women let down up to 4 ounces per session which is often wasted milk. I really enjoy using my Milk-Saver because it is literally a no effort required product. You only really need to remember two important things #1 to put on the Milk-Saver before you start babies feed and #2 please, please I cannot stress this enough, do not forget that you are wearing the Milk-Saver!! I cannot tell you how many times I have forgotten that I was wearing it (because it is so light and comfortable) and have stood up and bent over and dumped milk EVERYWHERE! On my laptop, on the baby, on the floor! The plastic case that comes with the Milk-Saver keeps it clean and germ free while not in use but also acts as a stand to hold the saver upright after use so no milk spills out while you get ready to store it. The Milk-Saver can hold up to 2.1 ounces at a time. To clean it you can wash it with hot soapy water, boil it or even run it through your dishwasher. I love my Milk-Saver so much I even talked my girlfriend into buying one too, she now also loves her Milk-Saver. Now I can't prove it but I swear the Milk-Saver helped improve my friends milk supply, she was struggling with a low milk supply and it was very important for her to pump a lot and save milk to feed her baby with because she wasn't always getting what she needed out of a feeding so using the Milk-Saver seemed like a no brainer and helped my friend collect her milk without the extra work of always pumping. I think that instead of her bra and nursing pads stifling her milk flow the Milk-Saver almost seemed to encourage the natural flow of her milk. Now again I am not an expert on the subject and I have no proof but I personally believe that it helped her but either way it didn't hurt. She now by the way has a fully established milk supply and her baby is growing like a weed. Sometimes while using the Milk-Saver you will get a lot of milk and sometimes none or very little, I find though that usually if you use the saver all day through every feed and keep filling up the same bottle in the fridge you can freeze the bottle at the end of the day. Depending on your supply or where you are in breastfeeding you may have more than one bottle or less. If you don't have enough for a bottle or forget to use your saver every feed you can also use the milk for using in making baby food, or maybe your baby has a clogged tear duct or plugged nose? Breast milk is a natural cure for both these things. No matter what you choose to do with the extra milk you are saving now at least you are saving it for something instead of ruining yet another shirt. ;)
The Milk-Saver retails for $25.95US for a single pack and $44.95US for a double pack. They can be purchased directly from their US based online store or see here for a list of retailers in both the US and Canada.
