Milkies Milk-Saver Breast Milk Collector Storage

To be able to have over 2 gallons of milk frozen for my 6 week old already, I would not say this product is too expensive. I would pay a lot more than $25 for that peace of mind. Plus it has saved me at least that amount in nursing pads. I have an oversupply problem and a forceful painful letdown. I leak, on average, 3 oz per breast during a feeding. I purchased this product when my milk had been in for 4 days (baby was a week old) because I was going through 4 nursing pads every time I nursed. It has been a dream! I have saved a ton of milk. Since my son has a cleft lip, I wanted to make sure I have a nice frozen supply of milk for after his corrective surgery since he won't be able to breastfeed for a few weeks. This has helped me do just that. PROS: 1. Inexpensive for the peace of mind it provides and it has saved me a ton of money on disposable nursing pads. 2. Easy to use, sticks well to your skin and fits in every nursing bra I have. 3. Easy to clean. 4. Love the case to keep it clean in my diaper bag. CONS: 1. Attaching a bag is a pain and eventually I stopped trying. I always felt like I was going to rip it off when I was repositioning baby. 2. The stand is a little tippy. Makes me feel like the Milkie will tip, though I have yet to do so. 3. Whole device (with case) is rather bulky. All in all, I love my Milkie! The pros FAR outweigh the cons in my book.

I received this milk saver just today, and haven't had a chance to use it yet, as my baby is still "incubating". I wish I had had one of these for my first two girls though, as I remember being so wet even with the nursing pads, and feeling frustrated when I would throw them away full of milk. Also when I would go to change my baby to my other breast to feed, the milk would already be gone into the pad, and they wouldn't get anything. I am looking forward to saving every drop. As one reviewer stated your breast milk really is "liquid gold". And if you've ever been up in the middle of the night with a screaming baby trying to defrost breast milk, you know what I mean. I can't wait to use it and not have to worry about transferring my "sleeping infant" to the other breast to feed if she's already full. I can just store that milk for later, and get both sides equally used. The only thing about this that I have to say so far is that it's true that it seems rather large. I think they really designed it like that on purpose to fit all size breasts, and for engorged nipples and such. Even though I had read all the reviews about how big it was, I was still surprised at the size when I pulled it out of the box. Also it's not as "flexible" with the silicone as I would have thought from looking at the photos. I have posted some pics for reference on the item description page with a measuring tape, so that you can see exactly how big it is with the case too. I plan on putting it in my bag for the hospital so that I can use it right away, and the case seemed a little large. I'm still going to "make it fit" anyway though. To me it's totally worth the price and size, even though I haven't had a chance to use it yet!

This is a great product! I am a professional product reviewer, however, I purchased this product full price as a consumer. I wanted something to help collect all the extra breastmilk that I was leaking and just wasting throughout the day. I looked into the top 3 products like this on the market and read descriptions and other peoples reviews and finally decided on this product. Although this is an expensive product, and the reason I gave it 4 out of 5 stars, it does work very well and I am so glad I purchased it. The other products like this on the market are designed more to capture leaking breastmilk as a reusable nursing pad, and not to collect the milk for storage. This was the only product I found specifically designed to store breastmilk. It works very well! It is easy to use, the case doubles as a holder to place the full cup in while you put baby down so that you don't spill the collected breastmilk, and it holds a good amount of milk. The way it fits, you can still reach your breast to hand express milk with your free hand into the collector to increase the amount of milk you collected. I love everything about this product. The size is large, but it does not bother me. I would have given this product 5 stars, but as a nursing mother, I think that $28 for 1 storage cup is very expensive. This company says that it is all about mothers and babies, but charging a steep price for one product is against that in my opinion. Other products like this one are almost half the price and come with 2 cups. I think that they should include an additional storage cup, or drop the price slightly and then I would fully stand behind this product. Unfortanatly I found this was the best product out there for collecting and storing leaking breastmilk, so I felt my only choice was to pay the steep price. For those of you who can pump on your non nursing side, while your baby is nursing, you can avoid purchasing this product. For me, it is just to hard trying to balance baby and a pump, so this product is for my convinence. I hope you found this review helpful. If so please click the yes button! Thank you for reading

I don't often love or hate something enough to bother writing a review, but this product is worth me taking the time to tell you how awesome it is! And I say this even though, as a new parent, my free time is rather limited! Put this handy gadget in your bra to collect milk that drips from the non-nursing side while you're nursing or pumping. When I remember to use the milk saver at several feedings per day, I easily collect enough milk for an extra feeding for my baby every day - about a half-ounce per feeding if I'm very full, less otherwise. I get a little over 2 oz total per day. I never realized how much milk was going to waste dripping into a nursing pad! (The other way to prevent milk going to waste would be to pump from one side while baby is nursing the other, but I always find doing so a bit precarious if baby starts flailing around. The milk saver is secure even with the baby moving around.) Tip: If you only remember to use it at a few feedings per day, make sure to use it at the feedings when you're most full - you get the most milk leakage from the non-nursing side that way. I get the most milk when I use it with morning feedings, a little less for afternoon feedings, and usually only a small amount (sometimes only a few drops) in the evening. I tend not to use the milk saver in the evening for this reason. I haven't really had any of the (minor) problems with this device mentioned in other reviews. As to the spillage problem, perhaps others are collecting more milk than I am, and that's why they're having the problem with milk spilling out if they lean over, but it hasn't been an issue for me. I can bend over far enough to put baby in his swing without the milk spilling, so as long as I remember to take out the milk-saver before I bend over enough, say, to pick anything up off the floor (in which case milk would definitely spill out!), I don't have the leaking problem. As to the fit problems mentioned in a previous review, it IS tight fit to put this device into my nursing bra, and it's a bit uncomfortable to have there if I pick up baby and lean him against that side to burp him, but it does fit into my nursing bras and tanks, and I'm not especially well-endowed. As to whether it shows under clothing, I'm sure it would, but it's not meant to be worn all day - just slipped into the bra when nursing. The only flaw I've found in the milkie is that it's hard to keep in place if I nurse while lying down - only the edge of the bra supports the device that way, so it's a bit precarious. It's doable, but it's much trickier than using the milk-saver while sitting up. Just to be safe, I often end up holding the milk-saver with my hand if I use it while lying down. In spite of this minor issue, however, this is great little product! UPDATE, 9/8/11: after I wrote my original review, I realized that I had failed to notice one useful feature of this device, one which allows you to securely use the milk saver even if you're lying down. The feature is the little square interior piece of the milk saver, which turns, making it easy to use this device even if you lie down next to the baby to nurse - just turn this piece 90 degrees before putting the milk saver in your bra, and then put the milk saver in your bra in the same orientation as always, with the full bra cup supporting it. Love this product even more now! UPDATE, 1/4/12: After a few months of nursing, my body started to become much more efficient, only letting down on the side where the baby was actually nursing. By 6 months, there was almost no leakage on the non-nursing side any more, which means the milk saver isn't of use to me any longer. My excellent rating of this product still stands - it was great while it worked, and allowed me to stockpile some milk during the first few months of nursing. I thought I should mention this development in case it's useful to anyone considering buying this product.

I purchased this product because I had a problem with engorgement and over-supply the first few weeks after my son was born and was going through nursing pads quickly with feeds, and even then I frequently soaked my shirt (and my child). It was appealing to catch the extra milk so that I could avoid wasting it and use fewer pads. I purchased just one and used it on the side opposite from the one I fed my son, just during feeds at night, when my breasts were most leaky. I found it to bulky to wear at other times. Here are the pros - 1) It does what it says - catches milk without leaking (although it will spill if you lean forward) 2) Heavy duty - holds up to washing, repeated use 3) Easy to use- I was able to tuck it into my bra for hands-free use. 4) Ability to collect milk instead of have it wasted all over my shirt - I collected as much as 2-3 oz per feed during nightly feeds. 5) Easy to clean Here are the cons - 1) Expensive - in retrospect, my over-supply got better after a after about 3 weeks and I feel I could have done without this for the price. 2) It encourages release of milk - Now that my over-supply issue is resolving, I now realize that keeping light pressure on the side opposite from that which I nurse prevents leakage of milk, even with let-down. However if I wear this device the nipple is exposed and more milk leaks out than would have done otherwise. It is my preference to prevent leakage altogether, as collecting milk with every feed from the opposite breast only leads to more issues with over-supply. 3) Collects mostly foremilk. My infant sufferd from foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. I was hesitant to give him the milk I was collecting with this product because it was more "watery" than what I got when I pumped larger amounts. 5) Collecting milk this way is a hassle - Going to the kitchen to poor the milk into a bag for storage and then rinsing off the product was not very appealing in the middle of the night, when I was most likely to collect milk this way. After a while, I found it easier to pump once daily to get the milk I needed for when I was away. As my problem with over-supply resolved, I find I no longer need this product to prevent the mess of milk leaking from my breast, and I no longer needed so many nursing pads either. 6) too bulky to wear continuously In summary, this product is more useful early on (before supply matches demand). Keep in mind that the many ounces of milk you can collect with it might not be leaking out if you were to just apply pressure to the other side during nursing. You might want to mix this milk with other pumped milk if you have concerns for foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, as it is likely to be more foremilk. For the price, I recommend getting it early if you are going to get it at all. I wish I had it for when my oversupply issue was most severe, and would have found it primarily useful to prevent the mess of the leaky breast during feeds.

This product is one of the most simple innovative solutions for breastfeeding moms ever... I'm not gonna lie- when I first saw this in a magazine ad I laughed and had to look it up. (I thought it was something you wore at all times to catch milk at first). The point of it is that when you are feeding your child on one side you catch the milk that it let-down from the opposite side (instead of it soaking your breast pad). It is as simple as that and you have all of that extra milk (which we all know is like gold to breastfeeding moms) to save and use later or freeze. With my first son, when I went back to work and wasn't pumping as much as he ate and had to rely on the milk I had gotten from extra pumps at home or pumping more often at work so I could get him all of his bottles while at daycare... I tried everything- Drinking TONS of water, eating oatmeal, many calls to our lactation consultants and even taking Fenugreek to boost my supply and even with all that I only lasted about 7 months until I had to use some formula If I had known about this I would not have had to stress about it. This time around using the milk saver I have a supply of 54 extra frozen bottles right now (my son is four months) so even if my supply is going down and I have to use them for daycare I don't have to worry since I continue to catch more with my milk saver when I'm home with my baby! This really is one of my favorite baby products and I've already gotten it for two friends as baby gifts. I would recommend it to anyone! I was leery of the price at first and almost didn't buy it but I'm SO glad I did! I would pay $25 for it again in a heartbeat. All of my extra milk is worth SO much more to me than that- Especially if you have a low supply or are going back to work and your supply will decrease- Think of this as $25 you spend on being able to save your own breast milk for baby instead of supplementing with fomula. Pros- -Great Idea -Easy to clean -Easy to use -No stressing about not making enough milk- this backs up your supply for when you go back to work, get sick, need a drink, get your period back- Anything! -You save money on breast pads since you don't need to change them as often (for me this has already paid for itself with the pads I have not had to buy) -It helps keep your supply up in general since it allows you to let down more than you would without it- therefore letting your body think the demand is higher and makes more. -Great gift idea Cons- -I don't really see it as a con since it needs to be big to catch the milk (you can also attach a bag to it and drip right into that but I don't normally get THAT much) but it IS on the large side- I normally only use it at home anyway but if you have a nursing cover in public anyway I don't see why you couldn't conceal this as well. -I have spilled my milk out of it by leaning over to put my baby down when he was done and I forgot it was in. You need to take it out and set it down (it is rubbery so it doesn't slip if you put it down leaning on something but it DOES come with a stand/carrying case to set it in as well) -I should have thought of it!! (I used to hold an empty bottle on that side sometimes if I knew I was overfull and didn't want to get soaked) -They don't sell it at many retail stores- I bought it twice (1 for myself and 1 for a friend)on Amazon (which is great with free 2-day shipping on Amazon Mom) but it would be nice to be able to put on a Babies R Us registry since not everyone shops online.

This product is so worth the money!! Least of all, it saved me laundry because with baby #1 - before Milk-Saver - I went through a lot of shirts and burp cloths soiled from leaking milk from the non-nursing breast while nursing on the other side. Most of all, I collected so much milk in the first 4 weeks without once hooking myself up to a breastpump (see photo), and I prevented that same milk from just being washed away! It is important to note that you should not feed this milk to your baby without mixing it with pumped milk, as this milk is mostly foremilk (the less fatty, more watery, less nutritious milk), but it will do in a pinch and it is still breastmilk! I read a review that stated this product was harmful to evening out milk production in the early stages of breastfeeding, but I found that it helped me manage my engorgement and nurse my baby more effectively, getting us off a nipple shield much more quickly than with baby #1. My breasts were simply too engorged and too large for my newborn's mouth, so I had to start on a nipple shield after a day or two. With baby #1, I would have to wake early and pump off for about 5 minutes to relieve engorgement for the first several weeks, which is a practice that can hinder milk production adjustment and create a vicious cycle of engorgement, but there was just no other way. With baby #2, after a couple of weeks the engorgement was only too bad on my higher-producing side, so I would nurse on my lower-producing side first in the morning (which is good to do anyway in order to level out a slower-producing side). With the Milk-Saver in my over-producing side, I would massage the lumps while nursing the other side, collecting the milk and relieving a lot of the pressure from engorgement so that my babe could then nurse on that side when she finished with lower-producing side. Successful nursing without a shield and without pumping within just a few weeks (I was on a shield for over a month with baby #1). And, what's more, I had milk saved up, too! My reason for 4 stars and not 5 is because this product costs WAY too much for the simple item that it is, especially considering that it is only useful for the first few months (during the engorgement/leakage stage).

I love this thing! While breast feeding I am an A cup on one side and small B on the other side. And in my experience, the milk saver works quite well for those of us in the “Itty Bitty Committee. ” Yes, it’s pricy. But worth it! Yes, the milk saver is bulky but I’m not sure how it could be otherwise... I wear tank tops with built-in-bras while breast feeding and the milk saver fits nicely in these tanks. It will not fit in my tighter nursing bra. (Hanes has good quality built-in-bra-top tanks that you can purchase on Amazon) (the special breast feeding ones with the clasp are $25 compared to the $8 Hanes tanks tops) The milk saver is easily spilled. So don’t bend over with it on and don’t set it somewhere it can get knocked over. I’m saving 1/2 an ounce of milk per feeding! I recommend, like others have, to mix the saved milk with hind milk so it has more substance (fat) than just the sweet and watery fore milk. But as another mama said, “it will do in a pinch!” I’m saving money by not having to change nursing pads and I’m not worrying over not have a milk stash because I have one!