Crystal,
You wanted to know if anyone had compared Soothies and MaterniMates.
I did a little unscientific comparison back in 2001. I did send the results
to Soothies, as I had promised them when they sent me the second set of free
pads. The directions I quote here were from 2001. Since I sent them these
results, they *may* have changed the wording.
In 2000, I gave a pair of Soothies (had gotten a free sample pair at a
conference) to a mother to use. This mother had the most badly-damaged
nipples I had ever seen (even to this day!). She called back the next morning,
reporting that she had left them on overnight. When she removed the pads, the
top layer of skin came with it, which caused a lot of pain. I asked her not to
use them again. She called back the next morning to say that she had used
them again, just to see what would happen. More skin came off on the second
morning. Again, I told her not to use them anymore. I never offered Soothies to
anyone else, until Fall 2001.
In Fall 2001, Puronyx, maker of Soothies, called and asked if I would
like to try their product. I told them I already had and told them of the
above incident. They said they had never received any reports of such problems.
They volunteered to send me more free samples and asked me to try them again.
Nov. 3, 2001--A mother called asking for something to ease her nipple
pain. Her baby was not opening wide enough, which she knew because she had bf
a previous child. She was already working with him to correct the problem,
but wanted something to use to ease her pain until he learned how to breastfeed
correctly. I told her I had a product that might be useful to her, but that
I had also received a similar product from another company that I wanted to
test. I told her that if she bought one package of MaterniMates, I would give
her one free package of Soothies. I asked if she would wear one brand on one
breast and one brand on the other breast until she no longer needed them, and
then report to me any differences she noted.
Nov. 10--Baby is breastfeeding much better and mom no longer has pain.
The following is her report:
Soothies seemed easier to use at first, but the cloth backing got wet
when she rinsed them. (Note: Directions say to wipe with a clean damp
cloth.) She would have to let them air dry, and did not always have time to wait
for them to dry completely before reappplying, so she was concerned that they
would start to breed bacteria. (Note: her word. I realize dampness more like
to breed fungus.) She also reported that the Soothies tended to stick to her
skin and did not come off as easily as the MaterniMates. (Sticking to skin
was the same problem the first mom had.)
When she would rinse her breasts prior to breastfeeding, she noticed
that the MaterniMates always seemed to rinse clean very easily. However, the
Soothies seemed to leave some kind of wax coating, because the water would bead
up when she rinsed the skin. She was concerned that this left something on
the skin that her baby could ingest.
The mother also noted that the directions for the Soothies say to use
a clean pad daily. She noticed that the MaterniMates are designed for 3-7 day
use, so she said the Soothies would be much more expensive in the long run.
(Note: Soothies actual directions [at least in 2001]: "Discard the pad daily
or when it becomes highly swollen and has a spongy appearance." This mother
only reported to me that she was supposed to change the pad daily. I don't
know if she felt this was the safer alternative, or felt like she couldn't be
sure when the pad was "highly" swollen--a subjective description--and so changed
the pad at any sign of swelling, not knowing how to tell when it was "highly"
swollen. I did not want to compromise the comparison, so I did not tell this
mother anything other than "compare them for me." I did not give any hints
as to what type of comparison I was looking for and I did not give any oral
directions for use, but let her read the instructions that came with each brand.
I figure it's important that mothers be able to use any product correctly
based on what they can get from the written directions, because they may not
remember what I tell them about how to use the product when they get home.)
This mother decided that the MaterniMates was overall the better
brand. Based on the experiences of two out of two mothers to whom I had given
Soothies, I only carry MaterniMates in my office.
Dee
Dee Kassing, BS, MLS, IBCLC
Collinsville, Illinois, in central USA
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