Carole, You asked why the MaterniMates recommended rinsing the breast if the ingredients of the pad were safe. I, too, wondered this when we had a rep at our local ILCA affiliate a couple years ago. The rep didn't know, so I called the company. I was told that the pad is perfectly safe. The company's concern was that any milk that had leaked since the last feeding but had not been absorbed by the pad, had been kept in a warm, moist environment other than inside the breast itself, so the milk on the nipple/areola might not be the safest. They were actually wanting the milk rinsed off before baby came to breast, not any ingredients of the pad itself. I found that interesting and perhaps honest, especially in light of the mom I wrote about previously who felt the MaterniMates did not leave a residue, but the Soothies did leave "something" that caused water to bead up when she tried to rinse her breast. Dee Dee Kassing, BS, MLS, IBCLC Collinsville, Illinois, in central USA *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html