I'm not sure I believe that premie moms who are pumping full time
experience anymore soreness than other mothers that are pumping for
non-nursing infants. In our clinic we believe that dry plastic on dry skin
is simply irritating for many women. To remedy this we offer mothers a
modified lanolin to use around the base of the nipple. Most mothers choose
to continue modified lanolin prior to placing the kits on throughout their
pumping experience. It just feels better. Double pumping is another
consideration; half the time----half the irritation.

Another observation we have made is that a surprising number of women
(certainly not the majority) simply don't fit well in some tunnels of pump
kits. There is a big difference in tunnel size of the major companies pump
kits. We observe that some mommies' nipples are too large for the tunnel;
some nipples swell after a few minutes of pumping and get limited excursion
in the tunnel. This certainly adds to irritation and skin breakdown. A
modified lanolin may help; a larger kit is also in order.

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Kathleen Huggins