Philips Avent Breast Shells

This is a brilliant product. My newborn had a tongue tie which made latching on difficult and led to cracked, painful and bleeding nipples which required a lot of care with warm salt soaks and plenty of lanolin cream however this did not allow them to heal completely. I spent a lot of time walking around with no top on to allow air to circulate and facilitate healing, not exactly a long term solution! I started to look around for answers and I heard about these on a forum and thought I'd give them a try and I believe this is what finally allowed my nipples to heal (well that and getting my newborns tongue tie treated so he could learn to latch on properly and therefore no further damage occurred). I was not using them for the purpose of collecting milk so used the vented ones which allowed air to circulate and also stopped chafing which was a real relief to me. I often forgot I was wearing them and occasionally when I leaned forward the milk collected leaked out. I would use the non-vented ones when out and although they filled up they did not leak. The fit was great and secure and didn't look bad worn under my bra but I don't have a big chest so that may have helped. It was amazing how much milk was collected in these although I didn't use it to feed the baby because I didn't sterilise them. I needed them for 2 weeks to allow my nipples to heal and then I didn't require them anymore because they allowed them to heal. But those 2 weeks were made a whole lot easier because of these. I can't recommend these enough to anyone who is having a miserable time with cracked, painful nipples. I am still breastfeeding at 7 months despite thinking I wouldn't last 4 weeks because of my initial problems - this helped me continue!

My mum recommended I get these as she used this clever invention with me and my siblings, albeit it not this make. They were brilliant and very easy to use. They don't vacuum breast milk out, they just help with any leakage at nights or during the day and it means you aren't wasting any milk into your pads. I sometimes got 10 mils from each. They helped with reducing the hardness of my breasts when my body needed to lactate. Easy to clean as you just wash with soapy water and put in the steriliser (we used microwave ones with steam, not liquid). They were comfortable as the top is hard plastic with silicon on your breast. I would definitely recommend this product.

Very comfortable to wear and collect the milk well but I bought them to collect milk at night as that's the only time of day I leak and you need to wear a bra to hold them in place which I don't usually do so haven't used them that much. They're a bit fiddly. I think they're probably most useful if you have very fast flow and leak a lot but that's a difficult thing to know and measure before you have them. Fairly cheap so worth a go at using as you may get quite a big if milk without having to work too hard for it

Product is easy to use and great for excess milk. Package arrived without protective seal wrap so box was already open.

These title things have been a total god send for me, my baby had some trouble breast feeding at first and I had to express to top her up after every feed. Feeding and expressing every 2-3hrs is extremely time consuming so catching this extra 10-20ml per breast has been so helpful.The cups are comfortable, not really designed to walk around in as they’re quite bulky, but perfect to pop on the other breast when feeding. In any case the instructions say they should only be worn for 40mins at a time. Essentially they are a useful tool to catch let down when feeding on the other side and to give nipples a break after a feed, they are not an alternative to breast pads which seems to be the expectation/complaint of most of the poor reviews.The only leaks I’ve had were self inflicted, a 3am sleep deprived oversight where I hadn’t ensured the seal was tight all the way round and the other incident was wearing the ventilated cup and bending forwards to put little one in Moses basket.I can’t recommend these highly enough!

I've found these shields so useful for breastfeeding. They can be worn during breastfeeding on the other breast and will collect excess milk produced. This is great as it prevents any messy leakage and is reusable unlike breast pads. The shields can also be sterilised prior to use which allows any excess milk collected to be transferred to a sterilised pot or bag to be refrigerated or frozen for later use. I generally keep this excess milk for when I need to be out and about and may not be able to access breastfeeding facilities so that I can bottle feed instead. I have bought 2 sets of these as this allows me to have one set ready to go at all times whilst the other is being sterilised. One of the most useful things I have purchased so far for caring for my little one and great value for money when you consider this reduces the need for disposable breast pads.

I bought these to give my nipples a rest from my tongue tied baby. They leaked constantly and were too big and uncomfortable.

Loved this product had milk for inbetween feed topups and comfortable to wear and good suction prevents leaks and I would definitely recommend to every mum, breastfeeding or not to save that liquid gold milk! The only downside is that you have to wear a bra to hold them in place.