I've been trying to round up some DIY's that will make the recovery period after birth a little less painful and uncomfortable. Since breastfeeding difficulties was one of my big issues with Grant and the pain of sore nipples is horrendous, I want to make sure I have everything I can to make it less painful and an easier transition. I noticed soothing gel breast pads that go in the freezer at the stores and wondered if there was a way to make a version of them myself, because for 1 pair they were 12.99 which is crazy to me. plus plastic gel pads just didn't seem like they would be all that comfortable on sore tender nipples.
When I googled it I found
this website and thought they would be perfect, not to mention simple to make. It reminded me of the
Boo Boo Bear ice pack I made for the kids.
I made mine out of the softest flannel I had in my stash and rice I had in my pantry. The tutorial said to make them 6inches but that seemed huge to me so I did mine 5inches and used a bowl as a pattern.
I used a water soluble quilting pen to make the 1 inch circle in the center and stitched around it. You can see the blue markings in this pic:
A damp cloth wiped over the markings erases them.
The tutorial I found only had the 1 inch center stitched and around the outside but I was afraid all the rice would pile in the bottom of the pad and be bulky. So instead I made 4 straight line stitches to divide the circle into 4 quadrants. Then I filled each one with rice. Since I haven't used these yet I can't speak to how well they do or don't work but I'm optimistic. These will be in my freezer ready for when I come home.
They were really easy and quick to make so I figure if they work great I can make a couple more to always have a set in the freezer.
If you know of someone who is pregnant and going to be breastfeeding these would be great in a breastfeeding gift basket or along with a baby shower gift, or even with the gift your taking to the hospital after the baby's born.
