I have large breasts - DD normally without the added bonus of the milk. My son latched on great at first, but then got a cold and could not latch properly. He got lazy with my milk supply being very good and refused to open his mouth wide enough. Needless to say breastfeeding became torture. I was almost to the point of considering formula when I came across these.

Within just a few hours of wearing them, the pain decreased. The shells helped shape my nipples a little better and made it easier for my son to latch with little effort. After a full day of use, the pain has become almost non-existant.

I wish I had bought these for my daughter because I might have been able to breastfeed her longer than just 9 months. These shells have made breastfeeding the wondeful bonding experience it was meant to be. My son is still a little lazy with the latch, but he is getting better and opening his mouth wider now.

At first I was discouraged by the thought of needing to sanitize them every night, but I bought a microwave bottle sanitizer which makes sanitizing them a breeze. I am a very satisfied customer.

I highly recommend purchasing these shells even before the baby is born...if you plan on breastfeeding. I was very sore in the first few weeks. The shells allowed me to apply lanolin cream on my nipples and let them air out and heal in between feedings. I did only use them until my nipples were no longer sore which mentioned before was only a few weeks. But they got me through those weeks when I don't know if I'd have made it otherwise! They were a wonderful product for me!

These shields do work very well. I have large breasts and large nipples (E cup when I came home from the hospital) my son lacthed on great at first, but then he seemed like he couldn't handle their size and when a baby latches on wrong your nipples get even more abuse. I could not stand for a towel, or my bra to touch them, I cried every time he tried to nurse. My husband bought me these shields and an adjustable nursing bra (so I could have more room for the shields). Instead of using the inserts included I used cheap disposable nursing pads (save the nice ones for using directly on your breast). With in days I was healing and feeling sooooo much relief. But when you are nursing, take the shield off the other breast too. I wasn't thinking about let down on the side not being nursed (I had pain on my mind) and the shield filled up with milk completely. The poor nursing pad inside tried to absorb, but with the shield preesing on my breast ang having let down, it got messy. I learned quick.
Overall, the shields work great. Your only choices with sore nipples like I had are these shields or go bra-less. And go bra-less and leak milk all over your house.

I'm sure if I gave these more of a chance, they may have worked well, but they just hurt too much for me to keep using them. I have slightly larger breasts (a D cup right now) and extra large nipples, so I am probably one of the few people who would have problems with these.

The interior plastic part that goes around the areola pushed into mine too much and would honestly leave deep red marks in my areolas. They were just as painful, if not more so than the sore nipples that I was experiencing.

I may try them again since my nipples are starting to become sore again, but if the red rings start showing up again, I think they're going to go in the trash!!

To be brief I will say these are SUPER for sore, cracked nipples! And I agree 100% with the other good reviewers. A suggestion though about the foam inserts...they do not hold a lot of milk and once your milk comes in you WILL leak if you are wearing these. What I did was take a nursing pad and fold it in half and put it in the bottom of the shell, where the insert would go. Depending on how much you leak, esp. at night, you might have to change them more frequently. You can use the disposables (Lansinoh makes great disposables) or the washable pads.