[Wishful]

Anastasia, I am so happy to hear you breastfed. I am so pro-breastfeeding. When I was a baby I was severly burned. The doctor said that the only reason I ssurvived was the fact I was breastfed. So to everyone here, please at least TRY breastfeeding. You may save your baby's life.
Now back to the NB. I did a 30 minute session last night. I found that the pump was the source of the leak and I could hold pressure bending over the tube. But after a little while the pump started to hold pressure on its own. ??? Now I am debating ordering the clamp. I'll try a couple more sessions before I decide. Otherwise, the session went just fine. I used some body lotion bath & Body and the domes sealed just fine. I did pick up some cocoa butter lotion today at Walmart to hopefully prevent any sttretch marks.
Andy, I think they ship those gremlins in the package with the Noogleberry. I thought I saw something scurry out of the package as I opened it.....

[Anastasia916]

To be completely honest with you Wishful, when I first ordered NB I got a double kit with an airlock and a clamp... the clamp is not worth it, it's cheaply made, that and the foam rings are the two things I don't like from NB. If you want to use a clamp use one that is made for chip bags or like those office type that are made to hold documents, like... this...

and these are some examples of what I call chip clips lol...

I think these would work better than the NB clamp, and you can buy them at walmart. But personally I like using airlocks, that's what I use.

[Wishful]

Thanks for the tip. I am sure that we have one of those black metal clamps around here someplace. Here we go on another scavenger hunt....
The foam rings are still considered. I will have to see what my imagination comes up with. For now I can do a half hour with the bare domes but it does leave marks. I pump before bed and the marks are gone in the morning so it isn't a necessity yet.

I have had an idea of adding some kind of pressure indicator so I can pump to the same pressure each time and when I want to increase it a bit I can see by how much. Anyone have an idea what to use?

[cbdaisy]

I did not get the foam rings. What I did was get some craft foam (the sheets) and cut circles out of them. I put them on individually each time, but they seem to help with the redness. I was able to pump yesterday without them, but I had really mark marks. With the craft foam I have virtually none. I do have a little hicky on one side, but no big deal. I have not had a hicky since high school. HAHA.
I have some of those clips, so I will use them if I need to.
Thank you EVERYONE for your input. This is such an awesome website.

[Anastasia916]

I absolutely hated the foam rings from NB, but others like them. I have sensitive skin and when they say "foam" it's like the foam you use to package things in boxes! It's very porous and it made me break out bad. I currently use the XL's with NO padding whatsoever, just bare dome. I used the L's and the M's without any padding also, never had a problem. I used the campers tape when I first started with the XL's to cut down on the discomfort and such. But now I don't use it at all. The campers tape is a very good option have you tried it Wishful and Daisy?

[Wishful]

I haven't tried camper tape but I will keep an eye out for it. Any suggestion where to look for it? Needless to say I don't have a camper. I need something, the domes leave quite a mark but its gone by morning. I have a bit of a tender spot on the ribs down under the breast. Not sure how I did that but its there. The metal clamp works just fine. that was a great idea. I pump up then clamp the big breast and pump a little more on the small breast. Maybe I can even them out.

[Anastasia916]

itsjust4fun aka Mel was the first one to suggest campers tape I believe, I could be mistaken though. You can find it in hardware stores, I had to order mine online. You want the one side sticky kind, I heard there is a double sided where both sides are sticky, you don't want that! But yea there are tons of threads on campers tape and such on the NB forum.

[Wishful]

You were right on the money. Ace Hardware had it. Now I need to put it on the domes. I will have to clean the lotion off the domes. I presume that you just wrap the tape around the edge. I use cocao butter lotion on my breasts for preventing stretch marks and getting a good seal. I will continue to use it with the tape. Tonight is the big trial. i hope it works as expected.