 |
Here I am, beginning my breastfeeding journey on my third child, and I feel pretty confident! It does help that Natalie is a wonderful nurser and an overall easy-going and adaptable baby but we do have our own small troubles from time to time..
This is my Top 5 Nursing Must-Haves list for you all! I hope you enjoy!
#1 – Nursing pillow: A comfortable nursing pillow is definitely a must in my book! I have two of them and use them all the time! I can nurse without one, when I am out and about, but when I am at home, it is definitely more comfortable to nurse her on the pillow.. My favorite?? The Bamboobies!
#3 – Nursing cover: If you go out at all, a nursing cover of some kind is a must-have item! My boys never really liked them and would try to pull them open when they got older (needless to say, I’ve flashed a few people in my day.. accidentally, of course) but thank goodness, natalie does not mind having it over her head.. This makes being out with all three kiddos a whole lot easier! My favorite?? Balboa Baby!
#4 – Nursing attire: With my boys, I never owned any nursing shirts but I did have a few nursing tank tops as well as nursing bras and having these things make nursing anywhere, at home or out and about, so much easier! Being able to unsnap and nurse is a lot easier, especially for a fir-time mother just trying to figure the whole nursing thing out.. And they make so many awesome nursing attire now-a-days! Now I have a few nursing shirts and absolutely love them! My favorite?? Momzelle!
#5 – Breast pump: If you ever want any hope of getting out of the house without baby for any length of time, you will definitely need a breast pump! It can be tricky to find the right one for you so make sure you read lots of reviews and get input from your local lactation consultant and/or other nursing mommy friends. And my advice? Don’t be used. I know this can be a hard one, especially when you can’t afford the nice one you want so bad.. But I’d recommend either saving up for that one you want or settle for a lesser version. If you buy a used pump, you risk contracting all sorts of different yucky bacteria and other things that is stuck in the pump (even if you sanitize).. My favorite?? medela!
Nursing can be a lot of work but it is definitely worth it and incredibly rewarding!!
What is your favorite nursing must-have??
*I was not paid by any of these companies to mention them in this post. All of them are truly my favorites and I wanted to share!*
|
There were a lot of things that I felt were necessary at first, but I found that eventually, all I really needed to nurse was a boob!
I had not heard about Momzelle before – thanks for the tip! I was not able to nurse, but I breastfed by pumping and posted earlier this week my 5 must-haves for exclusively pumping moms. I also loved my Medela pump!
A nursing cover is a MUST for breast feeding moms. I love mine, it allows me to nurse on the go anywhere, anytime.
Brilliant list! These are all of the things I loved, as well!
I am addicted to my Milkies milk catcher..I HATE pumping and I’m at SAHM but would love some milk in the freezer for emergencies…I got my milkies this week and have already saved up 3 ounces of milk and I’ve used it for 4 feedings only!! No more wasted milk dripping all over me while I nurse and I can slowly build up a freezer stash without any effort!
Breastpads, lanolin cream, and the Lansinoh soothies.
Great ideas! I love it! I will be using this for sure!
I needed a nursing pillow at first! My daughter is now 15 months old and the only thing I need now is her! I don’t even always cover up in public or with friends anymore. She usually pulls my shirt down when she is done!
I agree with the nursing attire! You need something that works to easily but also allows privacy allow you to feed your lo
For at home it was also nice having my iPad so I could read or FB or whatever to help keep me awake at those middle of the night feedings!!!!
i don’t necessarily agree with the nursing cover- maybe i’m a bit of a renegade momma but i just let my son eat when he’s hungry and if anyone cares~ well, it’s tough titties as they say!
i think more people need to see babies and children nursing- we are so conditioned to see breasts as sexual ‘items’ and not beautiful, natural & nurturing as they are and are meant to be! anywho! great list! 
i would definitely add the lansinoh lanolin nipple cream, and their soothies were wonderful when we were still learning the latch-on. breast pads absolutely, and even though my son is 21 months old i have found myself wishing i had some in the diaper bag a few times recently!! and after the first few months of staring adoringly at my son through all nursings (and at all times!) it was nice to have a book or two around to read a nip while he was breastfeeding! 
and now that my son is older i am hoping to find a necklace to wear that he will love playing with more than my other nipple!! 
I thought breastfeeding would be easy (despite being pregnant with twins) because God gave me these breasts. I thought The Babies and I would know instinctively how to use them. Totally not the case!!!
I lasted 6 weeks breastfeeding our boy/girl twins before we had to start feeding them formula.
I highly recommend the compounded nipple cream that you can get at compound pharmacies. Ask your doctor for a prescription and start using it about a month before your baby is due.
I needed my lanolin nipple cream at first, got me through for sure! Now things are smooth sailing without anything though
Thanks for the post… I tried nursing my first child but he had a bad latch and was very lazy and sleepy due to being born about 3 weeks early and being so tiny. It was a rough time for us with my grand father dying on same day my son was born (2 hours before he was born actually) I gave up on breastfeeding rather quickly and switched to pumping and bottle feeding. I pumped for 10 weeks, getting tons of extra at first and then having my supply slowly diminish there after. It was too much to sit and pump all the time and eventually we just ended up using formula. I really am hoping to breastfeed my second child. I am just hoping we can be more successful this time around!
I agree with your top 5 nursing must haves, those would be the 5 things I would Puck as well… I loved nursing my first baby and I cant wait to have another baby to nurse!
This is a very good list but I don’t know if I’d personally call them must-haves. Maybe more like really-nice-to-haves. I agree with the first poster above- all you really need is a boob.lol. oh, and support. Usually you must have support. I’ve given birth to six babies and I got to nurse five of them. I think my favorite thing for a small baby is a nursing pillow. I never did get to try a Boppy.
I think that I could have done without nursing attire, although it was a plus, and I only used the pillow the first 2 weeks and then not again until we were teaching her to sit up! The others I agree I feel I needed those!
Great stuff! Thanks for sharing
Being a first time nursing mom I am very glad that my mother told me to be sure to have all this stuff. I believe it all is most definitely is needed to make nursing easier. I would also add in nipple cream too. That was a life saver for the first week when she was not latching properly!
I didn’t think much of nursing tanks until I had to NIP. Now, I seriously can’t have enough!
I thought a used pump would probably be okay as long as you got new tubes and stuff! I guess I’d better do some more research!
Thank you SO much for this post! Breastfeeding is really intimidating to learn about and build your confidence!
That’s a great list for must-haves. I’ll have to share this with moms-to-be that I know.