7 Breastfeeding Necessities

7 Breastfeeding Necessities for new moms (includes affiliate links)

One of the best things that I did during my first pregnancy was signing up for a Lamaze class. It wasn’t a hardcore plan just something I decided to sign up for to kill the time and well it was free. Who passes up on free parenting education? Not me. I was already 8 months along and only 6 weeks away from the big day. Well, actually let’s make that 6 weeks and 1 day since she was a day late. By that time I had already read What to Expect When You’re Expecting, the first time mom bible. I had also decided that I was going to breastfeed my daughter. I figured that my body was designed for breastfeeding, how hard could it be right? Well actually wrong.

By my second Lamaze class, I realized that I knew NOTHING about breastfeeding and I decided that I needed to do some real research. I spent my time at the library and I may or may not have called my instructor a few times but I wanted to ensure that I armed myself with enough information to be able to breastfeed. I’m not sure why I was so adamant about breastfeeding but I made sure that I knew everything about breastfeeding positions, rules, and diet but  I never bothered to investigate what products I would NEED. I mean I had boobs that were growing by the second. I didn’t need a thing. Again. Wrong.

Now that I’ve breastfed two children within the past four years, I know that there are 7  breastfeeding  necessities you’ll need beside boobs 😛

1. Nipple Cream

After giving birth, my baby latched on well and all was going fine except that I found myself in pain with cracked nipples. I quickly asked for solutions in my birth club and another mom recommended Earth Mama Angel Baby Natural Nipple butter.  I was so happy that I got it, this butter was really effective at healing and I loved the texture and smell of it. I only needed for the first few weeks but it was so good that I made sure that I had it before giving birth to my second child.

2. Nursing Bra

There is no way you could navigate nursing with your regular bra (comfortably) so you’re going to need some nursing bras. Here’s a brand that makes non-grandma looking ones, you can thank me later.

3. Nursing Pillow

Regardless of the position that you choose to nurse your baby in you’re going to need a nursing pillow. They aren’t too shabby for your back either 🙂 I LOVE the Boppy Pillow , not only have I used it for nursing but tummy time, sitting up, propping head and while I type this, it’s behind my back.

 

4. Pump

So here is one thing I didn’t think I would need right away because I wasn’t really planning on going out much without my baby. Well, after the second night of exhaustion Mr. Rattles decided to take things into his own hands and purchased a pump. The first one was a hand pump and it was so painful to use that we went back to buy a better one before the day was over. The Pump In Style Advanced was a lifesaver and it lasted me two pregnancies. Plus, I still have it. I owe all the beauty sleep I got to this pump. The moral of my story, if you want any sleep, get a pump. A good one.

5. Milk Storage

Once you pump you’re going to need storage for your milk especially if you want to create a stash. I used the Medela Pump & Save breast milk bags because they attached seamlessly to my pump and I was able to record the date that I pumped. These bags are freezer friendly and capable of standing (they are a tad bit floppy) but I used them with both of my babies to store milk.

 

6. Bottles

 

One of the things I was really concerned about was nipple confusion, I was scared that if my babies were fed with bottles they would later reject breast milk. My Lamaze instructor really stressed the importance of avoiding nipple confusion. My daughter wanted nothing to do with bottles and went straight to sippy cups at 9 months but my sons loved the Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow Glass Bottles. These bottles mimic the flow of breastfeeding and help the baby to go between nursing from mom and bottle.

 

 7. Nursing Pads

Nursing pads are necessary to protect your clothing from leaks and stains. I kept extra nursing pads in all of my bags just to ensure  I had no accidents. Plus, with mom brain there were a few times I forgot to put them on and luckily had one in my bag. This is one of the reasons, I like wearing blazers and vests while nursing newborns because they hide leaks.

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What products would you add to this list?