Mommy Must Haves: Feeding

1. Lansinoh Disposable Nursing Pads. These are indispensable for keeping your clothes dry and presentable in the, ahem, chest area at all times when breast feeding. I use the Lansinoh brand and I like them because they adhere to the inside of your bra with adhesive and they are thick enough to hold moisture yet slim enough to not bulk you up.

 2. Lanolin Cream. Breast feeding can be painful (read-cracked and blistered nipples hurt like you-know-what) and Lanolin cream soothes sore nipples like nobody's business. Splurge on this. Your nipples will thank you.

3. Medela Pump in Style Breast Pump. Has. Been. A. Godsend. Seriously. Not only does it help alleviate engorged boobs from all that milk, but pumping helps you increase your milk supply AND it allows you to be able to LEAVE THE HOUSE since someone else can just pour some already pumped breastmilk into a bottle and presto! you've got yourself a bonafide Mommy break.

4. Simple Wishes Hands Free Breast Pump Bra. No question, the most ridiculous looking thing EVER but TRUST ME, this will change your life. The first couple of weeks I pumped without this thing and I couldn't do anything but sit there and hold the pumps with both hands for like 20 minutes. Any Mom will tell you that multi-tasking is a must and now I happily sport this sucker whenever I pump so that I can do other things like write this blog post, for example. ;)

5. Medela Pump and Save Breastmilk Storage Bags. Gotta have something to store all that valuable breast milk in. I use these and while some say that they don't hold enough milk, I've found them to be the perfect size for what I need. Our freezer is fast becoming overrun by these little bags!

6. Lifefactory Glass Baby Bottle with Silicone Sleeve. You read everywhere about plastic warnings so just to be on the safe side we got these glass beauties to use for Cole's feedings. He took to them right away and I love the heaviness of them coupled with the great design. I'm also looking forward to repurposing them in the future for juice, snacks, etc. Bonus is that they are dishwasher safe-silicone cover included! (If only I had a dishwasher...but that's a story for another day ;)

7. Boppy Pillow/My Brest Friend. We were gifted both and while I still think that any old pillow will suffice, when you are first trying to get the hang of the whole breast feeding thing, it's nice to have some "tried and true" tools like these structured pillows to help you along. I think the edge goes to the boppy though, because you can also use it as a "seat" for your baby and later they can even do some tummy time action on there too. I'm all about things with multiple uses!

8. Daily Calendar. You will need something to record every feeding/pump/poop/pee and I've found that a small calendar with both monthly and daily squares for writing has been most helpful. I can write Cole's appointments (as well as my own) on the monthly calendar while recording each day's feedings, etc. on the daily one and they are all in one place. I also write down any questions I have for the Doctor and take it in with me to Cole's appointments so that I can reference my questions and not forget anything. Doctors really appreciate it when you don't waste their time that way!

9. Nursing Bras. If you breastfeed you must have at least three of these. At least! Thank you to whichever wonderful woman invented these things because they really do save time and sanity-two things that are in rare supply these days ;). (On a sidenote-you know this photo below is a total advertisement because what tired Mom of a newborn is going to take (or have!) the time to put on a full face of makeup like this chick has going on?!? Let's be real people.)

10. Button Down Pajamas. My Mom bought me some similar to these at Target and I've worn them almost every night since we came home from the hospital. It's just way easier to breastfeed in the middle of the night when you don't have to pull up an old t-shirt (my usual pj top of choice) and you can just whip open a button instead. Plus, you stay warmer and with winter upon us, that's always a good thing!

 11. Some sage advice (and support!). Probably the most important thing-breast feeding is hard. And it's not something that comes naturally at first (at least for me it didn't). Take the time and make the effort to reach out to someone who can help you and "hold your hand" in a way. For me, the nurses at our hospital were a big help as well as a lactation consultant who I called the first week in because things just didn't seem to be working right. I also had my amazing Mom, who I called one morning early because I was in so much pain and in less than an hour she had taken off work for the day, asked her co-worker/friend who knows a lot about breastfeeding for her advice, and come over to help me sort things out. I'm not one for asking for help, but just do it. It will make your life that much easier and get you on the road to pumping/feeding freedom so much faster!

These are my Mommy Must Haves for feeding. Yours might be different, but this is what worked for me! :)

Mommy A