In case you didn’t know August 1st to the 7th is National Breastfeeding Week! So of course I had to make a post. One of my “CRUNCHY” mom attributes is breastfeeding. I made it one of my top priorities when I was pregnant with my first child and continued to do it for each of my children.
Which honestly wasn’t very popular then. I didn’t have a breastfeeding village that could help me. I did have a breastfeeding counselor I met by signing up for any and all breastfeeding classes near me and the one they have on staff for you at the hospital for after your baby is born. Pinterest also wasn’t big then so it was good ole google and determination that prepared me.
So if the me from 7 years ago had found this blog post I would have been in heaven!
Now I’m definitely not a pro at it… but I am “seasoned” and did my time. I did exclusively nurse 3 littles for longer than 12 months, so I know about some necessities.
Nipple Cream!
If you only listen to one thing on this list…. Id 100% say make this one it. Trust me your nipples will think me later! During those first two weeks your going to endure a pain you’ve never felt before. Nipple cream is going to be the only thing that saves your during that next nursing session. Apply it after each time your little one finishes nursing… and don’t be shy.
For all of my kids I used Lansinoh Lanolin Nipple Cream. I recommend getting this 3 pack of minis. That way you can keep one in your diaper bag, one by your regular nursing spot and a back up one incase one gets lost. And take one to the hospital with you. They are safe for your little one so no need to stress or freak out about that.
Breast Pads
At some point your going to want to leave the house, with our without your little one. And while your out and about…. Your going to leak at some point. I’ve actually leaked through my nursing pads quite a few times. When it happens, just consider it a right of passage and laugh it off.
Or you might want to go to sleep and at some point your little one is going to surprise you by sleeping a longer stretch than normal. Which is nice and all but your breast milk wont be regulated to that new schedule just yet and will fill up and be ready before your baby does. With my first two I used disposable ones and with my 3rd and 4th I used and continue to use reusable ones. I prefer the more eco friendly method. They held about the same and I could just wash and reuse them without having to worry about forgetting to purchase more. You might leak the entire time your nursing. I did!
Disposable ones
Eco friendly ones
Nursing Bras
This goes along with the “your going to want to leave the house at some point” I talked about above. And while there are numerous ways around owning one, you might as well just add it to the top of your list. At home you can rock all the double tanks, pre nursing bras, sports bras your want. Because we all know your not going to be wearing a shirt most of the time in the beginning any ways. But when yours out and about a quick unsnap and pull down is way easier and you can even fold it to hold your breast pad in place so it doesn’t fall out. Now there are nursing tanks too but I never got one. I would wear a cami under all my shirts already and didn’t like the idea of having to have a full shirt on if I didn’t want too. I would say two to three nursing bras are probably all you need. One to wear and one to wash and a back up for in between.
You can hand wash as you shower and just hang dry in your bathroom if your not feeling up to doing full loads. Same with your cloth nursing pads.
Electric Pump
Now for some this may not be a big thing to have. You don’t plan to go back to work or use bottles or anything and that’s perfectly fine. I didn’t think I needed one right away either. I fugred that could come later when back to work prepping started. Well I was wrong!!! When my milk came in I was so engorged that my tiny little newborn who didn’t have a clue how to nurse properly couldn’t latch on. Which meant he couldn’t eat and I had no way of getting milk out so he could and my breast just kept getting fuller and fuller! It was hell! My hubby actually had to run out at like midnight and pick one up right away. I tried to hand express in the shower but they were already to far gone for that and I didn’t even know how to even do that, AND my nipple were sore!
Now you don’t need some big fancy pump that costs like $200. I know some swear buy it, but unless your exclusively pumping and not feeding baby to your breast then the one I used will work just fine. It’s a single electric and does the job I need it too. Now if your exclusively pumping and using this one it might work but your also might burn out the motor since its not meant for that capacity of use.
To get your hands on the simple electric pump I used for home pumping with all of my kids.
Patience
Your going to need a ton of patience if you want to successfully breastfeed. Its not something that you master over night, you baby doesn’t automatically know how to do it and the nurses at the hospital will probably touch your boob more than anyone in your life besides your spouse. I highly recommend asking every one of them to help you latch your baby. They do it daily and each one will have different ways or tips that you can mingle together to create the method that works best for you. They are all checking your vajayjay already so might as well get the works lol.
But seriously, your nipples wont heal and stop hurting for about 2+ weeks and this is normal. And it will take longer than that before you and your little one get a groove going. Id say about 3-4 weeks is when you will make your first non-painful latch and its going to just be magical!!!
Are you a new mom or new to breastfeeding or are you a seasoned mom? Are any of these in your top 5? Would you ad anything different? Comment below and tell me. I love to hear what works for other mamas! Also if you wouldn’t mind sharing this on pinterest I’d greatly appreciate and so will all the other mamas looking for a list just like this.
XO Jessica
