Breastfeeding Must Haves

Breastfeeding Must Haves by justaddchampagne 

I wanted to share a few things that I have found to be the most helpful in breastfeeding the lil guy.  

First, and I didn't' find a pic to go with it, would be the support of other mothers. Know that breastfeeding is hard.  I can see and completely understand why some people choose not to ( I am all for FED is best). I wanted to give up right away, but I gave myself at least 2 months to try it and from that I learnt that there are some comforts to make it a bit easier.  I digressed. Sorry. Support from others. Know that we've all been there. We've all spent at least one night crying while your baby is crying because neither of you know how to latch properly. Know that every mother have questioned whether or not they have enough milk supply for their ever demanding child.

So yes, support is number one. And if you don't have any friends who are mothers try and get an appointment with a lactation consultant.  This was a godsend for us, as she told us our lil guy was tongue tied and that is why he couldn't latch properly. Problem solved.

Back to my beautiful picture.

Other must haves:

 - Water. You are supposed to drink at least 12-14 glasses of wter a day while breastfeeding. I have water bottles in every room. After every feeding session I try to down a glass, if not more. Its suprisingly how thirsty you get, which brings me to my next must have...

- Snacks.  You also get famished. I have bananas, granola bars, oatmeal cookies (which oatmeal helps boost supply), crakcers, etc everywhere.  The dogs love this I'm sure as they get to clean up the crumbs.

- Netflix and phone....aka entertainment. You sit on your ass a lot while feeding your babe. Might as well lose yourself in something mindless.  And the phone is handy to call in reinforcement, or to google something that  your 7 week old is doing that you aren't sure is 'normal' or not.

- Nursing Pillow. From my own opinion I'd suggest not getting the Jolly Jumper brand, as it slides away and really provides no pillow support whatsoever. But a pillow is definitely needed. The little babe gets heavy.

- Nursing bras/comfy sweater.  The first couple weeks I walked around topless (Sorry neighbours), so a nice comfy cardigan helped. Now that I got the hang of everything and H can last about 2.5-3 hours between feedings, I figured I should at least put a bra on. I'm not well endowed to begin with, so I find the soft bras comfier.

-Nursing covers. I like the ones that double as a scarf. While out in public, all the power to the women who can just bust out the boob, I am not that kind of girl. Sure, in my own home, but at the mall over some Chinese food, just can't do it.  Buy yourself a pretty one. You deserve it momma. Also, my tip to you is to get your baby used to feeding under it at  home, also it helps you practise maneuvering under it as well to avoid those flashing mistakes.

- A good Breast Pump. The one pictures here is Medela. I own an Avent one. I hear great things about the first one, and the later one is decent. Just very loud. I wish I had a hands free one as well, but it works well. I really wanted to pump, to give myself a break and let G in on the wonderful world of feeding. Do you research before hand to figure out what you like.

- Nipple Cream. Yup. They hurt. Especially in that first couple weeks of learning, so make sure you invest in a good brand. Your nipples will thank you.

Those are my must haves for breastfeeding.  By no means am I an expert, just passing along what I've found helpful.

:)