These are a few of my favorite things-- Breastfeeding Style

So since my big post from yesterday was about my journey as a breastfeeding mom, I figured you might be wondering what products I have found to be invaluable on this year long adventure.  The most important thing I could have had was my Medela Pump in Style Advanced Breast Pump.  I had to go back to work when Destructo was 12 weeks old and to make nursing work, I had to pump 2-3 times a day to keep my supply up.  This pump is a double electric pump so it shortens the time it takes and worked very well.  I was able to store all my pump parts, bottles, etc.  in the tote bag and also my snacks.  It came with a battery pack which was nice the few times I needed to pump and didn't have access to electricity, think when I went to the Breeders Cup at Churchill Downs.  There customer service is also impeccable.  I dropped my pump and the face plate broke and they sent me a new one free of charge. 

Lanolin was a lifesaver in those first few sore weeks of nursing.  I liked the Lansinoh brand the best, although I have heard that there are more eco-friendly options out there I just had gotten a few tubes of this at my shower so this is what I used.  During the first few weeks, I truly felt like I needed to invest in stocks for breast pads for all the leaking I did.  I liked the Lansinoh brand of these as well although my goal next time is to find a washable brand that I like.  Anyone have any suggestions?  I also used the Lansinoh Breast Milk Storage Bags for storing the pumped milk.  I actually preferred the Medela Pump & Save Breastmilk Storage Bags, but the Lansinoh ones fit on the Playtex Baby Drop-ins Premium Nurser Bottles.

Until Destructo started showing a horrible preference for bottles, we used the Playtex nurser bottles with the slow flow nipple.  But once he started going on a nursing strike, I decided to try the The First Years Breastflow  bottles.  These actually helped Kai improve his latch and we used these from six months until he weaned off bottles just past a year old.  I used the slow flow (level one) nipples the entire time.

The Boppy Pillow was a lifesaver for me to help with positioning and what not at first.  I still use it to this day.  I also got two extra covers and a waterproof cover since he was a spitter upper when he was small.  I will actually buy another one if we have another baby to keep in the car for when we are out and about or at someone else's house.  Two other products that I used a lot (especially in the early days) were Milkies Milk-Saver  which allowed me to collect the milk that leaked during let down in the early days.  (I actually got nearly three ounces one time.)  Also, NUK/Gerber Warm Or Cool Relief Pack were a life saver.  You can heat them or freeze them and put them on when you are oh so sore at first.  I had a lot of clogged ducts and would heat these up and use them to help with that.

Oh and I just wanted to mention that the website http://kellymom.com/ is a wealth of info for new breastfeeding moms (and even those of us that are a year in!)  I also really liked the book The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.  It is very pro breastfeeding and it's tone can be a little biased because of that, but it is a great source of information.

I am going to be doing posts in the near future about the early days of breastfeeding, common problems and their solutions, and being a milk cow aka being a working mom and pumping.  So stay tuned!

Edited to add:  I can't believe I forgot about the one product that most helped me keep my sanity when he was a newborn.  I bought a Salter 914 Electronic Baby and Toddler Scale to let me do a weighed feeding.  Now this is not nearly as accurate as the one the lactation consultants use, but it was accurate enough to let me make sure he was getting a few ounces.  When we were thick in the middle of not gaining well, I would do weighed feedings all day just to make sure we were coming somewhere near the 30 oz a day my pediatrician was recommending.

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