Milking It For All Its Worth (Nursing Must Haves)

Nursing is hard.  Really hard.  I don't think I've met anyone who said it was a total cakewalk.  You are literally having life sucked out of you.  There are TONS of benefits, but any woman who does it should get R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Here are some things that is making baby feeding better:

Evenflo glass bottles - Plastics are great and have their place. I just want to minimize any risk of leaching.  I work part time and have only needed/used 4.

Dr. Brown's nipples - They have the best reputation for proper flow & age.  It's easy to just buy them and replace them on the bottles you already have.

Breast pump -  Ameda Purely Yours.  It was a good price and has worked very well so far.  The lactation center at my hospital really love both Ameda & Medela, but I've also heard great things about the Ameda Customer service.  Hopefully I'll never have to use them though.

If you need the above, then - Lansinoh Breastmilk Bags - These have worked great so far.  I usually only refrigerate them, but I've frozen a few, and they hold up, no problem!

Boon Grass drying rack (the largest size) - It's not that big, but big enough for my pumping accessories & a couple of bottles.  It's cute to look at in a sea of exhaustion.

A great water bottle - You'll be thirsty.  ALL. THE. TIME.

KIND bars - See above, but apply it to being hungry.  These are gluten and dairy free if those are problems, and they taste really good.

Boppy - As mentioned in the previous post.

Comfortable place to nurse - For some, this means a rocker/glider.  Those things are ugly, but man, are they comfortable for nursing.  I would love to have one (despite the look), but space issue preclude it.  Instead, at about the 5th month, I made sure we updated our 8 year old couch.  I Craiglisted it and got a new one.  It reclines quite a bit and is very soft.  You want it to be as simple as possible (other than a nightstand for your necessities) since you WILL be sleep deprived.  And keep the floor areas clear as possible.  I have a few shin bruises from a few unfortunately place ottomans.

Nursing tops - I actually am still navigating this hurdle.  I know I do like nursing vs. regular tops. I have a few Milkstars shirts and a Japanese Weekend. I like them both.  I'm not a huge fan of the ON ones though... :(  I liked their maternity though.

Nursing bras - See above.  I've actually just used the cheapest ones I could find (with good reviews of course) on Amazon and a couple of ones on Sale from the Lactation center.  They work just fine.

Nursing pads -  I had never heard of these until my baby shower.  I continue to thank the girl who gave me these to this day.  They're basically cotton pads that soak up extra milk that flows out.  I buy the Lansinoh ones in bulk.

Lanolin - I had heard about this during the class.  And while I hope for the best and prepare for the worst, in the back of my mind, I was kinda thinking I'd be one of those freak people who have a phenomenal experience right off the bat.  I wasn't.  But this stuff is great.  Expressing extra milk didn't relieve anything for me.  The same girl who gave me the pads, gave me a tube of Lanolin.  She's totally my hero.

Baby Gear Must Haves

I recently posted a comment on a blog where someone asked for recommendations of baby stuff to get.  After a long winded response (like all my responses typically are), I realized that It would be good to write it all out, explanations and all.  So here it is.

I have searched other blogs for months since February looking at various 'must have' lists. Now that the boy is 4 months old, I have a few of my own.

Aden & Anais blankets - don't bother with the others, they're way too small to do anything. These are lightweight, so the babies don't overheat in your swaddle.  You can always double wrap if you need more thickness, or just put on more clothes underneath. They make a great light diffuser for the carseat or stroller as well.

Miracle blanket - When the A&A's don't work (depending on if you've got a wiggler on your hands).  We use these for sure at night, and the A&A's during the day to keep him light (I've got a little furnace). I personally got three after being caught without one once.  Never again.  The other 'pre made' swaddles are either too thick (you can always bundle them up more, you don't need that), or too easy to slip/get out of.  Just watch the video on the website people, it's really not that hard.  Plus, when it's your first kid, you are all thumbs with swaddling.  This blanket helps you when you just need to give up and take a nap yourself.

Flannel Waterproof Mats - We just put them down where he is laying.  Containment is key. :) http://www.toysrus.com/product... - these are great and are cheap in a pack of two.  We got 3 packs and have used them all.

Prefold Cloth diapers - THEY. ARE. AWESOME.  They're super cheap and you use them all the time.  Burp rag? Check.  Spill needs wiped? Check.  Drool needs mopping?  Check (When I received these as a gift, I was all, "WTH, I'm cloth diapering, but this is not what I meant," but they're so much better than the colored, polyester theme stuff you find, as cute as they may be.).  I use them everyday, all the time.

Dr. Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block - Check either the book or DVD out of the library (I'm sure there's stuff on youtube too).  I liked his overall method of handling kids in general (with the sleep thing too, he has another book on that as well).  I suppose I should also mention the Baby Whisperer.  I got her books from the library too, but didn't really read them until after the baby arrived. Which is bad, because I didn't really read them then either (I just birthed a baby, I was a little preoccupied).  I skim read.  If I had a problem, I'd look it up specifically.  I used the schedule.  I think her Babyese is great and super helpful.  I LOVE the fact that she encourages paying attention to your baby (it sounds stupidly obvious, but is truly THE most important thing to do).  I just like Karp's overall style better.  Maybe I'll do a side by side comparison someday.

Kimono/Side snap onsies -  My baby has a big head.  I can still get the regular ones on, but I just prefer these best.  Some peeps love zippers.  Me?  I'm all thumbs and things get caught in zippers easily.  It's totally up to you what kind you want.  I also want to say that my babe was just swaddled for about the first....4 weeks of his life.  We would put him in a snap up to go out to the Ped's or if we went on walks, but he was such a little oven (and I was skiddish about too much stuff rubbing against the bellybutton), I just swaddled him with just a diaper.  Total mom judgement call.  When he did start wearing onsies, we only used about 6 in a rotation.  No need for tons and tons. Now that we're older, we use more, but if it we needed bare minimums, I'd say 6 long sleeved onsies, 6 short sleeved onsies, 6 pants, 6 socks and 3 zip up sweatshirts in each size.

A Boppy - Before the baby, I thought this was useless.  After weeks with breastfeeding uncomfortably, my mother-in-law asked me one day if I wanted anything from Babies R Us.  I hesitantly asked for one. I now LOVE my Boppy.  As with most everything, it takes some getting used to (it makes sense now, it takes a while to break in your pillow), and it took a while for me to figure out where to put it while not in use, but it's such a great help when feeding my wiggle wart.  There are other brands too BTW. I think me mentioning the boppy is one of those 'idea' recommendations.

Pacifiers - this is totally a mom call (and when I say mom, I mean parents, but USUALLY dad will defer to mom since she typically spends more time with the kid. I said typically.  Please don't yell at me.).  I figure that the kid doesn't even know -what- his hand is, let alone know how to use it. And sucking is like second nature, they like/need to suck.  Making sure that they're cleaned regularly, and changing them out ever couple of weeks or so, I think using them as a soothing tool & sleep is great. I keep it out of his mouth if that doesn't apply, which is about 75% of the time.  I like Avent brand as they come with snap on covers (a necessity for cat & dog owners so they don't get eaten) and they don't leave an outline on their mouth (btw, he's using his hand more now, and the pacifier less and less).

Gas relief drops -  I really wanted to be as natural as possible.  And by natural I mean naturally occurring and non-harmful to infants (arsenic is natural, just FYI).  But when it became painfully apparent that I couldn't figure out what diet changes I could do (more on that later) and the natural stuff just wasn't working, I did what I had to do.  I took my pediatrician's recommendation and tried gas drops with simethicone.  I chose Equate Infants Gas Relief.  It worked like a dream.

Baby nail clippers - baby nails grow FAST.  And SHARP.  You will be AFRAID.  People say to cut them when the baby's asleep, but aren't they supposed to be wrapped?  I'm here to give you hope people.  It's not that bad.  You can do it. Just remember to cut them when they fall asleep unwrapped (it does happen occasionally). And if you don't, you run the risk of that beautiful little face becoming something akin to a Jack the Ripper movie.

SkipHop Diaper Clutch  - Very good.  If I were a purse girl, I'd be able to just tuck this in and be done with it.  But I'm not.  So I put it in the diaper bag. We actually use an old projector bag as our diaper bag.  Use what you got.

I got a travel sleep sheep since it's the same thing as the normal one, but smaller and cheaper.  White noise isn't magic for my boy, but it helps a bit.

Try out as many carrier as you can and try and use them early on.  I like the idea of Ergobaby w/ the infant insert (great for the spine/hips, unlike the bjorn) and you can use it for a long time, but my guy has to be walked around a bit so that he get used to it every time we wear it (started wearing at around 2 months).  I've used it successfully on a plane trip though.  I also have a Moby with limited success, but other peeps love that too.  Moral of the story:  TRY THEM OUT FIRST.  And start them early.  I'll definitely do this next time.

Anything you recommend?  Let me know, I love a good tip. :)