Breastfeeding Essentials List
Breastfeeding Necessities: EVERYTHING I think you might need to know
Ok let me start with—this was my first baby! I had no idea what or where my breastfeeding/pumping journey would lead me. If you nurse 100% of the time this post may not be for you. But if you travel and pump or travel with baby and bring pump parts this may be for you. I reached out to several of my friends who are actually exclusive pumpers and they sent me so much information and must have items for breastfeeding. This post will include travel tips with breastmilk, traveling with a nursing baby and more! So buckle up and get your pen and paper out! We have a wild ride of breastfeeding FUN ahead of us! This is a long post and I highly suggest saving it/pinning/putting it your bible to live by.
This may seem sporadic but these are items I felt I needed at some point in time while on this nursing/pumping journey with some travel thrown in.
If you are planning to pump—by law insurance is required to pay for an electric pump. Most insurances will cover a double electric pump. Do your research and ensure that you are not getting the short end of the stick. Several different websites rejected me for my pump and we live in a rural area and there are ZERO medical supply stores in the area that will provide a pump. I finally logged into the actual medela website and from there is was a breeze. ALSO—breast pumps are tax deductible so keep your receipt. I used the medela pump in style advanced I paid extra for it to come with the backpack, medela four bottle cooler/ice pack combo and a battery pack as well.
One thing I did not have but several of my friends swore by it is the Baby Brezza Bottle Sterilizer and Dryer. I used the good ol’ fashion hot water, soap, white vinegar to soak bottles/parts weekly and boiling water to sterilize. I used dawn dish soap just because I did not want to have cleaning multiple products BUT several friends used the Dapple bottle soap. When I traveled and needed to bring soap I would use the travel shampoo bottles you can find at Target or Walgreens and fill that with the soap I use. When we went to Puerto Rico I ended up buying a small travel soap there. One tip I do recommend is just keeping a large tupperware bowl in the sink as your dump all for dirty stuff. We used the comotomo bottles and we only had four of those for the newborn stage and as his ounces increased we bought four of the bigger comotomo bottles. If you like doing anything else besides holding bottles while you pump then this product is for you. They make several different styles but I used the medela hands free pumping bra. WORTH EVERY PENNY! Another option that a lot of women swear by if you are willing to spend some extra dollars is the Ollie Gray bra. It is an option to wear a bra that turns into a pumping bra. (technology these days)!
Medela actually makes several helpful products to have while on the go. One product that is a lifesaver if traveling and staying in hotel rooms and needing to sterilize bottles/parts is the medela quick cleaning bag that can go in the microwave. Another product that I used were these Medela Wipes that clean pump parts on the go. I pumped in the car quite a bit so these were helpful when I just needed to wipe my pump parts quickly. Speaking of pumping in the car and on the go if you plan to do this if you are getting a Spectra the S2 has a battery function so you can pump ANYWHERE. Another option is the Spectra S9 and the Bella Baby which are also both portable/battery operated. For my medela I used this car adapter.
If you have nursed before or pumped you know your nipples are about to go through the ringer if you are about to start this journey. My friend Kellse suggested these Lansinoh Soothies to me. I SWEAR BY THEM and nipple butter. I had a legit fear that my nipples were just going to fall off but as my Aunt Colleen says they just need to get a little “roughed” up. Don’t worry they do an these soothies and nipple butter will save the day. Another product I used in the early days were these reusable nursing pads. You could toss them in the wash and after coating my nipples with the butter I would toss these on top to allow for some healing in between sessions. One last product that can help with soothing are the Lansinoh Breast Therapy Packs. The heat can help with clogs. I also utilized just a regularly heating pad and would wrap it around my boob. Another item that sounds crazy that they sell specifically for clogs is a vibrator. I used my clarisonic on clogs but you can find breastfeeding specific vibrator on Amazon. Between and a vibrator this was a savior for my clogged ducts.
PUMP PARTS: Make sure you buy extra. Have at least 2-3 sets—I promise this will make your life easier! For my medela I replace my parts about every 3 months which is about average for everyone. If you are a solo pumper flanges and duckbills should be replaced about monthly. I always ordered my pump parts from Amazon. It was helpful when I needed them in a hurry!
For the travelers— for long hauls not just like a small car ride. But like flying cross country or gone for a week or leaving the baby and hauling over 200 ounces home from Texas or Puerto Rico a good bag cooler and ice pack will be your “breast” friend. We also purchased an ice pack that will slide into the side or lay on top to keep cool. When flying frozen breastmilk does not have to be tested. I REPEAT they DO NOT have to test frozen breast milk. One single swipe of one bag in the cooler is FINE. There are rules and laws and regulations. Look them up and be well versed. Some guy tried to unpack like 75 bags of frozen breast milk in the Amarillo airport. I told him 5 times and finally his supervisor came over and validated what I was saying. Another travel tip with breast milk is if you are traveling with a baby or not with a baby if you have fresh or non frozen milk combine it into one large container. I used a large hydroflask to keep it in one container so they only have to test one item. I also utilized the travel Boon Lawn drying rack for our trips. But if you want to keep it separated into individual bottles if they are under 4 ounces they do not have to test the milk.
Ok MOVING ON! Told you this was a long post. Next topic is supplements. There is a lot of controversy surrounding supplements what to take and what not to take. Personally, to help my supply I drank hot tea called Mother’s Milk that I purchased at Kroger and Bud Light. I don’t know if the Bud Light helped my supply or calmed my nerves to allow me to relax and increase my supply. Either way I had an oversupply. WATER, WATER, WATER! Just when you think you can’t drink anymore water drink about 32 ounces it will be your best friend. Another thing that helped me was oatmeal every morning for breakfast with any type of juice, body armor, gatorade, powerade. SOMETHING to keep you hydrated. That is the most important thing truly. Because I was/am prone to clogged milk ducts I regularly take Sunflower Lecithin. Please consult your OB prior to starting but a lot of lactation consultants recommend this to help “grease” your milk ducts. Another product that a lot women I know use were the Legendairy Milk Products they have an array of products to help meet your needs.
How do you warm breast milk? Well that is a fabulous question because I had no idea. We purchased the Dr. Brown’s bottle warmer and have been more than happy with it. We not only warmed milk in it we also sterilized pacifiers and small toys. If using comotomo bottles you should warm milk in the bottles you have pumped into. If you are putting milk into storage bags I would warm that milk in hot water in a glass. Speaking of milk storage bags I used only the Lansinoh storage bags. I did have some issues with them leaking during the thawing process so I would put the milk bags into a container while in the fridge.
A touch of some advice—NEVER quit on a bad day!
As always if there are any specific questions on my process or how I did things or if I can help you in any way let me know. Breastfeeding/Pumping is HARD. There is nothing easy about this process. It can be overwhelming and annoying and painful and rewarding.
