Breastfeeding. Here is a subject that is so close to my heart and has had such a huge impact in my life. I exclusively breastfed both of my boys. My breastfeeding journey lasted for a whole 3 years, 2 months, and 28 days. I didn’t stop nursing my oldest during my pregnancy with my youngest, not even when I dried up. I nursed my boys together for a couple weeks before I finally had to wean my oldest because I wasn’t sleeping or eating enough to keep up nursing both babies. My oldest was 23.5 months old when I weaned him and my youngest was just about 17 months exactly when he weaned.
I want to take everything I learned over those three years and share it with other mothers and soon to be mothers. I have written a couple other posts on my breastfeeding experiences, but this post is dedicated to the supplies I used.
***This post contains affiliate links. You can read more about this on my Disclosure Page.
Baby Carrier & Nursing Cover
My number one, all time, MOST USEFUL baby item I ever had was my Tula Baby Carrier. For breastfeeding especially, my Tula was a lifesaver. On long days and nights when my babies just wanted to be walked around, I wouldn’t have made it without my Tula. It also let me nurse my babies while doing other things around the house. Nursing in public was also made so much easier, and more discrete, with the help of my Tula.
I didn’t really ever use nursing covers, but the one that my friends used most and the one I would have tried if I needed one would have been this one. I love how versatile it is. You can use it as a car seat cover when baby is sleeping, or even wear it as an infinity scarf. They are also super light weight and soft material.
Clothing Essentials
Nursing friendly clothing, especially in public if you want any discretion at all, is absolutely essential while breastfeeding your baby. Nursing bras and tank tops were incredibly convenient and required minimal adjusting to feed the baby in public or at home (who am I kidding? I didn’t wear much clothing on the top half of my body at home in those breastfeeding years). A lot of my wardrobe was my maternity clothes and some of the bigger pre pregnancy clothes I had. It’s definitely easy to make non-nursing clothes work for you. I often layered a t shirt over a tank top when I was going out with the baby. I did have a few dresses that were easy to nurse in but no official “nursing dresses”. I would have loved to try one like this dress pictured below.
Pumping Supplies
Even if you are a stay at home mom, you will likely find yourself pumping at some point along your breastfeeding journey. I pumped way more with my first than my second, but ultimately ended up donating almost all the milk to a friend instead of using it for my own baby. I tried several brands and varieties of the products below and these are by far my favorite. I would recommend them to any mom who needs to pump!
Pain & Discomfort Relief
Unfortunately, leaking, pain, and all sorts of other discomforts are a part of almost every breastfeeding mother’s journey. I personally used each of these products to make the journey a little smoother.
Breastfeeding was the craziest, most up and down roller coaster of a journey I have ever been on. There were days and nights where breastfeeding saved me, because I had no other way to soothe my baby. There were also many days and nights when I wasn’t sure how I would continue. It’s been over a year now since I weaned my second baby. Somedays I still can’t believe it’s actually all behind me. It really was a wonderful blur. I hope I can keep the memories of my sweet babies nursing in my mind forever.
About Cherí
My name is Cherí Baker. I live in Utah with my husband and two young boys. I started this blog as a creative outlet and connect with other mothers by sharing my experiences. I believe in constantly bettering myself and each day I try to be a little bit better than the day before. I want to help other moms learn the value in taking care of themselves and becoming the best possible version of themselves they can imagine. I would love to connect with you here, through email, or on Facebook in my Mom Life Simplified Support Group!
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