Due in 5 weeks, want to breast feed. What do I need?

[RockLovesMincePies]

This will be my 2nd child, but I gave up breastfeeding my dd (now 6) after about 5 days out of sheer frustration.

I am due dc2, a little boy, at the end of Jan and this time round I am determined to give breast feeding a good go this time. But I am not sure what, if any, equipment I actually need.

At some point I would like to try and express so that DP can have a chance to feed his son, also in the hope that we can get out together occasionally which means leaving baby with a family member.

So, what do I need to buy and what are the best makes? Looking at the breast pumps that are available the electric ones are way out of our price range, are the manual ones any good?

Any advice will be gratefully received.

Information, information, and information.

If you're going to buy books and read stuff on websites, make sure you're reading accurate stuff written by people who know what they're talking about. Bad information can literally wreck your chances. Don't assume that just because someone has written a book/is a famous baby guru, they know anything about breastfeeding.

Good books that you can trust have been written by Dr Jack Newman, Dr Mary Renfrew, Ina May Gaskin, La Leche League, Kate Evans, I'm sure there are others I've forgotten. The best website is Kellymom. Note the conspicuous absence of famous baby gurus from my list

Be wary of advice proffered by professionals without any BF-specific training, and advice from those who have not actually breastfed a baby themselves. The most highly skilled helpers out there are, in no particular order, lactation consultants and breastfeeding counsellors from La Leche League, NCT, BfN and ABM.

Sorry Bagabee, CBC's book may have been great for you, but I really wouldn't recommend it.

Some of her advice is awful - like giving baby a random bottle of ebm or formula, then 'emptying' your breasts with a pump to see how much milk you are making! A) breasts don't get 'empty' and B) expressing is not a good indicator of supply.

She also doesn't seem to believe in feeding on cue/on demand which is very important especially in the first couple of months.

I'd go for:

one box breast pads - I didn't even leak so just used them to keep the Lansinoh off my clothes!

Lansinoh for the first few weeks/months

Lots of time on this forum/site to make use of all the great advice.

some soft bibs and muslins to catch milky dribbles and pukes.

Some way of getting comfy - either a bf or ordinary pillow maybe.

Books/tv/dvds/computer.

big jug of water for when thirsty and some easy snacks, I had a load of cereal bars and stuff.

I got a hand pump at first to express when DS was struggling with his tongue tie, I bought an electric one for going back to work though. Expressing is so much of a faff I only did it when I had to. DH was happy doing lots of other things and only an occasional bottle of ebm.

number 1 thing - confidence in your ability to do it. With the right advice and support and the confidence to not listen to doubters my MIL asking if it was normal for him to feed so often at 2 weeks old you should be fine. If not all the ladies on here are great with advice on how to proceed.