BF - what equipment is really necessary?

[LionRock]

First baby. As a general principle I'm keen to get the genuine essentials before the baby arrives and buy other stuff once we know what we actually need or will find useful. (I don't like being manipulated by marketers!)

So, I plan to breastfeed and am getting conflicting info on what's essential equipment. I'd appreciate others' thoughts and experiences.

I'm thinking the essentials are nursing bras, breast pads and Lansinoh (or similar). Do I need to buy a steriliser though? My thoughts are that I only need one if either expressed breast milk or formula is given to an infant under 6m old.

thanks

tryharder, ditto on the Poang chair! I got one with arms, which the HV looked askance at cos she said the arms might get in the way of feeding, but like gaelicsheep I find that arms on a chair are often better than having none, so long as you're sure that the baby's head won't bang on them.

If you do have a breastfeeding counsellor locally I'd seriously recommend trying to meet with them before you give birth. That way if you do need to contact them at some weird hour of the day or night at least they'll know who you are and you won't feel guilty (or a bit mad!) for disturbing them. DS was due at Christmas and the lovely bf counsellor said I could call her any time, even Christmas Day, if I needed help and she'd come straight round!

cushion - leaves your 2 hands free to wrestle newborn mouth/nipple together in the early days

chocolate

insulated mug for tea (so it hasn't gone cold by the time you've done the mouth/nipple wrestle)

tv remote

more chocolate and the occasional banana

my sis-in-law is due this month and this is what I'm going to put in a gift basket for her (minus the TV remote!)

oh and a copy of the book The Food of Love! I've given her this already for encouragement... lovely, lovely book.

Thanks again for all your advice and for sharing positive stories. So to summarise: I need boobs and somewhere comfortable to sit while feeding / eating chocolate

That's pretty much it, yep

Drop down bras
Muslins (I used to tuck one under my boob so milk didn't run down my tummy when DS was feeding)
Breast pads (I needed them for the first few months and again when I went back to work and wasn't feeding DS during the day. Asda or Tesco, can't remember which were best, they had the sticky bits on)
Lansinoh (Don't buy in advance in case you don't need it. It is invaluable though if you get a blister, and a little goes a long way. DH now uses it on his feet )
Biscuit tin
One of those flask mug thingies (I didn't have one but I will next time)
Never used a cushion or pillow.

YY The Food of Love. I learned more from that book than from any of prenatal classes or midwives.

Haven't read the whole thread so sorry if I'm repeating.

Don't buy the Lansinoh, I never had to use it.

Baby.

Breasts.

The numbers of any local Bfing Counsellors, preferably packed in your hospital bag and the numbers of the national Bfing Helplines too.

also, find out the details of any local bfing support groups and try to go along before the baby arrives.

Things that aren't essential but may be nice are a freezer full of pre-cooked meals, lots of cake and a couple of box sets of your favourite tv show. You will be watching tv alot

Good luck.

The Food of Love is amazing - and it's even published in a format that means it stays open on your lap for easy reading whilst feeding!

Libby Purves' book "How Not to be a Perfect Mother" is also good for bfing and other stuff. It's upfront about bfing being really tough at first, but she illustrates the "selfish" reasons to bf as well as the "good for baby" stuff.

On the subject of books (bit off topic I know)...if you're just going to get one baby book, 'The Baby Book' by Dr William Sears and Martha Sears RN is my recommendation - lots of bfing advice and support but also pretty much everything else you need to know until your LO is 2.

I would just get a bra or two unless you live in the outer hebrides or on the moon lansinoh and breastpads are easily available at most grocers / chemists / 24 hour supermarkets.

Never needed breastpads or lansinoh.

When I began expressing at 4m, I used an old ice cream tub and Milton's fluid to sterilise initially as i don't trust my washing up skills but eventually just did them in the sink.

I am still at being ripped off for my pump though. £85 for something that's about as electronically sophisticated as the average toy car...you can buy 3 DVD players for that! Still it was for my PFB.

Just marking myself on this thread as I'll be BFing when LO arrives at the beginning of June and couldn't BF with DS1, so know nothing.

Love these threads btw, sooooo helpful and full of priceless advice.

Thank you fellow MNtrs

Here's a link to the Food of Love book on amazon, in case anyone else is interested:

www.amazon.co.uk/Food-Love-Formula-Successful-Breastfeeding/dp/0954930959/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299164264&sr=8-1

There's a few books and films out there that I hit first. Exciting internet searching! They seemed more useful in terms of How To Get Up The Duff rather than how to cope with the aftermath.

Sticky toffee pudding. My midwife told me to eat lots of it (the local cafe did a particularly good one). DH seemed to feel that the instruction covered him too...

Seconding the recommendation of The Food of Love - read it after a recommendation on another MN thread! Very good and very funny too. DD is six months old now and I didn't learn much new stuff from it at this point, but I did learn some things. I'll be passing it on to a friend of mine who's due in eight weeks as I think it'll be particularly useful for her.

Yy on the sticky toffee pudding etc - the corollary of losing weight as you bf is that you get hungry! Keep your strength up by eating well.

I wouldn't buy one before you have the baby, but if you do decide afterwards that a feeding cushion would help, I recommend the My Brest Friend.

It basically goes around your middle with a clasp, so you can put it on and then go and pick the baby up and sit down again rather than trying to get into position holding baby and wrestling cushion underneath. It's made of firm foam in a washable cover so it doesn't squash down under the weight of the baby or slip down your front.

I found it useful in the early weeks when the baby's very floppy.

Sorry not read the whole post, but all I needed was me boobs and some lansinoh. A pillow really helped too so I wasn't leaning over. Also a big glass of water, I used to get soo thirsty whilst doing it.

Never used breast pads as never leaked. BF both children for 13 months...loved it - enjoy!

For ds1 I got - and needed - the full works. I cannot begin to count the amount of money I spent bfing him.

With ds2, I just had nursing bras and lansinoh - never needed the lansinoh.

The difference between the two? Support in the early days.

I would say forget the shopping and arm yourself with as much info as you can and have a list of helplines you can call if necessary - if the first week works out and you get it all established properly then you aren't likely to need anything else much.

I would not be without a bottle of dilute squash and my iPhone for late night MN sessions!

A supportive partner to bring you endless drinks, pass you cake, and tell you how wonderful you are, is nice.

Food of Love, definitely. Really really brill.

I know loads of women manage without a special pillow, but I couldn't have done without my Widgey. It's a firm type, which IME is better than a soft bed pillow. Plus, you can balance a plate of food on it when the baby's small, and I even stuck the laptop on it a few times! Tis good for MNing while the baby feeds/sleeps. Mine is on its third baby - DS1 spent a lot of time on it, I lent it to a friend for her baby and now it's back home for DS2. It feels like an old friend to me.

I have a small, weightless beanbag sac that I take out and about with me. I relied on this with DS1, as I found I just couldn't feed without a support, but with DS2 I find it easier. Basically, a pillow is there to un-hunch your back and shoulders. A nice bonus is that it can leave both hands free!

Some sort of chain for the TV remote to keep it chained to you at all time

Steriliser may be useful for sterilising things like teething rings but to be honest a good wash in really hot soapy water does the job.
I would only bother with it if you plan to express.

I can also recommend Food of Love it is fantastic.

Good one Reshape, a supportive partner/DM/MIL etc etc is really useful. If they know your views/commitment to bf from the off then there should hopefully be no conflicts with this once the baby is here. And a DP who can really cheer you on if you are struggling is invaluable.

Definitely - posting on the top-up thread I've been realising how lucky I was to have DH 100% behind my breastfeeding efforts!

Make sure your partner realised that bfing is often really tough at first so they don't assume that a) something is wrong and b) formula is the answer when you hit perfectly normal difficulties.

Thats what I was thinking japh, I too am really lucky with a supportive DH. He knew how important it was to me to bf and why and didn't once mention giving up/ff etc, he just supported me the best he could (a bit of cheer leading helped). Staying up all night dripping drops of colostrum from a syringe into my screaming DS in the early days when he wouldn't feed and I wasn't coping well.