Breastfeeding what do I need?

[Ladypug]

Looking on some websites and there are bottles and manual or electronic breast pumps. What will I need if I plan to breastfeed? I suppose I need bottles to express into...help!

I have a manual pump that was about £20 in Boots. I haven't used it much, but a few times when DS has suddenly gone ages without feeding it's been handy for relieving the build-up! As others have said, I wouldn't worry initially, unless you see a good offer on one, in which case you could buy it but keep it sealed in the box so you can sell it on if you don't use it.

With things like pumps, storage bags, bottles etc, it's worth looking at options if you're in Mothercare or Boots or whatever and have the time, so that if you do need them you know what you want and where to get them quickly.

If you plan to bf for more than a month or so, washable pads are probably going to work out cheaper. You can buy nice ones online, or make your own from fleece and flannel (really cheap, and easy if you have any craft skills and some time).

The only thing I really needed was breast pads, because I leaked (when not feeding) and leaked from the non feeding boob whilst the baby was on the other boob (although then I needed muslins to soak it all up).

But some people hardly leak at all - it's not a sign of good / bad milk production.

Got a pump and bottles for expressing much later on.

Never needed lansinoh, or any other cream, and since it's expensive, I always planned to get it if I needed it (it's readily available near me).

I believe you can get Lansinoh on prescription, Wigeon.

Lansinoh is the single best thing you can buy I waited until about 3 weeks in before I tried it- couldn't believe how much relief it gave- amazing stuff.
Cabbage leaves straight from fridge stuck into your bra works wonders too.
Decent nursing bras.

Lansinoh, disposable breast pads and washable pads, nursing bras. Vest tops and to wear under normal tops, means you can pull the vest top down and the other top up if your somewhere you want to feel more covered up.

I expressed in the first six weeks and it has never affected my milk, and stopped me jacking in breastfeeding in the beginning. Now 17 weeks on, I only express once a day and she has one bottle of expressed milk at night and has done on and off since week two. The rest of the time she is on the boob.

I used an electric breast pump up until this week, but it broke.. Had been given to me and had finally given up. I switched to a manual and personally find it so much better, it feels more natural, And brings my milk through so much better. I can get 180ml on it in ten mins.

Sorry *vest tops to wear

*if you're somewhere

And apologies for other grammatical errors

Boobs!!! Supportive OH/family/friends is good too. I agree about porridge too, it really helped me with milk production. I'm going to give birth again any day now so starting it all again....

Don't worry about eating certain foods to increase your supply just yet . Oversupply is far more common than under supply and is actually harder to manage so wait and see .
Hydrogel nursing pads from the word go so that you don't get sore nipples .

I would disagree that you can get fitted for nursing bras before - you can get a very rough guess, and buy some stretchy bras that fit several sizes, but it varies so much how much your boobs will grow and how much your ribs will shrink. I would get fitted properly (by Bravissimo and not Mothercare) a couple of weeks after having the baby.

Oh, and most nursing bras are horrible, so I have converted my own, or simply wear a lower cut balconette or half-cup bra - slide the strap off the shoulder, pull pup down and voila.

Ah thanks Hazle, there isn't a bravissimo where I live, only a Mothercare or an M&S

I was measured before and told to buy DD, and when my milk came through I went up to an F then down to an E when my boobs calmed down. I bought nursing bras F on figleaves online in the clearance section. Got some lovely ones reduced from £30 to £11. I'd get measured a couple of weeks post birth.

Mother care and M&S are both terrible - if nothing else around, try fitting yourself thebetterbracampaign.blogspot.fr/p/fitting-advice.html

Lansinoh, cake and a big glass of water every time you feed

Nursing bras ( especially the special ones for night that are very comfy but still give you a bit of support as well as giving you something to stuff your breast pads into) and alot of chocolate and chocolate based confectionary healthy snacks.

Everything everyone else has said but would also say when I had my baby 7 weeks ago I was told by more than one midwife and a HV that you don't need to wind a breastfed baby. In our case totally not true (my boy is very windy!) and do think those first few weeks would have been (very slightly) easy had a ignored this and learnt to wind him properly from the start.

Breastfeeding can be really hard but I would say it is true what people say about it getting easy. I honestly nearly gave up at 3 weeks but am so pleased I didnt. Party cause now I think it's lovely but also cause lobbing a boob out in the middle of the night is much easy than making a bottle now I've got the hang of it.

I really liked the bodysilk seamless nursing bras - they're a good blend of stretchy and supportive and I wore them through most of pregnancy and for a few months afterwards until I'd found time to get measured for my new size.

Same as everyone else - boobies, pads, Lansinoh and muslins.

However, don't discount expressing by hand. Once you get the hang of it you can get a great amount out without (I felt) the discomfort of manual/electric pumps. I had a nasty, persistent case of breast thrush and hand expressed all feeds for six weeks before getting him back to the boob. I'd make a sterling milkmaid

Don't buy a breast pump in advance until you know what you might need, and how much you might be using it. I wasted the best part of £100 on a Tommee Tippee one with all the kit, which was completely useless when I ended up having to hire a hospital grade one instead, to exclusively express for three months.

Also, do not do not do not buy M&S or mothercare nursing bras! As others have said, they're worse than useless. I have no Bravissimo near me either, but measured myself and bought online. Their returns policy was fantastic, quick and easy to ensure I got the size right.

I wasted money on 36Fs from Mothercare which I could never wear as they hurt my back so badly. M&S tried to measure me as a 38 I actually needed a decent Royce 34H, it seems!