Hello, glorious human. Here’s a link to each of the things that have made my breastfeeding experience a little bit lovelier - I hope they’re helpful to you, too x
I started using these from the very first time I fed Violet, because a clever friend of mine told me that preventing cracked, sore nipples is much easier than repairing them. I’ll speak to the benefits and pass on a warning about cheap replicas, which can contain irritating nickel.
I can’t think of anything worse than a bright overhead light during late night and early morning feeds, so early on swapped out all of the globes in our bedroom and the nursery for these globes. I keep them on a low, red setting to avoid waking either of us up more than we need to and love the fact that I can switch them on and off with my phone, so I don’t have to get up and fumble for a light switch!
I started collecting colostrum at 36 weeks and though we never ended up in using it, it was a fab way to get to know exactly how to express and what’s going on when we feed, which has helped us time and time again since our journey started.
These were my favourite snack to keep in my bedside table for midnight munching and I really noticed a difference in milk production when I ate one a day.. Plus they’re delicious!
I used these for about a week as my milk came in, alternating between cooling them down to relieve engorgement and heating them up to help with milk flow. I recommend two sets so you can have one cold pair all the time!
I found this video a few days in when we couldn’t quite get our groove and it instantly made life so much easier, my back so much less sore and Violet a happy little camper!
These were great to have tucked into my bra for the first two weeks to soak up any leakage, especially at night time! They kept my sheets (mostly) dry and stopped me churning through five or six bras a day haha.
From two weeks until about twelve I swapped to these to prevent leaking through my shirt, which would happen when I least expected it! Now five months postpartum I always carry some on me for surprise situations.
I got this book on kindle (which I also highly recommend, its a great way to pass the time without scrolling and isn’t too bright for a midnight reading session!) and it became my breastfeeding bible. It’s full of practical information, clear statistics and helpful insights and it changed the way I breastfeed and parent.
I was getting quite hydrated a few weeks in, and sports drinks helped but they were kind of expensive and tasted like being hungover haha - so finding these babies was a game changer. I recommend the sample pack to find your fav flavours but mine are passionfruit and orange and peach iced tea!