5 Favorites – Breastfeeding Gear Edition

1.  Milk Savers

I wrote about this little baby already.  But it’s so awesome it deserves another mention.  If one has double let-down, this thing saves laundry AND milk.  SO helpful.  And given to my by someone who selflessly thought of me when she saw it – she has low supply issues when breastfeeding, but she thought of me and sent it when my fourth was a couple weeks old.  Friends are the best!
 

2.  Athleta Shelf Bra Tank

I can’t seem to find the exact ones I have on the website, but they are completely indispensible, as far as I’m concerned.  I have some serious issues with the usual supportive undergarments worn by breastfeeding moms – and I don’t mean I want to burn them.  I mean that any time I wear even so much as a sleep bra, I end up with a plugged duct, especially in the first 18 months of nursing a baby.  One day I went to the Athleta store and tried on every single one of their shelf-bra-type tanks, barring the ones that I could tell would be too tight without even taking them off the hangers.  I found one that works, and got it in several colors.  Now I wish I’d gotten more, because they’re not making just that one any more, so I’m going to have to repeat my odyssey.  But it is worth it.  Nursing is easy with these, too, because they’re stretchy, so one just pulls down the top.  Plus, Athleta has some super-cute skorts.  (Not a must for breastfeeding, but handy for an active mom!)
 

3.  Evening Primrose Oil

This stuff is like magic!  When my fourth was 18 months, I was still getting 1-2 plugged ducts per month, and they were laying me up for a day or two each so that I wouldn’t get mastitis.  I was afraid to exercise because I didn’t want to wear myself out and get a plugged duct.  Dr. Jack Newman, a breastfeeding expert from Canada, had a short paragraph on the fact that EPO might be helpful for preventing plugs and mastitis, so I gave it a try.  NO PLUGGED DUCTS SINCE!  That was in May, I believe.  And I had a crazy-active summer, and started working out 5 days a week.  EPO is a daily supplement for me now!
 

4.  Dr. Jack Newman, breastfeeding expert from Canada

I already have a fangirl post about Dr. Newman.  (So he's not technically gear, but he's definitely a breastfeeding favorite.) He’s been helping breastfeeding moms and babies for a long time, and he’s good at it.  His recipe for all-purpose nipple ointment is what healed my cracked nipple that had been cracked for 3 months.  If that wasn’t enough to make me a fan, Favorite #3 cinched the deal.

5.  Cabbage

Cabbage apparently doesn’t work for everyone.  This does not surprise me – we are all so different, different bodies do different things.  But for me, cabbage (topically applied, by which I mean, I put a leaf directly on the areas that are having problems) helps stave off engorgement when my milk first comes in.  And then, it helps stave off engorgement for the (sometimes) longer times between nursing that happen at night.  With my last two nurslings, I put a cabbage leaf in each side of my nursing nightwear every night for the first 6 months, maybe more.  It helped.  Of course, cabbage is for the person who has more than enough milk.  Those who don’t have enough should stay away from cabbage, topically applied.

Fangirl post: Dr. Jack Newman

Okay, so technically I guess a fangirl is an obsessed fan of an actor or character, not a breastfeeding doctor.  But I have to say that, while not obsessed with Dr. Newman in that particular way, I do love his breastfeeding information. 

It all began with my first baby, Hannah, the baby who introduced me to breastfeeding difficulties in a big way.  I developed a nipple crack, and spent three MONTHS trying to get it treated.  Nobody, but NOBODY knew what to do with me.  I would sweat when I even thought about nursing, it was so painful.  Of course, I couldn't wean, thank God, because Hannah wouldn't take anything that even thought about being a fake nipple -- I managed to get her to take a nipple shield a couple times, but that's as close as we could get to it.  So I spent three months sweating, crying, and trying to figure out how to deal with a cracked nipple.

Then a friend of my sister's pointed me to Dr. Jack Newman's recommendation for All-Purpose Nipple Ointment.  I could not convince my OB or my usual PCP to prescribe it for me -- "You don't need that.  Have you tried tea bags?"  Dude, I have an open wound on my nipple.  We're WAY beyond tea bags here.  I took a recommendation from another friend about a family practitioner in our area who saw me (and commented that it was the worst nipple crack she'd ever seen -- sometimes I really don't want to be the one who inspires superlatives) and heard my history and decided it was worth a try.  (Needless to say, I switched over to her, and she's been our family doctor for nearly 10 years now.)

People.  I am glad that I didn't meet Dr. Newman right then, because I would have embarrassed everyone in the room with my protestations of love and never-ending devotion and lifetime supply of homemade cookies in gratitude for his unwitting help.  In less than a week -- less than a week!!!! -- that crack healed, never to return again.  Although I do still have a scar. 

So, he won my undying devotion at the beginning.  Since then, I've explored a bunch of his materials, and I can't say enough about the great stuff he's got going on.  He posts videos of babies nursing correctly and improperly so that we can look and compare and see the difference.  He says things that make sense, like, "The whole notion of feeding a baby by the clock makes no sense at all." 

Recently, I read again his recommendations on blocked ducts in a book of his that I have.  He said that some people recommended evening primrose oil for recurrent plugged ducts.  He mentioned that he has only anecdotal evidence that it worked with some people, and he doesn't know why it works.  But he took the time and energy to mention it despite that.  I love that, because we all know that every body is different, and why not mention it so people can try it? 

So...if you're looking for breastfeeding information, try Dr. Jack Newman's books or website.  I heart Dr. Jack Newman.  :)