Thanks Walmart for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions are mine.
Happy National Breast-feeding Month! I have never really spoken about my challenging breastfeeding journey in details until today. Some of you might have seen me on IG Story occasionally mention my breastfeeding challenges. Prior to having kids, I have never thought about the dynamics of breastfeeding. I have always perceived that breastfeeding is easy because of what I saw around me. The babies that I saw around seem to be nursing so easily. I underestimated how difficult it could be. From my experience, breastfeeding is not for the faint at heart. It has been a roller coaster journey. It is TOUGH!! I am not trying to scare anyone but the first few months for me was VERY hard. It was filled with engorgements, blisters, pumping issues and weeks of trying to figure out how to increase my supply.
Even though this is my second baby that I had to breastfeed, it is still not easy. Six years ago when I had Nolan, it was also a tough challenge and became even harder when I returned to work after 12 weeks. With Nova, I have been nursing her for almost 7 months now. Despite how challenging it has been, we are stilling braving it and taking it one day at a time. I was able to exclusively nurse her for 5 months, but I couldn’t keep up when I returned back to work due to my supply and work demands. Currently, she uses breast milk that I have pumped and stored along with formula when I am at work. Finding the right bottle for her was also difficult. One moment, she will like one bottle and the next few weeks, she will not even want to use it. I am glad that I am able to quickly buy different bottles from Walmart to try. She uses Comotomo and the Lanolin bottles. I nurse her once I am home and through the night. She has also started the first stage of solid food, which she is enjoying.
Throughout my breastfeeding journey and currently, I have relied on these products to help make it a lot easier.
- Nipple cream: I use both Lanolin cream and this Earth Mama organic nipple cream. They were lifesavers. I had blisters
- Breast pump: For Nolan, I used Medela pump, but I currently use Lansinoh pump for Nova and they are both great. Make sure to get this Lansinoh Simple Hands-Free Pumping Bra. It makes it easy to do other things while pumping.
- Milk Storage: I use Medela storage bag. I haven’t had no spill or leakage with them.
- Formula: Yes, I currently supplement with Nova. Often times, people are made to feel guilt for supplementing or using formula. Do what is best for you and your baby. I use the Enfamil Gentlease NeuroPro and it’s great for her. It has MFGM and DHA. MFGM, an important component of breast milk and has clinically proven to support cognitive development and along with DHA.
- Baby bottle: Like I mentioned earlier, we use Comotomo baby bottle and Dr. Browns. They are soft and Make sure to change the nipples depending on your baby’s age.
- Bottle Warmer: I can’t say it enough how much I love this Boon bottle warmer. I use it to warm up breast milk that I have stashed over the weeks.
- Boppy pillow: This Boppy lounger and boppy pillow are everything and more. A lot of you guys have seen it on my IG a million times. I love it, she loves it!
Are you breastfeeding/bottle feeding? What works for you and what products are you currently using?
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This is such a relatable post. I posted a video on YouTube about my Breastfeeding journey last week as I had just finished 6 months of exclusively breastfeeding. I use the same Nipple cream as you and tried out a number of bottles before settling on the one my baby liked the mist, the nuby Natural touch bottle. I use the medela double pump and love the lansinoh milk storage bags the post. Could you please do a post comparing the Lansinoh and Medela pump, Thank you. I would also love to see what semi solids you’ve started her on. Awww, we have the exact same boppy pillow, they print was my favourite.
Tuke’s Quest