Pumps, Bottles & Breastcare...Oh My!

Basic Tool Options

The many, many options out there can be very overwhelming when it comes to choosing what you need to buy for your baby! Here are some suggestions of what I would recommend as essentials for feeding. You don’t necessarily need all of these, but if you’re interested in these items, these are my favorites.

We want you to find the best feeding strategy for your family

Pumping

• Electric Breast Pumps: The pump most people are familiar with, which should be covered by your health insurance. Call your insurance and ask how to order one. Any of the pumps they offer should be fine. Try to order it and get it cleaned, assembled and familiar with how it works before Baby arrives. 

• Hospital Grade Pumps: If you’re going to be doing a lot of pumping, like with Triple Feeding or Exclusive Pumping, you might want to consider renting one from your hospital or someplace like the Breastfeeding Center. They charge a reasonable monthly fee for you to rent a stronger, faster pump that will save you time.

• Hand pumps are small hand-held, manually operated (i.e. non-electric or battery-operated) pumps. These are much easier to use than you might think, are small and inexpensive, and don’t require electricity. They can be convenient to move around the house, toss in a bag, use for travel, and have as a backup in case of power outages or breakage.

• Haakaa: This is not really a pump, but a silicone device that passively collects milk from one breast while you are pumping or nursing on the other breast. It can also be used as a collection vessel when hand expressing or allowing the let down to run off before latching a newborn.

• Pumping Bra: Allows you to hold both pump flanges onto your body at the same time, to empty both breasts simultaneously, leaving you hands-free.

• Breastmilk storage bags to store your pumped milk in the freezer.

Bottles

• Dr. Brown’s or Avent bottles: Look for bottles that provide long nipples with narrow bases that most closely mimic what a human nipple looks like when it is elongated in a baby’s mouth - not what the nipple looks like in its natural shape, which is what is so misleading about the shape of so many other nipple shapes on the market! Those nipples with a wide base, which may LOOK breast-shaped, can actually be too difficult for babies to hold onto, as the silicone is much stiffer than human tissue and they can’t shape it into their mouth.

• Size: I like a 4 ounce bottle, because it is perfectly fine to use it with smaller amounts when Baby is younger, taking 1-2 ounce feedings - they will grow past that pretty quickly. Breastfed babies don’t usually ever take more than a 4 ounce feeding. Formula fed babies will eventually take larger, fewer feedings, but not for several months. So a set of 4 ounce bottles will cover all your needs for quite a while. 

• Slow flow/Preemie nipple: We also recommend the slowest-flow nipple when feeding newborns. With some brands, like Dr. Brown’s and Avent, you can buy a preemie nipple option for the bottle, which is ideal. 

• Bottle brush: Good for getting inside all the little grooves. Useful to have on hand even if you mostly use the dishwasher. 

• Microwave steam bags: For sterilizing bottle parts/pump parts if not using the dishwasher.

• Dishwasher basket: To contain small bottle and pump parts when cleaning in the dishwasher. 

• Bottle drying rack: Useful for either drying after handwashing, or if pieces come out of the dishwasher or sanitizing bag still wet. You just need to make sure to keep the rack itself clean, as it can collect water where bacteria can grow. 

Breast Care/Accessories

• Nipple shields: We’ve talked about these before; they indicate there’s a problem somewhere which needs attention and support from a lactation specialist, but in the meantime, if they help you keep breastfeeding and manage your pain, they can be a useful tool.

• Cold compresses like this or this: Weighted compresses, made with gel or seeds or beans, etc. can be iced down to provide cold therapy to breasts feeling tender or painful due to engorgement, plugged ducts or mastitis. These can often be warmed up or cooled down, but we now ONLY advise using them with cold! We’re trying to treat breast problems as inflammation problems, so cold is helpful, heat is not.

• Silverettes: These type of cups protect injured nipples from rubbing against clothing when they are sore, letting air circulate around the skin.

• Nipple cream or coconut oil - There are many, many of these on the market and really any will do. It does not need to be lanolin, and it doesn’t even need to be a designated ‘nipple cream’. One of the most effective treatments for sore nipples is regular old coconut oil from your kitchen, which has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, and as a food-grade oil is safe for Baby.

• Nursing pads, disposable or reusable: You can place these in your bra to absorb leaking milk.

• Nursing pillow: My Brest Friend is more structured and will mainly be used in the newborn days, and the Boppy is softer and more flexible, and has some other uses beyond just feeding and can be used for feeding beyond just newborn days. There are plenty of other brands as well, these are two of the more common styles.

• Burp cloths, cute for draping on you and Baby and functional for covering changing table/floor/furniture: for those Happy Spitters who are covering themselves, you, and your entire house in spit up. 

~ Naomi, Infant Feeding Expert*

*If you need help to schedule your bundled Infant Feeding session with Naomi…email Elizabeth Parish.