Rixa, over on "Stand and Deliver", formerly "The True Face of Birth", posted an excellent blog about Enfamil's Breastfeeding (sabotage) Kit. It's so upsetting to me that the formula companies invest SO much in making sure your breastfeeding experience ends in you formula feeding your baby and then thanking them for all the help :-/ Go visit her blog and read what they're up to. Doesn't it anger anyone that a HUGE business is HARD at work against all of your intended efforts to breastfeed right from the start?!?! Are we really that disconnected and oblivious to the mile long list of reasons formula is a very VERY distant second to mama's milk and should only be used for the (rare) instances when a mom trully cannot breastfeed?!?!
Anyway, Rixa asks what your ideal breastfeeding kit would include, so here's mine:
1. The book, "So That's What They're For!", I've skimmed through a friends version and found the little that I read to be quite funny. I love to read while I'm nursing a little one
2. A stylish nursing necklace, like this one.
3. Some Lansinoh 100% Pure Lanolin, for those first few days of sensitive skin. It can also be used as a lip balm, and for lanolizing wool diaper covers.
4. A half dozen organic cotton (reusable) nursing pads.
5. A Bravado Basic Bra (in medium if your curious ;)). Okay so this is something most people wouldn't ask for but I don't care about silly little things like that. My first successful nursing relationship (baby #3) was full of uncomfortableness due to the fact that I didn't have any nursing-friendly attire. I was wearing underwire Victoria's Secret bra's with shirts that were difficult to nurse in. It wasn't until a friend talked to me about considering breastfeeding my profession, and wearing the proper uniform to make it more of a pleasant experience, that I realized the importance of embracing my role as a nursing mama. Especially with all the young and hip bra's available these days, no one has to look like they borrowed grandma's undies!
I already have a sling/pouch/wrap, and "Dr. Jack Newman's Guide to Breastfeeding" as well as La Leche League's "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" otherwise I would've added these to my list as well. And I agree with Rixa on having a good stainless steel water bottle to keep mama hydrated :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
(Can you tell I'm catching up???)
Great list! I do love So That's What They're For! Comprehensive without being boring or dry. (FTR, Katie just mentioned that she liked it on Sunday! So, yay! :) ) One other thing I might include is a nursing pillow, but I only use it for about the first month or so, so that I can sit at the computer with baby nursing hands-free!
Oh, and according to the WHO, formula is actually a distant FOURTH option to mama's milk:
1) Mama's milk, direct from the breast
2) Mama's expressed milk
3) Some other mama's milk (i.e. banked milk)
4) Canned, overprocessed, BPA- and phthalate-ridden, synthetic goodness, er, I mean formula
But I would list cross-nursing/wet-nursing as 3b maybe. Or 3a, depending.
And you wouldn't think it's #4 from the store shelves and promotions in their flyers, would you?
Hmmm... hot topic for me?
Well... I don't see #1 and #2 as separate, they are both mama's milk! #3 is definitely better than formula for sure! A friend/wet nurse would be 3a as far as I'm concerned, I'm a little creeped out by the idea of getting milk from a milk bank and having no clue who's it was (is that a lil creepy or is it just me?)
And as for "So That's What They're For", I originally intended to make a comment about my being jealous that my bestest friend has gifted it to every expecting mom BUT ME!!! But then I didn't want you to feel like ya had to buy it for me, hee hee. *wink wink* nah I'm just kidding, really. Or maybe not. LOL
True, you did say "mama's milk," not "direct-from-the-breast mama's milk."
Banked milk is the only kind officially supported in the #3 slot (by any agency I know of, including LLL) because it's screened, which I think is supposed to make it less creepy. But to me that just seems more... "processed." And, after all, you never know just WHAT dreadful disease your friend is going to pass on to your baby in her milk. ;)
I'm gonna pretend to ignore that comment about the book... ;)
Post a Comment