The truth is, when we remove capitalism from breastfeeding essentials, knowing that most women can breastfeed successfully, breastfeeding does not cost much. However, these are the true essentials for breastfeeding you’ll likely need as a breastfeeding mama. Check out this breastfeeding essentials list:
1. You’ll Likely Need a Lactation Consultant
If breastfeeding were normalized and our grandparents and mothers all breastfed, most of us wouldn’t need a lactation consultant to breastfeed successfully. But now, our society is overall only familiar with infant behavior and sleep when they’re fed formula, which is one source of misinformation that negatively influences many mothers’ confidence in breastfeeding. Therefore, lactation consultants are breastfeeding essentials for mothers.
For a private practice lactation consultant, each appointment is, on average, $100-$300 for an hour and a half. However, seeing a lactation consultant at your OB-GYN or pediatric office may cost you less after insurance, but it also may be less personalized with less time for your appointments. It just depends.
2. Vitamin D
As more than 50% of people worldwide are deficient in vitamin D, it’s recommended to supplement it in your diet [1]. As a breastfeeding mother, research has found that supplementing with 6,400 IU of vitamin D daily is enough to satisfy you and your baby’s recommended vitamin D intake [2].
Check out The Complete Guide to Vitamin D While Breastfeeding.
I classified vitamin D supplements as breastfeeding essentials since so many people are deficient, regardless of a great diet.
3. A Breast Pump (If Leaving Baby for Work Regularly)
In the United States, we strongly associate pumping and breastfeeding here in the United States and in some other developed countries. Although, especially in the U.S., we have this strong association because the U.S. doesn’t have paid maternity leave as a requirement from our employers, and it’s becoming challenging for most families to make ends meet on one income.
Therefore, many mothers are returning to work very soon after giving birth which doesn’t give them much time to:
- Learn how to breastfeed
- Learn their baby’s hunger and fullness cues
- Recover from childbirth
- Reach out to a lactation consultant for tips on returning to work
- Learning how much breastmilk they need to pump
- And more!
So, if you don’t need to leave your baby to go to work, you don’t need to pump.
Are you looking for a reliable, portable breast pump that you can use hands-free?! Check out the Zomee Z2 Bundle and take 20% off with code: KATELYN20
Plus, if you’d like to pump directly into an insulated bottle that can keep your breastmilk chilled for up to 20 hours, check out the Ceres Chill Chillers and take 15% off your purchase with code: KATELYN15
But, if you’re returning to work, you will need a breast pump to express enough milk for one workday before leaving your baby. Then you will need to express breastmilk every 3 hours while you’re away (or however often your baby is nursing currently) to keep your breastmilk supply where it needs to be for your baby and to avoid clogged ducts and mastitis.
If you’re looking for all of this information and more, taught by a lactation professional who values evidence-based and attachment-focused breastfeeding, check out The Balanced Breastfeeding Course with 18 chapters of comprehensive education and 280 minutes of easy-to-follow video and demonstrations.
Additionally, you do not need the most expensive breast pump. Each of the breast pumps on the market is all trying to mimic extracting breastmilk from your breasts the most similar to your baby, although, none of them will do as well. It just needs to work well enough, which the fairly new Haakaas can do for only $13 each. (Or you can get the Haakaas with silicone lids for about $22 each). And whether you’re using a Haakaa or not, you don’t need a pump-specific bag, just use any bag around your house you already have.
Are Coolers Breastfeeding Essentials?
If you’re working away from your baby, you’ll also need a travel-insulated cooler to keep the milk in until you can take it home, unless you have a fridge at work.
Check out the Ceres Chill Insulated ‘Chillers’ for easy milk collection and storage on the go! Plus, the Ceres Chill Chillers can double as a baby bottle warmer on the go! If you purchase the Warmer/Chiller Duo, you can fill one with warm water, plop the bottle of breastmilk in it for a few minutes, then feed your baby a warmed bottle on the go. So easy!
Save 15% on your Ceres Chill purchase with code: KATELYN15 today!
If you have a refrigerator at work, you likely don’t need a cooler at all, even to take your breastmilk home. The authors of the CDC guidelines admit that there isn’t enough research to make this information, so they are erroring on the side of caution. For example, there’s actually no evidence that breastmilk leftover in a bottle that was not previously frozen is no longer good after 1-2 hours [3].
Breastmilk is different than other foods because it contains white blood cells. Therefore, it doesn’t breed bacteria as quickly as other foods. Therefore, you can be quite lenient with these times when needed.
Are Bottles Breastfeeding Essentials?
Technically, bottles are not breastfeeding essentials. Babies can be cup or spoon-fed breastmilk from the moment they are born when needed. Although, I understand if someone else is watching your baby while you’re away at work if it seems easier to them to bottle-feed. However, if the caregiver doesn’t mind either way, you’ll never need to purchase baby bottles and potentially try different brands until you find one your baby likes.
Research has found benefits of cup-feeding compared to bottle-feeding include:
- Fewer occurrences of increased heart rate, which is good for preserving their energy [4]
- Improved oxygenation [4]
- The ability for your baby to pace their own feedings [4]. If you’re using bottles, check out How to Introduce Bottles to Your Baby for how to paced-bottle feed.
- And these babies are more likely to be fully breastfed upon discharge home when compared to bottle-fed premature babies [5]
Are Breast Pads Breastfeeding Essentials?
You may want breast pads for the early days when you’re leaking often. It takes about a month before your milk production regulates and figures out the supply your baby needs, without lots of extra breastmilk. For this, there are also other alternatives around your house you could use if you’d like to avoid purchasing breast pads. Otherwise, I recommend purchasing Bamboobies eco-friendly breast pads as you can use them for multiple postpartum periods if you plan on having more babies.
Breastmilk Storage Breastfeeding Essentials
For storing breastmilk, you may need some BPA-free breastmilk storage bags. These can be beneficial for storing larger amounts of breastmilk and optimizing your space. Otherwise, if you aren’t storing a bunch of extra milk which you don’t need to, regardless of returning to work or not, you can use small mason jars, or whatever glass jars you already have at home.
Tip: only put 2-4 oz of breastmilk in each bag or container to avoid wasting breastmilk.
4 Things That Are NOT Breastfeeding Essentials
The following are things that you do not need to breastfeed:
1. Nursing Bras & Shirts
Nursing bras and shirts are in no way needed to breastfeed. You don’t need a bra or shirt that can unclip. Any bra that follows recommendations (no underwire, and not very tight to avoid clogged ducts and mastitis), will work great.
Additionally, nursing shirts are not a necessity. Most shirts you have you can either pull down or pull up to easily nurse.
2. A Pump-Specific Bag
As I mentioned earlier, a pump-specific bag is not necessary. You can use any bag you have around your house that can fit what you need in there.
3. Healthy Foods
It’s a huge misconception that the food you eat is made directly into your breastmilk.
“Breastmilk is made in your breasts, directly from your blood! Not from the food you eat.
When you ingest food, drink, or medication, the substance is broken down by your digestive tract. And depending on the specific substance it can go through different metabolic processes ending up with a certain amount of the substance being absorbed into your blood and thus into your breastmilk.
Thanks to this, there are beneficial vitamins and minerals you can take that can definitely improve the amount of some vitamins and minerals present in your breastmilk [6]. However, “research has confirmed that even if some nutrients are missing in a woman’s daily diet, she will still produce milk that will help her child grow” [7].” Read the full post here: Does Your Diet Really Affect Breastmilk Quality and Supply?
4. Nipple Cream
Often the first thing I hear when a mom is having nipple pain is her trying out all these different nipple creams, but this is not going to fix the problem if you are experiencing pain.
On the other hand, if you’re experiencing discomfort due to lots of friction on your nipples from nursing and/or pumping, then a nipple balm can be beneficial. However, if it’s pain you’re experiencing, we need to all get in the habit of realizing that this means something is wrong that is causing this pain and we should first check the latch and try different positions to see if this helps. And if that doesn’t work then a lactation consultant will continue collecting information until the issue is determined and can be fixed.
A randomized controlled trial found that using only latch correctment without added gadgets such as lanolin, a popular nipple ointment substance, a nipple shield or shells, glycerin gel, etc. you have the same success, with a decrease in pain compared to those who paired gadgets with latch correctment. Furthermore, the group without gadgets or commercial preparations had faster healing times and had a decreased need for follow-up regarding their pain [8].
I discuss much more about this topic and every other important subject to help you reach your breastfeeding goals with education on the truths, traditions, and techniques of breastfeeding in my comprehensive breastfeeding course (coming soon!).
A Couple of Things I Recommend for Breastfeeding Mamas
If you need help with ensuring you’re receiving adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals like iodine, iron, etc. then I recommend taking a prenatal vitamin while breastfeeding.
Secondly, I highly recommend a baby wrap and a baby carrier when your little one gets bigger. These can be so helpful for situations like:
- Cluster feeding
- On the go
- Eating out at a restaurant
- Going on a walk
- Doing things around the house while making baby feel safe and nursing
- And so much more!
Remember, just because something isn’t needed, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy it if you want and have the means to. This blog post is intended to put an honest perspective on the financial costs and needs of breastfeeding, and even a perspective on why things are hard currently for mothers who want to breastfeed in countries like the United States.
Did I miss anything or do you have any comments or questions about anything in this post? Leave them in the comments below!☟
Sources:
[1] Sizar O, Khare S, Goyal A, et al. Vitamin D Deficiency. [Updated 2022 May 1]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532266/
[2] Hollis BW, Wagner CL, Howard CR, et al. Maternal Versus Infant Vitamin D Supplementation During Lactation: A Randomized Controlled Trial [published correction appears in Pediatrics. 2019 Jul;144(1):]. Pediatrics. 2015;136(4):625-634. doi:10.1542/peds.2015-1669
[3] Fogleman AD, Meng T, Osborne J, Perrin MT, Jones F, Allen JC. Storage of Unfed and Leftover Mothers’ Own Milk. Breastfeed Med. 2018 Jan/Feb;13(1):42-49. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2016.0168. Epub 2017 Dec 13. PMID: 29235902.
[4] Marinelli KA, Burke GS, Dodd VL. A comparison of the safety of cupfeedings and bottlefeedings in premature infants whose mothers intend to breastfeed. J Perinatol. 2001 Sep;21(6):350-5. doi: 10.1038/sj.jp.7210539. PMID: 11593367.
[5] Yilmaz G, Caylan N, Karacan CD, Bodur İ, Gokcay G. Effect of cup feeding and bottle feeding on breastfeeding in late preterm infants: a randomized controlled study. J Hum Lact. 2014 May;30(2):174-9. doi: 10.1177/0890334413517940. Epub 2014 Jan 17. PMID: 24442532.
[6] Novak EM, Innis SM. Impact of maternal dietary n-3 and n-6 fatty acids on milk medium-chain fatty acids and the implications for neonatal liver metabolism. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2011 Nov;301(5):E807-17. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00225.2011. Epub 2011 Jul 26. PMID: 21791621. Read here.
[7] Sheri Lyn Parpia Khan. Maternal Nutrition During Breastfeeding. New Beginnings, 2004; 21. Read here.
[8] Cadwell K, Turner-Maffei C, Blair A, Brimdyr K, Maja McInerney Z. Pain reduction and treatment of sore nipples in nursing mothers. J Perinat Educ. 2004 Winter;13(1):29-35. doi: 10.1624/105812404X109375. PMID: 17273373; PMCID: PMC1615851.
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DISCLAIMER: This post is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding you or your baby’s health. Please read my Medical Disclaimer for more info
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