Doctors agree, breastfeeding is best for your baby if you are able to. According to most, babies should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months, and then continue to breastfeed until they are at least 12 months old, but ideally even longer than that. I know women who wanted to breastfeed but weren't able to for whatever reason. Those women shouldn't be made to feel bad about that, but unfortunately it happens. This is a site for the women who are breastfeeding, or plan to. These are some resources I found extremely helpful while I was nursing my daughter, until she was nearly 16 months old.
The Big List is an EXCELLENT resource. Even if you're a pro and have been nursing for a while, you can still come across something that's not in your books
and the doctor's office can't answer. The Big List probably has the question answered.
La Leche League is the number one breastfeeding advocacy group. I have their book in my store, so pick up a copy if you don't have one already. I think it's the best, but I know there are other great breastfeeding books out there.
Check the safety of medication in pregnancy and breastfeeding at Safe Fetus.
Find more helpful information at KellyMom.
Motherwear.com
is my favorite store to buy nursing clothes and bras. The quality is superb and lasts. I wore nursing shirts and dresses most of the time with my daughter, so breastfeeding in public (which I did often and anywhere! Modestly, of course -- sometimes people didn't even know I was nursing! The clothes make it so easy!) was very easy. They also sell nursing bras in sizes up to J.
Motherhood Nursing
is another great store for nursing clothes. They sometimes have some sales that have really great prices, and they have some really nice simple t-shirts that I enjoyed wearing.
If you visit my baby or pregnancy pages, you'll find some of these items on my list, but I've chosen to tell you about some items below (to make it easy, some are available in my store!) that are wonderful products if you are breastfeeding:
*Boppy nursing pillow
*Lansinoh lanolin ointment (use before, after and in between nursing! If you haven't had your baby yet, start using it now!)
*The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (see my store to purchase a copy)
*Nursing pads (Lansinoh disposable is the best. Avent disposable and Medela are good, too, but not as good. Ive tried EVERY brand of disposable and have three diff. brands of washable. Lansinoh is the only one that prevents leaks completely.)
*Nursing bras and nursing clothes (100 percent cotton with no underwire is the best to avoid plugged ducts.)
*Avent breast shells (you only wear them for 30 or 45 min. max, but it really is a lifesaver to collect the leaking milk. Avent is the only brand that sells them to where you can collect the milk to use later.)
*Breast soothers (several brands make them), filled with gel for warm or cold. Really helps with breast engorgement and if you get a plugged duct, which is very painful.
*Avent nurser bottles (the kind with liners and the 4 oz. you get two 4 oz. with the pump. Youll need the 9 oz. later but by then the baby might accept a different kind. Of course you can start out with a diff. kind but I like these because they are so versatile and if you use the pump you can pump directly into bottle or disposable/reusable, etc.) These are the only kind my daughter would take but some babies choke on them at first and then another one like the original Playtex nurser is probably the best.)
*Nurser bottle liners
*Avent Isis manual breast pump (unless you go electric. I find this is a great one and I also had a Medela manual and hated it. I borrowed an Ameda purely yours double electric (sterilized), which is nice if you want to go electric, but the Isis is the best by far for comfort. If you decide to go electric sometimes, you may be able to find a good price on a brand new one on ebay. But you really need a manual too its great for pumping in the car and stuff if you need to and this one is the most comfortable in my opinion.)
*Microwave steam sterilizer
