My Top Tools for Breastfeeding

[1:44] World Breastfeeding Week and its origin

[6:29] Why you should always have a manual pump on hand

[15:13] Brands of electric pumps on the market right now

[21:48] Flange size and why it matters

[25:40] Pumping bras and why they’re a must-have for any pumping mom

[27:45] Nursing pillow myths and how most are being used incorrectly

[32:14] Reusable nursing pads vs. disposable nursing pads

[34:14] The benefit of using carriers and what kinds to use when

00:00:03 Jacqueline Kincer

Hi, I'm Jacqueline Kincer and for the past five years I've been helping families all around the globe to overcome their breastfeeding challenges and this is the first non clinical breastfeeding podcast that shows you how to walk breastfeeding and master motherhood through practical tips, mindset shifts and honest conversation to create a confident and empowering breastfeeding journey. This is the Breastfeeding talk podcast.

00:00:38 Jacqueline Kincer

Welcome back to the Breastfeeding Talk podcast. I'm your host Jacqueline Kincer, and today I'm going to be sharing with you my top tools for breastfeeding. So these are things that are tried and true as a mom who has breast fed both of her children for three plus years each and as a lactation consultant who's worked for the past six years, in my own practice, 7 years, if you're going to count before that, I have seen it all and I've worked with parents all over the world and you know, through telehealth and and all of that. And though I will say there are some things that are consistently great and then there are some things that I just see a lot of people over buying. I absolutely just see them over buying and thinking they need to use all of these things. And when you register for something and you get it and you think because I have it, I must use it. Sometimes those things actually lead to problems. And so I'm going to be talking about that as I walk you through this list of products today. So before I get started, I did just want to say that this week is World Breastfeeding Week. And if you're not familiar with that, everyone kind of rolls their eyes when this comes around and they go why do we need a world breastfeeding week? It's the same reason why we need weeks to celebrate certain minority groups or what have you. It's because breastfeeding is still completely underrepresented and supported worldwide, this is not something that I made-up. This has existed long before a lot of the other celebratory weeks and months that we have out there.

It's actually something that has, you know, I guess should have looked and seen what year it started, but it was started by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action. So we call that WABA for short, and it's a global network of individuals and organizations that are dedicated to the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding worldwide. So let me see here annually. Yeah, I guess it's since 2016. I actually thought it was a lot longer than that. I could have sworn I have heard about World Breastfeeding Week before that, but typical events that we'll see around World Breastfeeding Week are more posts on social media about it from maybe accounts that don't normally talk about breastfeeding. Usually there's the big latch on events, although those can sometimes coincide with different times of the year.

And so I just think that it's a great time to bring more awareness and you know the thing that I'll have to say about this is that there's two prongs to this, right. There's systemic issues in terms of breastfeeding support, where it's sometimes difficult to access, although with telehealth these days, it's not so difficult to access. You know, and I I will say that there's a lot that has been done to promote breastfeeding in these last several years. There are a lot more. I BCLC's out there in the world. When I became an IB CLC, there were not that many in my huge metro area. Today there are a lot more. And there's just there's more funding. I think there's more awareness in all of that, but there seems to be this backlash to breastfeeding. And I've got to tell you, it's not systemic. It's not coming from doctors. It's not coming from government policy. It's not coming from public health policy or organizations. It's coming from mothers themselves.

And I find that really, really sad. This huge backlash of, well, I couldn't breastfeed, so therefore we shouldn't be talking about it. You're shoving it in everyone's face. Why do you need to promote breastfeeding? Well, the reason is is because there's people like that out there that still think that breastfeeding and formula are equal somehow or that promoting breastfeeding things that were somehow shaming moms who don't breastfeed. That's not it at all. It never husband and it's only actual mothers themselves who have created this argument that promoting breastfeeding is bad. I find that incredibly sad that they're essentially blocking access to breastfeeding support for other moms. When they do that. I cannot tell you how many lactation consultants I know out there who are often terrified to post on social media.

Because they're afraid of the backlash that they're going to get from moms with those attitudes, it's quite sad. We're over here, ready and willing and able to help you. But when you shut us down, it's like, well, why? Why are we even doing this work? I've seen people leave the field, and so I would just say that, you know, if you see someone out there who is anti breastfeeding? For whatever reason? You know that's they. They've got some story there probably, right. But you know, just because someone has had a bad experience with breastfeeding does not mean that breastfeeding is bad. And I think that we can take this time during World Breastfeeding Week to talk about that. I would absolutely love for you to Share your story about breastfeeding if it's good or bad it doesn't matter, you know, Share your story. And if you have a great story about how you've overcome something, your story can serve as a word medicine for someone else. Absolutely. I would encourage you to Share your story, to do things, to promote breastfeeding. If there are accounts you've found helpful. If you find this podcast helpful like please share this go on your LinkedIn. Go on your Instagram. Go on your Facebook or Twitter or whatever. You know if you have YouTube channel I don't know just wherever you are like share about this podcast share about accounts that have helped you books that you've read that have helped you classes you've taken that have helped you individual lactation consultants that you've worked with that have helped you leave a review for those people that have helped you.

If you find this podcast helpful, please please go leave a review. You know, if you've bought our advanced lactation formula and that's been helpful, please go leave a review on Amazon on walmart.com. That immensely helps us out. Show your support for those who are out there doing the work to support breastfeeding and promote them as much as you can during this week, because this week is going to provide a lot of traction for those people to sort of get ahead and drown out the naysayers. So anyway, in support of World Breastfeeding Week, I'm going to do what I usually do, which is create an episode for you that is all about ways that we can continue to breastfeed despite certain obstacles or what view. So again, I'm going to talk about really my my favorite products out there, the ones that I think are really kind of essential for everybody to have and I'm going to start with the manual breast pump.

So these sometimes get a bad rap because people are like, oh man, I have to sit there and like, crank my hand and just keep squeezing this trigger. And I have to pump. Well, I'm not saying you should, like, use this if you're exclusively pumping. No, absolutely not. That's unrealistic, right? If you have carpal tunnel, the manual pump is probably not a great choice for you anyway, but the manual pumps are an essential item that I would say is something you should have on hand, so whether it's at home like let's say, you know your pump died or your power went out or your pump wasn't charged. If it's, if it's cordless, let's say, you know, I would. If you're going back to work, you work outside the home. This is something I would keep. Honestly, I would. I would get multiple of these, keep one in your car. Who knows what if you're out and about somewhere, your car breaks down, I mean, I'm not trying to be like a disaster planning person. I'm not trying to tell you to always expect bad things to happen, but when you're lactating and you are in a situation where you can't get that milk out of your breast right away, a manual pump is going to be your best friend I promise you. So I would keep an extra 1 in your dust drawer. I would keep it in your car and I would keep on at home. I mean, they're so cheap. Like they're just a little bit over $10. Like, just get multiple of these. Everyone's gonna go. Which one? I'm like, you know, there's really not that many in the market. They're pretty much all the same. I really have no complaints about any of these, you know, Mandela lancino or kind of the two big ones.

So it's kind of your personal preference. You know, they're an amazing tool, amazing tool to clear clogged ducts to clear to relieve engorgement because now you're in charge, you're in charge of the suction level. You're in charge of the cycle speed because you're using your hands to manually move that lever and to create that section and to pump. You're in charge of the duration of that pumping period. It gets you more familiar with your breast anatomy and your let down and all of that. So I would say it's just a really excellent tool to have on hand, not just in case of like an emergency scenario, but I see plenty of people that actually get more milk out when they use the manual pump, so this can be a really great tool for the occasional pumper. And it's just a wonderful tool to get to know your body a little bit better. I much prefer these to the haka. The haka is not something that I would put into the manual pump category and as much as I think there is value in the haka for some moms, this is one of those tools that I will say I think is completely overused. Most people enjoy the haka, they pop it on one breast while their babies nursing on the other, and they get the, quote, UN quote, extra milk. That's a myth, though the Hakka is creating suction. It is not simply a milk catcher, it is a pump it is collecting milk by virtue of creating suction the problem that I have with Hakka is that it creates constant suction. And that's not something that your breast should really be going through, whether using an electric pump, whether you're nursing, whether using a manual pump, you're not creating constant suction. So that continual pull on your breast tissue and milk ducts, I don't think that's great long term. Now, I think on the occasional use, it's not problematic. And I don't think the suction is so incredibly high that it's going to you know cause any sort of damage, but lots of mums find the Hakka very painful to use and I can understand why. The other thing about the haka is that it's definitely not fitted properly like a flange should be fitted for a breast pump and you know, I think that's because they want maybe a larger pouring spout or something like that. They want it to be be able to accommodate all breasts, but that opening is so ridiculously large that you know, I mean, I can imagine there's probably a handful of people on the planet that have a nipple that but it just is not ideal in terms of if you actually wanted to pump to remove milk from the brass. The haka is not the tool for that. I also keep seeing these videos circulating online. I've I'm done with trying to correct the misinformation out there, but people think the haka is like some magical tool for removing clogged ducts.

It's not anymore magical than a manual pump or an electric pump, or a baby that nurses. It does not do anything different or special, so I just want to be really clear about that. The other thing that I find really odd is that people think that filling the Hakka with salt water does something special to remove the clog. It does not. The salt water is not even touching your breast. It generally isn't even touching your nipple. And it doesn't do anything. In fact, it actually decreases the section because now the hawk is filled mostly with water it it is, there's less of a vacuum that is potentially created because you cannot compress it as much. It can actually be an extremely messy, but I see these videos that are posted of the milk coming out and going into the water. And it I get it. I mean, it's fascinating to watch and but it doesn't do anything special to fill the hockey with water. You're actually decreasing the suction so and and why on Earth you would put salt water in there when it doesn't touch your breast tissue at all. I mean, like salty air does not do something special to your breast. I just that kind of stuff. This irks me because it's like now you've got this series of moms out there doing something that they think somehow makes a difference, but it doesn't, and if you just the basic science of it all, like why would salt water that's not touching your breast in a Hakka do anything special for your breast? It just wouldn't it. If that's not possible. So anyway I get really tired of seeing stuff like that because these mom fluences out there have decided that this is so cool and everyone needs a haka and everyone needs to fill it with salt water.

No you don't. There is value in Epsom. Salt soaks and things like that, but they go on the breast and you don't need to hook it to do it. I usually recommend a paper towel anyway, I just I'm a little bit annoyed by that because I don't think the haka is right for everybody. I also think that they're completely overused. I generally find that people find them a little bit painful after a while. It also contributes to an oversupply and excessive engorgement for a lot of moms. They start popping it on from day one. That level of section is sending a signal to your body make more milk. It is a pump. People think it's benign, but it's not, and I've definitely seen over supplies created by someone using the Hakka. So anyway, all of that just to say I don't think it's a bad tool. I think it's fine, but I think you would get much more use and value out of a plain manual pump than you would a haka. Just being totally honest and transparent. So if you have a haka, that's great. I would just say like it does not need to get popped on every single nursing question. It can create problems, I just don't think that it's the end all be all that it's been made out to be, so it kind of ended up replacing manual pumps. Manual pumps were much more in favor before the Hakka came along and I get it, you don't have to sit there and move your hands to get the milk out, but a lot of people don't get any milk with the haakaa at all. And so they're disappointed.

And when I when I see a tool like that, that just doesn't work well for everybody. That can cause pain for a lot of people that cannot remove milk for a lot of people, it starts to make people not trust their bodies. It starts to I I see this. I have a YouTube video that I can link up here for you guys. It's how to use the Hakka properly. The other issue is that people don't actually know they have to fold that flange back to get stronger section and so it doesn't fall off the breast so easily. So I'll link that up if you haven't seen it. That video has been passed around the Internet so many times I actually just found it embedded on a very popular mom blog the other day. I don't even remember how I found it, but somehow I did and I was like, whoa, I had no idea my video was being shared there. That's great. It's awesome, because if you want to know the proper way to use it, the instructions are in that video. I would just say that. It's just I get a lot of comments on that video where people are saying it doesn't work for me. I don't get a lot of milk. What am I doing wrong, you know? And and it starts to create this distrust of themselves and this distrust in their ability to make milk and their bodies, whereas using a manual pump. I mean, unless you're just using it totally wrong, which is really, really hard to do.

You're going to get milk, and if you, I mean, you get to control the suction and how it feels. So it really shouldn't be painful because you're completely in charge of how it functions. So something like a manual pump is going to work for pretty much everybody. Wear a hoco won't. So I'm a huge fan of products that don't create distrust in people's bodies, so hopefully that makes sense. OK, let's move on. I spent a lot of time talking about that. I'm going to talk about electric pumps. I do think that unless you, if you're planning on just exclusively breastfeeding and you're going to directly feed out the breast. That's great. I would just say that you would probably want to have a manual pump on hand just in case, but you do not need an electric pump now. If you're in the United States and you have health insurance, you are entitled to an electric breast pump through your health insurance. So most people are getting those these days. Most people are needing to pump because they're going back to work because they want to be able to leave their babies for a longer period of time or what have you. So I don't think an electric pump is an essential for everybody. But I do think it's a handy tool for times when your away from your baby. If you have a baby that won't latch, of course, or if you're needing to increase your milk supply. If you need to increase your milk supply, you must have an electric pump and you must have one, I'm just going to say that that's a blanket rule across the board. There's other things you can do of course. But I would say that that's the foundational piece. And if you don't do that, it's going to be a lot harder for you. So let's talk about electric pumps and the brands out there. I don't normally love naming brands, but I know everyone's going to ask me. And so I will say my top two that I've seen the best results with personally tried and see how they work and how they feel, and I've tried a lot of different pumps and I'm going to say Spectra.

The S1 or the S2 specifically, I think the synergy gold is complete overkill and I'll talk about that in just a moment. And also the pumpable pump, the pump tables, Genie advanced I think is really great and their other one is great too and the name is escaping me for some reason right now. So let me talk about the Spectra first. So the Spectra S1 or S2 they're the same except the one is also battery powered, so you can plug it in or you can charge it and run it on battery power. The S2 is a plug in only model. The only difference is the color of the faceplate. The S1 is blue, the S2 is pink. That's it. There are no other differences. The section is not different, I've tested these pumps multiple model or multiple, you know axle of these pumps. There's no difference other than that. So stop thinking. There's another difference. I get DMS about that a lot. I'm like it's the same pump, just one has batteries. That's it. That's all it is. You can buy a battery pack for a breast pump. You don't have to buy a battery powered breast pump. Any pump can be made to be battery powered. You're just going to have a battery pack that's attached that's plugged into the AC adapter port. So they're great pumps. Why? Because they're a closed system, so meaning they have a backflow protector on them that prevents breast milk from entering the pump motor or any part of the breast pump inside of the pump. So that's, you know, the spectrum was the first pump to make that standard. It was the first consumer grade pump that had that ability. Otherwise you could only ever get that in a hospital console pump. So there's that now. It's become standard on pretty much any breast pump that you that you buy that's a newer breast pump on the market that's a little more innovative. The synergy gold, the difference with the synergy gold is that at the same section level. But you can individually set different cycle speeds and suction levels on each breast. I don't think that this is necessary. I don't. I think that it complicates pumping for mom.

I honestly cannot think of a time as a lactation consultant where I wish that a pump like that existed. I cannot. It's just not necessary. There's the the use case for that would be so incredibly rare that I don't think it even needs to be available for consumer purchase. I know this might sound there's there's another newer pump on the market that is doing the same thing where they're allowing you to control, you know, the cycle speeds and things like that differently on each breast. The problem is, is that but the average pumping mom out there does not understand the importance of the cycle speed and the suction levels. And so if you allow them to individually control that, I think that you're potentially compromising the amount of milk that this person can remove or that they'll ultimately produce setting those things too low is problematic. And as a pump manufacturer, I think that you have a lot more responsibility to educate your consumer on how to properly use your product, not just talk about that. This is a feature and it's like cool to have all of these options. So I think Spectra does a better job of educating, educating their consumers. They always have from the get go. They've also made it a priority to educate Ibcs about their pumps. So I have a lot of appreciation for Spectra and their company. I think it's very ethically run. I think that they honestly care about their consumers. I think that they've made an incredible product. At an absolutely incredible price point and there's not a single thing I would probably change about the way they're pump functions because it just is really the gold standard for me and pumpable ones has now come on the block and they're a newer pump, right? They have a smaller portable one and then they have a larger one that's not as large as the Spectra.

So that's nice because the Spectra I think is a little bit of a fluff pump like the body of the pump, the handle all of that takes up a real estate that realistically doesn't need to be there. So the carrying handle is actually kind of convenient. I do like that in some ways, but having something small and more portable is really great. And you know Pumpable's has created a pump that it's suction as you get to higher suction levels, it doesn't actually increased the level of pressure that's generated. What it does is it changes the way that pressure works. And that is actually more akin to breastfeeding. And if you create a pump that has too high of a level of suction, that can actually cause internal damage to the milk ducts. A good example of that would be like the baby Buddha or a lot of the other China cheapies out there. These pumps that claim to have, you know, super high suction levels, 320, you know, millimeters of mercury or higher or something like that. I think that is just way too high. You should not be pumping consistently on a level that high. It's really not good for you. So no baby's mouth suction is going to be that high. That would be really incredibly rare. So I just, you know, higher section is not necessarily better. Pumpable has done a good job of understanding what that CAP should be and they've designed a pump that functions a lot more like a baby who nurses very well at the breast, especially with their liquid flange kit. They're also one of the companies that I really appreciate in terms of slam size, flange size it's so important. In fact, it's honestly more important than the pump that you're using. You need to have a flange that is properly fitted to your nipple, and I I'm going to say it again, there are no hard and fast rules, but most of the time. I would say 90% of the time you should have a flange size that the diameter of the flange tunnel matches the diameter of your nipple, not your areola, your nipple. This is counter to a lot of advice that people have learned.

It is not true for every single person. If you're in doubt, we do pumping consults where we do flange fittings, we optimize your pump settings for you and we set up a pump schedule for you. So how long you should pump, how often you should pump all of that like we do pump consults, there's 60 bucks. They're so reasonable. Like if you want to book 1, go on our website a link it up in the show notes. Because, I mean, if you knowing the right pump settings and having the right flange fit is everything when it comes to pumping. So if you're going to be pumping a lot. Because you're away from work, you're exclusive pumping. You're pumping most of the time. You're trying to increase your milk supply. Any of those reasons you should absolutely be doing a pumping consult with someone who knows what they're talking about, who knows how to properly fit a flange. We can only tell you if the flange is properly fitted. If we can observe your ****** moving through the flange tunnel so there's no other way for us to tell you that, and we need to do it, like, really right when you turn on. Pump not later because the nipple can start to swell, especially if your plant size is too big. The reality is, is that most moms are going to be under a 20mm size flange and when you order a pumpable pump it does not come with a 24 millimeter flange or 28 layer 26 like some of these other pumps on the market. You actually have to select your size right then and there. You do have a virtual fitting room. I think that's really great.

It's a nice option to have. I would say their information is more accurate than any other pump company I've seen out there and they go as low as 15mm on their plan size right now. So when you order your pump, you actually pick your flange size at the same time. That's incredible. That's how it should be for every single pump. I don't think that it should be coming with flanges because everyone's a different size. You know, you might be, you might be an 11 millimeter. Right, so you might need to hack your Mumbles and not even use a pumping pal flange. You might just buy the pump and use a totally different flange with it. So all that being said that I think that the spectrum fumbles in terms of the motors, the power of the pump, the longevity, the option to be battery powered, they're pretty lightweight. Also, I think those are the two best pumps on the market. And again I've really tried as many as I possibly can. I haven't dove so much into the China Cheapies. Except to say that I just, I just don't have a lot of faith in those. Umm, it's basically all the same pump. They're just white, labeled by other companies you might have seen that with a very popular brand on the market. It's not that they've gone and done all of the R&D to create a pump. They've been sold a pump by a Chinese manufacturer and then they've put their own brand name on it. That happens quite a bit, and it's fine. It's totally fine. I just don't think that those are top tier pumps and it's not one I generally recommend, especially to clients. The other thing I will say is I don't wanna neglect this, but hospital rental pumps are incredible. So that may be a good option for you. I think the Spectra and pumpable is performed just as well. Some people see a tiny bit of a slight edge with a hospital rental pump. Generally that's gonna be the Medela Symphony. And the advantage comes in here, where, like, if your insurance will cover a hospital rental pump for you, but they won't cover something like the Spectra or the pumpable. Then it's going to behoove you to just do the hospital rental. Like if that's covered and that's free for you, then do that and generally another tip I would say is that most insurance companies in the United States are also going to provide you with an allowance for pumping supplies. So things like flanges, tubing, all of that, that has to be replaced on a regular basis.

And so you want to ask about that in addition to the breast pump. So there might be some dollar limit cap that you have every year or something like that. But ask about pumping supplies and you know if you are allowed to get reimbursed for those, so you won't be buying them directly to your health insurance, you'll just be submitting your receipts to them sort of after the fact. OK, moving on, let's talk about pumping stuff. Still, I'm going to say pumping bra. Like, if you are pumping with an electric pump, you've got to have a pumping bra. I don't know why you would want to sit there and hold those flanges against your breasts for the next, you know, 10, 15, 20 minutes like, no one wants to do that and it just when you have a pumping bra, it's not even just the convenience of it. It's really just the fact that you can do other things to help the milk flow like now you can't massage your breasts, you can do hands on pumping where you're compressing the breast, you're getting to different areas of the breast. You're creating some lymphatic flow. That's helping more milk flow. We have studies that prove this, the more that you massage your breasts and work manually to get that milk out while you're pumping, the higher the amount of milk that you will pump, but also that milk will have a higher fat content as well. So you can apply heat on top of your breasts to help dilate the milk ducts and to help that milk flow and to get more fat into the milk you can use vibration tools if you need to because you have a clogged duct or something like that. So you can you can do a lot more. You can also walk around, you can work, you can, you know, do other things. You can take care of your baby if you're wearing a Pumping bra you don't have to hold the flanges against your breasts.

Do I have a particular pumping bra that I would recommend? No, I don't really. I've used the simple wishes hands free for a while. I like that bra. It works well for me because there's an expander in it. I like the zipper thing. But you know what? There are so many other ones on the market now. There are a lot of nursing bras depending on the type of design that you can also just use as pumping bras.

So it's really up to personal preference. It depends on your breast and chest size. So I would encourage you just to find one that you like. Generally they're not overly expensive, so I would just start with something that's kind of inexpensive. Maybe you know fits you well and all of that. And then just go from there. But I do think a pumping bra is absolutely something essential if you're going to be pumping. So let's talk about nursing pillows. There's this idea that we all need a nursing pillow if we're gonna be nursing our babies. And I don't agree with that. I think that probably a throw pillow on your couch, a bed pillow, whatever is great. The pillow is for you. It is not for your baby. People get this backwards. They think that they're supposed to lay the baby on the pillow and then they just bring the breast to the baby's mouth and and they latch on. And that's how you nurse. No, you hold the baby close to your body, your body, your tummy. Your arms are supporting your baby. And if you're freshly postpartum, you know what I'm talking about. You kind of have a built in nursing pillow there. Your uterus hasn't quite gone back to normal size yet. Your baby's small they're generally not heavy at this point, right? Maybe they're 8 lbs. Maybe they're nine. If they're born big, maybe 10. But they're not very big yet. And so you're really supposed to be cradling your baby in your arms, holding them against your body. All of that. If you're holding your baby properly for breastfeeding, there's no way that your baby's going to be laying on a nursing pillow. So the nursing pillow is there to support your arms in supporting your baby.

And if you're doing laid back breastfeeding, the nursing pillow completely becomes null and void. So if you're doing any sort of laid back or reclining position, you don't need the nursing pillow at all, not even for your arms. So they're overblown. But I will say, as you're practicing a latch, if it's really hard for you to get a good latch if it's breastfeeding, is a struggle if breastfeeding it's painful for you. I do think a nursing pillow comes in handy and you may not have the right pillows laying around at home that really prop things up in the right place. So I don't like the poppy. I very rarely would say that I recommend the poppy. The reason is is it's way too firm, it's rounded and So what ends up happening is when the boppy is sitting against your torso, it's so rounded that the inner part of the boppy goes down and then you hit your tummy like the baby tends to roll in to you. And it generally props your arms up too high, like unless you have super perky tiny breasts or a very hurt torso like are are a very sorry long torso. I would say that the boppy is just not going to align well with most people's bodies and it's just very firm. It's not comfortable, but again, it doesn't really come up to your torso. It doesn't really actually meet with your body. It starts to roll downward and you get this gap. This sort of gap, this gap between your body and the pillow and your arms and your baby tend to fall into that gap. It doesn't give you the support that you're looking for, so I don't like that pillow. The other big one is the breast the pillow and this to me, just feels way too clinical. Like whenever I see a mom with this, I'm just going like it's just this really flat, almost cardboard feeling pillow. There is a slight bump where your baby's head might go. It straps around your waist so it doesn't move and it's flat so you don't get that rolling in as the baby gets closer to your tummy, but I often find that it sits way too low. And I just don't think that it's comfortable. I much prefer something that you can mold and shape to fit around your body that you can use it in front of your body on the side of your body, that it can be folded in half if you need more height or something like that. So there's a brand out there, there's many brands that are similar to this, but the one I'm most familiar with is blessed Nest now these are pretty pennies, so please don't get this if latching is going well for so you don't need a pillow. OK, if latching is a struggle and breastfeeding is painful and you really need to focus on that latch technique in the positioning, I do think a nursing pill is going to serve you well. So the last nest, it's a Crescent moon shape. It's filled with organic buckwheat. Don't worry, buckwheat is gluten free, so it's not actual wheat. It's just it's another grain. It's gluten free. So just Anybody who's celiac girl or just gluten? That's not gonna bother you. It's an organic cotton cover. Very washable but these it's like a beanbag, kind of, and it's heavy enough that it stays in place and a lot of moms will actually find these are great for sleeping. These pillows end up being great for tummy time and stuff like that later on as well. It actually looks nice in terms of a nursing pillow. It's not obviously a nursing pillow. There's different designs you can get on it to, you know, I don't really care as much about how it looks but it just functions incredibly well. You can kind of like stuff the beans up higher on one side if that's where your baby's head. And you wanna have that more elevated and you can just mold it to fit whatever whatever way you want it's way more comfortable. It feels more natural feeling. It feels a lot less clinical. So a pillow like that, whether you go with that brand or not, that would be my recommendation. All right, moving on, the other thing I think is is almost necessary for everybody would be nursing pads. Now, this only works if you're wearing a bra of some type. But I would say I encourage you to go with the disposable. Nursing pads. I have a lot of people that like the reusable ones, and I've used those as well. What I will tell you is that the reusable ones staying over.

You have to be really good about washing these properly, like you really want to get everything out of the nursing pads. And when it comes to organic materials, you have to use different cleansers. So think of breast milk akin to blood and like even think about it this way like pet urine stains, those require some enzyme cleaners. To remove those you know little, just little bits of organic matter from whatever fabric it is that you're trying to treat. Same with breast milk. And so over time, those really aren't something that I would say you can get away with using for months and because you really have to strip them down and it's very hard on the fabric and ultimately you're just gonna need to buy new ones. So is it a little bit wasteful to use disposable nursing pads? Yes. Do you use them forever? Generally, not even if you're a heavy leaker. In the beginning, that tends to slow down the longer you go in your lactation journey. But disposable nursing pads are really great for if you're ever putting ointment on the breast. Right. And then you want to use a pad, you cover it and you change it every time you nurse your pump because that just keeps everything really clean and sanitary. It reduces your risk of infection, it reduces your risk of thrust, things like that. If you're using a nice clean disposable nursing pad that's hygienic every single time, right. If you're having any sort of pain or ****** damage or anything like that, these are going to come in. Really, really handy. But they're also great at catching leaks, so there's many different brands on the market. I don't think you need to go with anything fancy, but just getting a box of those in the very beginning is something that I would say is a really great tool to. On hand should you need this later on in lactation? No, I think this is really for the early days. Again, not everybody will need these, but most people will need these in the very beginning. Last but not least, my other tool, and I will just say, check out the whole other episode I have on this topic, but it's a baby carrier. I think baby Carrier is one of the best tools that you could have for a baby. In general, but it's also great for breastfeeding. Wearing your baby in a properly fitted and worn baby carrier is going to put your baby in a postural position that is very similar to breastfeeding. It is excellent for their development. It does not hinder their milestones or their motor development or anything like that. In fact, it does quite the opposite. It's also something that you can learn to nurse your baby in. Imagine nursing on the go, just adjusting the carrier slightly to get your baby at breast level and popping them on the boob, and you're just at the park going on a stroll. And then you just nurse your baby and you barely had to do anything.

This is the most incredible way to breastfeed. I cannot tell you how much of A lifesaver this was for me as a mom of two, especially of course I did it when I only had one baby, but when I had two, I could prepare a snack for my toddler while I was nursing the baby like nothing. It was. It created so much less stress for me because I knew that I can meet both children's needs at the same time and nursing was just something that sort of fell into the background. It was just a way of life. It was just like, OK, so I'm wearing her and now I'm going to nurse her. And I can read my son a story Like or just whatever. I mean, I've literally gone to the bathroom while wearing my babies and nursing them. Now that might be TMI, but I mean, come on. A lot of us have nursed our babies while sitting on a toilet, OK, especially like in a public restroom. I don't wanna. I I have to go to the bathroom. What am I gonna do with my baby right now? I can't put them down. The stroller doesn't fit in here. Like you it's gross in the public bathroom, I would wear my baby. Absolutely. I wore my baby and went to the bathroom.

So I just think a baby carrier is completely indispensable. What I hear from people, a lot of the time is my baby hates the carrier. That happens for a number of reasons. One, sometimes it's truly a structural issue where your baby might need some body work, like in terms of chiropractic or something like that. I would encourage you to check out the episode with Doctor Martin Rosen if you want to go through a deep dive of that and why some babies need chiropractic and how it's helpful and just take take a listen to that. So that's going to be LinkedIn. The show notes for you as well, but most of the time it's that you didn't start baby wearing in the early days. So some baby carriers are only for 12 lbs and up, so of course your newborn is not big enough. You're generally not going to be able to do it until they're three months. You generally need kind of two types of baby carriers. So in the early days it's gonna be a wrap or something like a ring sling. Or maybe it's even like a maid tie or something else that's more of a wrap style. And you can use that smaller babies. If you get them started early and young, especially when they're still in that kangaroo stage, those first three months of early postpartum, that 4th trimester, that's your best chance of success because they'll fall in love with it. They're close to you. They're skin to skin. That's all your newborn wants to be anyway. Otherwise you're just holding them in your arms all the time. So why not just make life easier and give yourself a baby carrier and you don't have to do that. Right, you can easily go on walks and get things done around the house and then you can graduate to something that's more like a soft structured carrier, like an ergo like a becco. Like all you're so many brands, little baby. Honestly, there's just so many of these days, I can't even keep up with it. You can graduate to a more backpack style structured carrier for your larger baby, and these are much easier to snap on than a wrap, although I think wrinkling is super easy and very convenient. It's easy to store.

All of that you can use it at any size, so from newborn to two years old. So I absolutely love those, but it's kind of personal preference. I would encourage you to check out a lot of those and listen to the episode that I did on baby wearing. And you know, she's an expert in baby wearing and has a great free resource guide that's LinkedIn. The show notes for that episode for you but a baby carrier is going to be your best friend, and it also helps avoid things like like like breast aversion, like babies who go on nursing strikes or suddenly develop a breast aversion, a baby carrier is an excellent tool to get your baby to come back to the breast and to be friendly at the breast and to want to keep latching there again. It just helps you fit in nursing sessions when you're otherwise busy. It keeps your baby a lot more calm. It's great for their neurological and physical developments. There's so many reasons why I would say that a baby carrier is great, but it also again just encourages really excellent posture for your baby. And that posture translates back to positioning of the test so it's an excellent, excellent tool. Those are my top tools for breastfeeding. So just to review, it's a manual pump. You know, a really good electric pump, a pumping bra, the correct nursing pillow, some disposable pads and a baby carrier. Those are my essentials. Everything else is a nice to have or only buy it if you truly need it as as someone who sells a product for breastfeeding, I would say that it really annoys me when people buy it that don't need it. So I see that a lot where people leave a review like it didn't increase my supply and I'm like, well, OK. What kind of milk supply did you have before you started taking it? Why pump 30 oz a day? Why on Earth are you buying a lactation supplement? Then? You don't need to be making more milk like I. I don't. That's a full milk supply. My product is not going to do something different for you. Your body is is already making plenty of milk, right? So sometimes they see that on all kinds of product reviews, people leave a negative review you know didn't work for me. And I'm like, well. But I mean, you know, so I just, I would just say take parental reviews with a grain of salt. I see this all the time with baby bottles, pacifiers. Well, my baby likes this bottle. You know. What does that mean for a baby to like all right. Like, how do we know the baby likes it? And how do we know that the baby actually knows what's best for them? We don't. There's actually science behind what type of bottle a baby should be using, so parental views take them with a grain of salt. These people are not experts in infant feeding is certainly not breastfeeding. You know, I would actually listen to experts on this. Ask your own lactation consultants if you're working with one for their specific recommendations for you, because individualized recommendations are always going to be best. But this episode I just wanted to kind of clear the air and talk about sort of the essentials that I would recommend for breastfeeding and then let you go and decide from there. So if this episode sparked any questions for you, you know, definitely follow me over on Instagram at holistic lactation. Share this episode with friends, leave us a review, post a screenshot in your stories. Tell us how this episode impacted you, and if you learned anything. And then keep subscribing because we've got some incredible guest experts coming up in future episodes and lots of amazing topics to help you through all things breastfeeding. So thank you for listening and I'll see you on the next episode.

Did you know? Most moms stopped breastfeeding in the first month postpartum. I believe succeeding at bus feeding means having the right mindset. In fact, studies show that the number one factor that determines breastfeeding success is commitment, which is why I've created my incredible audio download of breastfeeding affirmations. Where I give you actionable mantras so you can breastfeed your baby with confidence and Peace of Mind and best of all, it's free to get access to this audio and PDF. Simply visit holisticlactation.com/mantras and you can get started right now.

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