Leche, Baby! » nursing wear http://www.lechebaby.com Nourishing thoughts on motherhood, organic and natural baby products and alternative medicine Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:56:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Tara’s breastfeeding tips: Part 1 http://www.lechebaby.com/2007/05/20/taras-breastfeeding-tips-part-1/ http://www.lechebaby.com/2007/05/20/taras-breastfeeding-tips-part-1/#comments Mon, 21 May 2007 03:27:11 +0000 nkd5 http://www.lechebaby.com/2007/05/20/taras-breastfeeding-tips-part-1/ My friend Tara was a great help to me with support and encouragement with breastfeeding. She found breastfeeding to be very challenging, the beginning especially, and put together an amazing list of useful tips to help new mothers. I’m publishing her tips in this post and the next few.

Thanks Tara!
Danish Wool breast pads: Really help to avoid sore nipples or make them feel better. They have 2 kinds, ekstra and regular. The ekstra are double layered if you leak a lot. I do, and even through them! But I found if you just put a disposable one behind the wool one, it catches any leaks. Any other breast pad made my nipples really sore. The lanolin in the wool is what helps with the soreness. It’s the same idea as the stuff in the tube: Lansinoh brand lanolin. Also the wool pads don’t smell bad after they catch the leaks. If you don’t leak they still help with the soreness.

Lansinoh brand lanolin: Make sure if it’s not this brand it’s hypoallergenic and doesn’t have any crap in it and you don’t have to worry about wiping off before feeding the baby. Lather it on in the first weeks, it really helps.

Sleep Bra/Sleep wear: Get a night time sleep bra to hold the pads on or some kind of night gown or shirt that holds pads on. You might be lucky and not leak but you should still have one thing handy for the beginning in case you are. I didn’t get a nursing bra before I had Rowan and it was like sleeping in a water park, I had no way to hold the pads on, it was kind of a mess. Make sure the bra is not too snug. When you are too compressed you can get a plugged duct or a breast infection. Also avoid underwire bras if possible, or limit your time in them. Motherwear has bras that are cheap. And there’s a store in Manhattan that’s good, they measure you and help you find a bra. I personally have been very uncomfortable in my bras and clothes. I have been wearing a zip up sweatshirt and a sleep bra so I am on the hunt for better stuff. I have some v-neck nursing shirts that I can pull aside; these are somewhat comfortable but kind of revealing and do nothing for keeping me warm. If you wear a button or snap shirt you can undo it from the bottom instead of the top so you have more coverage. Most people I know say they just wear regular clothes and pull them up. I don’t like all the shirt under my armpit, I feel like I have an armpit wedgie. Since I wrote that I’ve solved my problem. The best bra I’ve found is by Bravado and Boob Design shirts, they have discreet openings and they keep your chest and stomach warm. The only place to get them in U.S. is at the upper breast side and online at Milkface, a Canadian company. I am much more comfortable now that I have a Bravado bra and Boob shirt.

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]]> http://www.lechebaby.com/2007/05/20/taras-breastfeeding-tips-part-1/feed/ 0 Slings http://www.lechebaby.com/2007/05/01/slings/ http://www.lechebaby.com/2007/05/01/slings/#comments Tue, 01 May 2007 19:41:29 +0000 nkd5 http://www.lechebaby.com/2007/05/01/slings/ I bought 2 slings while I was still pregnant: The New Native sling (non adjustable) and the Kangaroo Korner Adjustable fleece pouch. I barely used them. In order to get my baby into the New Native sling he had to be bent around me and squeezed into the pouch. The Kangaroo Korner sling was more flexible to put him into but it was a bit too warm and I found the snap adjustments to be cumbersome.

I had decided to give up on slings and just use the Baby Bjorn (which was killing my back) until my doula encouraged me to try the adjustable Over the Shoulder Baby Holder. I have to admit I didn’t take right to it even though I watched the video and tried different positions. It wasn’t until I started breastfeeding him in it that I started to get the hang of it. Once we both got used to it, I became completely dependent on it. Especially once he was out of his infant car seat (the bucket that you carry). The sling made it really easy to get him out of the car with whatever else I needed to carry and firmly attach him with his legs around my hip and have my hands free. The Zolowear Solarveil is popular among my friends. It folds up to nothing and you can pop it in your purse.

You can find a comparison of slings at Peppermint.

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]]> http://www.lechebaby.com/2007/05/01/slings/feed/ 2 LANAcare http://www.lechebaby.com/2007/03/04/lanacare/ http://www.lechebaby.com/2007/03/04/lanacare/#comments Sun, 04 Mar 2007 14:43:55 +0000 nkd5 http://www.lechebaby.com/blog/2007/03/04/lanacare/ During the first few weeks of nursing my nipples were very sore, even though baby had a good latch (this is normal). The Nansinoh lotion with natural lanolin helped a lot and was especially good because baby could nurse even with it applied. But what gave me the most relief was the LANACare nursing pads. They are made of 100% wool (which is where lanolin comes from), and are very soft and comfortable. After sleeping with them on for a couple of days my nipples felt much better. Also, the nursing pads are not as obvious under your clothes as the other store bought ones. They are a bit on the expensive side, but well worth it.

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