My All Time Favorite Breastfeeding Products

When I was pregnant with my son, I was determined to breastfeed. I read all the books and gathered up as many products that I could to help ensure success. I listened to other moms share their experiences. All in all, those things combined really set the stage for breastfeeding success. Once I got home though, I struggled. During that time, I learned a lot of lessons in breastfeeding survival.

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It wasn’t so natural to me. It hurt–A LOT. We worked through a lot of issues, and eventually we had overwhelming success. I couldn’t have done it without many of these products. None of them are necessary, but they sure make things more enjoyable and practical.

Here are my all time favorite breastfeeding products that I have used and completely fell in-love with:

1. Bravado Seamless Nursing Bra

These bras are the only nursing bras I ever wore. They are incredibly comfortable and offer enough hooks in the back to make adjustments as your milk supply levels off and the baby weight dissipates. These bras will downsize with you and you will be able to wear them throughout a long-term breastfeeding relationship. These bras also come with a converter kit so you can change it over to a regular bra when you are done nursing. Seriously a win-win. These bras are a bit pricy, especially for a budgeting woman like myself, but they were worth every penny. After a year of nursing, they were still in great condition and will be around for future use.

2. Boppy Bare Naked Pillow

Every nursing mom needs a nursing pillow. The boppy pillow is incredibly popular among nursing moms, and personally, I loved it too. I purchased the naked pillow and bought a Boppy Slipcover to go over it. It’s easy to remove and wash when stuff gets on it. Using the boppy pillow helped correct many of my son’s latching issues, and even as he became a bigger baby, we still used it during every nursing session. The boppy pillow allowed for hands free nursing and just provided a lot of comfort over all.

3. Lansinoh HPA Lanolin

I’m going to be really honest and say that I went through about 3 tubes of Lansinoh Lanolin in the first few months of breastfeeding. This stuff was a life saver. I was in pain and had open wounds due to poor latching. This lanolin helped keep me comfortable between feedings. Note: this can stain your nursing bras and tanks, so using a nursing pad can help protect your garments.

4. Lansinoh Soothies Gel Pads

Another lifesaver if you are experiencing pain and soreness. Throw them in the fridge for added relief. I went through packages and packages of these. If you have an open wound, these are also great because they keep a moist environment around the wound, which is ideal for healing and relief. A dry wound environment prevents healing; a moist wound environment promotes it.

5. Johnson’s Nursing Pads

Being as sore as I was, these nursing pads turned out to be my favorite. They are contoured and have a button sized indent in the center. If you are sore, these pads are by far the most comfortable out of everything else I tried. The contour shape helps prevent rubbing and irritation. The other bonus is that you don’t leak as much using these pads because there is less rubbing and stimulation to the nipple area than other brands. After my milk supply settled and I healed up around the 7 week mark, I did start using Medela Nursing Pads because they were a bit cheaper, and the contour shape was less necessary. I did try using washable nursing pads, however, I leaked so much that I didn’t have enough to keep up with demand, and they hurt a lot if you are experiencing soreness.

6. Medela Pump in Style Advanced Breast Pump

This is very expensive, but I caution anyone wanting to buy a used pump. I didn’t want to buy a used pump from just anyone because I had no way of knowing if the pump was in good condition. In addition, Medela warns that this is a health issue. I did buy a used pump from a friend for $100, and sadly, it broke down after only 1 month of use. As much as I hate buying expensive items, I wish I would’ve simply bought it brand new. And yes, the Medela is worth it. I asked so many moms before my son was born which breast pump was the best. 90% of breastfeeding moms that I talk to recommend this pump, and I completely agree with them.

7. Lansinoh Breastmilk Storage Bags

If you have a breastpump, then you will definitely need bags to store the milk. I went through a generous amount of bags and laid them flat in the freezer. Freezing them flat helps keep things organized. Plus, having milk in the freezer gave me the freedom to get out and about without my son. It also was really important when I went back to work.

8. Bebe Au Lait Nursing Cover

I’m not a huge fan of nursing with a cover, mainly because I am not very good at it. My son wasn’t the greatest either. He got hot and wanted to look around. When I did use a nursing cover though, I wanted something that was big and covered me up. This helps immensely if you have a baby that moves around a lot. I also aimed to purchase a darker color since some of the lighter colors are see through.

9. Nursing Tanks from Target

These are the only nursing tanks I will buy, and I absolutely love them. I never found a nursing tank on Amazon that I liked. I have a long torso and wanted something made from quality material, in addition to something that would cover me well. I own 6+ of these nursing tanks and continue to wear them even after weaning from breastfeeding.

So those are my top breastfeeding products that I absolutely love. I’m surely missing something! What are your favorite breastfeeding products? Please share in the comments so we all can learn!