Breastfeeding Must-Haves

Please Share!

This post may contain affiliate links and we may earn compensation when you click on the links at no additional cost to you.

While I am not currently breastfeeding, I did just recently finish breastfeeding my second and I exclusively pumped for my son for his first year. A friend of mine that I have given a lot of advice to on this, said I needed to write at least one post on all that I learned because, really, I became quite the pro! My husband also agreed that I needed to at least write a few breastfeeding posts after all the research I did and all the struggles I overcame.

With exclusively pumping with my first son, I learned a lot of great tricks that I could not have made it the full year without. The main thing that helped me was actually having the right STUFF. There is a lot of equipment that goes along with breastfeeding. It feels like a lot up front but after you get the pump and the necessary accessories, you spend way less money than what you would have on formula. For me, that was what made me decide to exclusively pump when my son wouldn’t latch. I was producing enough, he just couldn’t open his mouth wide enough, so I decided to go with the free milk that my body made. 

This post is going to focus on the “what you need” part of breastfeeding/pumping. The tips and tricks, I’ll save for later!

Must haves for breastfeeding and pumping:

Number 1: Freemie Collection Cups (I can’t emphasize this enough!!!!)

You’ll notice I don’t not have a hands-free pumping bra on this list. This is way better. With my first child, exclusively pumping, I did not think I was going to make it the first year. The main reason being the loneliness. I hated when I was happily hanging out with my family for a birthday or holiday (or just because) and I would hear my little alarm go off that it was time to go pump.

I would take my pump to a room sit by myself and play on my phone waiting to be done. Sometimes my husband would take pity on me and come sit with me. It was so sad. Then I found the Freemie Collection cups.

Let me tell you why this is a MUST-HAVE if you are planning on pumping at all.

1. Pump UNDER YOUR SHIRT in a NORMAL bra. No bottles hanging off of you. No extra special hands-free pumping bra.
2. It works with any pump that you are wanting to use. There are adapters for the pumps that need an extra piece, but you can pretty much use these cups with any pump. I used them with a Medela the first time and a Motif Duo the second baby (which ended up being awesome, see item number 2).
3. Pump anywhere. I have always pumped in my classroom because my school is huge and I wasn’t about to waste precious traveling to the nurse’s office. With the Freemie cups, I never worried about if I forgot to lock the door or if a custodian used a key to get in. I basically never needed to lock it. If someone came in, they never even knew. The people who did know didn’t care, because I didn’t care, because I was as covered as any other time of the day. I pumped in the car. I pumped while hanging out with my family. I pumped at my desk. I pumped while working on my computer.
4. Holds a lot of milk!

I honestly credit my success in making it a full year exclusively pumping to the Freemie Cups. Every new mom I talk to that asks me for breastfeeding and pumping advice, that is the first thing I tell them they need. They are a little expensive, but to me it was toally worth it! I used them the whole year (replacing the little parts, did not cost much. I just bought a bunch on Amazon at the get-go.)

Number 2: Hospital Grade Battery Operated Pump

My first child, I had a pump that came in a big bag and had a cord. I thought the bag would be so convenient and I just thought that a battery operated pump would not be as effective. My second child, I got a Motif Duo through my insurance. It is less expensive than the name brand pumps that are similar, but it is hospital-grade. I seriously LOVE this pump. It is so small. It was also extremely quiet. My first pump was extremely loud and after the many hours I had spent pumping, I could hear it taunting me in my dreams.

This pump paired with the Freemies made pumping so convenient. I could pump anywhere! No outlet needed. It worked a lot better than my Medela that I had the first time around. It lasted the whole day and I charged it when I got home.

Number 3: Haakaa or similar product

This one is only helpful if you are breastfeeding by nursing your baby on your breast. It’s not so helpful as a manual pump. This product allows you to not just catch the letdown on the opposite breast that you are nursing, but it also uses suction to stimulate milk production. It’s great for building up a stash! I was amazed at how much milk I could collect while nursing my baby! I could get an entire bottle to freeze while simultaneously feeding my child. Amazing.

Number 4: Nipple cream/Lanolin

I probably don’t need to explain much further. Breastfeeding can be a pain, literally. Nipple cream helps.

Number 5: Medela Quick Clean Wipes

These were so nice since I had to pump everywhere I want. It made cleaning pump parts easy because I could use the wipes. Water is not necessary but I would use water to rinse before wiping them down to get most of the excess milk out of the way. Loved them.

They are also nice for pacifiers if your kid throws it down in the parking lot.

Number 6: Nursing Tops and Bras (for obvious reasons)

I also found that wearing a tank top under a regular shirt was pretty effective. I got pretty good at nursing without a cover but still being completely covered. You’ll also notice, I did not put a nursing cover on the list. If you choose to cover that is up to you, but you don’t need to buy a special cover. You can, but I’m putting the MUST-HAVES on this list and a nursing cover can easily be replaced by a cloth, a blanket, or even a napkin.

I am a very modest person and I don’t like to have my breasts out, even breastfeeding, so I get wanting to have a cover. But, really I found them to be more of a nuisance and they drew more attention to me more than if I just had a good nursing top or did the two-shirt method I mentioned before. Usually, no one even took a second glance at me. If they did, I was still completely covered so I was not bothered. I would rather get my baby fed quickly and efficiently than mess with it. My daughter was quick. It usually was like a 5-7 minute session that was not worth hunting for a private spot or wrestling with the nursing cover that made her sweat and take way longer. **Please note that in most states, you are not required to cover while breastfeeding. If you would like more information about your rights as a breastfeeding mom GO HERE**

Number 7: Breastmilk Storage Bags

Even if you are not planning on pumping and giving a bottle at any point. It is still a good idea to do something to collect extra milk. The Haakaa pump listed above is great for this! If something happens and you are unable to feed your baby, they might not take to formula if they are used to your milk. Having some on hand is always a good idea. I would like to say that the generic bags are just as good, but unfortunately, we found that we ended up with faulty bags way more when we bought the generic brands of bags. Really any of the name brand bags are fine for storage! I bought whatever was on sale!

Number 8: Comotomo Bottles (or another bottle made for breastfed babies)

Some babies don’t care where they’re getting milk as long as they are getting. Others, if they are breastfed, make bottle feeding almost impossible. My baby would not take a bottle for a while. Then she would only take it from my husband if I was nowhere near (like I couldn’t be in the house!) Then if I was out of sight she’d be okay. Finally, she got to the point that I could give her a bottle, but she usually wasn’t happy about it. She would give me a look like, “There are perfectly good boobs right there…”

You might be thinking, “I am only EVER going to nurse them, so I won’t worry about bottles!” but there WILL be a time where someone has to feed your baby. Things come up. Having a bottle that mimics the breast helps the transition for babies that really don’t want to be bottle-fed. It is also a good idea to (after they have gotten the hang of breastfeeding) start introducing the bottle every so often so if something happens and they need a bottle, it’s not a huge ordeal. We liked these Comotomo bottles because the bottle themselves even had a breast-like feel. There are many options available though.

My list is not long. Because in reality, you don’t need much. At the start, you feel like you need all these accessories. Then you get to just need the basics. If you are breastfeeding, you need a baby and boobs. If you are pumping, you need the pump, the bags or bottles, and boobs. Everything else, for me, just made things harder.

Please Share!