10 Breastfeeding Products Every Mom Needs to Know About

When I held my first born to nurse her for the very first time I was so nervous. I was determined to make it work and I had read a lot about breastfeeding, but she looked so tiny and fragile and honestly, neither she or I knew what we were doing.

Thankfully the lactation consultant helped me latch her and that’s how our breastfeeding journey begun. Five years later, I have nursed 2 kids, nursed through pregnancy, tandem nursed and extended breastfed both of my kids.

There is no doubt breastfeeding is one of the best things you can do for your child but it is not always an easy journey and it is not easy to get started, especially when this is your first baby. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try or we should give up. I always tell my friends it takes about 2 months to get on a good breastfeeding routine and once you got it down, it becomes so easy!

During the past 5+ years I have discovered and tried a lot of breastfeeding products, some that made my life easier, some that were essential and others that were just awesome to have. So, in honor of World Breastfeeding Week I am going to share with you my favorite breastfeeding products, as well as my readers’ favorite ones.

If you want to see some of these products close up, click here to check out this TV segment where I show you these products and explain how to use them; or hit play down below.

10 Breastfeeding Products Every Mom Needs to Know About

Coconut oil or nipple butter

Yes, coconut oil is going to be your best friend when you become a mom because it works for so many things! When you start nursing, you will mostly likely get cracked and sore nipples for a week or so while your breasts adjust to breastfeeding. Coconut oil is great at helping your nipples heal faster, all you have to do is apply a little bit and let it air dry.

What I love about using coconut oil is that it’s edible, so I feel comfortable nursing my baby right after. However, if your nipples are at a point where coconut oil is not helping anymore, try the Earth Mama Organics nipple butter. It’s also safe for babies, it works great and it’s organic.

I would personally recommend you to stay away from any nipple creams that are not organic since your baby is going to be sucking on them and you don’t want to exposure a newborn to questionable ingredients.

Booby Tubes

Every time one of my friends is pregnant I get them booby tubes. They’re just that, a type of tube that goes around your boob and IT IS AMAZING!

A few days after you begin your breastfeeding journey, you will feel engorgement, which is when your breasts gets really hard because they’re so full. This regulates eventually but the process can be painful – booby tubes are perfect for this time.

You can freeze them or heat them and put them on your breast for relief and comfort. Use them heated when your breasts feel tender. The heat helps encourage milk flow and helps avoid clogged ducts. Use them cold to help reduce the swelling and tenderness of engorgement and/or weaning.

Reusable bamboo nursing pads

Boobs leak! I’ll never forget the first time my boobs leaked – I looked down my shirt and it was soaked. I tried the disposable pads but I hated that they were not organic and they didn’t feel comfortable. That’s when I found the bamboo reusable pads. These are great at absorbing the milk and so soft! You can throw them in the laundry after you’re done using them and use them again so you really one need to buy one set.

These are many brands of bamboo nursings pads, I used these and really liked them. Whichever you decide to get, make sure you buy organic ones since they will be touching your skin.

Haakaa pump

When you start nursing your baby, sometimes your other boob will start leaking. It happens quite a lot and it’s completely normal. Instead of letting that precious milk to go to waste, you can use a Haakaa pump!

It’s a silicone pump that you attach the one breast using suction. While your nursing your baby the milk that’s leaking from the other breast falls into this pump and you can then freeze for later.

This is how I collected most of the milk I froze since I didn’t need to build a huge stash. If you start using it, you will be surprised at how much milk you can collect this way. Sometimes I would have as much as 7 ounces in one feeding!

Willow Wearable Pump

This is my dream pump come true and I only wish it existed back when I had my first baby. It is what the name says, a wearable pump! It comes with 2 pieces that look like breasts, each of those parts is an individual breast pump. All you have to do is put it on your breasts, inside your bra, and you let the machine do the work.

This means you can be driving, working, playing, cooking or doing whatever you want while pumping. The Willow pump doesn’t come with cables, there’s no machine you need to attach it to, it’s just the 2 breast shape pumps that go into your bra.

Look at this mom pumping while playing with her child – see how discrete it is? Amazing!

Lactation Cookies and Lactation Tea

I didn’t even know this was a thing until I wanted to increase my milk supply and started researching for natural ways you can do this. Lactation cookies are just cookies made with ingredients that help increase your milk supply.

I actually made my own cookies and let me tell you – they were good! They also worked pretty well! One day I ate too many and then I had to deal with oversupply for a bit so they’re really worth a try if you’re looking to increase your milk products.

Here’s the recipe if you want to make them yourself, or you can also buy them premade here. If you’re not into cookies, you can try a lactation tea, which is just a tea made with herbs that help increase your milk product.

Nursing tanks / shirt

When I first started nursing I didn’t think I needed nursing tanks. I got a cover and thought that’s all I needed but my baby hated the cover and my boobs were so big I wasn’t comfortable exposing them all so I got nursing tanks!

Amazon and Target sell very affordable nursing tanks and shirts. You can also find them on sale at Zulily quite frequently!

Another trick that I used when I wasn’t wearing a nursing shirt was to wear 2 shirts. You wear a regular tank top and on top of that you wear your t-shirt. When you need to nurse, you pull up the t-shirt and pull down the tank top and nurse your baby. This way your boob is mostly covered without you have to use a cover. Plus it is more affordable than buying a lot of nursing shirts.

You’ve probably already heard about them but this is seriously a life-saver. I consider it a necessity! The most comfortable way to nurse is by using the pillow because it helps to hold your arms, which means you won’t get tired or sore from nursing.

I really liked the Boppy pillow and some of my friends love the Breast Friend pillow. I don’t think you can go wrong with either one and it is worth every penny.

Another tip: if you vagina feels sore after birth and it hurts to sit down, then use the nursing pillow to sit on. It will relieve the pressure from your vagina and will make sitting down a lot more bearable.

Foot stool

If you’re going to be nursing a lot at home, I recommend you get a stool for your feet. Raising your feet helps to be in a more comfortable position when nursing. You are going to love it when you’ve been nursing for an hour!

If you don’t have a foot stool, stack up some books and rest your feet on them while you nurse.

Deodorant safe for pregnancy

A lot of deodorants are made with ingredients you don’t want on your body, especially when you’re pregnant or nursing. You can make your own non-toxic deodorant or you can get the ones from Earth Mama Organics. They even make one with ginger which might help during morning sickness.

There you have it! Our top 10 breastfeeding products that we just can’t live without. Would you add anything else to this list? I’d love to know – leave us a comment down below.