Ask any nursing mom and she will tell you the struggles of breastfeeding. This is especially true when you are a new mom.
Breastfeeding your child is the most important task for you as a mother. But sometimes you do encounter many problems and challenges in the way. You become an expert feeding mom with experience. But in the beginning, you need to find out ways to overcome the challenges you will face.
It’s often seen a nursing mom getting awkward when she has to breastfeed her child out in public. Well, there is nothing wrong in that. But no likes to have their breasts starred down by a bunch of unknown people. This is just one of the many struggles you have to face to when you are new to motherhood. Or else you have an endless list of things or rather problems to take care off.
For all the new moms, we understand that breastfeeding can sometimes be a problem for you. But then it is also essential for your child. To help you out, we have listed some genius hacks that can help you nurse your baby.
Breastfeeding Hacks That Can Make Your Life Easier
If you know the right things to do, then nursing your child becomes much easier. The hacks that you are about to read can make every mom’s life easier. Without wasting any more time, let’s discuss out the things you can do.
1. Try the Two-Shirt Method
Many of the nursing moms make use of a nursing friendly t-shirt to cover themselves up while feeding. This is perhaps the best and the quickest solution you can rely on. But what do you do when you don’t have a nursing friendly t-shirt? Without a nursing cover, it is difficult to feed your baby especially when you are out there in public.
In this case, you can try the two-shirt method. It’s easy to nurse your child this way as you don’t have to leave your boobs exposed. All you need to do is simply lift one of your shirts and start feeding. Since you are wearing a second shirt, you don’t have to worry about exposing your whole tummy again. This way you will feel comfortable to breastfeed your child.
2. Don’t Forget to Stock Up Nursing Pads
This is yet another problem that all new mothers have to go through. Think how frustrating it is to change your t-shirt multiple times because of the dripping milk from your breasts. Whether you have your baby around you or not, your milk can come out anytime. No one likes to wear a shirt soaked in milk. If you are wearing a nice attire, then it’s even more unwanted. This is why you need breast pads.
Breast pads are very effective in soaking up the extra milk coming out from your breasts. This way you don’t have to worry wetting your shirt with your milk. You can wear these breast pads all the time and take them off while nursing. This is not only easy to use, but it also makes things very easier for you.
3. Get Extra Milk Containers to Store Breast Milk
There are a lot of things that you buy when you become a new mother. One of the main things that top the charts is baby bottles and milk storing containers. When you are not feeding, you can store your milk in these storing containers. This way you can feed your child more easily. You don’t have to lift up your shirt every time to feed. You can easily feed your baby from these milk containers. Just one thing, you should not store the milk for too long. You should try and feed fresh milk to your child at all times.
4. Use a Nursing Necklace
You can make breastfeeding painless with a nursing necklace. By now you must have experienced the inevitable baby grab. Your little one grabbing your breasts are fine, but when they dug in their teeth or nails, it’s not fine anymore. If you don’t want to get hurt by those wondering baby hands, then carrying a nursing necklace could be the perfect solution for you.
A nursing necklace will keep your baby’s hands full while you are feeding them. So you can easily save yourself from getting scratched or bitten. You can get these nursing necklaces at any mother-care store.
5. Make Use of Mammary Minders
The life of a new mother is not an easy one. After serving your baby for the whole day, you are mostly tired. In such a condition, it is not possible for you to remember which breast you last fed your baby from. This could turn out to be an everyday problem for you unless you find a solution.
To save you from this struggle, you have mammary minders to help you out. These sticker-like bands can be easily attached to your bra. You can use these as reminders of which breast you fed your baby last on. All you need to do is attach them to your bra. These are very cheap, and you can get them from any online store you want.
6. Use a Baby Nursing App
Yes, nowadays you get apps for literally everything. You can download a baby nursing app from the store to help you feed your baby. This app is the perfect solution for any mother who is absent-minded. If you tend to forget when you last fed your baby and for how long then you definitely need this app.
This app is specially designed for all brand new moms to keep track of their baby’s feeding times. With this app, you can easily keep track of how many times you fed your baby, for how long you fed, when is the last time you fed and much more. The good thing is that most of these apps are available for free. So you can get all the help you need for free.
7. Breastfeed with a Sling
What do you do when you are out on the go and your baby gets hungry all of a sudden? You obviously can’t watch your baby cry for milk. In such situations, the best thing to do is use a sling. While your baby hangs down your chest with the help of the sling, you can feed them easily even while walking or moving. You can even use an additional cover while feeding.
8. Lactation Boost Smoothies
For a nursing mom, it is very important to stay healthy. During this phase of your life you need to consume as much nutrients as you can. Don’t forget that your baby is getting all his/her nourishment from you. Not just that but by eating healthy, you can even boost your milk production. In this case, you can have fruit-filled smoothies made with oats in your diet. It is not only tasty but also very helpful in pumping some nutrients in your body. This is the perfect way to boost your milk production for any lactating mother.
9. Use a Nipple Shield to Avoid Soreness
Nipple shields are quite popular as they can protect your nipples from your child’s bite. When you continue to feed your child for the whole day long for a really long time, you are sure to have sore nipples. This is actually a very painful experience. But you can save yourself from the pain by using these nipple shields.
A nipple shield is basically a silicone made nipple that you wear on your nips while nursing your child. These nipple shields can also be worn when you have a premature baby or you have an overactive let-down. In short, this little item can be a great hack for a variety of situations.
10. Make Use of Cabbage Leaves to Dry Up Milk
There comes a time in every mother’s life when you have to stop nursing your baby. This can be a painful experience for you but you have to do it. The best way to dry up your milk is to use cabbage leaves. All you need to do is take a green cabbage and place it on your breast after crushing it. The enzymes present in the cabbage will help to dry up your milk. This may sound crazy to many of you but it actually works.
11. Get a Milk-Saver
As a new mother, you are already used to the leaking problem. At any point of the day, you may start leaking. Instead of letting all this milk go to vain, you can store it up in a milk saver.
A milk saver collects your leaking milk from one side as you nurse or leak from the other side. Once you collect the milk, all you need to do is store it in the fridge.
So these are some of the best breastfeeding hacks you need to know. With these hacks you should be doing well in any situation.
