10 Things My Breastfeeding Mother Didn’t Have

I was recently talking to my mom about what her experience was like nursing me in the 70’s. During our conversation I realized just how many convenience items have been developed for breastfeeding moms that she didn’t have. There are many items that I have never tried, but I was surprised at how many are actually inside my house right now. As blogger I get the opportunity to sample many things. Here’s 10 things that my mom never had.

1. Lactation Drinks: Lactation teas are new to the world and even so there are new drinks being developed all the time. I sampled Milkflow by Upspring. It comes in powdered form that you dissolve into water. While putting your baby to your breast as often as possible is the best way to keep up your milk supply I don’t think lactation drinks are going anywhere soon. Lactation teas are notorious for tasting, well, earthy? This is sweet and fruity, like juice!
2. Breastfeeding pillows: You’d think pillows were pretty much all created equal, but it can be difficult getting comfy with your new baby. The right pillow in the right place can help relax all those arm and shoulder muscles. Being able to relax in the mind and body leaves a mother’s attention to dote on her new baby.
3. Nipple Cream: I hate to think about all the sore nips out there. What a terrible ailment for a breastfeeding mother. And until recently there weren’t options that were safe for baby to ingest like the Nipple Cream from Motherlove. Which sort of puts a damper on the whole thing, you have to wipe it away, further irritating the skin, no thanks. What a wonderful convenience to be able to treat sore nipples safely and not have to remove it before nursing babe!
4. Alcohol Testing Strips: Upspring makes another product called Milkscreen. Milkscreen is designed to test the alcohol level in a mother’s breastmilk. It’s important to know that responsible drinking is safe without having to test your breastmilk. The minute level of alcohol that passes through breastmilk is not harmful to your baby. However, if a mother feels that she wants to be absolutely sure that there is no alcohol in her breastmilk before nursing then this product will provide that.
5. Vitamin D Drops: It’s the age of supplements. I take plenty myself and I do give them to my kids. There is enough conflicting research out there to have everyone confused, but I do give vitamin D drops to my boys, especially in the winter. Upspring makes Wellbaby D, free of flavor, sugar, dye, stain and preservatives.
6. The internet: Talk about a game changer. The internet has changed our lives forever and parenthood has been just as greatly influenced by this invention. My mom said, during the course of writing this post, that the biggest thing for her was lack of information. Sound familiar? I guess that is one thing that hasn’t changed. The vast majority of medical professionals still have little to no training in lactation and rarely refer to a lactation consultant. Still. Leaving moms to make decisions in a vacuum with unreliable information. The internet is changing this. We now face the problem of having to get ahold of the good and weed out the bad because there is so much information flying around. The internet is helping to get information into the hands of mothers to support their breastfeeding relationships and empowering us to normalize breastfeeding and reach our breastfeeding goals.
7. Nursing tops: You no longer have to sacrifice fashion for convenience. There are brands upon brands of cute and affordable nursing apparel. Even celebrities are getting involved designing high end maternity and nursing clothing. While I appreciate high end fashion I’ll stick to Latched Mama where I can still look fancy but be comfy as well. And I can still send my kids to college someday.
8. Nursing covers: In the past when women have wanted to cover they used whatever they had on hand which was usually a big heavy blanket. Nowadays you can purchase covers designed specifically for nursing under with a variety of designs as far as the eye can see. No one can make you cover, but if you want to then by all means use whatever it is that makes you most comfortable breastfeeding.
9. Breastmilk Jewelry: Breastmilk, placenta and cord stump keepsakes have taken the mommy world by storm. These pieces of jewelry are coveted by mothers everywhere and new businesses are being started daily. I cherish my pieces made by Baby Bee Hummingbirds and Post Bedtime Creations.
10. Lactation cookies: Who doesn’t like cookies? So a cookie made especially for mommy’s milk supply is sure to be a hit! As I said before it’s important to remember that milk supply is best maintained by putting baby to the breast as often as possible. Cookies alone will not fix milk supply issues, but I would be a liar if I said I never bought some lactation cookies. It seems pretty hard to make them taste good and still be fairly healthy, but the ladies at Milkin’ Cookies have done pretty good!

Whether we like it or not there is a place for these products in the world today. It’s a free market and motherhood and breastfeeding is profitable for companies. The key is to do research and find what makes your life easier, what makes you happy and don’t feel bad about giving your business to a company that you trust. You don’t need most of these things, sure. But it can be fun to have options and embrace the modern world when it fits for us.