15 Ways to Prepare BEFORE Baby Arrives!
First-time mom and starting to feel anxious about breastfeeding? You’re talking to the right girl! Boy, was I scavenging the internet in my third trimester for any tip that might help me accomplish my goal of breastfeeding E for his entire first year. It felt like such a daunting task.
Well, last month I finally “finished” nursing my 1.5-year-old son. I surpassed my goal! I’m really glad I made the choice to breastfeed. What started out feeling really foreign to me, turned out to be a great bonding experience for us (and helped me burn some of that baby weight.)
But I won’t sugar-coat it. It was HARD work to feed a human! My body went through a LOT during pregnancy (as yours has too, I’m sure), and even more during lactation.
The First Few Days Are Critical
The thing about breastfeeding is, those first few days and weeks are critical. Producing milk is all about supply and demand, so feeding Baby as soon as possible and as often as possible is going to be your main strategy as a new mama!
Spoiler alert: all those feedings are going to consume a lot of your energy, both physically and emotionally. But don’t worry, I’m not going to be the 200th person to tell you to sleep now, while you can. *insert eyeroll here*
It’s Important To Prep
The advice I just gave my best friend was to PREP for breastfeeding before Baby arrives. I never would have succeeded in breastfeeding my son for so long, had I not prepared myself and my body for that wild ride.
Set yourself up for success so you can spend those amazing first few newborn days snuggling and perfecting your latch, instead of Googling and scrambling for Amazon deliveries.
To help you hit the ground running and have time to enjoy that adorable little newborn, I’ve collected my top 15 tips for what you can do NOW to prepare for breastfeeding before Baby arrives.
These are all things I either did or purchased, that helped me last year -and a few extra that I wish I had known about!
Your To-Do List:
1) Set Up a Breastfeeding Station
This does NOT have to be fancy. It can literally be a box or a basket filled with your breastfeeding essentials that moves around the house with you.
The idea is just that you have everything you’ll need at arm’s reach during your breastfeeding sessions. You’ll spend a LOT of time feeding Baby, so you’ll want to make yourself comfortable!
Personally, I had everything I needed in a little corner of E’s nursery. I set it up this way so I could have a light on and feed him comfortably in the middle of the night without keeping my husband awake with us.
What should you include?
What should you have at your breastfeeding station? Here are some ideas:
- Water Bottle
- Night Light
- Nursing pillow
- Burp Cloths
- Hair Ties
- Breastfeeding Tracker or Journal
- Nipple Cream
- Snacks for Mom
- Phone Charger
- Book, remote control, headphones or other entertainment!
2) Meal Prep
Prepare healthy freezer meals to set yourself up for success postpartum. Our local midwife stressed the importance of sticking to a bland, nutritious diet in those first few weeks of breastfeeding. Her reasoning was that the bland food will help make your milk easier for Baby to digest and the nutrition will help your body replace all those vitamins and minerals it pumps into your breastmilk.
So basically, you keep your energy up (obviously necessary with a newborn) and keep baby from having gas trouble, which is never fun. Think veggie soup, rice, chicken, etc.
Side note: Resist the temptation to count calories immediately postpartum. Your body actually needs extra calories to aid in milk production. Eating too few calories could have a negative effect on your milk production.
Here’s a great article on breastfeeding and nutrition from Healthline.
3) Check if your hospital has a lactation consultant
Many hospitals in the US are starting to provide new moms with access to a lactation consultant, who specializes in breastfeeding. They may stop by and check to make sure things are going smoothly for you and the baby in those first few hours or days.
As I mentioned before, milk production is all about supply and demand. The sooner you get your baby latched on properly and draining your milk, the sooner your body will realize it needs to kick up the milk production.
A lactation consultant will be your best friend in helping you with that and answer any questions you might have. Call your hospital and see if you can set up an appointment!
4) Study Up
The best piece of advice I got about antenatal preparation for breastfeeding was from my cousin. She told me that I didn’t want to be like her, laying in her hospital bed with her newborn baby crying in front of her while she frantically scrolled through YouTube videos, looking for something that might help her feed him.
There are SO many resources online to help educate you on the right latch and positions. I suggest diving into some of them now so you have a basic understanding of what to do when the time comes.
But more than that, reading up on breastfeeding honestly just made me respect my body so much more. It was easier to be patient for my milk to come in when I knew how hard my body was working on it. I was confident from my research that I was doing everything I could to help things along. I was much more patient with myself and with my baby, knowing that all of my struggles and feelings about it were completely normal. AND I knew to expect that the toughest part of breastfeeding was just getting started.
There’s so much that your body puts into making milk that’s perfect for your baby.
Reliable Breastfeeding Resources
Here’s a checklist of my favorite resources that you might want to start with:
- Book: What to Expect When You’re Expecting -My favorite pregnancy and first-year baby resource!
- Instagram: @TakingCaraBabies -She has a quirky, fun video to remember the basics of breastfeeding.
- Bookmarks: Save some of the following reputable breastfeeding resources so that when questions arise (which they will), you can jump right to them and know you’re getting reliable information.
- La Leche League: International breastfeeding support organization
- Kelly Mom: A mother of three and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)
- CDC: Centers for Disease Control breastfeeding & breast milk storage guidelines
- AAP: American Academy of Pediatrics breastfeeding information
5) Prepare Your Nipples
Do you need to prepare your nipples for breastfeeding? Currently, the overall consensus is that you do not need to do anything to “toughen up” your nipples, as was previously advised to all expecting moms.
That being said, I had extremely sensitive nipples during my pregnancy. I mean, just the feeling of the fabric from my bra rubbing my nipples made me cringe. I was terrified to let anything near them (ie: the big, hungry baby I was about to have!)
It Helped Me
A local midwife suggested I rub my nipples with a towel after showering. The idea was to slowly toughen them up in preparation for those first few weeks of constant newborn feedings.
Even though most authorities now assure that it’s not necessary to do so, I have to say that in my case, it helped me a lot. I started following her advice very slowly and gently. (Not scrubbing, just rubbing.) Then, I gradually got to the point where they weren’t bothering me anymore.
As always, listen to your body. But if your nipples are as sensitive as mine were, you might want to consider giving this “old wives tale” a try.
6) Write a Breastfeeding Plan
Like a birth plan, a breastfeeding plan lets your hospital know what your wishes are regarding breastfeeding your newborn. If you already have a birth plan, you can just add a section on breastfeeding there.
What should you write in your breastfeeding plan?
Don’t worry, this isn’t a high school essay. All you really want to do is list out your wishes so that they’re very clear to the people helping you. If you feel strongly about something, include it.
Here are some ideas to consider:
- How long are you aiming to breastfeed for?
- Are you looking to exclusively pump your milk?
- You might want to specify that you don’t want Baby to be offered any artificial nipples or pacifiers, to prevent nipple confusion.
- You may want to include your desire for skin-to-skin time, which helps both you and baby prep for breastfeeding.
Add a Plan B
As with your birth plan, you’ll want to make sure there’s room for flexibility. It’s great to have a plan and make your wishes known, but as we know things don’t always go our way in the end.
Make sure to include instructions for a “Plan B” if you’re not able to breastfeed right away.
If you’re still not sure what to write, Medela has a great article on how to write a birth plan that includes common breastfeeding wishes here.
7) Talk To Your Partner
Go over your breastfeeding plan with your partner or the person closest to you and Baby. Explain your expectations and your goals. You’ll need them to be your advocate during those first few days at the hospital and your biggest cheerleader during those long newborn nights.
Having a really supportive significant other or family member can keep you motivated if finding the right latch gets tough. And on the other hand, having someone close to you who is really unsupportive can ruin a perfectly healthy breastfeeding relationship between you and Baby. Try to make sure you’re on the same page.
8) Prepare Daily Affirmations
Here are a few positive phrases that I like to keep near my breastfeeding station. I write them at the bottom of my breastfeeding log as a way to express gratitude daily. Feel free to pin these affirmations to your breastfeeding board on Pinterest so you can see them often!
Your Shopping List:
Okay, so I was that “minimalist mom” that didn’t register for much and really only bought items that I thought would be totally essential. I cringed at the thought of having a ton of baby stuff all over our house that would only get used a few times before they were outgrown.
There are a TON of things you can buy to make your breastfeeding journey easier, but I’m only listing here the items that I recommended as necessities to my best friend a few months ago. 🙂
(NO affiliate links below, just mom-to-mom advice.)
9) Nursing Bras
A new mom gave me life-saving advice when I was pregnant: Stock up on super comfy maternity bras BEFORE baby arrives. Chances are, your old bras aren’t fitting well in your third trimester anyway.
Make it comfy. What I didn’t realize was that I was going to be sleeping in these bras to hold my breast pads in place overnight. Comfort definitely outweighed support in those first few months!
Leave room to grow. When your milk comes in, your boobs will be bigger than you’ve ever seen them. I chose a cup size that left a little extra space in anticipation of this.
My favorite (and cheapest) maternity bras actually came from H&M.
10) Nipple Cream
I used this Mom to Mom lanolin 100% natural cream and swear by it. I made the mistake of not having any cream on hand for the first week. This cream took my nipples from cracked and bleeding, to silky soft in just a few uses.
When selecting a nipple cream, make sure it’s natural (like lanolin) so you won’t have to wipe it off before feeding your baby. (ouch!)
11) Breast Pump
Your insurance may provide you with one, so check into this asap! If not, you might want to add a pump to your baby registry to get an additional percentage off the price.
I waited until the last minute to get my pump and really wished I’d ordered one sooner. E had to stay at the hospital for a few days before we could bring him home. Because I didn’t have a breast pump yet, the nurses had to supplement with formula overnight.
I also used my breast pump any time I had a clogged milk duct, left E with his dad, or eventually when I started him on solids and needed to mix my breastmilk in with his oatmeal.
The pump I used and loved is from Medela.
Another cheaper option is a Haakaa. It’s a silicone breast pump that creates enough suction to draw milk out of the breast or catch your let down while Baby is eating from the other side. It’s not as powerful or fast as an electric breast pump, but it’s a lot easier to clean, it’s portable, and you can use it while you’re breastfeeding. (Moms are the masters of multitasking!)
12) Breast Pads
So here’s the deal. Your boobs are going to leak… a lot. I noticed it most in the first few months of breastfeeding.
Something that surprised me: While baby nurses from one boob, the other boob leaks. It’s called a “letdown.” It may be a lot of milk or it may only be a few drops.
Another thing I didn’t foresee: Taking a hot shower also triggers a letdown. I used to have to prep my bra with breast pads and have it ready to go so I could dry off quickly, then whip that sucker on before I covered myself in milk.
There’s plenty of reusable bamboo breast pads on Amazon, or some moms use their Haakaa or a nursing cup to catch their liquid gold instead of disposing of it in the breast pads.
Thrifty Mom Hack: If I ran out of breast pads, my DIY solution was to use the removable cup inserts from my bikini tops. We lived in a beach town, so I had plenty of those!
13) Breastfeeding Shirts
Stock your wardrobe with comfy shirts… that make it easy to whip out a boob!
I’d shoot for comfort on this one. And remember, you’ll most likely still be in maternity size clothing for a while postpartum. That bump doesn’t go away quickly!
(Just ask all three people who asked me when I was due… the week after my baby was born.)
There’s plenty of nursing pajamas that are perfect for snuggling up with Baby at home. Eventually, you may want to add some nicer pieces to your wardrobe. When that time came for me and I was back to wearing smaller sizes, I just shopped for button-downs or low-cut, stretchy shirts.
14) Nursing Pillow
I would argue that this is essential for new moms. Sure, you can use a regular pillow to prop your baby up on your lap, but the curve and thickness of my nursing pillow gave me so much needed support during those late nights!
Posture matters when you’re breastfeeding. Bring the baby to the breast, instead of the breast to the baby. Take it from someone who had a sore back for a month and couldn’t figure out why… facepalm.
Pack your pillow in your hospital bag (it’s especially helpful if you’re breastfeeding after a C-section), use it for breastfeeding, then use it for tummy time and supported sitting as baby grows!
My pillow even had pockets on it, which kept the remote, a burp cloth, a bottle of water and my phone all within reach!
15) Nursing Cover (if you want one)
If you want, I recommend looking for a nursing cover with stretchy, breathable fabric. That way it’s comfortable to wear around your neck when your hands are full, it stays in place while baby squirms, it’s lightweight for your diaper bag, and it can still be used on hot summer days. (Or if you’re like me and live in the tropics, every day.)
The first time I had to feed my 2-week-old in public was so intimidating. We were out to eat with my entire family, who were in town visiting, and E suddenly erupted in loud hunger cries. I was still kind of fumbling through breastfeeding him and I was enormously grateful for at least a tiny bit of privacy in that stressful moment… while I fed him at the table in front of everyone.
If you think a cover will help you feel more comfortable, it’s worth the purchase. However, I’ll note that I never used mine for its other 4-in-one advertised purposes (car seat cover, high chair cover, scarf).
You’re Ready, Mama!
While it’s important to plan ahead and educate yourself, remember to keep an open mind, too. In the case that you give breastfeeding a try and realize that something about it is too stressful for you or for Baby, remember that a fed baby is always best.
Every individual baby, mom, and pregnancy is different. You might find that breastfeeding works better with your second baby and that’s okay!
Making sure your baby is getting the nutrition they need makes you Supermom!
↓ Save the image below to your Breastfeeding board on Pinterest! ↓
