Baby Registry: Feeding

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So this is my second time writing this blog post... Thank you, blogger.

Part 5 of 7. Let's chat about what you'll need for feeding your little one.

This list can be split into two really - half for your registry and half for you to purchase later. We registered for everything, except the sippy cups. I liked just having it all up front but some may want to wait until they'll actually be using things before getting them.

FEEDING NEED IT'S:

1) BREAST PUMP: Your insurance should cover this so give them a ring to get the deets. Then remove it from your registry! If you'll be traveling a lot you may also consider getting a hand pump on top of the electronic one. If you don't have insurance then check Craigslist and your local resale sites/groups for a used one. Often times you will find barely used pumps that you can get for free or cheap(er) and then just buy new tubing for it. 

Personally, I hated pumping but I did try to do it once in a while for when I was going to be out for a night or just for the hubs to feed O. 

2) NIPPLE CREAM: A friend got me Earth Mama Angel Baby Natural Nipple Butter and it was great - natural, smelled delicious and did the job of keeping my breast feeding nipples not chapped. Most common is Lanolin cream which you will need to wipe off your breast before feeding - you don't have to wipe off the Earth Mama cream.

3) NURSING BRAS: The Bravado! Nursing Bra is highly recommended and it's what I used. The clips never came undone on their own and they were easy to get undone with one hand, too. My only complaint is that there was ZERO support. Which is great for comfort level but not so great for little lift. :) The removable pads included with the bra did help to add a little bit of support. 

4) NURSING COVER: Some mamas use a scarf or blanket but I preferred a nursing cover like the Bebe au Lait pictured above. Mine was a Boppy brand but basically the same. The semi-rigid neckline on this nursing cover makes it easy to position and check on your baby while they are eating It also keeps the fabric off the baby's face a little bit. 

5) BOTTLE BRUSH: Clean bottles. Get one with the small nipple cleaner as well. 

6) BOTTLES & NIPPLES: We originally only had the LifeFactory glass bottles with silicone sleeves. When Oliver was a newborn we had to supplement with formula and he didn't like the nipples on the LifeFactory bottles so we purchased a set of 3 Tommee Tippee bottles. The nipples on these are meant to more closely resemble the breast. After a few months with the Tommee Tippee's he was fine with the LifeFactory bottles. 

You'll also need to get nipples for different stages - they'll give a slower or faster flow depending on your babies age. 

7) BOTTLE DRYING RACK: We have a small square BOON drying rack and I love it. Love that it's not huge and that it's easy to clean- the green "grass" lifts out of the white tray. I am loving this long, skinny tray though and may need to get it instead for baby 2. We have two small areas of counter space on each side of our sink... anything to make it less cluttered where the dishes dry is a big plus in this house! We also got the little twig that goes with it to hang the cap & nipple pieces on. 

1) BIBS: Cloth and plastic with a pocket. I suggest around 10-12 cloth and 2-3 plastic ones w/ the pockets. The plastic ones you can just wipe down so you don't need that many of them. We have bibs with velcro but I suggest snaps. Oliver ripped the velcro ones off easily and scratched up the back of his neck in the process. I loved our terry cloth ones the most - they were easy to wipe things up with, absorbent and soft on Oliver's face. 

2) HIGH CHAIR: My mom got us a used Eddie Bauer wooden high chair that I really love the look of. I don't like that the back of the seat doesn't lean back and that it doesn't fold up. The fact that it is wood and doesn't look like a typical plastic high chair really makes up for that though. I never looked into others before having O since my mom had already gotten us one. Here's a Graco TableFit high chair I ran across while doing some research for this post that I really like- looks like a small footprint, machine washable and folds up.

3) BOWLS & SPOONS: For solids. We used the Munchkin Soft Tip Infant Spoons when we first started solids and have no complaints- good size for Oliver and has a little bit of depth to the spoon. We also got the Munchkin bowls but I like these Gerber Graduate bowls with lids, too. We've since gotten an Ikea set of plates, cups, bowl & silverware.

4) FORMULA: How much, if any at all, depends on your feeding plan. For us, the samples we received in the mail from different companies and the samples we received from the hospital were plenty until I weaned Oliver at around 10 months. (If you sign up with Enfamil and Similic and probably others, you'll receive free formula samples in the mail.) We only used formula to supplement when Oliver was newborn and not eating enough yet and once in a while if we were out and a bottle was easier than breast feeding.

5) SIPPY CUPS: There are so many! Pediatricians recommend switching from a bottle to a sippy cup by 1 year. I think we switched Oliver around 14 months or so....? I'm not really sure but it wasn't too long after his first birthday. We used soft tipped Munchkin sippy cups when we made the switch. Eventually Oliver bit through the tips of those and we switched to Nuby hard tipped cups. We've always just had two at a time and that's worked fine for us. We only use these sippy cups for milk in the morning and before bed.

We also have a Contigo water bottle w/ a straw from Target that we use for water primarily when we go out. At meal times O uses these nifty Munchkin Miracle 360 cups. A very highly recommended cup is the Thermos Foogo which also keeps liquids nice and cold - they come as a sippy cup and a bottle with a straw.

6) MUNCHIE MUG: We started out with these Munchkin Snack Catchers and UH. No thanks. Oliver was constantly pulling the lids off and spilling things everywhere. Friends of ours have this Munchie Mug and it's AWESOME. The top is fabric and it now comes with a "stay fresh lid" to use for storing snacks longer. A con is that it's a bit large so it's not going to fit into a stroller cup holder.

I read a reviewers comment recently that had a wonderful tip! There's a brand of gelato called Talenti sold in grocery stores that are the same size as the munchie mug. She interchanges the munchie mug's top onto the clean and snack filled Talenti container. Talenti Gelato is DELICIOUS, too. Win Win.

...Now I want gelato.

OPTIONAL: 

• Baby Food Storage Containers: Depending on if you plan to make your own baby food you may or may not need these. For freezing the food in small portions I used the BEABA Silicone Trays and absolutely loved them. They are super easy to pop the food out of after freezing. Of course, we found them used. Score. We used the tray since then for a bunch of small portions of snacks when we went on a plane ride. Super win on that. Oliver loved it. 
• Nursing Pads: I didn't need these at all since my flow wasn't super heavy. Many people need a buttload though. (Buttload? Why do people say that? Pretty gross.) Maybe start with a small box then get more, if needed. 
• Nursing Pillow: If you read my list on what to pack for the labor/delivery hospital stay then you know my iffy relationship with this. I preferred pillow propping my arm up. Some of my friends actually brought their nursing pillow with them places... so it really just depends on you. 
• Breast Milk Freezer Storage Bags: Will you be pumping for later use? Then get some. I think I froze all of about 20 ounces of breast milk... and I think that's a high estimate. Have I mentioned my dislike of pumping? 
• Hands Free Pumping Bra: If you'll be pumping a lot then get one of these! 
• Nipple Shield & Case: You may want this if you end up having issues with latching or just to keep your nipples from getting too sore. They are sized though so you probably want to wait until your milk comes in to get one. They sell them at Target near the bottles & breast pump stuff, as well. And apparently there are cases for them! Wish I would've known that. I used a plastic baggie.

POINTLESS:

• Bottle Warmer: Nope. Just nope. Use a bowl of hot water.... or, the microwave.... which, yes, they say not to use because of hot spots but we just microwaved the bottle for a short 15-20 seconds to get the chill off and then made sure to shake it up a ton. But, yeah, listen to the experts, not me. ;) Either way, you don't need a bottle warmer.
• Bottle Sterilizer: A pot of boiling water will do exactly the same thing.
• Specialized Baby Food Maker: A food processor, blender or, my favorite, an immersion blender, will do exactly the same thing. You don't need another piece of equipment. And if you don't have any of those things and want to make your own baby food then I highly recommend going with the immersion blender. It purees so well!

Alrighty - that's all I got for now. Man, it's 8pm and I am ready for bed. We had a ridiculously loud storm last night and it had half of Boston up at 3am. No lie; it even merited a boston.com article about our lack of sleep. 

Night night.

Check out the other posts in my "Baby Registry" series!

TRANSPORTATION

NURSERY

BEDDING

CLOTHING