I have been exclusively breastfeeding Allyka now for 14 months and I still can’t believe it! I was just originally planning to breastfeed her for the first 6 months but my plan changed when I realized the important role of our Liquid Gold in nourishing our little ones. Allyka, despite being thin is a healthy baby who was never sick and only had colds twice ever since I gave birth to her (knock on wood it stays that way) and I believe that one of the reasons she’s healthy is because of my breastmilk.
Our journey isn’t perfect though. Allyka was mix fed on her first week of life and was also mix fed at one point when I worked as a teacher last March. I had experienced all the highs and lows of breastfeeding. From low supply, doubts and comments from other people about her weight to oversupply, lumps on my breasts and I even managed to build a stash and donate milk to babies in need!
Breastfeeding is indeed difficult but some products made our lives easier so I feel like it’s just right to share with you all our BREASTFEEDING ESSENTIALS:
1. Lactation Booster – Honest confession: I’m not a healthy eater but I tried my best to eat healthy food to produce good quality milk. When I gave birth, everyone around me was telling me that I don’t have enough milk so I drank bowls of Malunggay soup and Clam soup even though I don’t eat seafood and drank a lot of water. I was desperate to get enough supply. Those dishes definitely increased my supply but honestly, I wasn’t too happy about drinking clam soup. It was too much for me so I had to try other options.
Here are some products that I discovered:
Mother Nurture Lactations Drinks
It was love at first sip. On my baby’s second week, I was able to try out Mother Nurture’s Choco drink and it has become my comfort drink since then. I love the taste, the fact that it’s made of healthy and natural ingredients and that it was able to boost my supply!!!To prove how much I loved them, I even sent them a message asking if they already have an authorized seller here in Valenzuela City because I wanted to become one. I believe in the product and it’s something that I can definitely recommend to moms. From then on, I recommended the same product to fellow moms and even to my husband and mom who loves drinking coffee. Their coffee drink is also healthy yet delicious so they loved it too.
Mega Malunggay – When I got tired of drinking Malunggay soup every day, I tried some Mega Malunggay capsules and I was surprised how it made such a difference with my supply. Moringa Oleifera is a natural galactagogue–a food or drug that promotes or increases the flow of a mother’s milk. It does so by interacting with the dopamine system in such a way that the production of prolactin is increased. Prolactin is a protein best known for enabling milk production in mammals (lactation).
Milk and Mama Lactation Treats – When Allyka turned one, her milk demand increased and I had a hard time keeping up to her demands. I thought our breastfeeding journey was going to end there but it didn’t. Trying out some lactation treats from Milk and Mama helped boost my supply again! Aside from that, their treats are super yummy too! Check out my review about them on this post.
M2 Malunggay Drink – Another healthy drink that I discovered is the M2 Malungay Tea which tasted like gulaman but it’s made of Malunggay, Okra and Luya. Ang healthy diba? Despite it being a healthy drink, this also helped boost my supply and believe it or not, it tastes good! I got my M2 Malunggay Drink from Little Cocoy before.
2. Nursing Cover/Poncho – I’m all about normalizing breastfeeding but to be honest, I wasn’t just comfortable breastfeeding in public without a cover. It’s just a personal decision and I’m glad Allyka would cooperate at times. The awesome thing about it is that a lot of stores already offer super stylish and comfortable nursing covers like Elora Capes. Not only are these capes stylish but it’s also great in covering you and your baby so you can breastfeed while outside.
3. Nursing Blouse – Whoever thought of creating nursing clothes is genius! I thought that I won’t be able to wear dresses anymore when I started breastfeeding because let’s face it, how would you lift your dress when you need to feed your baby, right? When you become a breastfeeding mom, you suddenly become very mindful of the clothes you wear. It should give easy boobie access. I’m glad to have given birth at a time when so many stores offer beautiful yet affordable nursing clothes like Inang’s Collection. You can buy a blouse from them for as low as 200 pesos so you don’t have to worry about your budget at all.
4. Nursing Bra – The boobs need to be accessible because believe me, you wouldn’t want to deal with your tight bra when your baby is crying and demanding to be fed right away. Check out Inang’s Collections for affordable nursing bras.
5. Hakaa Silicone Pump – I wanted this pump when I gave birth but I never invested in one until Allyka was 9 months old. I wish I have gotten it earlier. It’s worth every penny. I was an overproducer before so I have experienced my other boob leaking BM while Allyka is latching on my other breast and I just wasted it. This Hakaa silicone pump can be attached to your boob so it can catch your letdown even though you’re lying on bed. I really highly recommend this product since I don’t want other mommies to waste their precious liquid gold like I did! You can also buy your own Original Hakaa Silicone Pump from Little Cocoy.
6. Breastpump – I followed a pumping schedule on our first few months of breastfeeding because I wanted to go back to work eventually. I wanted to build a stash fro Allyka so I can still breastfeed her when I work outside our home. That didn’t happen though. I worked as a teacher for two months and decided to quit for good. I stopped pumping and decided to just feed her directly and that isn’t really a great idea. I wish I continued pumping so that Allyka can have BM when I needed to be somewhere else. I wish I kept on pumping so I could donate more to babies who need it. Anyway, I bought the affordable pump from Lazada but it didn’t really work out well for me. I bought the same brand twice and both got broken after a few months of being used so maybe it’s better to invest in a better quality pump.
7. Breastmilk Storage Bags – If you decided to pump and build a stash, I recommend you buy a few storage bottles and some breastmilk bags. In that way, when you need to donate, you can just donate the ones that are stored in bags. I like the Mother K breastmilk bags of Kmom because it can stand on its own so you don’t have to worry about possible spillage.
8. Support – Yup. Not a product but you need a ton of support to succeed because it ain’t easy. A lot of moms end up giving up because it was just too difficult to continue fighting when everyone around you doesn’t support you. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and your power to produce milk. When I say surround yourself, I just don’t mean physically but it can also be virtual. Making friends with fellow moms who understand your breastfeeding struggles makes situations bearable. As for me, I had my hubby, nanay, and friends who supported me all the way so I’m thankful to have them!
There! I hope you learn a thing or two from this blog post and I hope you joined our GIVEAWAY ON INSTAGRAM in celebration of NATIONAL BREASTFEEDING AWARENESS MONTH
This giveaway is in collaboration with:
- Mother Nurture
- Inang’s Collections
- Milk and Mama
- Elora Capes
- @IamMommyJoyce
- @The_nice_mom
- @maryjoycerubz
HERE ARE THE WINNERS!!!
Thank you to everyone who joined our giveaway and stay tuned for another awesome giveaway this September!
Love,
