When you’re pregnant, everyone will tell you what you absolutely, positively can’t live without when your little bundle of joy arrives. The list can be overwhelming. We drill down to 3 must have items that are super useful, especially for new moms!
1. Nipple Cream
Breastfeeding is a bonding time that benefits both mothers and babies. But it isn’t all sunshine and roses while your baby is first learning to latch on – it can leave your nipples so cracked, dry and painful. The solution to your painful problem may be finding the best nipple cream for breastfeeding. Look for natural and organic options, since baby will ingest it while breastfeeding. Common harmful ingredients to avoid include: petroleum, parabens, mineral oil, and triethanolamine. Also avoid any ingredients that you would have difficulty pronouncing. Alcohol is a disinfectant that tends to dry skin out, which is something you’ll want to avoid if your skin is cracked. Causing more dryness will just add fuel to the fire.
Here are some of our recommendations that are organic and safe.
- Earth Mama Angel Baby Organic Nipple Butter. Soothing Organic Nipple Butter is buttery and botanical-rich, lanolin-free and non-sticky. It moisturizes dry skin, and brings your nipples back to their happy place. And since it just might end up in baby’s mouth, it’s Non-GMO Project Verified. So there’s no need to wash it off before nursing!
- Motherlove Nipple Cream Certified Organic Salve for Sore Cracked Nursing Nipples. All-natural ingredients are safe for mom and baby and do not need to be washed off prior to breastfeeding. 100% certified USDA organic and certified cruelty-free herbal salve provides soothing relief to sore, cracked nursing nipples
- The Honest Company Organic Nipple Balm. Take comfort in knowing that you can apply this and then breastfeed—all of its food-grade ingredients are safe for baby, including beeswax, shea butter, canola, coconut, aloe vera, tamanu seed (an anti-inflammatory) and sunflower seed oils. The thin—yet effective—balm slides on effortlessly and leaves no residue.
2. Dry Shampoo
Dry shampoo is a new mom’s best friend. This is for definitely a new mom essential that will no doubt be useful well past the new-mom stage, for days when we are late for an appointment, bad hair days, when you are lazy to wash your hair because the water is too cold or because you’ll be going for a swim later…the list goes on. There are plenty of great brands out there but the most important thing about dry shampoo is its application. Here are some ways to use it correctly.
- Use it at night, NOT in the morning.Using it overnight will actually work to PREVENT excess scalp oil overnight, so you aren’t trying to fight an uphill battle the next day to absorb it all. Your hair will also have more volume the next day, thanks to less oil. Your head rubbing your pillow really works it in too, completely eliminating that powdery-white residue problem.
- Spot-treat only in the morning.Do touch-up with the dry shampoo in the morning — usually the back of the head or behind the ears need a little more help. Be very light-handed in the morning, especially if you’ve applied it overnight. A good tip will be to dispense it into the palms first instead of putting it on the scalp.
- Massagethoroughly with fingertips. Use your fingertips to work any excess into strands starting from the roots and working your way down.
3. A good pump
Nursing is hard enough—add on pumping to that (or do it exclusively) and that brings a whole other set of challenges. A good pump will be like your best friend in this new journey and having a double electric pump is a must-have if you plan on pumping a decent amount or on a regular basis.
Spectra S1 is a hospital grade double electric breast pump, which is super durable, portable (1.12kg) and powerful with a pumping strength is strong at 280mmHg.
The best feature for most moms is how quietly it pumps. Nightlight feature allows one to clearly see the display screen and controls in the dark, makes late night pumping easy. As a double pump, it is time-saving to pump both breasts at the same time which means more precious sleep for mommy!
Many mommies find the suction speed and rhythm gentle and effective, mimicking how the baby suckles to trigger a letdown after massaging, subsequently to express the breast milk which helps empty the breasts, stimulating more milk production.
What we like as well is that it is a closed system where the pump or motor will not be in direct contact with the breast milk, ensuring the breast pump stays sterile and lasts longer. It comes with built-in rechargeable battery, which allows pumping to be done anywhere even when there is no power plug. All the Spectra parts are BPA-free.
Specially for Cheryl W fans: Enjoy 20% discount off storewide on bingbling e-store from now to 15 June 2018 with this discount code: BBCHERYL20. Limited to one use per customer. bingbling is Singapore sole distributor for Spectra.