Baby's First Month - Eating

During the first month your baby will eat, sleep, and poop.  She will do a lot of each of these and not much of anything else.  These are what I recommend for feeding her.

• Boppy Pillow - If you breastfeed, there is no other pillow in your house that can position the baby as well as this pillow will.  You will need 2 covers for it, one to wear and one to wash.
• Bottles - Once she is 2 weeks old, it is important to give your baby a bottle once a week if you plan to go back to work. We first used Dr. Browns bottles.  They work well, occasionally leaky, but are a pain to clean all of the parts.  We are now using Avent bottles (the one piece valve system).  They work well and are much easier to clean!  Be careful though, it can leak.  If this happens you have to turn the nipple to a different position in the collar.
• Bottle brush - I have not found a favorite yet.  I do know that the dishwasher does a terrible job.
• Formula - We had samples of both Similac and Enfamil.  We chose to use Enfamil.
• Pump - I pumped when Kayla took a bottle and froze the milk to give her when Nana kept her.  Since I decided to go back to work and pump, I chose a double electric pump.  The Medela Pump In Style.  It works well and can be used in the car with an adapter.  This was useful on a later road trip.
• Burp cloths - For these we used cloth diapers.
• Gas Drops - Sometimes your little one will swallow some air.  If you see that she is pulling her legs towards her chest and crying, try gas drops.  We use the generic store brand and it works perfectly.
• Nipple Cream - She may not latch on well and can damage your nipples.  This happened to me and I used Lansinoh Lanalin.  Put it on after she eats and put it on before you shower.  It will really help.
• Nursing Cover Up - I bought one from Target and it was basically a short apron.  I don't remember the brand name of that one, but it did not cover me as well as I had hoped.  Then I ordered the one I love from Target.com - Balboa Baby Nursing Cover.  I LOVE it.  I got the one in brown/sage.  I would recommend getting a lighter color so it won't get as hot as mine can.

Your baby will go through growth spurts where she will be hungry all day it can seem.  This is normal and tiring.  Make sure you have help so you can shower and keep yourself happy during these growth spurts.