Staying healthy is the best way I can be a great example not only to the people I work with but my children as well. Since I am still experiencing a lot of what my clients are currently going through I like to try new products to recommend to my clients that I feel would be useful for them! Here’s three things I’ve tried this year and one thing I am no longer using.
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Whole Food Prenatal Vitamins
It’s recommended that you take prenatal vitamins before you conceive, during your pregnancy, and during breastfeeding. A lot of nutrients are taken from you during pregnancy and breastfeeding. It’s important that if you’re not eating a diet that is full of nutrient-rich foods that you supplement with vitamins. Now here’s my thing. Prenatal vitamins made me nauseous. Pregnant or not. My body says no! It didn’t matter if I took them with food, in the evening, with water in the afternoon. It all came back up. So I stopped taking them for my second and third children after trying them and with no success. I soon learned that many of the vitamins that we buy are not all derived from natural sources. Many are man-made synthetic vitamins and minerals and some people’s bodies cannot digest these synthetic minerals. There’s a huge debate on whether Folic acid is the cause of tongue ties in babies. The naturally occurring form of this is Folate which is found in fruits and veggies. I figured my body was actually rejecting these synthetic vitamins. So my solution was to find whole food vitamins. Vitamins that are made with actual plants and foods. I have found one vitamin brand that I have been able to take that doesn’t make me nauseous. I use Garden of Life Prenatal. Garden of Life is a complete whole food vitamin made only from food. It has been the easiest for me to take minus it being a larger pill but my stomach thanks me for it!
Lactation Shakes and Bars
I’ve never really been into taking shakes in bars although I am a tea person and have tried a lactation tea or two. I have always struggled with an oversupply of milk at the beginning of my nursing time with my little ones. So I haven’t had a need to resort to a bar or shake. They’re only helpful to use when you are nursing on demand anyway and some tea and shakes aren’t actually all the good for you. Fear not though I have found a brand of bars and shakes that are made for moms! BoobieBar is a brand of healthy snacks created by an actual lactation consultant and mom! She has created tasty snacks that are not only good for breastfeeding but the overall wellbeing of a mom! I definitely recommend their products for both tastes and for wellbeing. If you are breastfeeding I’m sure you are aware of the sweet tooth that comes with it and these shakes are a healthier alternative to something like cake or cookies and definitely hit the sweet tooth spot. As for an increase in milk supply, I can say they seem to help me keep a great supply when I eat them but no significant increase. As I said before I already make too much! My favorite flavors are the vanilla chai protein shake and the blueberry boobie bar!
Hands-Free Pump
So I recently bought the Willow. Honestly, I wish I had this years ago. It probably would have made pumping so much easier for the jobs that I had and even more so as a doula! The willow pump is a wireless pump that you put in your bra and pump away. I have to say it is a bit of a learning experience especially when it comes to transferring the milk to the storage containers. If you get a willow I recommend getting their reusable container instead of the storage bags, because you can only get them from the willow website and you have to cut them open to pour it out. They accept FSA/HSA and some insurances cover part of the cost.
Hakka
Okay, so I used to recommend this to my clients and have bought and used it myself. I actually won’t be recommending this anymore. It’s not really a pump firstly, I’ve lost lots of milk with this product because the suction is finicky and sometimes just drops off. It can be very painful to use and can get in the way of me nursing my baby as she has also kicked it off and again, I lose my milk. Not only that the strong suction can cause swelling in your breast. If you already struggling with engorgement then it can make it worse. So this product is no longer on my products to use list! A good alternative would be to use a Medela Hand pump or a Milk Catcher.
What are some products for breastfeeding or motherhood that you love!
Comment below!