If you’re looking to put together a sanity-saving breastfeeding basket for you and your newborn, we’ve got you covered!
Breastfeeding a new baby is a very beautiful but VERY time-consuming thing.
I did a little math one day after one year of breastfeeding my first baby. According to my calculations, I spent over 1,000 hours with that kid attached to my boob during her first year of life.
That is A LOT of time spent breastfeeding a baby!
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Even though this is time well spent, it’s always helpful if we prepare ourselves a little bit.
Since most breastfed babies are nursing at least every two hours when they are newborn, you’ll be spending A LOT of time in that rocking chair with a baby hooked to your boob!
Once you and your baby master the nursing process, you’ll probably venture away from that chair a lot more. I’ve nursed my babies in the car, in the stroller, in the baby carrier, in the pool, in the booth at the restaurant, and the list goes on…
But in the beginning, it is 100% OKAY to set up camp here in your comfy chair!
Especially when your milk supply is coming in.
Having a relaxed and organized space to feed your baby and care for yourself is ideal.
Necessary even.
This is why every new mom needs a well-stocked breastfeeding basket next to her chair and her bed. It will absolutely save your sanity during these tiresome first months with a new baby!
BREASTFEEDING BASKET ESSENTIALS
Let’s get right into the list of essentials for every breastfeeding basket.
Whether you’re making this basket for yourself or as a gift for a new mama, make sure you don’t skip any of these important things on the list.
Start with nice little storage baskets like these (remember, you need at least one for the living room and one for the bedroom). Fill the baskets with everything on the list below. Just be sure to make some adjustments for personal preferences.
WATER BOTTLE
Staying hydrated is so important when you’re breastfeeding. However, some of us tend to forget about ourselves and our basic needs when we’re stuck under a nursing baby all day.
With my first baby, I was the queen of forgetting to take care of myself. If my husband and mother-in-law didn’t remind me to eat and drink, I would’ve been a mess!
Don’t do that to yourself. Your new baby needs YOU to stay hydrated.
So, wherever your nursing spot is in the house, make sure you have a breastfeeding basket nearby that has a bottle of water in it.
Having a basket of breastfeeding essentials in every common room is ideal for bigger homes, but if you have a small home, one or two baskets will do!
I use a Hydro Flask because it keeps my water cold all day, but any water bottle with a lid will do!
Chug that water mama. You and your breastfeeding baby both need it.
SNACKS
Another bad habit I had during my experience with baby # 1: forgetting to feed myself.
Obviously, I didn’t prepare for postpartum as much as I should have! You can bet your postpartum booty that I had breastfeeding baskets in every room when I had baby # 2.
And each basket had a few yummy snacks that I could eat with one hand.
Your body NEEDS some form of nutrition (for you and for that nursing baby)!
You might not always have the time or ability to eat a wholesome meal using two hands, especially if your new baby is cluster feeding, or you don’t have helping hands at home.
So, keep a few light snacks in your breastfeeding basket and force yourself to eat throughout the day. Granola bars, trail mix, string cheese, jerky, fruit, or crackers are all good options.
And I always kept these Almond Butter cookies around. They satisfied my sweet tooth and I got a little protein into my body while nursing my newborn.
PHONE CHARGER
There is no worse time for your phone to die than when you are trapped under a snoozing/nursing baby.
Make sure you keep an extra phone charger in your basket.
Make life EASIER for yourself whenever you can mama! It will help you save your sanity and push through the harder days of breastfeeding.
BURP CLOTHS
Have a little stack of burp cloths ready for baby spit up, water spills, leakage, or whatever other accident requires soaking up.
An old t-shirt works too!
A DIAPER AND WIPES
A late-night nursing sesh will often turn into a diaper changing party, so having some diapers and wipes close by helps.
Wipes are also good to have on hand for other sticky situations, so make sure you have a few of these in your breastfeeding basket no matter what!
There might even come a time that you don’t get to shower for a few days, and in those times, wiping down with a wet wipe is better than nothing (no one ever told you motherhood would be this glorious, did they?)…
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NURSING PADS
Nursing pads are an essential when you’re breastfeeding. Nothing worse than waking up to a soaked t-shirt because you leaked in your sleep (and it happens to the best of us)!
If you tend to leak during nursing sessions, you might prefer to catch and store that milk instead of letting it go to waste. In that case, just buy these Milkies milk collectors.
BODY LOTION
Even though you might be stuck in your rocking chair a lot during those first few months, you can still take care of your skin and baby’s skin with a safe moisturizing lotion.
We love Ever Eden products for our babies. They are plant based and safe for sensitive skin and newborn skin. Tuck a bottle into your breastfeeding basket so that’s it’s easy to access when you need it.
We also use their lotion for baby bedtime massages to get everyone ready for sleepy time!
NIPPLE CREAM
Told ya breastfeeding was glamorous, didn’t I?
If you’re dealing with dry or cracked nipples, you can use a healing balm like this one to ease that discomfort.
Definitely worth keeping in the basket, just in case.
LIP BALM
At some point during those 1,000+ hours of your first year breastfeeding, your lips are going to get dry or chapped (mine were chapped allllll the time).
Keep some lip balm in your breastfeeding basket.
You’re welcome.
TV REMOTE
You’ve probably caught onto a trend here. This prep basket is essentially everything that I had to learn the hard way over 30+ months of breastfeeding babies.
It always happens right when baby is dozing off. Nextflix pauses and asks, ‘Are you still watching your show?’
Of course I’m still watching! But I can’t find the remote!
Always keep a remote (and maybe even spare batteries) in your supply basket!
DEODORANT
Some mamas get a little bit stinky during the influx of postpartum hormones.
Although deodorant is not an essential for breastfeeding your baby, it might be an essential if someone stops by to visit while you’re trapped under baby.
So, keeping a stick of deodorant in your breastfeeding essentials basket is a good idea.
MINTS
Along the same lines as essential # 11, breath mints are great for freshening up your breath if you’re stuck under a breastfeeding baby when company arrives!
HAIR TIES
I had my hair wrapped up during 95% of my nursing sessions. This was mostly because my hair is super long and I didn’t want baby getting their fingers tangled in it.
Keep a few hair ties in your breastfeeding basket, just in case you feel like wrapping up that hair! I buy the gigantic packs of 200 hair ties like these, so that I never run out.
NURSING NECKLACE
If baby is a distracted nurser, try a nursing necklace like this one to keep them focused on the task at hand! I have a million of these and they have been a life saver for me.
Not so much when my babies were newborn, but we got good use out of them by the time the babies were a few months old.
You can find nursing necklaces in so many styles and colors; they can really become a statement piece for your whole outfit!
But even if you’re at home in your rocking chair, it’s a good thing to keep in your breastfeeding basket so that you can throw it on and entertain your babe while they’re nursing.
WHAT’S IN YOUR BREASTFEEDING BASKET?
That’s everything that we kept in our breastfeeding baskets over the years and it’s also what we put in our gift baskets for new moms!
Did we miss anything? What essentials do you keep in your breastfeeding basket?
This is an often an overlooked part of nesting! So important once you get home!
For sure! I learned this the hard way, it is so important!