Hellobee Boards

Just want to chime in for anyone who hasn't had a baby yet and is freaking out... this was not our experience at all. I bought a few nursing bras (but would have needed new bras anyway since my boobs tripled in size during pregnancy), two bottles, and breast pads for the first few months. I got a manual pump from the hospital and never wore "nursing clothes." I never needed extra supplements and the tube of lanolin the hospital sent me home with was MORE than enough. For us breastfeeding was free in thesense that I never had to budget for it.

@blackbird: @Mrs. Pen: WAPF has some good recipes for homemade formula using raw cow's milk or goat milk as the base. That's what I had planned to use (with goat's milk) if BFing hadn't worked out for us.

@Kemma: I agree that "that breastfeeding works best when baby leads the way" but not every mom has the choice to stay at home and feed on demand (and even if she has the choice, the inclination). So I don't think it's fair to say a pump, nursing bras, etc. aren't necessary expenses since I think they are for most WOHMs.

I agree that it's a case by case thing. For us, I haven't tracked but I bought a pump, nursing pads, milk storage bags, lanolin, soothies, nursing tanks, and nursing bras. A set of the tanks and bras were a waste of money (poor quality) so I had to buy more. I'm not choosing to BF solely to save money and hope to be able to use everything again with LO#2 - but still, it adds up.