I was not a breastfed baby.  So, despite the omnipresence of breastfeeding on any pregnancy forum, it was also not something I had strongly considered.... until my husband brought up that he felt it was important to breastfeed a baby. Please note:this is a hot-button topic to many, but each person has their own reasons for caring for their child as they do, so please refrain from negative commentary on people's choices). Oh, the debates that were had! Questions of health benefits, bonding experiences for both parents, convenience, money, and time all were rehashed. Doctors reassured me that either choice was a good choice- bottle or breastfed, what was important was that the baby was fed. Still, for a variety of reasons, I did in the end, choose to breastfeed. And by the end, I mean, we'd come to that decision only the last three weeks of the pregnancy. Not exactly a plethora of time to read up and find out the right way to do anything. Luckily, I and Ellis took to things easily enough.

Now, as my maternity leave draws to a close at the end of this month, we are switching to bottle and formula (once again, for a variety of reasons unique to our situations, so no commentary on that, please). We can only hope he takes to it as easily.  But before then, I wanted to share with you one tool I found particularly helpful: The breastfeeding basket.

1. Board Books | 2. Diabetic Supplies | 3. Nursing Pads | 4. Notebook | 5. Kleenex | 6. Lotion and Chapstick | 7. Nose bulb | 8. Drink | 9. Extra Burp Cloth.