When someone ask me what brand of the formula milk that Hao is taking and I said he's solely on breast milk, most of the people will respond "Wah, can save a lot leh." Well, does it really can save a lot with breastfeeding? I doubt it. Actually there's quite a number of 'hidden cost' that probably only us who is fully breastfeeding the baby will know. :)
- Nursing pad - For those good brand like Medela, it costs about RM1 per piece. Even the cheaper brand like Tollyjoy will cost about RM0.50 per piece. We have to use this as long as we are still breastfeeding to prevent your shirt to get wet if the milk is leaking.
- Storage bottle or storage bag - I have about 20 milk bottles in my freezer. However it is not enough for me so I have to invest on storage bag that costs about RM0.50 per bag.
- Nursing bra - This is mostly for when I'm out with the baby, so that I can nurse him easily in the public.
- Breast care cream
- Breast pump - This is needed especially for a working mum like me. A good breast pump even just a simple manual one side pump will cost few hundreds.
- Food warmer - Some people may invest in food warmer to heat up the storage breast milk, but not me. We use the 'traditional' way - just place the milk bottle in a cup filled with hot water. It takes less than 5 minutes to heat up the milk. :)
- Supplements - Since all the nutrients from our body will go into the milk, we have to make sure our body have enough nutrients for ourselves too. I'm also taking domperidone to stimulate more milk (this is not cheap at all. It costs about RM0.50 per pill and I have to take 6 per day. )
- Nutrient food - We will search for all sort of foods that will boost up our milk supply, like fish, papaya, fenugreek etc.
And most important for all is the time and heart! It needs a lots of persistent and patient to go for fully
breastfeeding. I have to sacrifice my lunch time to express the milk for
Hao in the office. And need to ask someone to pack the lunch for me. And not to mention everywhere I go I need to take
Hao with me. If not, I have to pump out the milk for him. All these are priceless! And for all the moms who are breastfeeding the child, the
main purpose is not to save money, but want to give the best to the child!
4 comments:
Well said mommy. Bravo! Bravo! The stress of breastfeeding far outweights the money to buy milk powder. Breast engorgement lar, low quantity lar, timely express lar, storage lar, watching diet lar, nutrition for the baby lar...So to all breastfeeding mommies, salute!
yes... it's not easy to breastfeed though there are some mummies that I know who have very easy time breastfeeding :-) But yeah, most importantly is wanting to give the best to the child and not so much about saving money
only need to take domperidone for a week. u still taking now? taking fenugreek tablets in long run is cheaper i think.
I do not need nursing pad as i do not even has an xtra drop to leak.
for storage, i used the normal plastic (for chicken rice chilli sauce) when i was pumping for my girl last time. maybe u wanna try tat?
Hi Chin nee,
Yes still taking domperidone. Have tried to stop but the supply become lower. Work is very stressful for me, would not want to have another stress for not able to fully b/feed the baby. I think after Hao on semi-solids, I should be able to handle without relying on the domperidone. Fenugreek tablets are less effective to me. I had a hard time pumping for my gal last time.
Dr Koe told me before can use the normal plastic. But I'm a bit sceptical about it as it is not sterilized. I rather pay a bit more for the b/milk storage bag.
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