Lact-Aid for Dummies

Heather, a deluxe kit and the four-pack would be fine. Having two deluxe kits and a four-pack, for eight, would be even better but with six, you only have to wash and fill them twice one day and once the next. I always needed to have more than one of everything, so I liked having two kits so that, if I misplaced one funnel or syringe, I had a spare. That was before they offered the four-pack, though, so you had to keep buying kits to get more units, anyway. You can buy those parts separately, but it is probably cheaper to just buy a small bulb syringe at a store, the kind they sell for sucking mucus from babies' noses, and try to find a small funnel with a long neck. You can also use one of the water bottles that has a long spout on it, for filling the bags. I sometimes mixed the supplement in one of those and then just filled them with that. That was without the bag hanger, though. I used the bag hanger when I first started, but eventually started just holding the bag in my left hand. I got where I could do it in the dark, without putting down the baby. Of course, it is better to have a Lact-Aid ready for night feedings, but I got caught without one, occasionally! I spent ten years, total, nursing my kids, and was using the Lact-Aid for about six and a half of that. I always needed to supplement until they were taking other foods and liquids. Of the four I nursed until they self-weaned, two were happy to nurse without the Lact-Aid after a while, and two insisted on having it there until they weaned, both at about two years old. Some kids are pretty picky about their nursing time and don't want anything to change. I know of a little guy whose adoptive mom had gotten pregnant right after he was born, and he refused to nurse without the Lact-Aid even after she had given birth to his sister and was producing tons of milk! I know what you mean about the SNS. I used it a fair amount, primarily to be able to get to know it so that I could talk to other moms about it. The first time I saw it, when we were waiting for our third son to be released from the NICU, I had all ready used the Lact-Aid for a few months, with our first two. I saw the two tubes and thought the SNS would be easier, but it wasn't! The two tubes are much longer, and that made them real hard to use without tape, and more likely to get messed up, in general. I didn't like having the big bottle on my chest, where it was annoying and I couldn't keep it from being noticeable. It took a lot longer to get ready to nurse, and I had to put the baby down to do it. With the Lact-Aid, the one tube is shorter and the bag hangs between your breasts, where it isn't noticeable, to you or anyone looking on, and it shrinks as the feeding progresses. You can have the neck cord all ready set to the right length and then just pop it over your head with one hand. You can also use it with fabric pocket that you can clip to your bra. I used that out in public, because I could just stick it up under my top without anyone seeing it. I had a real interesting experience one time, that demonstrated the some of the benefits of the Lact-Aid. I was attending the UCLA Extension's lactation educator program. One of the instructors was Kittie Franz, who is on the SNS video that was put out probably 20 years ago. My fifth baby, Joseph, was about eight months old. The day they were covering feeding tube devices, she asked me to demonstrate the Lact-Aid. At the beginning of the class, they passed out an SNS to everyone in the class. Kittie had everyone put it on themselves, over their clothing, taping and everything. They spent about twenty minutes doing that. Then, with everyone still wearing the SNS, Kittie said, "Darillyn, would you like to demonstrate the Lact-Aid now?". Joseph had started nursing about ten minutes before and was asleep, still suckling. I had the Lact-Aid clipped to my bra, in a pocket. Everyone gathered around me and started looking closely and some asked, "Where is your feeding tube device?". I lifted my top so they could see it. They were surprised that I wasn't using tape, and those who had been sitting right by me said that they hadn't noticed when I put it on. I didn't have to say a whole lot, because seeing it in use was such a good visual aid. There was one lady there who was working on a set of slides for lactation educators. She asked if she could take some pictures of my healthy, chubby baby, and some pictures of him nursing. He is my only "full" black baby, so it was obvious, looking at him, that he was adopted. That seems like not that long ago, but he is a very handsome young man of 17, now! Do you have a match that you are waiting for now? Darillyn

Darillyn, Thank you! Your experiences are priceless, and I always appreciate pearls of wisdom. Have 8 setups makes a lot of sense. I think I will do the two deluxe systems and then four additional trainers. I can just imagine my 4 year old, who still loves to empty the kitchen cabinets and drawers, running off with the filling stuff! We are matched with an emom who's due 4/30. We've been "matched" with her since she was 6 weeks, so it's been a very long process for us and emom! We all feel like it's been the longest pregnancy in the history of man. Emom is the younger sibling of one of my closest girlfriends, so we've been involved all along. I realize most people don't have this luxury so I don't chat about it much on here. It has been very nice having the time to prepare, including inducing and getting everything lined up for nursing. Thanks again for all of your wonderful advice!

I'm really happy for you, Heather! So, I guess that is about seven weeks? Of course, when you are waiting for a baby, every day can seem very long! I found it helpful to just stay real busy with things that would be helpful for when the baby got there. I usually didn't have much advance warning of when they were coming, but the one time I did, I got everything in the house cleaned or organized, made double portions of meals and then froze half, etc.. That was really helpful, for the first few weeks. I always felt like I needed to recover after a baby came. It was always extremely exhausting, emotionally, and emotions also have an affect on the body. It is a good idea to make sure you are eating well, try to get enough rest, and maybe take some supplements to protect your health. I'll bet your four year old is excited! My granddaughter is three and a half and she is sure excited about her new little cousin.Darillyn