NUK Freemie Cups

*This post was sponsored by NUK as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central, however all opinions expressed are my own. 

Do you remember a couple of weeks back I posted about the Nuk Simply Natural line? Well the folks over there wanted to make sure that my bases were covered by ensuring that my pumping needs were met. Yes, I pump too.

The other morning, I was pumping in the dining room... yeah, it's not the most private of places and I would love my own nursing room but we don't have that luxury. Also, I like to be available for household management questions from the crew, like "what should Wesley eat for breakfast?" 😂 So not being discreet has become a part of my routine. If I want to be able to give the baby a bottle, I've got to pump the milk out of my body. So anyways, I was pumping in the dining room and my oldest son says to me "Mama's a nice girl pumping." While this was super cute, it made me think I should find a better way to pump without my business being on blast. And then like magic, the Nuk Simply Natural Freemie Collection cups entered my life.

I'll give you the low down: It's easy to use and you can pump without your business out; you can pump with your shirt on so that means there's no hanging bottles. It works with a lot of popular pumps. I didn't have to worry, it hooked right up to my Medela Pump in Style (which I love and would recommend btw). It can collect up to 8 oz on each side, which is more than enough for me. Actually, if you can pump more than 16 oz in one sitting, you're my milk supply hero! Have large breasts? Me too. Don't worry, they fit and work just as good as they would on the smaller endowed. Like anything new, you have to get the hang of using the collection cups and moving your milk over to the bottle or freezer bags but if you practice with water first, you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly.

It's a pretty great idea, to be able to pump while your breasts are covered up and by design. There are some additional valves and tubing but it's worth the little bit of extra work to be able to pump without my child pointing it out to me. Also, this will be great for when my parents are visiting and I don't want everyone to be uncomfortable. There was a need and Nuk has met it. Nuk has these awesome Freemie Cups (available at Walmart and Target) as well as the aforementioned Nuk Simply Natural Line. These are totally easy to find, whether it's in their site or they're also available at Walmart and Target!

Have you tried the Nuk Simply Natural Freemie Collection Cups?

Nuk Naturals When You Can't Nurse All Day

*This post was sponsored by NUK as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central, however all opinions are my own.

This post has to do with breastfeeding (it's normal, people!) and nipples and such, so just putting that out there now. Truth time, with my first baby (now a toddler), breast feeding was a STRUGGLE. Seriously, those who know me and who have talked to me about my kids, know that when Wesley went to daycare at 3 months, when I went back to work, he went on nursing strike and then never really came back to me. It was a really emotional experience because I felt really strongly that he should be breastfeeding when he was home with me but alas, even the best efforts were not in the cards for us. He must have like the efficiency and ease of a bottle, I don't know, he was a baby and I forgave him. I pumped for 10 months so that he could have the liquid gold... I vowed not to put myself through it this time. Thankfully, the new baby is a much better nursing buddy and we're actually quite successfully navigating it this time around. That being said, I simply can't nurse all day and sometimes I want my husband to take the duty so that I can get some other things done. Enter Nuk Simply Natural.

Nuk Simply Natural sent me some of their new bottles to try. They're actually pretty great in that they are as close to nursing as a bottle can get and I love that. A lot of doctors and lactation consultants will tell you that there is the chance that if you introduce a bottle or pacifier somewhat early on, you risk the chance of your baby having nipple confusion. So what happens when the nipple you're using is as much like a real nipple as possible? Well, it actually works out quite nicely, it turns out.

I'm the type of girl who is ready and willing to breastfeed in public, like let's say in a Target dressing room or in the front seat of my car or at a friends house. But when I'm out out to lunch with my other son and husband or even if I have to run out and leave a bottle with the man, these Simply Natural nipples are as close to providing the best possible latch and "breast like" experience. They're modeled after a breast shape and have up to nine nipple holes to release milk... did you know that a woman's breast has multiple nipple holes that milk can come out of? Yeah, me neither until I had a baby and milk started coming out haha! These bottles are great, there are different flow rates so as baby gets more efficient in feeding, you can feed him much faster. Superb! I like to nurse if at all possible, and I think Teddy does too but if I'm in a pinch or need something more convenient, these are a fantastic option for Moms looking to keep that breastfeeding bond as close as possible.

Even though this is a sponsored post, you can see that I've already used these with lil' Ted on our trip out as a family this past week. I had hoped we would have time to nurse before we left but as Moms (and Dads) out there know, being on time with kids is most often a miracle. I would recommend giving these bottles a shot, especially if you're looking to switch back and forth between bottle and breast. Who knows, had we sent these bottles to daycare with Wes, we may not have had such a problem! These are totally easy to find, whether it's in their site or they're also available at Walmart and Target . Nuk also has Freemie Cups (available at Walmart and Target) that I'll be talking about next week!

What are your tips for breast to bottle and back to breast?