With my first child I was prepared for the fact that the pregnancy was sometimes uncomfortable. I expected work and delivery to be intense. I thought I was emotionally after a baby. What I did not expect (or really prepared) is that breastfeeding can be difficult in the first few days!

Don’t get me wrong. It’s worth it. The pain is not that bad and a lot can be helped by ensuring that the baby has a good bar from the start. However, this certainly did not make it completely painless for me, as many claim. Instead, I found that in the first week of a baby I had to take a deep breath in the first week and had to prepare me mentally because it was quite uncomfortable.

Maybe you can empathize if you have breastfed a baby. And I apologize to someone who doesn’t have it yet, but I wish someone warned me!

Nipple cream

A few days after I had my first baby when I learned in the trenches of breastfeeding, the lactation consultant suggested Lanolin cream. I tried it and got a lot, much worse. It turned out that I was allergic to Lanolin!

To say unnecessarily, I didn’t use it afterwards. However, I wondered if there was something I could use, the relief could offer.

Why not Lanolin?

For me the answer was because I was allergic. When I started researching to make my own homemade nipple balm -cream recipe, I found that Lanolin was not an ingredient that I wanted to use, even if I could do it without reaction.

What is Lanolin?

Lanolin is an oil made of sheep wool. The sebum (oil) is extracted from the wool and is carried out another process to create the finished lanoline. This is obviously problematic for everyone who is allergic to wool (increases the hand). There are also concerns about pesticide residues in wool and the potential to build up in adipose tissue or in breast milk.

Many sheep are sprayed with pesticides to treat different mites and pests. In addition, most sheep are not fed organic and GVO feed, and traces of it can also be found in the wool. There are some sources for organic sheep organic lanolin, but it is difficult to find.

Sources do not agree on the security of Lanolin, and some claim that it is completely certain. It was no risk that I wanted to take with my newborn babies in the event of the case. The most popular brands of nipple cream have concentrated. While this mother can help heal faster, you will also be part of the first meal of the small and more natural skin care options.

A natural nipple cream

I was determined to have a easier time with my last two babies. I started to experiment with a natural nipple cream or a breastfeeding balm to reduce the discomfort of painful nipples. It is also important to look for oral ties and other things that can affect the bar of a baby!

There are now some really good prefabricated nipple creams and ointments if you don’t want to make a DIY version. I still decided to make my own nipple cream for breastfeeding because I had the supplies at hand. If you want to buy one, you will find some good brands here:

Choose safe ingredients

Since this cream is essentially absorbed by a breastfeeding baby, I made sure that ingredients are safe, natural and have a little probability of an allergic reaction. For this reason, I decided not to use almond oil, beeswax or coconut oil. As much as I love these ingredients, you have a little chance of an allergic reaction.

I also did not use essential oils in this recipe. Although they are great for skin care (if they are used correctly), I never gave them my babies internally.

Nipple cream ingredients

Instead of using ingredients that could cause an allergic reaction or could be harmful, I used the following:

A note on the consistency

This nipple cream is a slightly softer ointment and I found it easier to perform in this way. If you want it more firmly, increase the cocoa butter to 1/3 cup (or more). You could add some beeswax to thicken, but there is a rare probability that baby could have an allergic reaction.

However, there is some evidence that the pesticides in inorganic beeswax could be responsible for beeswax allergies. While I always use organic beeswax in my recipes, I decided in the case.

Instructions of the nipple cream

First, they want to flow into the olive oil. This helps to maintain their advantageous properties in the balm without leaving any residues or roughness. You can do this in three ways:

1. Solar infusion– If you have time, you can have the oils infused in the sun. Here is the method, but in short, use 1/4 cup of chamomile and calendula flowers, 2 tablespoons of Marshmallow root and 1 cup of olive oil in a pint size or a larger masong glass. Leave this in the sun and shake every day to infuse. Note that this only works well in warm weather.
2. Time infusion-Symaric for solar infusion, but without sun. Place the same herbs and oil conditions in a glass and shake for 2-4 weeks a day.
3. Infusion heat– The best method if you are low on time! Place the same conditions in a double boiler (1/4 cup of chamomile and calendulation flowers, 2 tablespoons of Marshmallow root and 1 cup of olive oil). Heat over low heat for 2-3 hours until the oil takes on the fragrance of the herbs and the color changes slightly.

Regardless of the method you use at the end of the process, the herbs carefully strain and hold the finished oil. I do this with a metal sieve lined with cheese cloth. This makes extra infused oil, but you can use the extra for lotion or other recipes.

If you want to do just enough for a Charge DIY nipple cream, use the following conditions:

• 1/3 cup of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of each chamomile and calendula flowers
• 2 teaspoons of Marshmallow root

How to use nipple cream – I would like to use this immediately after nursing. Carefully wear it on the nipples and the queue to prevent pain.

Have you ever used a nipple cream or lanoline? Did it work for you?