Yup, that's the true cost of breastfeeding. Your body producing that milk costs you nothing at all. You don't need any materials or any special equipment, just one milk filled booby & one hungry baby. No needing to add anything into your shopping trolley when you go shopping, no need to purchase anything in advance when pregnant. Nothing, allowing you to keep those pennies to spend on cute baby clothes instead.
Of course if you wanted it to and wanted some of the equipment which can make breastfeeding that little bit easy, and I really do mean little. I only find myself using the following half the time. I still out of all the options available breastfeeding works out to be the cheapest possible way to feed your baby, I still find it pretty amazing that I'm giving my child something for free - it's made me love my body in a way I didn't think possible. Now if only I could figure out how to make it produce wine...
When pregnant and shopping for maternity bras, buy one which easily allows you to nurse saving you the cost of a extra one when baby arrives. They have little hooks at the top which allow you to easily take down the side of the bra you need saving you having to take the whole thing off. Though in my stubbornness in wanting to wear a normal bra for my wedding, I figured out I could pull that down easy enough. So if you boob size hasn't changed don't go worrying about having to purchase lots of bras. Wear what is comfortable for you and if bras are needed, searching online you can find some great deals on maternity/nursing bras.
You don't necessary have to fork out extra money on nursing clothes either as I've discovered the last few months, normal clothes from your normal shops can still do the job if they have easy boob access like in the form of buttons down the font or wide sleeves. Worried about exposing your mummy tum whilst feeding then just grab a cheap vest from primark to put underneath a top. My wardrobe is choc full of vests and I've actually found that I wear them at night times for easy access and during the daytime as it's just been so warm of late.
Breast pads can even be saved on by buying reusable ones, they are just like normal disposable pads but these ones you can just put in the washing machine and reuse. Am starting to think this may be a good idea for me to save some pennies, I'm all into the reusable lark this time around what with the nappies and the wipes.
It totally depends on if you plan to express when it comes to buying a breast pump, even then this can be done by hand expressing saving the costs of a pump. I personally love my pump, it works a treat to getting milk from me just a shame my little sprog doesn't want to take it from nothing but my boob which of course I don't mind at all. Manual pumps are cheaper then electric, just the difference is that electric do the pumping for you whilst manual means you have to do the work, no biggie. I do have a review coming up on the blog this week with what I find to be the differences between the both.
Bottles, again only needed if you plan on expressing and if returning to work then these are probably on your list. Some pumps actually come with a bottle but then you might want more then one, lots of different bottles available it's about finding one you and baby will be comfortable with but if you do pick one, do a quick search online to find the best offers. You might even find a all in package which sells bottles, sterilizer and all the equipment you need for expressing.
Basically what I'm trying to say is that it will only cost you what you allow it too, it can a completely free experience or it could cost you that £50 pump and odd £2.50 for a box of breast pads! At the end of the day, like everything in life it's about finding out what works for you. For me though, I love how much money I am saving when I think about how much formula I went through with the toddler when he was younger.