Everyone needs a basic tee that fits them perfectly. Such a thing is hard to find when you nurse-on-demand. If you are uncomfortable with showing off your stretch-marked torso when you breastfeed, your favorite non-nursing tee will just not do. I know, I’ve tried. Sometimes the sweater or jacket just doesn’t offer the coverage you’re looking for.

I wasn’t as concerned with this when I breastfed my eldest daughter. I think it was because most nursing tops were terribly homely back then. Back then was only five years ago, but oh how maternity and nursing clothes have improved in the last five years. I felt horribly ripped off the first time around – need I remind you about the half shirt look? Eeew. This time, I feel much better and have been very willing to don the nursing clothes, obviously. I figure hey, the clothes are much better, definitely not as frumpy as they once were and if I’m going to nurse as long as I did the first time, I might as well make it easier on myself.

So begins the search for the perfect nursing tee. I am still undecided about the V-Neck Nursing Tee from Motherhood. I mean, is this really as good as it gets? It is a basic tee, but I think it would look much better if it wasn’t two t-shirts in one. Seriously, this is two t-shirts in one; the outer layer is a full t-shirt and the under layer is a full shirt with nursing openings. It is thick and a little bulky if the two layers aren’t placed just right. It can be tricky to pull up that outer layer if you haven’t used a dryer sheet to reduce the cling. The good side is the shirt hangs away from your body just enough to cover those spots you may not like so much. It does have good shape, but I just don’t know. Seriously, I just don’t know if the perfect tee exists for nursing moms, but I will not give up the search! Should I find one, you will be the first to know.

If you had your baby in a hospital in Canada or the United States, you were most likely sent home with a bag of goodies for your new baby and one of those goodies may have been a free can of formula. Now, I don’t think all hospitals in Canada do this, I think sometimes you’re lucky if you get out with a peri bottle and a pair of disposable panties. But that is second hand information, I birthed both of my babies at home, so I can’t say from experience. I know some moms in the United States have told me that they were sent home with a week’s supply of formula, if not more and plenty if other goods besides coupons and discounts. If you are having your baby in a hospital in New York City, you’ll be sent home with something a little more breastfeeding friendly.

According to the New York Post, free formula samples and formula pamphlets and other marketing materials have been banned from the gift bags new moms receive at the 11 hospitals run by the city’s Health and Hospitals Corp. Instead, new moms will receive a bag filled with disposable nursing pads, a mini-cooler for breast-milk bottles (uh, how cool is that?), and pint-sized T-shirts for the babies that proudly declare “I eat at mom’s” (again how cool is that?).

The big ban came just in time for World Breast feeding Week which started August 1. Kudos to New York City for not only banning free formula, but for also taking an active stance in promoting breastfeeding. We need more hospitals to get with the breastfeeding program in such a blatant way!

Research shows the best way to encourage a new mom to initiate breastfeeding is to let her keep her baby with her immediately after birth so the baby can suckle when she/he is ready and to not give her mixed messages that come with the hospital sending home free cans of formula. Research also consistently shows that new moms who go home with free formula samples breastfeed for shorter periods of time than moms who were not given formula. If you have the formula in the house, it is that much easier to reach for the bottle when breastfeeding gets tough, and the formula companies know this to be true. You didn’t think they were giving out free samples just to be nice did you?

Don’t get me wrong, I fully support a mom’s right to choose to formula feed her baby if that is what works best for her and her baby. And it’s not like NYC has thrown out those free samples; any mom who asks for formula will still receive it, but they will not be giving it to everyone by default.

If you are choosing to formula feed, you should make the choice knowing that it is not the best option for your baby. You should know about the many benefits of breast milk and all the ways that formula will never be equivalent to breast milk. But you should not have the option shoved in your gift bag and in your face before breastfeeding is established, especially if you really want to give it a good try. It’s definitely not right to prey on a new mom’s emotions in that way, and believe you me, every new mom is emotional in those first weeks after a baby is born, they need support but not in the form of “oh don’t worry, feeding your baby one bottle won’t do him any harm.”

I seriously need to check out what my local hospital gives away and maybe get some t-shirts printed.