Special Addition

Such nice folks work here! I love that it’s a family owned store– a mom-​and-​pop operation and their daughter also works there– AND I love that they truly care about having a space to learn to feed a baby.
I got my pump here (insurance reimbursed). What’s nice about getting the pump from SA is that I can bring it in to check to make sure it’s still working correctly. The pop of SA was efficient in checking the pressures and accessories of my pump. I also appreciated that he and his daughter talked to me about other things that could be affecting pumping problems– and they were right! I liked that Herb clearly knew a thing or two about lactation and was so matter-​of-​fact.
Susan came to our house to help us out with nursing about 6 days after birth. She was calm, supportive and informative– all I could hope for when I was so low on sleep and extremely worried.
I ended up not using nursing bras, but have friends were grateful of SA’s support (pun intended) in finding the right fit.

I just gave birth to my second son 13 years after my first who I breastfed. Needless to say there is always room for refreshers and updates to the new trends and rules of breastfeeding. My new son latched instantly but managed to get a few shallow latchesthat tore up my nipples and I was on the verge of giving in to the pain. I sought out a solution and decided to see a Lactation specialist, my Pediatrician suggested Special Addition. I called and they were able to get me in the same day, this was important based on the state I was in. They booked me with Kelly and let me say she saved my life!!! I mean she really saved me from a breakdown. I even cried to her about the pain I was in and she empathized as she had been there before as well. She showed me a few small tricks that saved my nipples from being anymore damaged and suggested triple nipple cream to get me on the road to nipple recovery. Needless to say I was able to feed just a day later with little to no pain, all the while my nipples were quickly healing.
Kelly called to follow up and see how I was doing and how it was all going. We played phone tag a few times but she offered her cell/​home number to make sure we connected and we did. She answered all my follow up questions and said she was always a phone call away with any future problems questions I may have. I absolutely can’t thank her enough. Breastfeeding was so important to me and to think I contemplated giving up. #onehappymom
Oh and Kelly provided me with a form to get my insurance to reimburse the low cost of $ 95 for the consultation. Win Win in my books, even if my insurance doesn’t cover it!
Helpful Tip: take all of your breastfeeding tools with you i.e.: «my breast friend» or pillow, your breast pump and all its parts (we were able to determine my flanges were too small and she allowed me to try out some others like a slanted flange I was unaware even existed)
Lastly if you are concerned your LO is getting enough of your milk supply there is also a feeding room and a scale to use at any time to check weight before and after feedings, it measures to the tenth of an ounce. Just walk right in and use at your leisure.
I highly suggest this great place, wished I would have taken time to look around more at their retail because all I walked out with was the new flanges I really liked but I will be back there for this purpose alone. Do your self a favor and book an appointment as soon as you are in question with breastfeeding. I wished I would have known about them at the first issue and not waiting to last agonizing minute. I hope this helps!

Really enjoyed my experience here. The attendant helped me pick out a few perfect lactation bras, they fit great and are very comfortable. They also have a decent selection of swaddling cloths, cloth diapers, books, etc.
As a new mom I really appreciated all of the lactation information.

Our baby came premature and we were not expecting to need a breast pump so quickly. We called the closest rental location near the hospital, one of the retail big-​boxes, but their rentals were all checked out. The lactation consultant at the hospital recommended Special Addition so we gave a call and glad to find they were fully stocked. They were pleasant to deal with and I was able to complete the transaction over the phone and have someone pick it up on our behalf since we were obviously tied down at the hospital. The pump was hospital-​grade (the exact same unit they have at the hospital) and the condition was clean, looked brand-​new, can’t say that for the other stores, you usually have to give them an alcohol/​disinfectant sponge-​bath before use. Pricing was also reasonable for the rental, no more than any other store, cheaper than most. And even better, since these are the same models from the hospital you can keep the hospital-​supplied hookups and re-​use them on this pump, save you a lot of money on re-​purchasing all the tubes and containers. They saved us a lot of worry with this last-​minute pump rental! We’ll probably sign up with one of their lactation consultants in the coming month. I imagine we’ll be using their baby weight regularly as well, don’t think any other stores offer an in-​store baby weight. P. S. I just read through some of the other reviews and the low-​star ratings seem to be overly-​sensitive for one reason or another, but that’s the nature of Unilocal.I hope that never deters customers from going here because it’s definitely a family-​oriented environment and that’s the kind of warm support you need when you become a father/​mother and all the challenges that come with it.

Great place to talk breastfeeding and find lots of breast feeding resources. Some products are marked up pretty high and you can find cheaper online. However, its still nice to shop here and see what you’re getting for the money.

Wonderful selection of new mom items for maternity but mainly nursing. Great services with lactation consultants (ask for Cheryl!) and follow up care if necessary. I found a couple items in the store were pricier than most and I did locate them online for less than half of their retail cost (baby apparel and breast pump accessories).

An absolute great resource for new parents. Especially moms who are breatfeeding or attempting to breastfeed and having issues. I’ve had appointments with Cheryl, who is very knowledgeable and has Great follow up. Susan who is very nice and patient; for a frazzled new mom that can be really comforting. I did not have an appointment with Debra however she is frequently at the store and offered great advice over the phone. Muranne (spelling?) and Herb were super helpful as well and great to work with. I recommend this store to all my friends and family who are having a baby.
The products do seem to be Medela heavy however, they are open to recommendation so if you prefer a product (say honeysuckle bags over Medela or Lansinoh) they will look into the product and if it is good start carrying it.
So Good Job guys! Thanks for helping to make being a good parent easier!

Cheryl is a gem! I highly recommend her lactation counseling services for anyone having issues or concerns in their breast feeding journey. She gave me the confidence needed to overcome some bad habits my baby developed early on (established at hospital after a difficult delivery & rushed first feeding). Cheryl followed up regularly, as promised, until we no longer needed her help. I’m eternally grateful for the expertise she provided! What a special gift it is to BF your baby without issue.

I heard of Special Addition when a friend of mine mentioned them for nursing bras. Being a longtime shopper of Petticoat Fair, I didn’t think much of it. However, after my daughter was born, I had an AWFUL time breastfeeding. I had to give my daughter formula which I was very loathe to do, as my plan during my whole pregnancy was to breastfeed, not only for the health benefits for my baby, but also to save money. I went to Special Addition for the help of one of their lactation consultants. Susan helped me immensely. The consult room was very cozy and clean, not at all intimidating. Being a new mom getting little to no sleep and experiencing a lot of pain at the hands (mouth) of my nursing baby, I was in rough shape. Susan walked me through the issues I was having breastfeeding, drew up a breastfeeding plan for me to take home and even made herself available by email and phone. After some ups and downs, my baby and I have breastfeeding down pat, and I have Susan to thank for helping make it an enjoyable experience for my baby and me, instead of something to dread. Special Addition has become my hub for everything I need to feed my baby comfortably — nursing tanks, hands free pumping bra, etc.
I also took the cloth diapering class there as well, and it was very informative and helped my husband and I get our minds around something we had no experience with. The only bad part is every time I go into Special Addition (which was once every one or two weeks, for a while) I would walk out with something I didn’t need because all of their stuff is so cute!

This is a nice place, for sure. It’s geared mainly toward pregnant and nursing mothers, but it’s also got a nice selection of things fathers might be shopping for, too, such as infant swaddles, slings, & clothes; books & music for kids; and cloth diapers.
One of the nice things about this place is that they also have an infant scale you can come in to use. This is a great service to make available. If you need (or just want) to weigh your baby a few times a day, you can also rent a scale at a reasonable weekly rate.
What that bothered me about this place is that when I did come in to rent a scale, they asked for my wife’s name and contact information. I was alone and I don’t wear any rings, so the presumption that I was both heterosexual and married bugged me a little bit (surely they know unmarried and non-​heterosexual couples also have babies, right?). A week later they called my partner to remind us when the scale was due. This struck both of us as weird since she was not their customer. She neither rented the scale, nor paid for it; in fact she didn’t really want it in the first place.
I asked them about this policy when I returned the scale (again, my partner wasn’t there). I was told they’ve just always recorded all transactions under the mother’s name, because sometimes they have to call women and tell them a special order nursing bra has come in.* I suggested that maybe for pan-​gender transactions (like scale rentals) they could just treat the person in front of them as the customer, regardless of sex or marital status. I suggested that not all households have a mother, and they said that they didn’t mean to cause offense (the common refrain among people who give offense but don’t want to apologize). Anyway, they can do what they want, but it doesn’t strike me as the best policy to either presume all parents are married heterosexuals or to basically tell your customer they are invisible to you (they still took my money, though).
It turns out you can also rent baby scales from A Baby’s Best Start, which isn’t actually that far away from Special Addition. The rental rates are actually lower, and (based on a phone call with them) the customer service is better.
*Not a joke, that was their explanation.

If you are a nursing mom, or if you are pregnant and plan to nurse, do yourself a favor and go in to Special Addition. It is an amazing resource of experts, classes, and products, and we are really lucky to have a shop like it here in Austin.
I feel qualified to give this review because I have used multiple services and had an excellent experience each time. As a first-​time mom, I quickly found myself overwhelmed by breastfeeding upon returning from the hospital. When my baby’s doctor told me at our first appointment to start pumping, a friend who gave me her pump (I know this is an «official» no-​no, but I’m convinced it’s not a big deal) recommended Special Addition for replacement parts. The store is on the other end of town for me, so I called around to see if I could get parts close by. No. This is the only place in town that keeps everything in stock if you need it that day. I called the store and they held everything behind the counter for my husband to pick up.
A few weeks later, still having trouble with breastfeeding, I was googling for a lactation consultant and found Special Addition offers these services as well. In fact, I called my ob-​gyn, a large and popular practice, and my nurse said they refer their patients to Special Addition. I met with Cheryl Heymans, who did a very through assessment of me and my baby, improved his latch, answered all my questions, wrote up a detailed breastfeeding plan, and followed up multiple times by phone. (These services may also be covered by your insurance, and they offer all the information you need to fight with your insurance company about it — they don’t file themselves.)
They also offer classes, everything on breastfeeding to cloth diapering. I took one for preparing to return to work, which covered everything about pumping and bottle feeding. It was a small class and the teacher was excellent. She also offered to make herself available for follow up.
I also bought a nursing bra there, and regret having purchased my other bras at Target and Amazon. Their selection is more expensive, but ladies all know it’s better to have a few expensive bras that have a great fit than a dozen cheap uncomfortable ones. Plus, you get one on one fitting service.
In conclusion, visiting Special Addition is more than going to a store. It is accessing a resource of knowledge for yourself on a topic that can be very complicated and difficult, and is literally the most important thing you can do for your baby.

The owner and team are engaging and very helpful, they even gift wrapped my baby shower gift. I own a Garbo A Salon down the way and certainly will recommend this customer service gem. Wide variety of all things baby and mommy, they have classes too!

This place is awesome! The only reason why I am giving it 3 stars is bc some of the pricing is super expensive. I understand its probably bc the products are high quality and they have to mark it up some to make profit. They are a great resource for breast feeding moms new and experienced. They carry organic products and conventional products, stuff you cannot find anywhere else like the chew beads and teething necklaces.

Susan Nelson IBCLC, RLC is a wonderful lactation consultant at Special Addition. I am a new mom, and wasn’t given the best advice while at the hospital about how to breastfeed my newborn daughter. Susan was able address all of my breastfeeding (latching, positions, durations, and pumping) concerns and also boost my confidence as I navigate this new adventure of being a mom. She is approachable and kind. I would recommend her to any new mom that wanted to get one on one training. She also make home visits!

The owner and staff are always helpful, knowledgeable and kind. Customer service is outstanding, whether they are testing my breast pump and accessories to ensure parts are working as they should be, fitting me for a hands-​free nursing bra and hava sling, or providing refresher courses in sling wearing as needed and at no cost. Lactation consultants on staff kindly answer all of my questions and give me helpful advice and information. It’s obvious that staff strive to provide outstanding customer service, even over making a profit. On a few occasions, staff actually discouraged me from buying items I may not need. Finally, the new store on Burnet is spacious and beautiful and is equipped with a nice, private nursing room and other private rooms for breast feeding consultation. I highly recommend this store to any new mom looking for anything baby!

Kelly Langdon IBLC, RLC is a new lactation consultant to the group and she is great! She is very informative and encouraging. My family was very comfortable with her. She also does follow up phone calls and welcomes any questions you have.