For those not yet in the know, Miny Moe has multibrand diaper and nursing pad samplers, letting new moms (and dads) try out all the top brands in one go to find which works best for their family. In regard to diapers, each baby has a different shape and sensitivities. What works great on one baby will leak or blowout or cause diaper rash on another, so you really don't know what's going to work til you've tried it! Whats more? Perhaps you have one brand of diaper you like and have been using since birth, but are intrigued by cheaper or greener brands. Miny Moe Samplers are a great way to try out other brands before investing in the economy packs at the store or the online subscription services! I finally got to try one on my lil' guy and who knew I could be so excited about a box of diapers? hahaha!! We tried the size 3 sampler. Here's our diapers fresh out of Miny Moe packaging (each brand's pack of 5 diapers comes individually sealed and labeled) and ready to go on the changing table! Interesting to see them all stacked up together - such varying lengths! I totally went for it, feeling them (some super soft, others very stiff), and smelling them (some wreak of chemicals, some smell yummy, and some have no smell). As we worked our way through the sampler, which includes 5 diapers from 6 brands (Pampers Cruisers, Huggies Little Movers, Honest, Luvs, Target Up & Up, and Walmart Parent's Choice), I tried to really test out their strength and absorbancy letting diaper changes go much fewer and farther between than usual. I was pretty impressed with how much they all actually held, of course some were better than others... As you can see the Parent's Choice diaper had a major leak on my lil' guy, but that's not to say it's a terrible diaper and wouldn't work on your baby. It was probably a mixture of not fitting my man's legs well and possibly not great absorbancy and probably he was sitting/laying at a bad angle at the time of expulsion, haha!! FYI in case you're like me and don't have a Walmart near you, they ship diapers for $0.97, so don't let that be a factor in your decision! I kept track on the handy dandy score card, which pre-scores the diapers in the categories of eco-friendliness and price, and lets you score on the other categories of softness/irritation, fit/absorbancy, and cuteness/design. I personally felt price was the #1 consideration, so I doubled those points before tallying up my scores. You can see Pampers, Luvs, and Target all scored equally high for us, so then I went back and compared how they rated in each category. Softness didn't really matter to me, so I went with Target as the winner based on their bargain pricing. Just for fun I went ahead and ranked them: #1 Target, #2 Luvs, #3 Pampers, #4 Huggies, #5 Honest, #6 Walmart. I was really surprised that Huggies did as well as they did. They were horrendous on my little guy as a newborn - seriously there was poo EVERYWHERE we laid him down! They just didn't seal around his skinny little legs! But now the size 3 did great. Just goes to show you, as your baby grows and changes, his best diaper brand might also change! They're always keeping us on our toes... Keep in mind this is just how they worked on MY baby and with my own personal preferences in mind! Your baby might be longer and leaner, or shorter and chubbier, so diapers will fit him or her differently. Also, you might think some categories are more important than others. For example, if you feel eco-friendliness is more important and you would double or triple that score, whereas for me it was all about a diaper that is cheap and doesn't leak. Period. Softness and cuteness is just a bonus. And finally, here's my lil' guy modeling all of the brands, how cute is he?! haha I'm a bit biased... Go ahead, you know you want to give Miny Moe Diaper Samplers a go!! They have size Newborn, Size 1, and Size 3 available in packs of 5 of each brand (30ct), 1 of each brand (6ct), a NB/Size 1 combo sampler (36ct), and also you can make your own custom pack!! 10 diapers in any combo of brands! Don't forget, they also have nursing pad samplers (7 brands, 4 washable and 3 disposable)!
Miny Moe Diaper & Nursing Pad Samplers make great baby shower gifts - totally unique and super helpful for new moms and dads!! Tried the sampler before? How'd it go?? Do you have a favorite brand? A least favorite and a hilarious tale of diaper blowouts to share?? Please comment below! You can buy a Miny Moe Sampler here today, or you can enter to win one in my $1500 value Mother Of All Giveaways ending May 26, 2014!! Enter here!!
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I can't be the only new mom out there who is completely overwhelmed by the prospect of baby proofing our home. I don't know if the tininess of our home makes matters better or worse. Sure, there is less space to worry about, but the space there is is much more densely packed with stuff just waiting to kill or maim my child! Someone with a large house might be able to completely baby proof a couple of rooms, moving dangerous items and power cords to other "off limits" rooms. We don't have that luxury unfortunately.
I've had baby proofing on the back burner for quite some time, but now that Kenzo is officially crawling around I've really got to get on it. I'm considering one of those huge play pens that would take up a majority of my living room, but would keep baby out of reach of the TV and sockets and shelving units and such. But I'm going to wait and see if it becomes really necessary or not. For now my method is this: Kenzo has 4 "safe zones" where he can be left unattended for a short time: crib, pack 'n play, exersaucer, and high chair. Anytime he is not in a "safe zone", it's man-to-man meaning I don't leave Kenzo's side! When he yanks on the coffee table's table runner and nearly knocks over a glass of water - action - table runner is removed. When he tries to bite the computer's power cord, repeatedly, and when he tries to pull up on the shelving unit, these are added to a list of "to be babyproofed ASAP" items. I try to avoid protecting him from every single bump and bruise. As he's quickly approaching the edge of the table and I'm sure he's gonna bump his head right into it, daddy pipes in as I'm reflexively reaching out to protect little one, "He'll learn." *BUMP* "WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" I guess he will learn, but when? I think I've said "Don't Touch!!!" in harsh scary tones a bazillion times and he's not learning yet... So how about you guys. When did you baby proof and how did you go about doing it without overwhelming yourself and going in circles til your head spun?? Are you a play pen parent or of the let them roam free thought? As an "Expert Mom" for Mommy Nearest (an awesome app for parents - download today and don't forget to join the #SummerChallenge and win $1,000!!!), Kenzo and I were invited to the launch of a cool new baby product they sponsored...Spuni. With my linguistical background I had no problem reading it correctly, but for those of you not in the know it's pronounced "spoo-nee" ^_^ Can you guess what it is? Can you?? Baby spoons!! Really cute ones at that. With a funky design that is meant to be less messy - the idea is that the shape will lead to baby sucking out the food better, and won't allow baby to push the food to the back end of the spoon, which is what usually happens am I right?! We met CEO and co-founder Marcel, pictured above, who ironically doesn't have any kids but was an incredibly nice guy and took the time to tell me about the international team behind Spuni and its years of development. I can't believe how much effort goes into... a spoon... Just shows how much they believe in their product and want it to be the best it can be! After ogling the Spuni cakes for a bit (yes, that's cake pictured above!!), I decided it was time for Kenzo to give this thing a go and see what all the fuss is about! Well, the little dude was not having it. I don't really blame him... he's only been on solids for a couple of weeks, and has only been fed by mommy and daddy in his high chair in the kitchen. So, I can't say I'm not surprised he wouldn't open up for a complete stranger coming at him with a funky spoon in the middle of a party. Haha!! I gave it a try next and he did take a little bite, but it was not at all what you could call a good test of the product. >_< Booooo... I guess I can always go out and buy a set (they come in packs of 2, with 8 color options, and silver and wood coming soon - fun stuff!!).
It's a vicious cycle that most new parents know well. Baby doesn't get a good night of sleep (for whatever reason be it teething or upset stomach or too excited developing a new skill or fill in the blank with just about any reason you can possibly think of), so baby is tired and cranky which leads him to not not go down for a nap or to take a super short one, which leads him to be more tired and more cranky which leads him to not go down or sleep well during the next nap, which leads to even more overtiredness and crankiness which leads to fighting bedtime and waking up throughout the night which leads to.... you see where I'm going here? AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH F#$#@%#@$@&^!*@&#^$*&^!*@&#!!!!!!! This has been going on for the past 3 nights/days. I am so so so tired. Like, reminiscent of the first few weeks of motherhood tired. To make matters worse I was so tired and cranky yesterday that I broke down and had a tall iced coffee from Starbucks at 4pm. Whoops. Of course I was tossing and turning not able to fall asleep til like 3am. That's what happens when you average one cup of coffee every 6 months for the past year and a half. It hits you hard! For several days now (or weeks? i've lost track of time...), Kenzo will fall asleep while nursing, I'll transfer him to his crib, and he'll wake up crying about 20-30 minutes later. This happsn for most naps during the day, and also every bedtime. I always give it a few minutes because very very rarely he'll settle himself down. But usually it escalates to the point of hysterical screaming/crying and I go rescue him until I can go lie down to go to sleep together. Last night we were so frustrated we decided to try the "Cry It Out" method. We let him scream for 5 minutes (ok, I caved at 3 minutes) and I went in there to just reassure him that I'm here, quietly. That didn't do a damn thing to calm him down. He doesn't seem in pain, he's not tugging at his ears or curling his legs up or anything. But it is literally dinosaur blood curdling screaching. Like, I worry he's going to damage his vocal cords! No joke!! So finally I picked him up and like a light switch all the screaming and huffing and puffing stopped. Amazeballs. WTF dude!!! Is he faking? Manipulating? Experiencing honest to goodness traumatizing levels of separation anxiety??? Being haunted by some super evil poltergeist when I'm not in the room???!!! I put him back down, with a pacifier, and he started screaming immediately. I left the room, gave it 5 minutes, went back in. Same old same old. Finally gave up and went back to the old routine - all 3 of us just went to bed together. Hmph. I think he finally passed out around midnight last night, and woke up twice in the night. This morning he woke up at like 6:30am flipping around, cooing, crying, kicking me in the boob. I laid there with him for almost an hour thinking he would fall back asleep. Instead he finally started crying, so we got up. I was holding him in my lap and he just passed out, drool and all! Poor guy is so tired!!! Mommy too.... The "cry it out" method is very controversial. Some people say "If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't". And, you know, it really doesn't feel right, letting your child scream and cry and sound so terribly sad!! But what also doesn't feel right is knowing my 7 month old baby can't go to sleep or fall back asleep by himself. We're not going to be able to drop everything and go to sleep with him every damn time. If I knew this was a phase that would end organically in a month or two, I'd just deal with it, and try to enjoy the extra cuddle time. But I worry that as long as we let him call the shots it's going to be worse and worse and before we know it we're going to have a kindergartner who is still sleeping with us and is crying and having tantrums every day when we drop him off at school.
OMG TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!! WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! It's been almost a year and a half since I went OUT out, and even longer since I had a proper girls night out. When one of my Bay Ridge Baby Mamas started planning a ladies' night out a while back, I initially excluded myself from the plans. I felt guilty to ask my husband for a night out. Not to mention the fact that Kenzo doesn't go to bed until around 10 or 11pm, at which time he nurses. A few days before the event I got a change of heart and decided I deserved this. I took out a few bottles which we hadn't tried since the one time 4 months ago when Kenzo refused all of them. I filled them up with water and let him try them, and you know what, he actually took some sips!! So, I decided I could pump and daddy could feed him from a bottle if need be. Friday morning, this mama got pumped for her big night out :) After a miserably hot day home with the little one, I finally pulled myself together and daddy got home just in time for me to take off. He's used to getting Kenzo ready for bed and I didn't feel the need to write him a list of instructions or anything. My only instruction was regarding the milk I had pumped... I pumped 4 ounces which was in the fridge ready to go. I had another 4 ounces frozen from 3 months ago. I told him to call or e-mail me if he was going to give him milk because I had to calculate so as not to have too much to drink. They say you need 2 hours to process 1 drink. Oh man, so much to think about, no more carefree getting trashed with the girls out on the town!! A quick photo to capture this landmark occasion, an air kiss to baby and hubby (since I had lipstick on, is this a first since Kenzo's birth?!?!), and I was out the door. I thought I would be anxious or sad or guilty or all kinds of bad feelings, but you know what?? It felt great!!! I did feel a bit naked without baby or stroller or diaper bag or anything. And my ears felt awkward wearing dangly earrings for the first time in 6+ months. Other than that, it was exhilarating!!! And hot. I met some of the girls from nearby to walk together the 16 blocks to the bar where we'd meet everyone else. It was 8:30pm but still over 90 degrees and sooooooooo humid. YUCK! We tried to keep baby talk to a minimum, but of course the random discussion about babies eating their own poop came up here and there! haha!! I had a yummy hard cider on ice and then we moved on to another bar where I was on the fence about whether or not to have another drink. Then I got a text from hubby saying Kenzo's getting his bottle of milk. Hmmm I guess that made my decision for me. I cut myself off and switched to ice water instead which was equally yummy since I had been sweltering all day with no AC and somehow both of the bars we went to were pretty tepid and failed to cease my "glow".
Around 11:30pm we were on the move. I decided to go ahead and call it a night. A bunch of the other moms continued on to another bar and then dancing I believe. I don't regret my decision to go home because it was a rough night after I got home - Kenzo woke up screaming soon after I got home, so I nursed him and we co-slept as he was waking up every couple of hours. Possibly due to the heat (no AC remember?), or teething, or who knows what. But today I'm hot and tired and BEYOND THRILLED that I am not at all hungover. I can't even imagine that. Yuck. That said, I can't wait for the next ladies night and I will prepare for it better by stocking up the freezer with breast milk. YEEHAW!!! Daddy reported that he had a good night with Kenzo. He started crawling!! WHAT!?!!? And he drank nearly the whole 4 ounces of milk from the bottle! What a good boy :) My night out was a success and has me feeling like maybe we are ready to look into getting a babysitter for an occasional date night, or doing a babysitting co-op with some mommy friends... Maybe soon... If you'll recall I jumped on the Mommy Nearest train as an "Expert Mom" back at the beginning of June and it's been a fun ride ever since! The app is pretty freaking awesome, and I've been working really hard to get the best family friendly Bay Ridge spots on there, and review restaurants and shops and play places I go with my little one! The other Expert Mom's have been hard at work as well. We are a small (and mighty, hoowah!) group, but we need your help to make Mommy Nearest the end all be all app for mommy's around town!!
How can you help, you ask?? WELL.... Mommy Nearest is launching (like, RIGHT NOW!!) a summer-long contest called the Mommy Nearest Summer Challenge. You can play along and get rewarded for the things that you do on the app -- like add a favorite kid-friendly restaurant or rate/review other places. The top competitors get some seriously amazing prizes... The top individual prize is $1,000 cash (umm, yes please!!). Some of the other prizes include iPad minis, free kids classes at Gymboree and Wee Ones Club, free babysitting services by Urban Sitter and even free apartment cleanings courtesy of MyClean. Mommy Nearest is also giving a whopping $5,000 to the Mommy Group that earns the most points as a team! So, make sure you are part of the "Bay Ridge Baby Mamas (& Daddies)" group - we are gonna DESTROY the other groups and claim our rightful $5K yo!!! (If you're not automatically added to my group, go to your profile and add yourself!) CLICK HERE to join the Mommy Nearest Summer Challenge!!! Winners will be announced shortly after Labor Day, so start playing today. If you’re not using Mommy Nearest yet, it’s a free mobile app that helps parents find child-friendly resources on-the-go. The places listed on the app are rated and reviewed by other moms, including me! The app has been helpful when I’ve been in a pinch looking for a place to change my little guy's diaper, a nursing friendly spot, a yummy place with a high chair... If you're looking for some good reads as well, you can check out my posts as well as posts from the other awesome Expert Moms on the Mommy Nearest blog here. Enjoy the #SummerChallenge! <Comment below if you've signed up so I can be sure to follow you on the app!!> I've been MIA for a few days but I have a good excuse. I was kind of on my death bed. OK, so I'm exaggerating a wee bit, but I was under the weather and quite miserable with what I think might have been mastitis. The stubborn gal in me who never wants to go to the doctor will never know what it was, but she and I are both glad that we are on the mend!
It started Wednesday evening and escalated incredibly fast. I went from feeling rather achy all over around 7 PM to by 10 PM I felt like I'd been hit by a mac truck and had to drop everything I was in the middle of and go to bed. One area of my right breast was tender, but not especially painful. I woke up around 2 AM feeling incredibly nauseous and in a cold sweat. Grabbed a thermometer and headed to the kitchen. Sat down with a mixing bowl in my lap (I was that close to throwing up) and took my temp, which was 3 degrees above normal (normal for me is about 97.2*F and it was 100.something). I thought if I could just eat something the nausea would either go away or at least temporarily abate after a good retch session. But all of a sudden everything started to fade. Oh, I know this feeling. Quick, head between knees - GO!!!! My hands went all tingly and I wondered if maybe I was having a heart attack. A small part of me thought, well, it would end this misery. Whatevs. >_< I weakly called for my hubby and luckily he heard me and came to my rescue with water. I told him I needed food and he nuked me some rice but I couldn't get any down. Next I tried grapes and that did the trick very quickly (probably by spiking my blood sugar and bottomed out blood pressure). I sat there slowly sipping a glass and a half of water and finally made my way back to bed just in time for Kenzo to start crying and need a feed. By now that right breast was more than tender and the area was red. I was thinking it was mastitis and not contagious, but it's not like we had milk or formula in the fridge to feed the baby just in case. Not like he would take a bottle anyway! Geez, I see how we shot ourselves in the foot there. Whoops! Note to self, start next child on the bottle EARLY! Thursday morning I still felt totally fluish as far as my whole body aching, but at least the nausea and faintness were gone, so I sent hubby to work and said I could manage with Kenzo. I did manage, but it's not easy taking care of a baby when you feel like sh!%!! I did some googling and asked friends on facebook about how to treat mastitis naturally because I didn't want to haul myself and Kenzo to an ER and I really REALLY didn't want to take a round of antibiotics, especially while breastfeeding. So here's the advice I got (other than "GET YOUR A$$ TO THE DOCTOR!!!") and followed: 1) Lots of rest 2) Extra fluids 3) Hot compression before nursing; hot shower 4) Extra nursing sessions and/or pumping to fully empty the effected breast, gently massaging the breast while nursing/pumping (apparently the infection is often passed from the baby into the mother, so baby should be fine to drink the milk from the infected boob... sorry baby!!) 5) Increase probiotics and other immune boosters like high-dose vitamin c, vitamin d, raw garlic, echinacea 6) Cut out junk food and sweets (this is not tough when you feel like crap, it's the only time I'm not craving fries and chocolate milk shakes!) 7) Ibuprofen for pain/inflamation 8) Cabbage leaves on the affected breast 9) Someone also suggested the supplement lecithin but I didn't end up bothering with this one By Friday morning my breast was no longer red and only the slightest bit tender, and the whole body ache somehow consolidated into my head. MASSIVE throbbing headache exponentially so upon standing up. WTF?? Advil to the rescue. This morning (Saturday) I feel 90% fine - boob is not tender at all, and I only have a headache upon standing, but with some Advil I'm at 100%. At this rate I'll be back to normal tomorrow. Hooray!! So was it mastitis and my super human immune system and cabbage filled bra kicked it's butt in record time without antibiotics?? If so, I blame the culprit on my slightly small underwire nursing bras that I wore on Tuesday and Wednesday because I was behind on laundry and all of my wireless nursing bras were stanky sweaty (TMI, sorry - don't forget - we have no AC!! Can you imagine the situation of my poor bras!?). Never again. I will go braless before I wear those horrendous mastitis inducing bras again!! Or perhaps it was a random virus that my body had a hard time fighting off, and the tender/painful boob was a wacky coincidence? The mystery behind the illness is strengthened even more by the fact that I haven't been sick in about two years. Not even a cold. Not even while pregnant when your immune system is supposed to be shot! Let's hope this record continues and it's another two years before my next illness. I sincerely think this is possible, especially if I remain a SAHM with Kenzo. The second he starts day care or school, all hope is out the window and it's HELLO to bimonthly colds for everyone in the family for the rest of his childhood. Am I right? Ughhhh... I had been equally looking forward to and dreading this moment. The moment that my baby takes in nutrients from a source other than me. Sure sure, it's not until about a year old that baby's main calories and nutrition will come from food rather than milk, but still, it was one of those big moments where you realize your little guy is growing up! Because I'd heard about the recent studies suggesting starting solids prior to 6 months increases the child's risk of developing chronic diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, eczema and celiac disease. So I held off, despite one of our doctor's trying to persuade us to start solids at 4 months (story on that here). I waited until after getting the green light from another doctor at our 6 month visit. She suggested starting with orange vegetables, a new one every 3-5 days, and then green vegetables, then fruits. No idea where the color idea came from, but sounded like a reasonable and doable approach. Leaving the doctor's office I was all pumped - "Yay you're gonna have real food and it's going to be fun!!" but then faced with a big decision... to make or to buy the food. I knew I wanted to go organic. That was all I knew. I headed to the grocery store and they had a pitiful selection of single ingredient organic baby food. Most were mixed like green peas and brown rice, and I didn't want that. I found an Earth's Best Carrots and the ingredients were: organic carrots, water. Literally. That's it! Some of the other brands had fish oil (what?? seriously??), ascorbic acid, etc. Remembering a friend who's baby took weeks (months?) of introducing solids before he would actually eat anything, I wasn't really looking forward to making a big ol' batch of baby food myself (pumping milk, steaming the veg, blending it all together, freezing in little ice cub trays), so buying one little bottle of food to try for now seemed justifiable (oh no, have I just entered the rabbit hole of buying pre-made baby food??). We waited until Daddy's next day off to start the adventure of solids as a family, which happened to be the Fourth of July. God baby strapped into his high chair, bib on, tray snapped on and "WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" oops, guess it was milk and nap time! I ordered "Abort Abort" as I had read it's not good to try food when they're cranky, so I fed him the tried and true way and he went down for a nap. Later that day we gave it a go and this time we had a happy baby on hand. Mommy was the feeder, daddy was the photo/videographer. The first couple of teeny tiny bites went right in and down. I was surprised he wasn't spitting it out! I read about the "tongue push reflex" and when they're ready they will swallow rather than push the food out of their mouths, so I guess he was ready! But after a couple of tastes he started making a "yuck" face and wouldn't take any more. I wasn't expecting him to down the whole jar, and I call our first go at solids a huge a huge success. I did find my mother's DNA coming out in me as I instinctively scraped baby's chin after each bite and the second he got something on his hand or cheek I wiped it away with a wet wash cloth. Sure sure I know it's probably good for his development to play with the food, but not good for my sanity!! I have friends who have to take a shower with their baby after each meal. Seriously? Must be hilarious and a great photo opp to let them go to town and get avocado goop all over themselves and the kitchen once or twice, but 3 times a day? I'm just not down with that, yet. I know there will come a day when I can't easily control it, and hopefully I'll just be able to let loose and deal with the cleanup afterwards. But right now, a simple swipe and wipe is all it took and everyone stayed nice and clean :) On a side note, we don't have AC and it's in the 90's here this week. Sorry, I will do whatever it takes to avoid any unnecessary housework this week!
For curious minds, his next poo was slightly orange. Haha! Funny how even the littlest bit of non-milk can effect the poo! I gave him his 2nd "meal" the following night and he got about the same amount in, just a couple of teeny tiny spoonfuls. I did try it myself, and had to coerce hubby to try it as well. I think it tastes just like tomato soup rather than carrots. Not exactly "Oh yum give me more", nor should it be with no added salt or sugar, but definitely not bad at all! Would love to know what food you introduced first to your little one, and how the experience went!! Are you a purely DIY or Pre-Made jar baby food feeder? I'll probably do both... from a jar is just so easy, and if you can get it on sale it's probably cheaper (or close enough) than making it yourself, and if you get the right organic brand without all the added unnecessary stuff, what's the harm right?? Haha does it sound like I'm trying to justify it to myself or what!? What happened to my perfect little sleeper? He was "sleeping through the night" (6-ish hours) from about 8 weeks, and by 10 weeks he was sleeping 8-10 hours a night - straight - without waking up - without a peep - without even wetting his diaper! He went down for his naps awake and fell asleep quietly while sucking his thumb. Fast forward to 5.5 months when he started protesting naps with loud consolable hysterical screams until I would finally give up and forgo that nap. I started having to nurse him to sleep for every nap and nighttime sleep. Not a habit I wanted to get into, especially when he was so wonderfully self-soothing before! But alas, what was I to do? Now, at 6 months and some change, all of a sudden he is no longer sleeping through the night. For the past week he's been waking up every couple of hours. Seriously??? WTF DUDE!!!
This happened to one of my mama friends and turns out she was pregnant - something about the hormones and change in her breast milk effected her baby's sleep and hunger. But we've ruled this out (thank god!!), so then what is it? He's not in pain, he doesn't wake up screaming, but he wakes up sort of crying and I don't want hubby to be woken up and I don't want to fully wake up either, so for the past week we've pretty much resorted to the family bed. Kenzo wakes up and cries, he gets a boob, mommy and baby pass out within a few minutes. Repeat every couple of hours. Is this a short phase he's passing through? Some kind of "wonder week" or teething issue? Or has he mastered the skill of manipulation and has mom wrapped around his teeny tiny finger? Co-sleeping definitely lessens my quality of sleep to some degree because I can't flop about into any position - I keep him kinda close to me with my arm around him (protecting from hubby) and I feel like I'm not getting as deep a sleep as I should because I'm so aware of him being there. Hubby loves it though. Argh... the joys of parenthood continue! <Originally posted on Mommy Nearest Blog on 6/27/13> Breastfeeding is natural, so why doesn’t it come naturally for so many moms (myself included)? I powered through several weeks of pain, awkwardness, and frustration before baby and I finally got the hang of it. Luckily for moms who want to breastfeed but aren’t finding it as easy as they’d hoped, NYC is chock full of lactation support! Whether you’re dealing with a difficult latch, low supply, or downright cluelessness, you can get help from private IBCLC’s (international board certified lactation consultant), postpartum doulas, and local support groups aplenty (links below). So let’s assume the challenge of figuring out the whole breastfeeding thing is behind you. Congratulations! But there is a new challenge looming ahead. You will at some point want to leave the privacy and comfort of your own home for a period of more than a couple of hours. Maybe not in the first few weeks when you can barely manage a weekly shower, but trust me, there will come a day when just have to get out. So you fill up baby’s diaper bag to the brim with everything you could possibly need, throw on your maternity jeans (yes, you’re still wearing those!), and out you go. All is well until you realize baby needs to eat. But you’re out, in the city, in public! What to do!? Welcome to the new-mom city-dweller’s dilemma. You probably don’t have a car to run out to, like most suburban moms. Perhaps you pumped ahead of time and brought the milk in a bottle. Sounds good, right? Guess what… you’re still going to have to do something about those engorged monstrosities you’re lugging around in that brand new nursing bra! Nothing a little hand expression in the bathroom won’t take care of. Have fun with that! Or maybe you’ve given up on the pump and have decided to just put baby to breast wherever and whenever baby is hungry. To this I say “Good for you!” But, you still have a decision to make: to cover up or not to cover up. I am a modest gal, and cannot even begin to imagine just whipping it out in the middle of a restaurant (this is just a personal preference; I have no problem with other moms doing it!). And they have such fun and stylish options out there – from the Udder Cover to the Hooter Hider - to help you maintain a bit of privacy and also minimize distractions for your baby. Some moms just throw a burp cloth or small blanket over themselves, and others forgo the cover altogether. To each her own! It took a few practice runs of feeding my little one in public before it felt natural to me. It was frustrating constantly seeking out a private room to nurse in, and sometimes meant missing out on half of the dinner with my friends while baby and I were sitting in the corner of the ladies’ bathroom! If you’re like I was and are seeking out a private spot, Mommy Nearest has got you covered – just search the “nursing-friendly” category and the closest places with a nursing lounge or private space like that will pop up on the map for you! Most of the baby and maternity shops have something available for nursing or pumping moms, some restaurants have a comfy couch or chairs in the women’s bathroom, and don’t be afraid to ask in any clothing shop if you can use one of their dressing rooms for privacy (if they say no, give ‘em the stink eye and leave a reply on this blog)!
Thankfully, I’ve graduated from the need for private space and I pride myself on the cornucopia of locations where I have fed my little one. On a plane, on a train, on a bench outside of Macy’s in Herald Square… I asked some of my mommy friends where their most interesting nursing or pumping locations were and got some pretty great answers: in a Penn Station bathroom (broken lock on the stall, no less!), on the shoulder of the BQE and LIE, at a Dead concert at Madison Square Garden, in Katzs Deli (no, she didn’t get what Meg Ryan ordered), and the best (or worst) was STANDING on the F train! BREASTFEEDING RESOURCES: Find a lactation consultant Find a postpartum doula Find your local La Leche League group Find a breastfeeding support group |
About ME:I'm a NYC metro area mom blogger living in NJ with my Japanese husband & our 3 kids (twins plus 1), focusing on fun and honest product and travel reviews, saving moms time finding the best for their families! Find what you need in the menu bar or search section above! Categories
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