All the Baby Gear You Need! - Breastfeeding Tips - A Second Look at Cloth Diapers
All the Baby Gear You Need!
I can't believe how much stuff my kids have, and they aren't even two years old! I knew they would take over my life, but I didn't realize they would take over my purse, my bathroom, my dresser, my craft box, everything! People love it when pacifiers and those little suction things for baby snot fall out of my purse - they think it's cute. I think "oh how I can't wait until they can fall asleep on their own and blow their nose." Actually I don't mind the little items that collect everywhere. What bothers me is that I buy a big ticket item like a double stroller, and they won't let me take it home and try it for a day. Seriously, I can't tell you how many strollers
we've bought, three to be exact, until we found the one that could be opened by one person without a single swear word. They make it look so easy in the store. Then comes the problem of getting it home. We have sworn we will never own a minivan. But how do you fit the stroller you already own, two kids in car seats, two adults and a new stroller, in a Plymouth Neon? You can't. So I've switched to ordering out of catalogs or online. If you are expecting a baby let me give you a few tips on the products you won't be able to live without. First off is a carseat. I suggest buying one that has a separate base - you leave the base in the car and then the carrier
holds the baby - that can be attached to a stroller - so you don't have to wake the baby when moving them to the stroller - and that rocks. Most of the car seats that are available for a newborn are pretty much the same. I do not recommend buying one from a second hand store, you don't know if they have ever been in an accident. Next you will definitely want a stroller. I do suggest actually going to a store to try them out - but then order them online so you don't have to pay taxes or deal with the headache of getting them home. Things to look for, ease of
use is number one. Can you lift it, open and close it without your blood pressure soaring past 300? Also look for seat covers that are removable, we had a Peg Perego that couldn't be washed and it looked absolutely horrible and couldn't be given away or resold. Make sure all of the wheels turn, this is very important for maneuvering, some only have the front or back wheels adjusted to swivel. Make sure you think about what you will be using the stroller for and features that you want such as baskets, sun shades, lightweight for travel on planes.
Now let's talk about swings and bouncers. My daughter loved her bouncer. It had a little vibrator in it also that would put her to sleep instantaneously. It was great for when we starting giving her baby food also. My son on the other hand, was a swinger. For the first two months of his life he spent almost every moment in the swing. He wouldn't even sleep in his bassinet. Things to look for in a swing, don't go for the crank kind. You will drive yourself and your child nuts. Yes they are cheap, there's a reason for that. We have a battery powered swing with 3 speed levels. Check out the speed in the store, the highest setting on our swing would send my son into orbit
around Earth. If you don't want the expense of batteries, buy rechargables, trust me you'll use them in the years to come for all the toys you'll be buying at holidays. Speaking of toys. I honestly don't know how to choose toys in a toy store. I become a babbling idiot as soon as I
walk into one. I have no idea where I'm supposed to start or how to look for toys that are appropriate for my child. And I would never take them with me, that's just a nightmare waiting to happen. I like the toy sites on the Internet that separate toys into age categories and developmental stages. I simply put my child's age in and up come the toys that are right for them. It can't get any easier. I especially like the developmental toys that are designed to
teach them some important, life altering lesson that will make them Nobel Prize winners! A mother's dream. My favorite ??toy' my children have is their play yards. These things are great for moms who work at home or moms who just want time to themselves but can't convince their children that it's nap time. They have great activities appropriate for active babies to keep themselves occupied and happy. With an assortment of mirrors, different textures and attached toys that are completely safe, you can be assured your baby is being entertained. Lastly I would like to mention the hi-chair. My grandmother found a great chair for my daughter before she was born. It can be used as a high chair, then a booster seat, than a chair and table. It has grown with her! She absolutely loves the thing too, she knows right where to go at meal time. Things I look for in a hi-chair are stability, it must have a lap belt that goes between the legs and a tray in front of the baby. Also make sure it is easy to clean, you don't want food getting stuck in a lot of crevices. Just remember, someday they will be all grown and you can have your house back to yourself, and then you'll long for these days!
A Second Look at Cloth Diapers
When I was pregnant with my first child, I remember a friend telling me to buy those flat cloth
diapers for burp rags. She commented, "I don't know how people use those for diapers, they are so thin!" It turns out that people don't use those! At least not anymore. Actually there is quite a broad selection with today's cloth diaper. Diapers come as prefolds, fitted or all-in-one (AIO). You can get them in plain white or with patterns and prints. You can also fasten them with pins, Velcro or snaps. In fact, there is such a selection in cloth diapers that it can be quite overwhelming. Diaper Dictionary The main types of diapers are pre-fold, fitted and all-in-ones. Pre-fold diapers are rectangular shaped and are divided into 3 sections than span the length of the diaper. The middle is the thickest section with 6 to 8 layers of fabric. The outer sections usually are four layers. Then there are fitted diapers which resemble disposable diapers. They have a contoured shape and have gathered elastic edges around the legs. Instead of tape, they are fastened with Velcro or snaps. You can also have them made without fasteners so you can pin or fold into a waterproof cover. I have already mentioned the waterproof cover a few times. Cloth diapering requires two pieces, the diaper and a waterproof cover. The main the reason for separating the diapers from the covers is that diapers require more rigorous cleaning and can wear out the waterproof quality of an attached cover. I find that having these two pieces separate just makes buying diapers more fun. You can mix and match covers, find covers with cute prints, or buy different kind for day or evening wear. Separate covers can be reused several times between washings and can be hand or machine-washed when necessary. Still if you want, you can invest in AIOs (All In Ones). These are basically fitted diapers with the waterproof cover already sewn on. Since these are more expensive and require more care most parents prefer to reserve these for outings. No more pins While there are many cloth diaperers that prefer to pin, pins are no longer a necessity with cloth. You have already read about fitted diapers and AIOs that can be closed with attached fasteners like Velcro or snaps. However if you want to stick with the economical prefold, you have pin-less alternatives. You can enclose your prefold in a waterproof cover. Alternately you can use snappi clips, which are Y shaped plastic fasteners that have claws at each end to grab and hold the diapers in place. Personally I love the way my baby looks in a pinned prefold. Pinning is easy once you get the hang of it. One trick I use is to stick my pins in a bar of soap between uses. The soap provides a coating that makes the pin slide right through the diaper the next time??this makes a big difference when trying to diaper a wriggly child. Caring for diapers If dirty diapers scare you, don't worry. Today's washing machines do all of the work. For dirty diapers, simply shake out loose pieces into the toilet bowl and dunk if necessary and put the diaper in the pail. If this still bothers you use paper-thin flushable liners between your baby's bottom and the diaper. You never have to touch the yucky stuff!
My method for washing diapers consists of 4 steps:
l Overnight Soak. I place all diapers in the washer with cold water and ½ cup of baking soda.
Baking soda is key here. It is very effective in whitening and removing the urine smell from
the diapers. I let the diapers soak in a baking soda solution for at least 8 hours, usually
overnight. l Hot Wash. I drain the water from the soak and re-fill the washing machine with hot water, liquid fragrance-free laundry detergent and more baking soda. l Rinse. For the rinse I use cold water, add ½ cup of vinegar, this softens the diapers and balances the pH balance of the diapers. l 2nd Rinse. For this final rinse I use cold water only.
Worried about the smell?
Many parents think a cloth diaper pail is smellier than a disposable diaper one. I found the contrary to be true. Since I flush poops down the toilet there is less to stink up the baby's room. With disposable diapers, you usually have dirty diapers sitting for days. Even through a diaper genie, I have been able to detect the scent of a dirty diaper. Therefore unless you take the diaper genie out to the garage to remove the diapers when it is full, your baby's room will stink of week old dirty diapers for a few hours. On the few occasions when my diaper pail starts to emit a bad odor, I simply sprinkle baking soda (again!) This does the trick.
The truth about Diaper Rash It is a myth that cloth diapered babies get diaper rash more frequently than disposable diapered ones. Procter & Gamble's own studies have shown that the occurrence of diaper rash increases from 7.1 percent to 61 percent with the increased use of disposable diapers. ("A Review of Procter & Gamble's Environmental Balances for Disposable and Re-usable Nappies" The Landbank Consultancy Limited, 1991.)
If your baby gets diaper rash with cloth diapers chances are you have done something wrong.
When washing diapers make sure to use fragrance free detergent in the wash and vinegar in rinse. Also avoid borax, bleach, soap detergents and fabric softener. Bleach and borax break down diaper fibers. Soap and fabric softener reduce the absorbency of diapers. So there you have it cloth diapering in a nutshell. Now you that have the basic information try it out for yourself! It's fun, fashionable and easier than you thought. Jennifer Liptrot is wife to Michael and mama to two young bright, energetic children, both of whom wear their cloth diapers proudly. She is the founder and owner of DiaperPin.com, a comprehensive cloth diapering resource.
Breastfeeding Tips
Elaine: To get off to a great start with breastfeeding, learn as much as you can about breastfeeding ahead of time . . . read read read . . . ask questions . . . seek support from friends,
family, local breastfeeding support groups, and breastfeeding support forums on websites such as StorkNet. Buy a tube of Lansinoh to help PREVENT sore nipples and take it to the hospital with you. Don't wait until you are in pain to send someone out to buy it. It is a specific form of ultra purified lanolin which is soothing to the nipples and helps prevent sore nipples and promote healing if damage has already occurred. Make sure baby opens his mouth WIDE to latch on. Don't allow him to suck on just the 'tip' of the nipple. Proper latch on will eliminate much of the pain and soreness often associated with breastfeeding, and it will allow the baby to get milk more easily. Something that helped me with good positioning was putting a pillow in my lap to help support baby. The baby only weighs 7-8 lbs but still, having her AT BREAST LEVEL did keep me from trying to lean in to her. The specially designed nursing pillows are great, but regular old bed pillows work just fine too! You can find great nursing pillows at the BabyCenter Store. Learn to nurse lying down if possible!!!! This will make night time feedings so much less tiring. Or if you absolutely can't nurse lying down buy a 'stuffed hubby' . . . it's one of those big firm pillows that's shaped like the back of a chair with arms. I think they are mainly marketed for reading or watching TV in bed. It is so much easier to prop up against it than to try to arrange three or four pillows comfortably against the headboard in the middle of the night. And you can lean back and maybe even doze as baby nurses. I think there is some kind of animalistic 'mother instinct' that keeps us holding them as we sleep. Cath: The single most important thing I learned was to put the baby to the breast . . . not the breast to the baby. Sounds simple but in reality it's so easy to hold the baby on your lap, lean forward and try to put the nipple into the baby's mouth. This is not only a recipe for backache, but for bad latch and total misery. I had to learn after many weeks, to hold the baby's head close to the breast, and when he opened his mouth to latch on, virtually push his head towards the breast and we were both happy. Libramom: Invest in a Boppy or Nursing Pillow. Mine has become my best friend AND my son's favorite pillow. It fits to the body, and it's especially soothing for us Mom's who had c-sections. If you plan on pumping at work, try and make your arrangements in advance so far as place to pump, etc. Purchase the best quality pump you can afford. A little extra investment up front is well worth it in the long run. When I first started breastfeeding, my son would never empty both breasts, and I would always forget which side I left off at. I finally put a tiny safety pin on one of the straps of my bra, and whatever side I would leave off at, would be the side the pin went on. Another thing to remember is, with some women, your milk doesn't start to "flow" as soon as the baby is born. There's fluid, and it's colostrum, and it's VERY IMPORTANT that your baby gets this as well. It took my milk about two days to come. The thing that I also had to "LEARN" was that there would be times when my baby would be hungrier than other times . . . that there would be growth spurts . . . and that I had enough milk to sustain him. IRDovev: One thing that really helped me get started was a video put out by Medela called Breastfeeding Your Baby - Positioning. Really seeing how to position the baby and what to look for to make sure that the baby was latched on correctly really helped. I would like to add that a good Baby Tips for New Parents: Breastfeeding Tips from the Moms at StorkNet. lactation consultant really came in handy also. Don't hesitate to stop back at the hospital several times if you are having problems. Imichel: If you are not too large breasted, buy "sleep" bras that don't have hooks on them. I could never get the hooks rehooked. You just pull the sleep bras down and when you're done, snap them back up. Much easier. Jill1babe: I have very large breasts (DDD) and the best positioning for us was the football or clutch hold. If your milk comes in suddenly (like mine did) you can become engorged. Something that helped me was hot showers and letting the water flow over my breasts! I also used a manual pump while in the shower. This relieved me enough so my daughter could latch on. Once she could latch on, I let her nurse like crazy!
Leigh: The best tip I got was to NOT try and hold my breast away from baby's nose. The lactation consultant showed me that baby would adjust. They won't just suffocate and by pushing down to keep my breast out of the way, I was changing the shape of the nipple inside baby's mouth leading to sore nipples. kathywitak: Go to a La Leche League meeting!!!!! The moms who attend LLL meetings are breastfeeding pros and they are willing to help! It's always comforting to know you have an experienced ear to bounce *any* question off. LaLeche League Web Site has a great article on how to find a LLL leader near you. Bookmark breastfeeding bulletin boards (especially this one!). You can get lots of good information just reading others' questions. And if *you* think of a question while you're awake in the middle of the night, chances are by morning you will have several responses. Get a sling and practice with it at home. They make nursing in public much easier and more discreet. Not to mention they are great for still being able to get things done when baby is going through a growth spurt and wants to stay attached to your breast all day. I recommend the Nojo Baby Sling. Boppy pillows are great for nursing while on the computer. Cararocky: Wearing nursing clothes is optional, however, with my first baby it was easier going out wearing a nursing top and bra. But anything in your closet can do. If its a button down shirt, unbutton from the bottom so the top part covers you. A blanket always works also. Most people will think your baby is sleeping, unless you run into a nursing mother who like me, will always give you a little smile. nabs: If you have large breasts, roll up a cloth diaper and place it underneath your breast for extra support. It frees up one hand and keeps your baby from having to support extra weight. These breastfeeding "Quick Tips" were collected from the message boards at StorkNet.com, "the friendliest parenting and pregnancy community online!"
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