Breastfeeding Blog Hop: Weaning

March 23rd, 2011
10:29am


I never wanted to wean my children. Weaning always seemed like curse word to me. I love the nursling/mama bond, why would I want that tot stop. I have three children, a 4 year old girl (Sally), a 2.5 year old boy (James) and a 3.5 month old baby girl (Charlotte). Charlotte is nursing and loving it and I'm not looking forward to the day when she weans. My philosophy tends to lean more to the side of child lead weaning; where the child decides when to stop nursing. While I do have a top age limit, 4 years or so, I do not practice extended breastfeeding.

My daughter Sally decided to stop nursing WAY before I was ready. She was only 15 months old and I was three months pregnant with James (yes, I've been knocked up and/or nursing for the past 5 years). She stopped cold turkey from nursing about 4-5 times a day. This was so painful for me. My breasts were engorged and sore for about a week. I remember feeling like somewhat abandoned. My baby didn't need me in the same way that she used to. She was growing up. I wasn't thinking about what my daughter needed but about what I wanted. That realization helped me a lot!

My son stopped nursing a week before Charlotte was born. I really wanted to tandem nurse (having more than one nursling). James got a stomach bug about a week before he weaned that made his poo very liquidy. When it didn't clear up after the bug, I thought it might be the colostrum that my body was producing. He was down to one nursing right before bed. I stopped offering to see if not nursing would firm up his poop. It did and he never asked about "nursies" again.

I think I was more emotionally prepared for James' weaning than I was for Sally's. It helped that there was a baby coming soon after James stopped. I have a personal goal to give my children the best start possibly by breastfeeding for at least two years. Perhaps I had a harder time when Sally stopped nursing because I didn't fulfill my "goal". The global average age of weaning is approximatley 4 years and I think that is why around the age of 4 seems to be my weaning number.

I wonder how I'll feel when Charlotte decides she's done. So far, we seem to get pregnant when our littlest is about one. We'll see if that rings true.

____________________________________________________________

Great article on the life of a Midwife's Husband

March 23rd, 2011
1:36pm

I often think of what I'll do with myself when my kids are all grown up. Being a Stay at Home Mom is an amazing profession and the next logical thing for me to do is homeschool my kids. But what am I to do after raising my children? I'll have been out of the workforce for more than 20 years with little to no "skills". I'll have spent those years teaching my children and doing my best to be a mother. I will have experience with birthing and breastfeeding. Two things I'm passionate about. I'd love to become a midwife or lactation consultant in the future. I've talked to my husband about this and he's very supportive. I came across this article on a husband's perspective on it all.

http://www.mothering.com/pregnancy-birth/married-to-the-midwife

Are you a stay at home mom? What do you plan on doing when your kiddos are all grown up?

_______________________________________________________________

Sugar Plum Baby Fitted Cloth Diaper Review and Giveaway

March 22nd, 2011
6:00pm

Sugar Plum Baby is run by Susan Mraz of Monkey Toe Diapers . By stripping away some of the flairs while leaving the style, she was able to simplify and create her own line of fitted cloth diapers. Instead of offering prints, she has decided to offer fitteds in bamboo fleece with your choice of colored thread and snaps. Sugar Plum Baby offers you an affordable, sleek looking way to cloth diaper baby. You can save even more by purchasing diapers in packages of 3,6, or 12.

The Review:

I had the opportunity to review the Sugar Plum Baby Basic Bamboo Fleece Fitted diaper in small with pink snaps and serging. There is a snap in soaker that combines with the diaper to offer 6 layers of absorbency. Sugar Plum Baby diapers come in 4 sizes: Newborn (birth -12lbs), Small (10-15lbs), Medium (15-25lbs), and Large (25-35lbs). The newborn diaper features a snap down front tab for the umbilical cord and the Medium and Large sizes come with hip snaps and a doubler.

Ease of Use: Simple,simple. Just 4 little snaps and you are good to go.

Fit: We received this diaper when Charlotte was a month old and 10lbs. The small size fits babies 10-15lbs. The diaper fit really well; snug around the thighs and waist but not too tight. I felt as though the diaper was on the small side. Charlotte grew out of it at 13 lbs. I do have chunky monkey babies and knew it was time to retire the diaper when red marks were starting to show on her legs after use. I was really sad to pull this one out of our rotation and save it for the next babe! It had become a favorite. The elastic was strong and we never had any blowouts.

Care: This diaper still looks brand new! Even after washing and using it daily for almost 2 months! Susan reccommends that you wash and dry on hot. It dried rather quickly. Occasionally the gathered elastic on the legs would still be slightly damp after a dryer cycle but just air drying it or setting it in the sun for a while took care of it.

Materials: Bamboo fleece (70% viscose from bamboo/30% organic cotton), snaps.

Cost: The diaper I tried out was $14.00. A single diaper is anywhere between $12 and $21.
Click here to purchase.

Overall Opinion: I really like the Sugar Plum Baby design. It's simple and easy to use while still being cute. The style and fit are reminiscent of a big name brand but Sugar Plum Baby offers a more affordable version with the kinks worked out. This is a great diaper for any parent to have in their stash. Worked well for overnights, naps and daytime (even with a heavy wetter). They do run small so think about ordering the next size up.

These are of Charlotte when she was about 13lbs, about when she grew out of the diaper.

Connect with Sugar Plum Baby:
Facebook
Website
Etsy

Coupon Code:

Susan has offered you guys a 15% off coupon that will work in any of her stores! Enter KNOCKEDUP at checkout!

The Giveaway:

Susan has offered a Bamboo fitted diaper in winner's choice of size and color.

Mandatory Entry:

• Visit Sugar Plum Baby and tell me your favorite item.
  
• Leave an email address where you can be reached.

Extra Entries:

• Become a fan of Monkey Toe Diapers/ Sugar Plum Baby on Facebook.
• Become a fan of Knocked Up and Nursing on Facebook
• Become a follower of Knocked Up and Nursing on Twitter
• Tweet about this giveaway. Leave a URL. You can use: "#win a Bamboo Fitted Diaper from Sugar Plum Baby. Visit http://bit.ly/fq9bIc to enter. @knockedupnursin #clothdiapers " (can be tweeted once a day until the giveaway ends)
• Follow Knocked Up and Nursing via GFC *Plus 2 entries*
  
• Subscribe to my blog via Email (See "connect" tab on top right)
  
• Blog about this giveaway and link to this page/or my blog.*Plus 5 entries* Leave a URL.
• Share on Facebook (Leave a link)
• Grab my button and leave me a link to find it.*Plus 5 entries*

If you have questions, don't hesitate to email me.

Giveaway will run from Tuesday March 22nd, 2011 at 12:00pm (CST) until April 5th, 2011 at 11:59pm CST. Winner will be chosen using random.org's true random number generator upon the close of the contest. Winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hrs to respond or a new winner will be chosen. I was given a product to review and my opinions on the product are my own. Must be 18 year old to enter. Open to US and Canadian residents only. Subject to changes.

______________________________________________________________

A Greener Home Event Starting April 1st

March 22nd, 2011
9:49am

In a little less than two weeks, I'm going to have a new event on the blog. A Greener Home will feature ways to reduce consumption of paper and plastic products and ways to make your home more sustainable. I'm so excited about this one! This is a subject that I'm really interested in. Not only is reducing your paper products a way to save money but you are also keeping chemical laden products out of your home. AND it's great for the earth.

There are some great sponsors lined up so far and I can't wait for you guys to meet them. Go get acquainted while we wait for the event to start on April 1st.

Planet Hugger

Reuseit.com

Green Heart Shop

Ollie and Ava

Pro Utilitas

Cushy Tooshy

If you would like to be added to this wonderful list of sponsors, Please email me at
knockedupandnursing@gmail.com

EXTRA ENTRY OPTION:

Display the A Greener Home event button on your blog for 5 extra entries into all giveaways during the event!

Simply copy the code in the box below the button and enter it on your blog.
Come back here and leave 5 separate comments with the link to where the button can be found.


<center><a href="http://knockedupandnursing.blogspot.com"><img border="0" src="http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x446/knockedupandnursing/ButtonAGH4.jpg" /></a></center>

_________________________________________________________

The Bunny Hop Starts April 5th

March 15th, 2011
4:58pm

TerraMade Products is having a re-opening of their Hyenacart store. To celebrate, you are invited to participate in The Bunny Hop! Starting Tuesday, April 5th and running until Saturday, April 9th, players are encouraged to "hop" down the list of sponsors and collect entries into the Grand Prize Basket valued at over $300! A complete list of sponsors will be available soon on TerraMade's website. When the event ends, you can email Terra with all your entries (some entries will be mandatory and others will be extra entries). A winner will then be chosen randomly for the gift basket with fluff and stuff and be announced on Monday, April 11th.

During the contest there will also be some other great giveaways going on at TerraMade and some of the other sponsors so be sure to stay tuned. You don't want to miss this.

Connect with TerraMade Products:
Facebook
Hyenacart

Website

_________________________________________________________