Hippie Mom in a Preppy World

Posts Tagged ‘cloth diapers’

The title may sound arrogant and if there was indeed a grading scale I would not have a perfect score (more than once I put him in PJ’s and forgot all about the bath) but at least I’m good on the important parts.

For the past month I’ve been dealing with child proofing blues.  It’s something that we should have done long ago but kept procrastinating on. I look at our house and it feels like a baby death trap, there is so much to do that I don’t know how to accomplish it all without moving half of the house into storage/ dumpster.

Now that Shammy is mobile and getting into everything, it was time to get into gear. I’m very watchful of Shammy when he’s playing but sometimes I need to not be hovering so much without interrupting his play, like when cooking dinner or doing laundry.  Plus I am trying to find a balance between keeping him safe without being too overprotective and letting the kid crawl and explore.

We had wanted to get a playard aka baby jail for a while and found a very good deal on it at a consignment sale but once put it together I felt like it was too much like jail despite being so large.  So then it was time to sit down with the husband and decide on which room of the house we were going to surrender to the baby.  The natural choice would have been the baby’s room (which is currently only used for diaper changing and baby stuff storage, lol) but I didn’t want him to be isolated when playing.

We finally decided to surrender the dining room, the table had not been used for dining in months anyway and Shammy would get to enjoy the nice view to the backyard.  And so we started the process of relocating furniture and a bird to transform part of the space into a fun haven.

 

Now that he’s becoming more independent I am actually starting to get stuff done at home besides the bare minimum.  It’s still nothing close to spring cleaning and it will take a while to recover from all of the months of spot cleaning and tidy messes.

I am very proud to have achieved the 8 month breastfeeding milestone, it was touch and go for a little bit there on the exclusive factor.  I no longer have a freezer stash and Shammy’s schedule since daylight savings time means that I never have an opportunity to pump at a time when I would get a decent output.

Shammy has never tasted formula in his life but I have reached the point where it’s not the end of the world if it comes to that, he’s older than 6 months, he’s eating other foods, it’s not the end of my philosophical world anymore.

No, I’m not done breastfeeding, not even close.  What I’m close to being done with is stressing over how many ounces are in the freezer vs how many he will need while hanging at grandma’s.  Stressing doesn’t lead to a good letdown and that leads to tiny pumped amounts, it’s a horrible cycle that I’ve been stuck in for a couple of weeks.

Nothing is official but the current tentative plan is that I will continue to breastfeed full time and pump while working but supplement to make up the difference when I’m not around.  95% or more of his milk will still be breast milk, I will still pump when away from him for more than 5 hours.  I have not made any purchases, but I already researched brands.  We’ll see…  I’ve said it before and I’ll say this again, I bow down to exclusively pumping mamas, I don’t know how they do it, here I am stressing myself dry over occasional pumping.

I’m glad to wean off the pump except for work but not yet ready to wean my son.  This week I cried along with a heartbroken mama whose toddler self weaned this week.  She had no idea that it was the last time when it happened.  Every time I nurse Shammy I try to savor it because I know that it will be over before I know it and will miss it too.

 

 

For the past few weeks we have been dealing with mild separation anxiety.  One of the things that I have found to help is laying the shirt that I wore that day in his bed, I have found that he sleeps better that way.

Now that he has learned to call me Mama I can no longer tell my husband “it’s your turn”.  He says that Shammy has quickly learned that saying that equals fast response and that is fine.  I’d rather him know that he can call me and I will come than having to resort to crying to get the attention he wants.

 

For a few weeks Shammy would eat from anyone that wasn’t me, it was challenging since I would be the only one available during the weekdays most times.  This made me consider BLW (Baby Led Weaning- where you skip the purees and let baby feed himself)  so I experimented and it was a success.  I can’t say that I’m a total convert but I will probably do it here and there.

 

 

Something interesting that I’ve learned over the past couple of weeks, the first diaper to go in the pail after I put in a load of laundry is always a poopy one!  I wash diapers every other day and this has been accurate for 3 weeks and counting, lol.  So I guess that if I want him to poop on command I just need to throw some diapers in the washer.

 

This week’s rant is a short one:

If you’re thinking of breastfeeding your baby, be warned: People will think you’re stupid. That’s right, a recently published report highlighted not one, but three studies that found people think of women who breastfeed as less competent than “otherwise identical women.”  Seriously?!

In my opinion a woman that breastfeeds is smarter than a woman that formula feeds (by choice, not circumstance) because it means that the nursing mama is well informed about the benefits of breastmilk over formula and knows that it’s way easier to lift up a shirt in the dark than hunt for a bottle you hopefully remembered to prepare at 3am.

 

 

 

 

 

We have been having some interesting weeks lately.  We recently took Shammy to his first Pagan festival, normally we would camp but we are glad we didn’t as it was too cold for comfort.  He seems to have enjoyed it overall but did seem homesick which affected his sleep.  I have never seen him so happy to be back home.   Hopefully he will sleep better at the next camping festival in April.  He also got to experience the Renaissance Faire and loved it.

He has given me several nights where he doesn’t wake up to nurse, that has signaled my body to bring about the return of Aunt Flo, boo!  It had been over a year and didn’t miss it one bit.  After that he has decided to go back to waking up once during the night to nurse, figures!

I’m now working on a semi regular basis.  I have been fortunate enough to have found a decent client, I doubt that any company could have been as flexible as I need.  I enjoy being self employed and although I don’t make much after setting aside taxes it is better than nothing.

I do have lots of flexibility and a private space to pump while at the client’s office but since pumping time is not billable time I limit it to 1 pumping session per day. The challenge with that is that I’m not pumping enough to make up for what Shammy drinks while at grandma’s house, not because I don’t produce enough but because I need to pump a second time.  This has led to a rapid reduction of the small freezer stash that I had so we may enter a breastmilk crisis soon.  I’m proud that he has never tasted formula but admit that the idea has crossed my mind if I can’t settle into a pumping schedule that will meet the demand.  I would much rather use donor milk but I always think about preemies and adopted babies and feel that they should have priority for donated milk.

I miss him so much while I’m working though.  Thankfully I have plenty of distractions but after a few hours I can’t stop thinking of him and have to hold back tears.  Now that he has consolidated his poops to one major one during the day I even miss wiping his poopy butt.  You read right, the woman that was terrified of changing a diaper pre-baby actually misses dealing with poop.  The day that I shared this with my husband through misty eyes Shammy took pity on me and delivered a nice load of poop for me to clean, so sweet of him!

Speaking of poop, I never imagined that my hippie son would be capable of tie dye poop but that is exactly what he delivers on days when he eats different colored foods the day before, lol.

Another interesting turn of events was the death of the washing machine interrupting our cloth diaper use.  I was able to wash the already dirty diapers at Grandma’s house and had considered doing future washes at the laundromat but it was not logistically possible and would have been very expensive.  So for the time being we used disposables and you know what?  I hate them… with a passion…  can’t stand the plastic paper feel, I hate the fact that they get thrown away and couldn’t wait for a new washer so that I can go back to my beloved cloth.

It took us to weeks to find a washer that we could barely afford and I cried out of joy when I was able to use Bumgenius once again.  This passion for cloth makes me want to participate in the Great Cloth Diaper Change, an event created to host awareness for cloth diapering while setting a Guinness World Record for the largest number of cloth diapers changed at one time.

The response to this blog has got me thinking about a related book, this idea is in its infancy and it may never grow beyond a rough draft but I’m curious if this is something that anybody would find interesting.

Some women are afraid to breastfeed in public for fear of harassment. I used to be waiting for someone to dare say something but not anymore.  Maybe they can sense the “dare to say something and you’ll regret messing with mama bear” vibe that I emanate or more likely they just don’t care.

We mostly hear about bad experiences nursing in public so I want to share a sample list of places that I have been able to breastfeed in public, without a cover and nobody bothered us:

Disney’s Magic Kingdom
Downtown Disney
Renaissance Faire (with a Broward County Sheriff on duty sitting next to me)
at the entrance to the exhibition hall at the county fair
many different restaurants  (even while the server was taking our order)
various department stores
various parts of the mall
the supermarket (various aisles)
the library
various outdoor parks
while shopping at garage sales
the circus
Turnpike Service Plaza
I-95 Rest Stop
bookstore
various parking lots and more

I wonder if it’s because I don’t use an eye catching nursing cover that screams “look at me! I’m breastfeeding!”  (nothing wrong with covers if you feel you need one).

 

Coming soon, adventures in chasing a mobile baby, but first!  I must babyproof.

 

This episode’s rants:

“The Doctors”, a TV program viewed by millions of people across the globe, has gotten out of hand, especially recently with their breach of professional conduct.  These doctors humiliate, demean, and belittle members of the public for their circumcision status.  It does not make any sense for doctors to improperly promote unnecessary surgery and the abusive treatment of minors, to satisfy their preferences.  A letter of complaint was sent to the Medical Board of California – Central Complaint Unit.

“Doctors are supposed to  treat  valid medical problems, not alter functioning healthy parts of a penis just to satisfy the customs and culture of a certain population”

I “could” get on board with justifying a Jewish doctor in a Jewish community but here we are talking about mainstream media directed to the not always very educated masses that look up to these “experts” to tell them what their opinions should be.

 

My other rant was inspired from the following read in one of the online parenting groups that I belong to:

“I’m glad that I didn’t pass my GD test because I got 8 ultraounds instead of 2 and got induced a week early so I got to pick the date and time and doctor.” ::SLAP!!!::  that is what I want to do when reading this.  Could this be any more selfish and ignorant?

Let’s ignore for a moment the inherent risks and dangers from many ultrasounds and from being induced, if you really wanted that you don’t have to have gestational diabetes to get it.  There is no shortage of OB’s that will happily give you as many ultrasounds as you like and prefer that you make an appoint me to “deliver” than risk being late for dinner.

I understand that a lot of people don’t see diabetes as a big deal, and for the most part it isn’t.  But do you really want to put yourself and baby’s health at risk for complications and other not so fun stuff just for convenience?

 

And a carryover from previous weeks is my annoyance with people’s obsessions with baby’s weight.  I’m shocked to see how many people don’t think a baby is healthy unless they’re 90+ percentile for weight.  I recently read a study that indicates that a baby in the 85 to 90 percentile is “at risk” for obesity while a baby at 95 or above is obese.  Is that the healthy start that we want to give our children?  No wonder a recent study found that 1/3 of babies are obese by 9 months.

This post is double the length of my average post because I’ve been running late on getting it finished.  I am tentatively changing the title of the blog and will no longer using week counter so I don’t have to worry about skipping weeks. Don’t know if the title will stick, we’ll see…

It is my intent to continue updating at least weekly but life may happen.

This has been and interesting week and some change.

We got our first Fox family Yule tree, never thought that I would get excited about the little things until becoming a mother, lol

I like the fact that even though Shammy lost most of his hair he didn’t fully lose his fiercehawk, the shedding is starting to slow down and new hair is starting to grow so he never quite reached the bald stage.  In the meantime, I’ve had to adjust the rise in his one size cloth diapers to the medium setting, yay!

Shammy is the only baby that I’ve seen manage to be cute while doing something completely gross.  He spit up milk on his bib and as I was approaching to clean it up he picked up the bib, brought it to his mouth and suck it all up with a yum expression on his face.  I was laughing at the same time that I was saying “ewww!”, this baby doesn’t believe in waste.

On other amusing news, I decided to line dry the cloth diapers outside even though we were under a freeze watch due to a cold front.  Imagine waking up in the morning to find frozen cloth diapers.  I would have taken a picture but you really couldn’t tell.  The covers were fine because the dried before the temperature drop but the inserts were as stiff as cardboard, it was too funny.  Thankfully I didn’t have an urgent need so I was able to let them thaw and dry without resorting to the dryer.

A benefit of having pumped milk in the fridge is that when it look like Shammy was getting congested either from the weather or from the cold I was fighting I squirted a couple drops of breastmilk up his nose, he gave me a “what the hell?!” look, sneezed and all was cleared.  Way better than being unable to sleep worrying about your congested baby being able to sleep, I also use it for rashes and dry skin itch.  I swear breastmilk has outranked WD-40 and duct tape as most versatile fix it all lol.

Last week I attended my first paranormal investigation since I relocated to the Treasure Coast.  This involved me missing Shammy’s bedtime and being gone for most of the night.  My initial plan was to pack the breast pump and pump in the car like I did at Halloween Horror Nights but I misplaced the battery pack so instead I packed a manual breast pump, not the same!

I didn’t have much chance to pump and the manual pump is a pain in the rear so I was only able to express enough to give me some relief until I got home.  When I finally arrived home exhausted I was so engorged that I had to pump immediately, I pumped 13 ounces in one session and my breasts still felt full, wow.

So I haven’t had doubts about my milk supply but this output gives visual confirmation on how much I can produce in just a few hours.

Shammy and I had a horrible Doctors appointment for his 4 month checkup.  I don’t have private insurance so we couldn’t go to Dr. Punger without paying out of pocket which is not feasible since I’m not back in the workforce.

I made an appointment with the doctor that took care of Shammy when he was born since he took Medicaid and I at least had a notion about how he worked.  BAD IDEA!

He’s completely different outside of the hospital.  He’s a vaccination nazi and refuses to continue seeing Shammy if he’s not up to date on his shots.  He is against delaying vaccinations yet the doomsday scenario that he used to try to scare me into a bunch of needles right then and there is for a vaccine that hasn’t been in the CDC’s vaccine recommendations for years and back when it was the shot wasn’t administered until 2 years old. wtf?

He also bashed the WIC program and gave advice against AAP recommendations and is against home made baby food, and the list goes on.

I can deal with a closed minded old fashioned doctor that doesn’t keep up with changes in medical science, what I can not deal with is a doctor that comes in, tells you what to do and walks out without giving the opportunity to ask any questions.  I miss Dr. Punger so bad!  She knows that I always have a list of questions so she covers those first before she even examines Shammy.  She would spend 30 mins with us compared to Dr. Old Fashioned’s 3 mins.

Screw him, I can get the immunizations for free at the health department and I downloaded the CDC’s vaccine scheduler and things have worked out so beautifully that the catch-up schedule recommended by the CDC matches what we had decided to do.

Shammy is above the 90 percentile for head circumference and it’s not empty space, I was thrilled to see him apply his problem solving skills when he wanted a toy that was hooked to a bar on his gym.  He tugged on it once, saw that it didn’t budge so he turned it around to see how it was attached, traced the hook with his other hand to figure out how it works and unhooked it in less than a minute.  Yet he still forgets how to move the bib when it accidentally covers his face, lol.

I was fully set on following the AAP and WHO recommendations to breastfeed exclusively for 6 months but after much deliberation we have decided to slowly start introducing solids at just under 5 months or whenever we finally get a high chair, lol.

Shammy has been developmentally ready for solids for over a month now and his interest in food is so strong that I feel bad eating in front of him because he looks at me with puppy eyes begging for scraps.  The plan is to start with organic whole grain brown rice cereal, 1 tablespoon mixed with breastmilk and gradually build from there depending on how he likes it.  Then we’ll introduce vegetables once I get a Magic Bullet or food processor to puree the food.

I’m a strong supporter of Dr. Greene’s White Out movement and that is why I’m using brown rice cereal instead of the usual white.  They are empty calories and that is not the best taste to get used to first.  I credit this with my life long fixation with white flour products which are not the best, I wish I liked whole grains more but I simply don’t.  White bread, etc are comfort food for me.  This is also why I am starting vegetables first, I want Shammy to enjoy veggies before starting fruits.  I had been introduced to fruits first so I rejected vegetables and had to literally teach myself to like veggies as an adult and there’s still many kinds that I don’t eat.  All I want is for healthy eating to come more naturally for him.

Daddy thinks that Shammy is so interested in foods already that he’ll get hooked on solids and wean himself quickly.  I hope not but I do believe in child led weaning so I don’t plan to shove my nipple down his throat.

I’m proud to report that the CBS reported that accepted the 30 day cloth diaper challenge with her baby is a convert!

I have used most of the types of diapers in this video.

In news that make me want to bang my head against a wall.  Similac has decided that they don’t make enough millions on baby formula and now are marketing a formula for pregnant and breastfeeding moms.  Gotta make money out of breastfeeding too I guess.  This would be awesome in developing countries where nutrition is a challenge but I find no place for it in America where a healthy diet is easily available and products like these promote further junk food consumption knowing that baby is getting all the vitamins from the plastic bottle.

Most of the time I feel like the only mom that is able to successfully breastfeed exclusively beyond a couple of weeks.  If it wasn’t for the internet and La Leche League I may not have.  People need to understand that even though breastfeeding is natural it doesn’t always come naturally or easy.

It wasn’t so easy for me at the beginning.  I’m so glad (seriously… soooo glad!) that I kept at it and stuck it out. The reward has been enormous. I remember one time during the beginning where I had nipple pain and was thinking of ways on how to endure another nursing session. it got better. And better. And better. Now, I can’t wait for those moments to connect with my son.

My advice for new moms:  Promise yourself you won’t quit in the middle of the night. Everything is better in the morning. And really, give yourself and your baby at least 4-6 weeks before you quit, if at all possible. Most of the kinks are worked out after 6 weeks and then it truly does become natural and second nature.

I keep hearing from about 10 different moms “I saw a bunch of lactation consultants” upon further probing, none were IBCLC and most were not even certified in anything breastfeeding related!

Check credentials!  Look for IBCLC at the end of their name this stands for International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, this means that this person has gone through extensive training and practice in human lactation.  When asking a doctor for breastfeeding advice look for FABM at the end of their name, this stands for a Fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, and means that this physician has demonstrated advanced knowledge and skills in breastfeeding and lactation management (read between the lines: this doctor is not just giving “breast is best” lip service while handing out formula samples and undermining moms).

Like in every other field, there are some imposters.  If your “lactation specialist” in the hospital is judgmental or dismissive, grabs your boob without permission, hands out nipple shields like candy, or otherwises raises your finely-tuned mom’s instinct antennae, call your La Leche League group, friendly doula/midwife, or local breastfeeding boutique for the name of a good one that can visit you in the hospital.

The most common excuse that I hear for moms quitting or supplementing (which ultimately leads to quitting in most cases) is “I couldn’t make enough milk”.  Here’s the scoop:

4% of women can’t make enough milk
Most women I talk to who don’t breastfeed say that they didn’t have the supply needed to feed their child. I truly believe that is true, but the reason their supply was low was probably based on a bad latch, poor nutrition or bad milk supply management (all of which could be remedied with support, education and better birth policies at hospitals).

Let’s take a closer look:

-  Nutrition:

Did you know that there are certain foods that can lower your milk supply? Sage and peppermint are known for decreasing milk supply.  Love mint tea?  take it easy when nursing.

Do you get enough water? When I struggled briefly establishing my supply at first I discovered that I wasn’t drinking enough water.  I used to force myself to drink more water. I am now a water junkie. I now drink 5 to 6 16oz bottles of water everyday, minimum!  I am on an almost pure water diet (in terms of beverage). Water is amazing. I truly believe it is what gives me my supply. DRINK WATER!

Trust me on this, it is way easier to drink a glass of water at home than have to go to the store to buy formula.

What do you eat during the day? Protein, calories and nutrition are important. What you eat goes into your breastmilk. If you’re not eating enough to properly care for your own body, your milk will suffer. I admit that my diet is not always the best but I do make an effort to add nutritional content for Shammy’s benefit.

- Hormones:

Did you go straight onto hormonal birth control? Did you know that it can decrease your milk supply?  There are ways to be on birth control without compromising your supply.  Plus if you breastfeed exclusively during the first 6 months the chances of becoming pregnant during that period are less than 3%, comparable to most birth control pills.

- Your baby’s latch:

Most LD Nurses and I hate to say it, Lactation Consultants aren’t very helpful when it comes to breastfeeding. That being said, some are great! If you get a good one, you will learn to properly get your baby to latch at the hospital. Some women leave the hospital with sore nipples, a starving baby and stress. I highly recommend all new mothers read as many breastfeeding books as possible before birth, talk to friends, mothers, sisters, aunts, etc. Once the baby is born, go to a breastfeeding support group, LLL meeting, have friends come over and pick up the phone. Breastfeeding is not always natural. I cried and cried while my nipples hurt. I used my first few weeks with baby to learn how to breastfeed. It took work, courage, late nights and lots of patience. By the end of 6 weeks, I was well on my way to success. Now at almost 5 months old, I’ll whip it out in public and nurse that baby…. though you’re not likely to see any boob, I’m pretty inconspicuous.

I leave you with some holiday cheer:

On the first day of Christmas
There stood before me,
A mother wanting to breastfeed!

On the second day of Christmas
There stood before me,
Two doula/midwives,
And a mother wanting to breastfeed!

On the third day of Christmas,
There stood before me,
Three support groups,
Two doula/midwives,
And a mother wanting to breastfeed!

On the fourth day of Christmas,
There stood before me,
Four (FABM) MDs,
Three support groups,
Two doula/midwives,
And a mother wanting to breastfeed!

On the fifth day of Christmas
There stood before me,
Five Baby-Friendly Hospitals,
Four (FABM) MDs,
Three support groups,
Two doula/midwives,
And a mother wanting to breastfeed!

On the sixth day of Christmas,
There stood before me,
Six great IBCLCs,
Five Baby-Friendly Hospitals,
Four (FABM) MDs,
Three support groups,
Two doula/midwives,
And a mother wanting to breastfeed!

On the seventh day of Christmas
There stood before me,
Seven partners protecting,
Six great IBCLCs,
Five Baby-Friendly Hospitals,
Four (FABM) MDs,
Three support groups,
Two doula/midwives,
And a mother wanting to breastfeed!

On the eighth day of Christmas
There stood before me,
Eight friends a-helping,
Seven partners protecting,
Six great IBCLCs,
Five Baby-Friendly Hospitals,
Four (FABM) MDs,
Three support groups,  
Continued

Two doula/midwives,
And a mother wanting to breastfeed!

On the ninth day of Christmas
There stood before me,
Nine celebs a-nursing,
Eight friends a-helping,
Seven partners protecting,
Six great IBCLCs,
Five Baby-Friendly Hospitals,
Four (FABM) MDs,
Three support groups,
Two doula/midwives,
And a mother wanting to breastfeed!

On the tenth day of Christmas,
There stood before me,
Ten nursing nooks,
Nine celebs a-nursing,
Eight friends a-helping,
Seven partners protecting,
Six great IBCLCs,
Five Baby-Friendly Hospitals,
Four (FABM) MDs,
Three support groups,
Two doula/midwives,
And a mother wanting to breastfeed!

On the eleventh day of Christmas
There stood before me,
Eleven strangers cheering,
Ten nursing nooks,
Nine celebs a-nursing,
Eight friends a-helping,
Seven partners protecting,
Six great IBCLCs,
Five Baby-Friendly Hospitals,
Four FABM MDs,
Three support groups,
Two doula/midwives,
And a mother wanting to breastfeed!

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
There stood before me,
Twelve supportive employers,
Eleven strangers cheering,
Ten nursing nooks,
Nine celebs a-nursing,
Eight friends a-helping,
Seven partners protecting,
Six great IBCLCs,
Five Baby-Friendly Hospitals,
Four (FABM) MDs,
Three support groups,
Two doula/midwives,
And a mother wanting to breastfeed!