Again...there is so much catching up I want to do on this blog (for the journalness of this space mostly, but I also want to share it with you guys) but my mind is stuck on my ever growing belly and as the weeks tick away there is really not much else I think about!
Here is what is weighing on me the most right now:
- Cloth Diapering
- Have any of you cloth diapered? What brands did you use? I have done a TON of research and have picked out a few that I want to try {gDiapers and BumGenius} but I'm just curious to know what others are using. We plan to do cloth diapers at home and disposables on the go. Thanks to my cousin Debbie...I have a ton of information already but I am just looking for more opinions. (P.S. If you think that I'm crazy and wish to tell me so...please know that I have already been told. I may be crazy but we have made a choice to cloth diaper. :-)
- Breastfeeding
- I really want to breastfeed. {I know some women don't and it is all a matter of personal choice. I'm not pushing anyone to do it...I just want to.} I also really want Will to be involved. He is so into everything "baby" and I love it. He has even had some really great decorating ideas for the nursery. Anyway, I know that he will really want to have some feeding time and I want him to have it. So...obviously I will pump but this is cause for even more research!
- Which pump is really the best?
- Do we pump and bottle feed exclusively (I know that initially I need to breastfeed but at what point do we introduce the bottle and do I keep breastfeeding while we are using bottles)?
- Bottles? Seriously. Short and squatty, tall and skinny, angled, bottles with the liners. They all say that they prevent gas and that they are more like breastfeeding but which ones are really better?
- Basically...I have looked into the Medela system. Electric double pump, bottles, nipples and their storage system. Just looking for advice or comments on what any of you have used.
Well...that is basically it. This is what keeps me up at night goggling away! I'm just trying to settle on those 2 things and be as educated as possible before the nugget's arrival. Which is in like 12 weeks. Crazy. I am in my THIRD trimester. I can't believe how fast the weeks are passing. There is so much we need to do and so little time left! Anyway please feel free to comment about your experiences. Your thoughts and advise will be appreciated. I know that everything will work out. Everything will be fine...but the biggest change in my life is coming and I just feel the need to be as prepared as possible!
10 comments:
hey Kimmie...Jordyn is so old now that I don't remember the type of pump I had - and it's probably a relic now anyway! a lot of people like Dr. Brown's bottles, but in the end your little miss may end up choosing for you - she may prefer a certain bottle nipple, bottle, etc.
I wanted to comment on breastfeeding, etc. First off, it can be such a wonderful experience, but stick with it!! the first couple of weeks can be painful - cracked, bloody nipples, soreness, feeling painfully swollen. I don't want to scare you, but you should know the truth!! It does go away, you just have to weather the storm. Lansinoh lotion/gel works great, and putting a little saran wrap in your bra can help too (any milk that leaks out will moisturize your nipples).
Like Will, Marcus really wanted to be involved in feeding Jordyn so after a couple of weeks, we introduced the bottle so he could feed her, and we were lucky that she went back and forth between the breast and bottle with no issues!
And my biggest piece of advice: once she arrives, make sure you rest when she rests!! the dishes, cooking, cleaning will wait. you need to be rested and take care of your daughter.
hope I said something helpful!
miss you...xoxo
shalise
Kim --- It is totally up to you and Will on what you want to do and how you want to do it...
Thousands (well maybe not thousands, but hundreds...) of people will give you advice on what you should do and shouldn't do with your baby....
If you choose to cloth diaper that is totally your choice...it will save you some money...I didn't do it because it's so much easy to throw it away! We use pampers...other people love huggies or luvs or the target brand etc... Every baby is different and I found that my kids leak more in the others.
With bottles, I used nuk and phillips avent with Parker and just avent with Rigs...
With Parker, the avent leaked and I hated it, but they have since changed the design and they never leaked with Rigs...
I'm not so good at giving advice...every kid is different... Parker took a pacifier and when he turned a year old I just took it away and he didn't miss it and got used to it not being there. With Rigs, she wouldn't take a pacifier and sucks her left thumb...It's cute...but I can't take it away...
Sorry I'm not much help :/
Kim,
I did not cloth diaper with Krissy until she was older and that is when the trend was beginning. I had pocket diapers and AIOs. I used disposables most of the time because I never had enough $$ to build up a good stash. I think its awesome. If I had another baby I would totally want to cloth diaper as much as possible. Plus they are SOOO cute now! There are some crunchy mom message boards out there with loads of CD advice.
Breastfeeding. Best thing I EVER did!! Amazing how much sleep you can get when you breastfeed. No Bottles to wash! Oh yeah!! I made sure to nurse as soon as I could after delivery. I think it took a few days for the milk to come in. I wanted to give up, it hurt- But I wanted to breastfeed more and darn that formula is expensive!! I had to go back to teaching dance 3 weeks after having Krissy so I started pumping around week one post delivery. I used the handheld Avent (manual) because I only needed a small amount of breastmilk. I was only gone for one feeding. Anyway I would totally recommend a better pump. However the manual did fine since I was mostly a stay at home mom. About pacifiers I let Krissy only have the Avent one. If I noticed she was too interested in the paci in the beginning I would nurse her more and use the paci less. Mainly just nurse on demand and I think after awhile you will not have any issues with nipple confusion. If you do notice her latch gets sloppy cut back on bottle feeds and paci. There is so much for Will to get to do. Bath time, tummy time, changing time, burping time...
I must say that I am all for both of those things!
First with the cloth diapering, we haven't been doing it long and Aaron isn't really for it. I say go for it if Will is in agreement about it. As far as brand, we started out with GDiapers and since Cora has shown some interest in potty training I am kind of holding off on putting to much more into the diapering. I think there are a ton of GREAT and easy options out there for cloth diapering!
As for breastfeeding, I am a major advocate. I understand that it doesn't work for everyone but I still think it is great. Cora was born with a tied tongue and they actually did surgery at the hospital when she was about 3 weeks old to clip it. I worked with her hours and hours to get her to latch and she refused. I was forced to give her formula until my milk came in and then I pumped constantly. She went to her pediatrician and they sent her over to a specialist who looked at her mouth and set a date for the surgery. Basically, for the first 3 weeks, Cora drank from a bottle. Nothing fancy, just the plain medela bottles that came with my hand pump. I was determined it was all going to work. I tried to nurse her as soon as they brought her back from the surgery and she latched right on. It hurt really bad for a little while, even after going through the initial pain from pumping all the time. She nursed, on demand, for 13 months and we both loved it! I read somewhere that "babies want to nurse" and it made since to me. It's in their nature. It just takes some learning from both you and her in the beginning but it gets so much easier, her food is always with you ready to go, what is easier than that?! I nursed in public with a cover-up (the one your sister gave me was by far my favorite by the way) and never once felt anything wrong with it. Also, I loved The First Years brand "nipple butter" I tried several other brands but that the best stuff I tried. I got it at target but I know you can also get it on Amazon. If you have any question, I am always willing to talk about it, obviously! We weaned at 13 months simply because we wanted to start trying for another one and she wasn't getting her main nutrition for me anyways at that point.
Ok: Yes, Yes, and Yes!! Everyone has an opinion or two but I think you're plans are great. We cloth diaper Mason about 99% of the time now. Several people gave us diapers so once those were used up (abt 6 weeks) we switched to Fuzzibunz one-size pocket diapers and its so easy! People look at me like I'm crazy but I feel good about it every time I change him. Let me know if you have questions, it has become a new soapbox of mine. : )
As for breastfeeding: its not for the faint of heart, but its so so worth it. Be patient and trust that both of your bodies were made to do it. For me the cons (complete dependence on you, awkward at times, and a definite "break-in" period) don't come close to outweighing the pros (FREE, no washing bottles, healthiest by far for you both, immunity, and endless other benefits). I'm only 2 months in so I know I'm not the best resource, especially for bottles since Mason's never had one. I'm in the same boat on that one. I do pump occasionally, just haven't used any yet. I have a Medela Swing Pump. Its a single electric so its way more efficient than a manual but since I stay home I didn't need the double, or the double price tag! So far the storage bags are cheapest and easiest.
Fee free to ignore any or all of this because its only my experience. You will figure out what works for your family and you will be awesome! Won't be long now!
No advice on cloth diapering for you. I might look into once we run out of diapers. Asher's a big baby, so he'll be in the more expensive diapers way too soon. ;) With Zach and Zoey I didn't have energy to even attempt cloth diapering..not saying I have more energy now though. We used Avent and hated them. HATED them. They leak if you don't have the lid on just right and we never could figure out that just right position. We found the playtex drop-ins worked best for one kid and the avent worked best for another, so we had to tough and it out and use both. You'll figure it out. I hate that they all say "closest to the breast"! so deceiving.
I've heard to wait at least a month until you introduce a bottle. Asher's 8 weeks old and I still haven't done it. He won't take a paci, so i'm paranoid that if he actually takes a bottle he'll start rejecting me. It's on the agenda for this week though to find a bottle he'll take.
Having done both bottle and breast, I think breast is easier. It makes packing to go out a lot easier. I hated washing bottles--but then again I had to wash twice as many bottles so who knows how bad just washing bottles for one is? 8) I do wish that Brandon could help sometimes and give me a break. That was one of the nicer parts of bottle feeding--B helped at night. I don't know if it's like this for everyone, but breastfeeding hurt like a mother for the first two weeks. I mean--it hurttttt. So be prepared in case you're one of the lucky ones that gets to experience the pain. Have some lansinoh lanolin on hand to put on your nipples after every feeding right from the get-go.
Zach and Zoey got breast milk for the first four months and formula after that. They started getting colds at around 8 monthsish and I swear have a cold every other week. I don't know if it's b/c they were preemies or weren't breast fed or if they just have sucky immune systems. Asher is breastfed and has already gotten a cold (and I have a rocking immune system).
You do whatever you want and forget about everyone else. Easier said than done, I know. I let someone make me feel like crap for bottle feeding and wish I never would have. Nobody needs to know why you choose to do what you do. It's nobody's business.
p.s. i used the lansinoh double electric pump. It worked just fine. I pumped 10 times a day for at least 30 minutes at a time and it held up just fine. It's about 150 bucks but I know it goes on sale often at Target and sometimes you can find a 10 off coupon.
I say go for it! All of it!
I don't cloth diaper, but I have a lot of friends who do - all the way from the old-school cloth nappies from Target to Apple Cheeks diapers. They love, love, love it. I thought about it but the investment was too much for us up front although I'm sure we would've saved money on them by now!
Breastfeeding...sigh. I was one of those ladies who couldn't make it work. Despite all of my best efforts, baby never learned to latch correctly. I gave it two good months before I had to give up. The last straw was when my baby started spitting up pink milk from all the blood she was getting with the breast milk. TMI? Sorry. Baby is now almost 18 months old, and I still wonder if I gave up too early and mourn the loss of that experience.
We went to bottles and used Dr. Brown's. Tried the Advent and the Playtex ones and we could never get the nipple flow issues right. Dr. Brown's are a pain in the rear to wash, though!
Well I breastfed all 6 of mine for some time each one was weaned at different times for different reasons but I would have to say it's definitely easier than bottles by far. I am speaking from experience on both because I use formula on babies one and six from about three to four months on. I have used many different types of pumps including medela and I would have to say from my experience avent was by far the beat!! It was the most like actually nursing your baby because of the way it works you will actually experience let down while pumping (when your milk will flow from stimulation without the pump). As far as bottles I used the avent with the last two and they were fine. When I breastfed my babies I would pump when needed and allow Tommy or a sibling to feed or a sitter etc... My advice for starting out is to tell the nurses at the hospital that you intend to nurse and not to feed your baby a bottle at all in the nursery. They should respect your wishes unless there is a need medically for them to feed the baby such as you are not healthy enough from a complication or the babys Heath requires it such as low blold sugar or something. Sometimes they will feed them sugar water for that. My doctor told me that advice when I had Kaytie and I wished that I had know with the others that I could request that.
As far as diapering goes go for it if you want but I was disposabl all the way. I had enough experience with cloth from Jenn and Cary lol I think that they have made it more convenient now than then tho lol
Good luck!! :)
Kim - the best advice I ever got when I had Gabi was to pay more attention to what works for you and your child and less attention to what "the experts" say. Of course, I'm like you and I still google and pick other mom's brains. But, at the end of the day, you will have to decide what works for you and be willing to let go of preconceived notions and desires if you find it doesn't work.
Just an example... when I was pregnant with Gabi I spent who knows how much money buying each brand of bottles with various different nipples so that I'd be prepared. Turns out, she wouldn't take ANY bottle and all that money went down the drain, not to mention the cost of the breast pump I never needed. I also bought tons of Huggies diapers before she was born because someone told me they were the best on the market. Well, Gabi ended up with a diaper allergy and could only wear one particular (expensive) kind. It was embarrassing trying to return fifteen boxes of Huggies to Walmart, but they took pity on us.
Bottom line, do what you feel you must to get peace of mind and feel prepared, but don't get frustrated if your little lady comes with a mind of her own! Plenty of experts know plenty of things about babies. But, you and Will are the only expert on YOUR baby.
So excited to hear about her and I'm anxiously awaiting a name announcement! Good luck with everything!
I'm just going to say the last comment is totally what I would have said. Prepare as well as you can, but don't go overboard 'cause that baby will determine a lot and throw you curve balls you didn't even think of. I've had a baby that refused the bottle for the entire life and one that would always take both. You just never know and my only advice would be to ready to roll with the punches and throw a lot of what you read out the window to find what works for you, Will and your baby.
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