Sunday Surf: Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

 

Happy World Breastfeeding Week! To help celebrate, this week I am going to be writing about breastfeeding. It's been quite a journey. Join me by checking out some of the interesting articles I came across this week:

 

Just Cover Up?

This is a wonderful article from Lactation Narration explaining why it’s not ok to ask a nursing mother to cover up or to be more “modest.” Breasts were made to breastfeed, not to be sexualized. It’s not our fault as moms that society has a dirty mind. I feel uncomfortable seeing babies stuck in bucket seats, holding onto their own bottles and not being held, rocked, or talked to while they are getting fed, but I keep my mouth shut.

Things to Do With Your Extra Breast Milk

This is an old article, but I came across it when researching an article for a freelance client. It’s a great resource. I’ve used breast milk to treat an eye infection, diaper rash, and cuts and scrapes, but I did not know that a breast milk ice cube can soothe an insect sting, that breast milk can be used as a mask to treat acne, or that it can be made into soap. But it makes sense… goat’s milk soap is a popular trend these days; why not make it one step healthier?

Nighttime Breastfeeding and Maternal Mental Health

This is also an older article, but I came across it on Science and Sensibility and thought it was important. It basically explains how breastfeeding mothers get more sleep. As a mom who rarely coslept with Baby T and often cosleep with Little M, I can vouch for that. If Little M only wakes up twice a night but I have to get up and nurse him sitting up in the rocker, I am so much more tired the next day than if I slept with him and he nursed ten times during the night. Being able to stay lying down in bed makes all the difference. 

To Wean or Not to Wean?

I feel Hannah at Wild Parenting's pain. Although breastfeeding was essentially a nonissue for me—I didn’t experience mastitis, plugged ducts, severe problems with latch, or any problems with supply—and I always expected to breastfeed my toddler until he was at least 2, extended breastfeeding was a struggle for me. This was mainly because of my pregnancy with Little M, but it’s interesting to read about another mother’s journey with extended breastfeeding.

THE PROS AND CONS OF WEANING A TODDLER

This is my story, and I'm sticking to it. I guess.

Weaning my 2-year-old has been a roller coaster. When I thought he had weaned while I was pregnant, I was an emotional wreck. Then I had Little M and decided I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tandem nurse. I did tandem nurse for a while, but then I started to become irritable every time I nursed him. And he seemed to be asking out of half-hearted habit, not out of true desire. So I distracted him when he asked. And he was easily distracted. So he stopped nursing.

And then he started again, and then I decided to wean him for good.

Here’s why:

My First Mistake: Losing Confidence in Myself as a Parent

INSPIRATION THURSDAY: Link Up!

New Linkies! Add a link below.

I’ve mentioned this before—when I started this blog, I thought it was supposed to exist in a vacuum. I didn’t realize the connection of the online community, especially the community of parents and natural-minded folks that was out there.

And, of course, nothing can exist in a vacuum.

All my life I’ve been very open and susceptible to inspiration. I am awed by small things; I tend to have grand, dramatic emotions about things that inspire me. When I’m inspired, I create. When I create, I feel fulfilled and motivated and driven to find more inspiration. Which leads me to create again.

You feel me?

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Showering with Baby in a Sling

I wore Little M in the shower today. Now, if you’ve ever taken a shower with your baby, you know that wet babies are slipperier than your grandpa on a slip and slide. There was no way I was holding his slick little self in my hands. That's just an accident waiting to happen. One of my friends recently tweeted about babywearing in the shower, and I figured I need to try it.

After all, I’m supposed to be the babywearing expert in Wilmington, I teach babywearing classes, and I have never worn baby in the shower? That had to change.

When I first put Little M in the solarveil ring sling and turned the water on, I had second thoughts. Cold feet and all that. I have a lot of hair. It was getting caught in the back of the sling. It’s hard to put your hands above your head with a ring sling. And I had to wash my hair. With baking soda. And vinegar. (I’m trying the “no poo” method of washing your hair). I didn’t want any of that to get in Little M’s eyes.

HOMEMADE GRANOLA RECIPE WITH CLUSTERS

This post is part of a blog party showcasing delicious dishes. Visit It's a Blog Party for more yummy recipes or to add yours!

One of the hardest parts about trying to lose weight is my sweet tooth. Even after I have a rich, filling meal, I need something sweet. Just to tease my palate. Or add to my muffin top. (If I could only snack on that…)

I love granola. It’s crunchy, chewy, sweet, and salty at the same time. But it’s usually expensive to buy and has quite a bit of fat. So I decided to make some homemade granola myself. I scoured the internet for granola recipes—and there are quite a few—but I finally settled on this one because of the clusters.

If you have ever made granola from scratch, you know how it doesn’t usually form clusters. And those clusters are usually the best part of granola. So I found this recipe for How to Make Homemade Granola on The Prepared Pantry. I changed it up a little, and I still have to play with the clusters—my granola still didn’t really get good clusters—but it was amazing. Toasty and nutty tasting, crunchy and chewy, just the way I like it.

MONDAY MOMENTS: Attached and Connected Through Motherhood

I’m joining Capital Mom to share my Monday Moment. Check out her blog for other Monday Moments and to join in on the fun!

Today’s theme is Alone. When I read that, I dug deep down to think about what I could write about. The word is so far out of my vocabulary these days. I almost skipped this week, but then I decided to challenge myself and really let myself sit with that word for a moment. In between diaper changes, cleaning poop off the floor, tiptoeing between what seems like thousand little Hot Wheels cars strewn across the living room, showering with my toddler, discussing the challenges of mothering with my friends, nursing an infant, distracting a toddler who wants to nurse, bouncing a little one on my lap, and lots of hugs, I thought about the word.

Alone.

And I realized that it’s just not part of my vocabulary anymore. When I wrote my post questioning my parenting style and wondering if I can, in fact, label it as attachment parenting, I wasn’t sure. There are many things I do that go in the other direction.

SUNDAY SURF

• Change the World Wednesdays on Reduce Footprints challenges us to act in an environmentally friendly way. If enough people do this during the same time period, we can change the world. I'm definitely joining in, and will be blogging about it over at the Green Baby Diaper Service blog. The more people who join in on this, the more likely we are to change the world. Join us!
• I also stumbled across The Crunchy Convert at One Yawn: Parental Mutiny in the Heartland. She describes so well how we have all stumbled across our crunchiness. (Well, maybe some of us knew about it all along.). You would think that I knew I was crunchy after spending hours sewing flowing dresses to wear at music festivals or because I thought I looked pretty hot after spending a long weekend camping, with no showers, deodorant or hairbrushes. But, like the Crunchy Convert, I too really realized I was far from the mainstream after I had my first child.  
• While reading 5 Things Breastfeeding Moms Don't Really Need at Best for Babes, my first reaction when I read that they weren't suggesting the use of a pump was "but a pump is so convenient!" I don't have to pump for a full-time job, but I do have to pump when I leave Little M to teach birth education class. And I have found it's so much easier to just pump with a hand pump on one side while he nursed on the other (as opposed to strapping myself into the double-electric milking contraption). But then I kept reading, and the advice is good. Pumping can make moms who are uncertain about their milk supplies even more uncertain. It can change an on-demand feeding schedule to a tightly-restricted monitoring of ounces and hours. And if you're building your milk supply for the pump instead of the baby, well, that can drive you crazy too. This is a great article, especially because there are so many **things** you can buy for baby. You don't really need em!
• I also came across Liz at Mom-101.com. She really snagged me with her tagline, "I don't know what I'm doing either." I wanted to throw my arms around her and designate us BFFs for lifetime. And then she double-hooked me with her post about the Breastmilk Baby Doll. She had me on the floor laughing. Her tongue-in-cheek discussions about parenting and pop culture are hilarious and honest. She's a refreshing read.

UNEXPECTED GRATITUDE

When I opened up my feed reader this morning, the first post I stumbled upon was Amanda at Take the Metro’s gratitude post. I read it and thought how nice it is to take the time to express your gratitude, then went on to read the next post in my reader. And it was by my friend at reminders2bepresent about keeping a gratitude journal.

Initially, I wasn’t going to join in the gratitude-giving (at least not publicly—my heart is constantly surging with gratitude), but I felt like this was a sign. So here goes:

HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY, LITTLE M

Ha! Caught you sleeping.

Six months (and 3 days—I’m a little behind, as usual) ago I was hanging out at home lamenting the fact that you were doing things backwards. Your amniotic sac had broken, but you weren’t budging. It wasn’t a sign that you were stubborn—you’re just different. You’re relaxed and chill, and you go with the flow, but you know what you want. You wanted to stay for just a little while longer.

Maybe it’s because you’re such a snuggler. You were warm and cozy in there, and you weren’t ready to come out into the big, cold world. But you’re considerate; you made your entrance pretty quickly once things got painful. Thanks for sparing me the intense agony.

When I first saw you, I was surprised at how light your hair was. You looked nothing like your brother. As much as I compare you to your brother—I’m sorry, I don’t mean to, but he was just all I knew when it came to babies—you are completely unique.

INSPIRATION THURSDAY: Getting Back in Shape

I’ve been inspired lately to get back in shape. I wish I could say that I love what babies have done to my body, and I’m in awe of what my body could do. I mean, I do, and I am. But I don’t so much have extra pregnancy weight as extra weight. My pregnancies caused me to become a super sugarholic, and that has not boded well for my body. My boobs are giant not because of breastfeeding, but because of the extra layer of fat underneath. When I curl up on the couch, there is some skin oozing up over my muffin top that I can feel with my hand and convince myself is not mine. My body doesn’t feel like my own anymore and I need to do something about it.

I have always exercised somewhat throughout my life. In high school, I would come home after school and do workout videos. Sometimes I would run. In college, I walked everywhere and ate very little, so I stayed thin. I remember weighing 99 pounds my freshman year of high school and being upset when I hit triple digits. Then, in my senior year of college, I “ballooned” from weighing 115 to 128. I felt huge. Ha! If only.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Learning to Share

Baby T is learning to share his toys with his brother. Note all Baby T's recycling bottles next to and around Little M, as well as a lemon to our left and some fake chicken nuggets to our right. He has also been telling me daily, "Mommy, I love Mason." I think they are going to be best buds.

 

This post is linked up at Hobomama and I Thought I Knew Mama. Check out those blogs for more family fun.

INSPIRATION THURSDAY: QUESTIONS FOR THE VILLAGE

It takes a village. Here are some questions for my village people.

Raising a toddler is insane. I thought I was insecure about my abilities to raise an infant, but raising a toddler takes things to a whole new level. Now that he can talk, listen, and remember what I tell him, I feel myself wavering with everything I do. I’m an admittedly inconsistent parent. That worked for us when he was a baby, though. It helped me listen to him and respond appropriately to how my baby needed me at the time. I didn’t have any rules, really. I just did what felt right.

Now that Baby T is a toddler, I’m not sure that inconsistency is the best policy. Sometimes I’m afraid that I’m not organizing his chaotic mind enough. Other times I feel like all I do is talk and redirect him: “Let’s get out of the fridge now. Please use gentle hands on your brother. Feet on the floor, please. Take that out of your mouth. Sit properly on that chair.” It seems like everything he does lately is dangerous or hurtful, and I’m constantly redirecting. Sometimes I get tired of hearing my own voice.

So I wanted to ask the inspirational mamas who posted about their parenting philosophies for the Carnival of Natural Parenting this month: What would you do? That’s right—I’m blatantly begging for advice.

Dear Natural Mamas: My son is a toddler. And I have no idea how to lovingly guide him and nurture his spirit while setting boundaries and keeping him out of danger and out of the fridge.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: THE TEETHING CHAIR

We thought it was funny when Baby T used the bouncy chair as a teether. We took this picture when he was 5 months, 22 days old:

Well, Little M likes to chew on the chair too. We took this picture when he was 5 months, 19 days old. Weird.

Check out other Wordless Wednesday posts with linkies at Hobo Mama and I Thought I Knew Mama.

WHAT IS ATTACHMENT PARENTING ANYWAY?

Welcome to the July Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting Philosophy
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared their parenting practices and how they fit in with their parenting purpose. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
***

Before I had kids, I had a slight idea of what my parenting philosophy was: I basically knew that I wanted an open, respectful relationship with my kids. But that was it. I was never much of a babysitter; I had never been around kids before. I had no idea how to breastfeed and deal with sleep issues, much less discipline and deal with the teenage years. I started to become addicted to the forums on mothering.com. I scoured the Gentle Discipline forum and the one about sleep. I was forming an idea of how I wanted to parent.

I read a lot about attachment parenting and natural parenting. A lot of it resonated with me. I decided I wanted to be an AP mama. The idea that being there for your baby whenever he needs you made sense to me. If baby feels secure with mama and at home, he’s more likely to venture out and explore the world at his own pace.

Then Baby T was born. The one parenting issue that I knew my indecisive self would never waver on was breastfeeding. It was my only option. Luckily, there were no challenges in that department. I say luckily because there were challenges in every other department.

SUNDAY SURF: My Favorite Reading This Week

I've had a crazy week. Actually, every week has been crazy since I quit my job. I'm busier than I was when I was working outside the home, but half of it is errands and stuff around the house that I wouldn't be able to do if I was still working. So I'm saner. A little bit, at least. And I do have more time to read. A little bit, at least.

Here are some posts and articles that I've been into this week:

INSPIRATION THURSDAY: A MOMENT OF CALM

I first met Liz at an Earth Day celebration where she had a booth. I brought my wool soakers to show her, because we had talked on the phone, and she had expressed an interest in consigning them at the shop. When we started chatting, she was so welcoming. We chitchatted about babies, diapers, and cool art (the booth next to her was selling some awesome jewelry). I was struck by how calm and collected she was on that hot, busy day. She had recently had a baby, and didn’t seem frazzled at all, the way I would be in her position.

We kept in touch. I would stop by the shop periodically. We would talk about baby sleep, breastfeeding, and diapering tips. Every time I hung out with her, I noticed how she was just so calm. She always had a smile on her face, never had a bad thing to say about anyone, and just seemed so put together.

She was trying hard to run a business, take care of her family, and raise her son gently and naturally. During one of our first conversations, she mentioned how she was struggling with breastfeeding and hoped to make it to six months. (She’s still nursing her toddler now). She was struggling with letting her son cry it out for naps, because she wasn’t getting much sleep. Again, she had just opened her business. She brought her son to work with her every day and still managed to brush her hair and look cute every morning.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: FOURTH OF JULY SPARKLERS!

Baby T's and Little M's cousins came to visit this weekend. After Baby T was in bed, his cousins played with sparklers. Paranoid mommy didn't think Baby T was old enough. Mean mommy.

These pictures are pretty cool, though.

MONDAY MOMENTS: AN UNEXPECTED REQUEST

I haven't really posted about this, because there was so much going on at the time. But guess what?

Baby T has weaned.

He stopped nursing about 2 or three months ago. It has kind of been such a nonevent that I didn't even mark it in my baby book. That's not what was unexpected, though.

It's when he asks to nurse again. Which happens at least once a week.