YES I am STILL Breastfeeding

Abel's 1st birthday is being celebrated today (He is 2 days into his 2nd year of life)!! I am so excited and sad all at the same time! I am so happy to celebrate birthday after birthday with my little guy and all at the same time want him to stay little. That being said I keep hearing this question... "You're still breastfeeding?"

So for all those wondering out there, Yes I am still breastfeeding. I plan to until he is 2. The funny thing is in our society I may be the minoirty but in the rest of this world I am the majority. It is perfectly normal for our babies to breastfeed until 2. Yes I said it, it is normal.

"Thereafter infants should receive complementary foods with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond." Taken From: http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/exclusive_breastfeeding/en/

Some people don't see any reason for it. So I will tell you a few of my reasons =) 
It helps to prevent breast, uterian and cervical cancer for me. It provides nutrition for Abel. Also why would I give my baby the milk of a different species if I can provide it.

In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:

• 29% of energy requirements
• 43% of protein requirements
• 36% of calcium requirements
• 75% of vitamin A requirements
• 76% of folate requirements
• 94% of vitamin B12 requirements
• 60% of vitamin C requirements

– Dewey 2001
Taken from: http://kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/ebf-benefits/

I am not taking some crazy stand like the Time magazine asking if you are mom enough. It was simply the choice that is best for our baby. I just hope that the next time a judgement passes in your mom mind when you see a mom breastfeeding considering a few things first. Whenever Abel has been sick breastfeeding comforts him. It also helps to keep him hydrated. I know lots of moms who say their babies won't eat solids at times of being sick but they will breastfeed.

For all of us moms, we all choose different things so just take into consideration that while you probably get asked "Oh.. You didn't breastfeed?" I get asked why the heck I am still doing it ;)

For those mom's unsure of how long to breastfeed consider all the facts and also all the loveliness breastfeeding brings for you and your baby.

Here is a great website for more info as well http://www.lalecheleague.org/nb/nbsepoct07p196.html

Did I mention that I am also rapidly in the middle of planning our wedding!! It has been crazy, the good kinid of course! More to come on this for sure!

Cloth Diapering Momma

We have officially been cloth diapering for well over a week now. I love it more then I ever thought. Lots of mommas have been asking questions so I will do my best to give as much info as I can remember at once =)


First off I ordered my diapers through  http://sunbabydiapers.com/  They take about 20-30 days to arrive. I think I got mine in 2 weeks. There are no taxes and no shipping charges. I only ordered 12 diapers but I plan to order 12 more. While 12 can work I do find myself washing his diapers often. I got everything below for $60!

The Loves:
-They are adorable!
-They are easy to put on my little man when he is twisted and crawling away
-The absorbency is amazing! My little man is breastfeed and his poops are runny and we have not had one accident of the poop coming out.
-I don't feel bad about a diaper that has only been peed in once because I still have the diaper instead of the garbage can.
-The cost of this portion of baby has dropped.
-If we take a diaper off for swimming or bath time and he didn't pee in it I can put it right back on.
-He can wear just a diaper and I feel like he is dressed ;) around the house of course
-The diaper doesn't fall apart.
-When you take the insert out it doubles as a little swimmer!! I love this because Little swimmers are stupid expensive. Cloth diapers work way better! They don't hold a ton of water.

-Did I mention they are adorable.




The getting use to's:
-Changing more often. By this I mean at least every two hours if not sooner. 
-It is hard to tell when the diaper is wet/full (since they don't puff up and get squishy like disposable diapers) I have however figured out a quick trip stick my finger in the side if it feel wet I change him. Of course after I have checked for pooh =)


Here is what they look like.

The not so loves:
-I am using a disposable every night. This can be prevented by either doubling up inserts. One in the pocket and one inside. I choose not to because I have 12 inserts and 12 diapers. 

Cleaning:
-Cold rinse in the sink
-Soak in hot water if needed
-Hot water when washing
-Small amount of detergent
-No fabric softeners or dryer sheets
This website http://www.zany-zebra.com/ has the best advice for caring for diapers as well as all sorts of tips.


I would say we are fairly busy people and we have still been able to manage these. We have the diaper trash bags that we used even with disposables and they work perfect with cloth diapers.


Now that I don't have to worry about holding my baby down to poke a pin in a piece of cloth I have officially become a cloth diapering momma!

New Adventures

Abel is now 8 months! Can you believe it!! I can't "/ Either way being a mom has brought on all kinds of lovely things. My least favorite of all is when people comment about something concerning my parenting. I once saw a shirt that I knew I should of bought that read "My mom doesn't want your advice." I do however love it when I ask for it ;)


This brings me to how I have recently decided to start cloth diapering with Abel. I always use to think Cloth diapers were a piece of cloth that I had to stick pins in to even hold on my baby, which I might add horrified me. Well after some "mom advice" I discovered it was quite the opposite. Have you recently used a search engine to see just how cute cloth diapers are! They are adorable! I also discovered the start up was a little pricy. 


My sister who recently had a baby found a website called sunbabydiapers.com. They are cute and inexpensive. After some research, "mom advice" and of course Daddy input it was decided..... We are now going to be cloth diapering!


I can't wait for them to arrive and I will be sure to share my experience with them. We also just signed up for Bountiful Baskets! Another new adventure I am super excited about. Mike and I have decided we are going to start to eliminate as much meat from our diet and add more fruits and veggies. We finally ordered out first basket today and will receive it on Saturday! 


So here I am adding another thing to my list of unpopular ways to parent my child but hey I much rather have cute diapers, no rashes and more money in the pocket, just saying ;) Until next time.
-DreAnn