babies

Breastfeeding 101: Tandem Nursing

April 15, 2014 by Rachel 2 Comments

Written by my contributing writer, Rachel

When we learned we were pregnant with our second child, my daughter had just turned 1 year old and was still nursing strong. She showed absolutely no signs of letting up on nursing. At my La Leche League (LLL) meetings, I had heard about tandem nursing and that women could breastfeed two children (and sometimes more!) at the same time, but I didn’t know if that would work for me.

I could not imagine nursing a toddler and needy newborn at the same time. I would NEVER get anything done. Nursing TWO children would be a lot of work, time-consuming, and a bit of a juggling act. However, I was not ready to end my nursing relationship with my daughter.

tandemlogo

I decided to talk with other tandem nursing moms through my Facebook LLL group, and I read several LLL articles on the subject. I also bought Adventures In Tandem Nursing by Hilary Flower – such a great resource!

Just like deciding whether or not to nurse is YOUR decision and no one else’s, so is deciding to tandem nurse.

Here are the reasons I decided to tandem nurse:

1. I Wasn’t Ready to Stop
My daughter and I were not ready to end our nursing relationship. She has been an on demand nursling since birth. Even now at 26 months, she would nurse all day long, if I let her! I try to limit her to one morning, one noon, and one night nursing session with a few times in between if she is in need of some calming mommy time. It is amazing how nursing can change her attitude – a lifesaver for those terrible two tantrum moments!

2. Continued Health Benefits
I wanted to give my daughter the health benefits of extended nursing to two years. In mainstream media, the idea of nursing past the 1 year mark seems absurd. However, the World Health Organization recommends nursing to 2, if desirable for both you and your nursling. Your toddler is still receiving wonderful health and emotional benefits by doing so – and so are you!

3. Sibling Bonding
This has been one of the most amazing benefits of tandem nursing for me. Getting to witness the bond develop between my daughter and newborn son is beautiful. They gaze lovingly and inquisitively at each other while nursing, she helps him out by squeezing my breast and expressing more milk for him, and she strokes his hair while they both nurse. These are precious moments that I will hold dear for a long time.

Ben and Meah bonding

Though it can be time-consuming and demanding, I find that tandem nursing has been worth the effort and has been a good decision for myself and my little ones.

I’d love to hear your nursing stories! Maybe you are currently pregnant and considering tandem nursing now, or have tandem nursed before. What effect has tandem nursing had on you?

Click here to read more Breastfeeding 101 posts.

Sleep Tips for Babies, a Pampers Overnight Diaper, a Twitter Party, AND a Giveaway!

November 6, 2013 by Sandra 50 Comments

This review was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Pampers. I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% mine.

I love the one day of the year when I truly get an extra hour in my day.

It makes such a difference when I’ve stayed awake until 3:00am the night before desperately trying to finish a blog post before the deadline.

IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE. 😉

But while I benefit from the end of daylight savings time, my baby girl can get thrown off when it comes to her sleep schedule. Maybe you have the same problem with your little ones.

If so, you’re not alone. Over half of moms (52%) feel that their baby’s sleep patterns are thrown off when the clocks fall back and daylight savings time ends.

Pampers, a popular diaper brand, wants to help.

An Infographic Inspired by Moms
Pampers actually interviewed over 9,000 moms about what was important for their baby and found that over and over moms mentioned that they needed a diaper that allowed their baby to sleep through the night by providing exceptional overnight protection.

This infographic explains how a dry diaper helps baby sleep through the night, which, in turn, means mom can sleep through the night.

That’s always good.

Pampers realized that when daylight savings time ends and sleep schedules go out the window, moms need one less problem to deal with, so they designed a diaper that offers up to 12 hours of overnight protection.

This means that pretty much no matter what time baby falls asleep, her pj’s should be dry in the morning.

A Few Sleep Tips

Here are 3 tips to help make the transition even easier:

Make sure that your children know when it’s time to sleep; rely on your normal bedtime routine.

If you have a child who starts getting up before 6:00am, make sure that you respond to the early risings quickly and consistently.

Make sure that you watch your baby for sleepy cues carefully, and be sure to change your baby’s diaper right before a nap or bedtime.

And now for the Giveaway!
ONE very excited reader will win a Pack of Pampers Baby Dry Diapers and a pair of Children’s Place PJ’s. The winner will be able to select their preferred diaper size (2-5) and the gender and size of the Children’s Place PJ’s. 🙂

How to Enter the Giveaway

Simply enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. I’ve included options for extra entries, too!

This giveaway will run from now until – November 14th at 12:00am. The giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. The winner will be randomly chosen. I will promptly send the winner an email notifying them that they’ve won, and the winner must respond within 48hrs. of the giveaway’s end, otherwise I will have to draw a new winner.

Enter Below
a Rafflecopter giveaway

A #PampersSleepChat Twitter Party!
I love Twitter parties, and Pampers is going to be throwing a fun party tomorrow, November 7th, at 9:00pm EST.

We’ll be chatting about how the end of Daylight Savings Time can affect sleep patterns and The Sleep Lady, Kim West, will be sharing tips on easing the transition.

You can join in the fun and RSVP here.

Twitter Party Prizes include:

$50 AMEX Gift Card, $25 Children’s Place Gift Card, Pampers product and book by Kim West.

$100 AMEX Gift Card, Pampers Product, series of books by Kim West

Grand Prize: $500 AMEX Card to purchase sleep items such as a new crib, video monitor, etc.

To participate, follow your hosts @DoubleDutyDivas, @BridgetteLA, @CeceliaMecca @AngieKcom @WhatMommiesNeed @RamblingChick, sleep expert @TheSleepLady and our sponsor @Pampers.

Do your kids transition well when the time changes? As a mom, do you look forward to the time change or dread it?

5 Fun-tastic Bath Time Toys for Kids

October 5, 2013 by Sandra 2 Comments

A special thanks to Nuby for the fantastic toys I received to review and talk about.

When I think of bath time for my children, I can’t help but think of what really makes bath time fun for them.

Bubbles. They must have bubbles.

And toys.

Because what’s a bath full of bubbles if you have no awesome toys to play with? Toys turn regular ole’ bath time into fun time, and today I’m sharing five great toys that my little ones are loving.

Fishy Basketball
Elisabeth likes to play with the fishes that come with the Nuby Fish Swoosh Bath Time Play Set. It’s like playing mini-hoop basketball in the tub but with fishes that squirt water. I wish I had this toy when I was a kid. I love the bright colors, and the suction cups make it easy to stick the hoop to the bathroom wall.

The Octopus that Floats
The Nuby Floating Octopus bath toy is a great way to help kids learn a little coordination as they toss the rings onto the octopus tentacles. This octopus really does float, so it’s perfect for bubble baths because it doesn’t get lost at the bottom of the bathtub!

Use the Sea Scooper for Play and Storage
The Nuby Whale Pail Sea Scooper is adorable and functional. Not only is it a fun toy to imagine with, but it also doubles as storage for other bath toys.

The whale pail comes with a wall mount that allows it to conveniently hang from the bathroom wall. This makes drying bath toys (so they don’t get that icky film on the inside) a breeze.

For Kids Who Love to Squirt Water
The Nuby Squid Squirter is great for little ones that like to go wild and squirt water everywhere. I know I love it when my kids surprise me with water all over the bathroom. 🙂

Seriously, though, with a little instruction about keeping water off the bathroom ceiling (and floor), this could be a wonderful toy for your child.

The squid squirter is brightly colored and cute. And it comes with a long handle that your little one can use to pull water in and then shoot out. This toy will make bath time more lively and entertaining anytime it’s used in the tub. It’s the great toy for splashing around with in the pool, too.

Bonus: If your kids use the Squid Squirter in the pool, you won’t have to worry about water outside the bathtub.

Keep Soap Out of Little Eyes
Another Nuby bath time product that offers both play and function is the Nuby Tear Free Rinse Pail. You can use it to keep soapy water from getting into your little one’s eyes, and they can use it as a bucket to fill with water for playing!

Here’s a side view of the rinse pail:
The curvy shape helps to steer water away from a child’s face, and the handle makes it easy to hold.

Bath Time + Toys + Bubbles = Happy Memories
I still remember how much I loved using my imagination during bath time when I was a kid, and I still remember the bubbles and toys that sparked that imagination.

Do your kids have any favorite bath time toys or routines?

Reliable Diapers for Babies on the Move (and a Huggies Giveaway!)

July 25, 2013 by Sandra 32 Comments

This is part of a sponsored campaign with Latina Mom Bloggers and Huggies. However all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission Guidelines, 16 C.F.R Part 255.

I’ve changed about 1,256,743 diapers in my lifetime.

I’m not sure if that’s the “exact” number of times I’ve changed a diaper, but I think it’s fair to say that I’ve changed a lot of diapers. I have five kids, and the last three are so close in age that at one point, they were all in diapers at the same time. I’m thankful that those days are in the past, but my diaper changing days are not completely over.

Active Toddler
Elisabeth, my very active and independent big girl, is still wearing diapers. And she’s at the age where she wants to do things by herself…things like climbing the stairs…and other activities little girls aren’t supposed to be doing, but she wants to do because she sees her older brothers doing big kid things that she wants to try too.

She’s an adventurous girl.

And she needs a reliable diaper that can keep up with her, whether she’s trying to ride her brother’s bike…

or simply relaxing on the couch…

Elisabeth needs a diaper that works (and, if possible, one that has Mickey Mouse printed on it ;)).

Huggies Snug & Dry
In the past, I’ve talked about how Huggies diapers are a great fit for my family. I love the improvements that Huggies has made to their diapers to make them better and higher in quality.

2 reasons why Huggies diapers are better and more reliable:

Huggies have a new SureFit design with an exclusive waistband, new softer outer cover and a less bulky, more flexible absorbent pad.

Baby gets up to 12 hours of leak protection.

Here’s what the new diapers look like:

These diapers last all night long for Elisabeth. She wakes up dry and happy. 🙂

And now for the HUGGIES Giveaway!

ONE very excited reader will win one pack of HUGGIES® Snug & Dry Diapers (valued at $9.49) and one soft pack of HUGGIES® wipes (valued at $1.97) for a total retail value of $11.46. The winner will be able to select their preferred diaper size (1-5).

How to Enter the Giveaway

Simply enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. I’ve included options for extra entries, too!

This giveaway will run from now until – July 30th at 12:00am. The giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. The winner will be randomly chosen. I will promptly send the winner an email notifying them that they’ve won, and the winner must respond within 48hrs. of the giveaway’s end, otherwise I will have to draw a new winner.

Enter Below
a Rafflecopter giveaway

For my Latina readers: You can watch a fun Huggies Webisode with Zuleyka Rivera, the new Huggies spokesperson, here in Spanish. Huggies recently unveiled a new parenting webisode series featuring Zuleyka and her son Sebastian.

And you can follow Huggies Latino on Facebook as well.

Did you know about the improvements in Huggies diapers? How have Huggies Snug & Dry diapers been a good fit for your family?

P.S. Click here for a $2.00 HUGGIES® Diaper coupon, redeemable only at Target®

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