Touching Letter

I came across this letter while checking one of my forums the other day.  It is a letter from a momma to another momma who she saw Nurse in Public one time.  It's a very touching letter and I wanted to share it to show all you other mommas that you could very well be making a difference that you aren't aware of when you NIP. Every time you feed your baby in public, not cloistered in the bathroom or hidden away in the car, you are doing your part to help make society more accepting of breastfeeding.

Dear BF mama,
I was thinking about you today. I don't know if you would even remember me, but when I was about 6 months pregnant I sat next to you in the nail shop as we both were getting pedicures. I don't know if you realize this, but I think that it is because of you that I am breastfeeding. When I saw you BF your daughter, it was the FIRST time I ever saw anyone do this. My mother did not BF me, and I did not know anyone else that was/had done it either. You made it look so natural and easy and most of all, your daughter looked so HAPPY to be receiving her mother's milk. You candidly talked to me about it, and told me that you had been doing it for 10 months and going strong. I am crying while I am writing this because BF , although extremely hard at first, has been the most awesome thing for me and my son; I believe that it has bonded us in an incredible way. And I truly NEVER considered it before seeing you. YOU MADE IT SEEM NORMAL TO  ME AND GAVE ME A NEW PERSPECTIVE! The first time I NIP, I was TERRIFIED, but I thought of you and said to myself, "I need to pay it forward.  I need to contribute to normalizing this in my area/society'' (also, I was NOT about to BF in the bathroom :(  )
So, thank you so much for what you have given my son and me. We are both eternally grateful. You made a difference.
MIna and Kenton

The next time you are out and about and your child needs to nurse, don't worry about offending other people, don't worry about how much skin you might show.  Think of it as paying it forward and potentially helping another momma make the choice to breastfeed.

Kamsnaps giveaway

If any of you mommas out there are into crafts you should head on over to the kamsnaps blog and enter her giveaway, tons of great prizes!

http://kamsnaps.blogspot.com/2010/09/holiday-giveaway-marathon-1.html

Double Standards?

In a recent discussion about the Similac recall, several moms said they were glad they breastfed their babies.  The formula feeding moms got upset and chastized the BFing moms for "making them feel worse" and told that they were essentially saying "told you so".  Yet in the same discussion, moms who used Enfamil were saying they were glad they didn't use similac, or glad they used an off-brand and weren't affected by the recall, but those comments were perfectly fine. The only comments that the formula feeding moms took exception to, were the ones that were made by breastfeeding moms, when the only difference in the comment was "I'm glad I breastfeed" vs "I'm glad I use Target Brand".  It was pretty interesting to read actually.  I'm not going to deny that there are parents out there who are on the extreme side of Lactivism and try to make moms who formula feed feel bad, but there was none of that in this discussion, and still the formula feeding moms were on the defensive.
 
The Luscious Lactivist posted a blog the other day about needing to have open discussions and focus on doing what is best for our children. I whole-heartedly agree.  Its time to put aside any assumptions we have about other mothers, put down the defenses and just have a conversation.

whew.

Sorry I've been absent lately, its been a busy couple weeks.  Mercedes and I have returned to Oregon and are staying here for good!  The husband is getting out of the Navy and we are moving home where we belong, I cant even put into words how incredibly happy this makes me.  So anyways, the last few weeks have been spent busily packing and trying to organize my house somewhat, and sew as much as I could so I didn't have to leave fabric behind.  I've been super in love with sewing dresses lately.



Sailor's Sweetie


Bumble Bee #1


Bumble Bee #2


Busy Bee

l'
Somethin' Sweet


Checkered Cherries

 I'm really enjoying sewing the dresses, and even more exciting is that while going through the boxes of stuff I left here at my moms, I've found a ton of fabric that will make super cute dresses!

How do you fold a flat?

As I previously mentioned there has been a lot of talk about Flat diapers in the forum I frequent.  I posted pictures of my girl in hers on one of the threads the other day and had several ladies ask me to make a video of how I fold and put it on her.  Here's the video, please forgive me if I sound like a complete goofball in it, I've never made a video tutorial before.

My (other) new fluffy love.

I've got a lot of room in my heart for cloth diaper love.  In addition to flats being my new love, I've also fallen in love with fleece diapers.  Both, making them and their function.  I didn't think I was going to like sewing fleece diapers at first, but I do, now its its own branch off of my fabric/sewing/cloth diaper addiction.  They work well, and don't require a cover like fitteds do, because it incorporates the fleece used to make soakers as the outer layer of decorative fabric.  Cute, functional, and pretty trim. 

This is the first fleece diaper I sewed forever ago. (And by forever, I really mean a couple months.)




I wasn't so crazy about it.

This is her new Mickey Mouse fleece diaper.



 I'm really crazy about it. 

and the other fleece diapers I've made. 

 Only six because thats all the fleece I have available at the moment.  As soon as it goes on sale again though, you better watch out!

My new fluffy love ♥

On the cloth diaper board I frequent, there has recently been quite a few posts about Flats.  Flat diapers are similar to prefolds, in that its a piece of fabric that you can fold in different ways to give your baby customized absorbency and the best fit.  Flats are essentially just squares of fabric, usually just one layer and can be made of most any material.  The threads made me curious and I kinda wanted to try them.  One day when I was bored I decided I take one of Mercy's old swaddling blankets and test it out as a flat.  The blanket was 40x40 and made of flannel.  It was pretty big on her, but I got the basic concept down.  It was fun trying out the Old School cloth diapering techniques, and way easier than I thought it would be.

Then I decided to try it with a smaller receiving blanket, and was able to get a much better fit.  Then I decided to take all the flannel from Joanns I had laying around and cut it down to size and turn them into flats.  Heres my current flat collection, made from purchased flannel, and also a couple upcycled blankets.




Thats 7 diapers, all made from what I had laying around the house, costing a total of probably 10 dollars.  Flats is one of the most economical and environmental ways to cloth diaper.  You can find receiving blankets from garage sales and resale stores for less than a quarter, use ones you have laying around the house (since moms usually receive an overabundance of these at babyshowers) or you can buy flannel from Joanns (I always wait til its on sale for 2.50/yard).  They have tons of cute prints so you're baby will always have the cutest behind.  You can also use old towels, tshirts that don't get worn, pretty much anything you have laying around.  If you cut a fabric that will fray though (like flannel or terry cloth) you will need to hem it, I just zig zag stitch the edges, or you can just cut it with pinking shears.

Another benefit is there is so little waste with these.  A yard of fabric (or bigger swaddling blankets that usually measure 40x40 instead of 30x30) will give you scraps after you cut it down to size. You can turn the scraps into cloth wipes, or you can fold the scraps and use them as a lay in doubler to increase absorbency in your baby's wet zone.  Using the Origami Fold, and a scrap doubler, my upcycled blanket diaper is more absorbent than my $30 Goodmama!  Also, being only 1 layer of fabric they dry super fast so you use less energy if you dry them in the dryer, or less time if you line dry.

Here's a pic of a flat on my girl, taken today.

That is 18 layers of absorbency right there, and look at how incredibly trim it is! 

I do love my "fancy" pocket and AI2 dypes, but I also love these.  The fact that they are made by upcycling materials, all the scraps are utilized making no waste, and then the old school folding and pinning, all adds up to making me feel awesome and empowered when I use these.  Throw in that the knowledge of how to fold these and being able to make one out of pretty much anything around the house, and I feel darn near indestructible.  At least when it comes to diapering that is.

Yeah, thats right, I just said a diaper makes me feel empowered.  You can laugh at me, I'm laughing at myself a little too.