to leak or not to leak!

So as I mentioned in a previous post, my boobs produce enough milk to feed a hungry orphanage. While many new moms would love to have this problem, I loath it for I cannot stand the mess that comes along with producing so much milk.

This issue has allowed me to test a variety of brands of breast pads. And trust me if it was available to me, I tried it. On this new mom product, I definitely consider myself an expert.

Some losing brands I have tried were johnston and Johnston, Gerber, exact, and a variety of washable cloth pads. My complaints are that they all leak, they are all too small, to thick, some fall apart when they get wet, and they all shift. I have found one winner and one breast pad to which I will be loyal for all future pregnancies.

The winner is.... Lansinoh Breast Pads! a box of 60 is about $12.

these breast pads are large enough that they cover a larger set of twins, thin so that you don't look like you have giant red circles on your boobs, well constructed so as to never fall apart, and best of all, THEY NEVER LEAK!

So if you have leaky "girls", I strongly recommend the Lansinoh breast pads. No other brand even comes close to comparing!

A multi-purpose toy

Is a tiny rubber giraffe really worth $20? Many moms would say Yes. Sophie La Giraffe is worth the money. It is not just a toy, its a soother and teether, and if you let it, an expensive dog toy!

A rubber giraffe made with safe rubber and paint with the expectation that it will be used in babies mouths, Sophie has saved me many car trips as her long legs were easy for Anna to get into her mouth when the soother was lost somewhere. With her long neck, she is easy for babies to grab. Even now, at 2 years old, with the soother restricted to bed only, I have often caught Anna fullfilling her oral fixation on Sophies legs.

Again though, I reiterate, if you have a dog be careful as She looks just like a dog toy and your canine baby may get confused.

one answer to the endless baby laundry

WShen it comes to starting solids, there is no doubt that the floor, the highchair, the clothes and of course the baby will be very messy. Some parents chose to reserve a spot in the kitchen for a lifetime supply of bibs. one per meal, which then have to be washed and will likely end fully stained.

Enter...Mally Bibs!

When Annabelle was a baby, I overheard some ladies at the gym talking about Mally Bibs. I went home and googled them so that I could see what the deal was. Seemed like a pretty neat idea and so I bought one (Kiddytown $20ish).

Mally bibs are colourful and fashionable leather bibs. they come in infant and toddler sizes and many different designs. the appeal is that they wash clean after each meal and stick to the fridge with a magnet. So no more stack of cloth bibs, no more excessive food laundry, no more tying bibs on as they snap together by magnet. They also teach your child the independance of putting them on and taken them off by themselves, which I admit can be a bad thing :)

Another wonderful item, invented by a mom for moms!

Me vs. the crib.. I WIN

When Anna was little she was a big spitter, puker, pooper. Pretty much if it could make a mess, she did it. This meant that I was changing her crib sheet almost daily. I found this to be a rather time consuming pain in the butt task. Anna had 1 bumper pad across the back (to prevent soother loss) and a skirt under the mattress. lifting the mattress out to change the sheet, meant undoing the bumper pad and messing up the skirt, then I had to wrestle the mattress till the crib sheet fit and put everything back together. talk about breaking a sweat!

Then one day I was reading my monthly todays parent and I saw a product that I thought would make my life easier. I hummed and hawed as it was a bit expensive but ultimately I went ahead.

I ordered the Quickzip crib sheets! from a website called cloudsandstars.com.

This is a sheet set where you put the sheet on the mattress what seem upside down and the top of the sheet zips off for easy changing and washing. then you only actually need to remove the crib mattress once in a blue moon to wash the base as the baby doesn't contact it.

This product has made my life so much easier and baby Max gets his sheet changed a bit more frequently than baby Anna did. Oh well, she turned out fine :)

the only downfall is that to have it shipped to canada is highway robbery!

Got Milk?

I am now on week 3 of life with my second child. Week 3 of sleepless nights and endless breastfeeding. As with my first child, I have no shortage of milk. I often soak through breastpads, spray my child in the face and face painful engorgement if I miss a feed. I have been trying to pump as little as possible so as to not trick my body into thinking it needs to create more milk than I really need. Enter this pretty cool invention which I assume was created by a mom like me.

Milkies - Milk Saver!. I purchased it from the Extraordinary Baby Shoppe for $34.99.

This neat contraption sits in your bra over the breast you are not using during a feed. your nipple sits in the hole and all the leakage during let down is collected. Believe it or not, I collect on average 1-1.5 oz of milk each time.

The downfall I have discovered is that this may only be collecting foremilk and not the fatty hindmilk. So be sure to mix it with some pumped stuff before feeding.

However, even if you don't save the collected milk you will save on breastpads!