Breast Feeding and Cloth Diapering

Wow! It has been a little while since I have had the time to write. With the 4th of July holiday and school, I have been so busy! Anyways, as promised here is my experience with breast feeding and cloth diapering. 

As an expecting parent (especially mom) you are faced with so many decisions...nursery decor, co-sleeping, names, gender neutral, do you wanna know the sex, circumcision. Really, its enough to make your head explode!

Breast Feeding
 
Breast feeding, for me, was not really a decision. Well, it wasn't something I had to put thought into. I was going to be a stay-at-home mom for the unforeseeable future and I had no reason not to try to breast feed. I had the time and the determination to make it happen. Everyone knows "breast is best" when it comes to the health of our babies. The problems come when women are not able to get a good supply going. I am not going to say everything about breast feeding is easy. I was lucky, both my sons were very good from the start at getting a proper latch. And let me tell you...they latched the hell out of my nips! My biggest problem was the after math of the constant feeding. With my first son, I promise you, my nipples fell off in the form of big ugly scabs that left me raw and bleeding for weeks. I had to stop breast feeding and pump until my nips grew back. Then I got smart and bought some of the must haves (I'll list those later). With my first son I also experienced engorgement. This happened for the first time when he first slept through the night (and of course I did too). I woke up with rock hard boobs and full breast pads. They hurt and I had to pump so long before I felt a little relief. They were so full that my son was actually unable to latch on! Heat really helps with engorgement so a hot shower was my go to. 

With my first son, I never nursed in public (well, besides on an almost empty airplane with no one around). If we were out and about and  he got hungry, I went to the car. Now, with my second son, I finally just nursed in public. Actually it was on the 4th of July.  I have not yet worked up the courage to go all natural about it. I used one of those nursing covers (because there are still people out there offended by breast feeding but fine with boobs on t.v). I have to admit, it was liberating. I enjoyed not hiding out in the car to feed my son. It was nice to have the breeze (it was a hot day and the car would have not been a happy place). So, you first time breast feeders, hang in there. Be patient and don't give up. Do what you can and supplement when you have to. So here is my best advice for breast feeding

1. The second you find out you are pregnant start toughing up your nips. Use a rough wash cloth (I used a loufa). I didn't do this with my first and paid a heavy price. With my second I did and had no issues with scabbing. 

2. Get Lanolin and put it on after every feeding no excuses! (Lansinoh makes a natural one that is very thick, but is easy to put on if you rub it between your fingers or as I did I kept it touching the wipes warmer)

3. Get a good pump (I got a cheap single electric pump the first time around and would have to pump for an hour to get a bottle worth. This time I got a Lansinoh double electric one and can get a full bottle in 10 minutes!)

4. Heat is your friend when you are engourged.

5. Pump or feed before you shower or you will be spraying all over the place!

6. Cold feels great on sore nips

7. When feeding apply pressure on the opposite side this will help prevent leaking that will happen.

8. Get in a comfortable position with things to do and water to drink. You will be stuck there for around 20 minutes so make it a pleasurable experience.

Cloth Diapering

I am pretty new to the whole cloth diapering world. I wanted to cloth diaper from the beginning, but they are an expensive initial investment. So having enough money around to get a starter stash is difficult.  Also, it is hard to find a good place to start. Many websites and blogs use cloth diaper lingo which is very hard to understand if you are new to it. 

I chose to go with one size pocket diapers. These diapers are very similar to disposables in the sense that you change the entire diaper with every change. They have different snaps that adjust for baby's size. These have a water resistant outer shell with a pocket inside that you stuff with your liner. I use microfibers an bamboo. The microfibers are very think and bulky under clothing so often baby needs to wear at least a size up  in clothing. The bamboo takes a little longer to prep, but becomes very absorbent. Now that I mention prepping I guess I better explain. Before cloth diapers become absorbent they need to be prepped. This is done by washing in hot water a certain number of times. I prepped my bamboo by boiling in water on the stove for a half hour. The microfiber prepped in one wash on hot and a dry in the dryer. Your shells can be put in the dryer but it wears them so I like to hang dry (also hanging them iin the sun will help get rid of stains). 

You cannot use regular diaper rash creams in a cloth diaper (this ruins the  fabric and therefor its ability to absorb). You can get a natural on like CJ's BUTTer. Also, do NOT use fabric softener this also ruins the ability for absorption. With the pocket diapers, to wash I just pull the liner out and drop all of it into the machine with an unscented detergent (currently using Bum Genius). I wash in hot then put all the liners in the dryer and hang the shells. Store soiled diapers in a bag. Just shake off any solids into the toilet and do not soak them.

We had a problem of stinky diapers even after the wash but fixed that by changing detergents. I also have a supply of Mighty Bubbles on hand in case they start to smell funny or seem to have build up. People also use RLR for this same thing.

We have to remember to change the cloth diapers more frequently than the disposable ones. They will leak. I double line the shells at night so that we don't have to change while sleeping. Cloth diapers can be used as swim diapers as long as you remove the liner (so they are not toting around a liner full of pool water). So once you get your stash and get used to the system they are pretty easy. And will save you money! And they are really cute and you can coordinate them with what baby is wearing! So here are your cloth diaper must haves

1. A stash of probably a minimum of 20 diapers

2. Cloth diaper friendly detergent

3. A wet bag (you put dirty diapers in this when you are out and about)

4. Cloth diaper friendly rash ointment

5. Patience (until you get it figured out)

6. Time to teach your partner how the diapers work.

So there you have it, in a small nutshell my experiences with breast feeding and cloth diapering. Questions... just ask me and I will cover in more detail.