Breast Feeding Bliss

I breastfed my boys exclusively for the first six months and then continued on after they started solids for well after their first birthdays. There are a lot of good reasons to breast feed, including health benefits both for baby and mother:

1. Breast Feeding is MUCH CHEAPER than formula. You just have an initial start-up cost for a pump and some supplies.
2. Breast milk is much gentler on little, not fully developed tummies.
3. Liquid Gold- it has immune fighting properties from mom's immunity that NO FORMULA can match.
4. Breast milk is always on-hand- no waiting to warm up than bottle when mommy is around!
5. Helps mom and baby form a special bond.
6. Helps reduce risks of ovarian and breast cancers in mom.
7. Helps lower risk for SIDS, respiratory diseased and other childhood and adult diseases later in life.
http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/why-breastfeeding-is-important/index.html

That being said, every mom needs to make the best choice for them, their child and their situation. If you do decide to breast feed here are some tips from a mom who has done it.

1. Take a class, read books and watch some videos before giving birth- will help you understand and have a game plan.
2. Contact a local lactation consultant- ask other moms or your OBGYN for recommendations- you may need help in the beginning and the last thing a frazzled, stressed new mom needs is to be looking for someone to help. Do this before-hand to save you some stress.
3. Breast feed right after delivery- helps form that bond right away.
4. Ask for help! Many hospitals have lactation consultants on staff and the nurses may also be helpful when getting baby to first latch on.
5. Nurse as much as possible right away. Very important to help flush baby's system out and get your milk to come in.
6. After nursing, express some milk on your finger and rub into nipple, let air dry. This will help them from not getting chapped. (think of chapped lips)
7. Always have a glass of water handy for yourself when nursing- you'll be amazed at how parched you will get.
8. Wear COTTON nursing bras.
9. Hot showers are best for clogged milk ducts. Just hop in and knead your breast until milk comes out. Also pumping can help alleviate some milk when clogged.
10.  Buy a Boppy or any other kind of nursing pillow- it really helps!
11. Buy some breast pads to wear when you are out of the house- will save you from embarrassing leaks. And pack an extra shirt for yourself  in the diaper bag when leaving the house (just in case)
12. Buy or borrow and good quality pump. (If borrowing- be sure to use your own breast shields and bottles- don't share! and purchase new tubing)
13. I found when pumping, using the bottles worked better than the bags for suction. I would pump into the bottles and pour into the bags for easy storage.
For more info try http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/.

Happy Nursing!

How to clean your Blender-the fast way!

Okay, so some blenders (glass part) can be washed in the dishwasher, but what if yours can't?  Or if you are like me- I just can't give up that precious space in my dishwasher for it.  So I have found the quickest and safest (those blades are sharp!!) way to clean the blender.

1. after using it rinse it out.
2. add a few drops of dishwashing soap and fill 1/2 way with water.
3. place it back on the stand and blend away for a few seconds.
4. empty the water and wipe inside with a sponge if there is anything left on the sides (blades already cleaned themselves) and wash the outside and top (if needed).
5. rinse well and let dry.

Whole thing takes seconds and you have not endangered yourself with sharp blades or taken up space in your dishwasher.

Disinfecting Nontoxically

The cold and flu season is in full swing folks!! When illness hits your house you need to go into disinfecting overdrive to keep it from spreading through every member in the family.

1. Have everyone wash hands numerous times a day.

2. Spray door handles, sink faucets and handles to appliances like the fridge with full strength distilled white vinegar, let sit for a few minutes and wipe clean. (I usually clean with a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water, but when we are sick I use vinegar straight)

3. Spray counter tops and tabletops down with with full strength distilled white vinegar, let sit for a few minutes and wipe clean.

4. Dampen a cloth by spraying with full strength distilled white vinegar, and wipe down all phones and remote controls, computer keypads, light switches (do not spray directly onto electronics or anything electrical!)

5. To clean kids toys:
- throw stuffed animals into the wash. Be sure to use hot water and make sure to dry thoroughly in the dryer. I sometimes run them through 2 rounds in the dryer to be safe.
-for plastic toys that can get wet let sit in either the sink, a large bowl, or a clean bucket in very hot water with some dish soap for like 10 minutes. Then you can rinse clean. I then set them to dry on dish towels. Depending on the illness- for a cold this should suffice, for the flu or stomach bug I would go a step further and spray the toys down with vinegar let sit a few minutes and rinse again and then let dry.
-for other toys that can't get wet dampen a cloth by spraying with full strength distilled white vinegar, and wipe down.

6. Wash all bedding in hot water and on the highest setting on your dryer. Try to do this everyday if you can while someone is sick. (this becomes much harder to keep  up on all the laundry when you are the one sick)

7. Run toothbrsuhes though the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle as often as once a day while the illness is present. I also usually replace every ones toothbrushes once illness is over.

For more tips on cleaning with vinegar check out this site http://www.vinegartips.com/scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7

How to clean your humidifier or vaporizer the NONTOXIC way

Now that winter is fully upon us, many of us will be using humidifiers or vaporizers for the colds and/or allergies that ails us over the winter months. In our house we use the Crane brand humidifiers they are really cute and function well. http://crane-usa.com/

Each morning you should dump out the old water and refill before bedtime with fresh water. (as we all know mornings can be crazy and sometimes this gets skipped- don't worry just make sure to dump and refill before bedtime. Once a week be sure to disinfect with distilled white vinegar. I fill the water container with a mixture of half vinegar half water and let sit for 30 minutes after shaking it vigorously. (periodically throughout the 30 minutes I will go back and shake it up again) Then rinse well with hot tap water then let dry. All other areas I spray with the vinegar and let sit for about 15 minutes. Then come back and spray with more vinegar and scrub with a kitchen scrub brush and/ or a toothbrush (both of which are solely designated for this purpose and are not used for cleaning any thing else). Then rinse well with hot water and let dry. Now it is all clean and  disinfected and ready to use again!

To keep the Humidifier from getting scummy and rusty  I put two drops of  my trusty Basic H in the water tank when I fill it up after cleaning.