THE THINGS THAT EVERY BREASTFEEDING MAMA MUST HAVE

If you are a new mom, then you need to check out some of these breastfeeding must have options. When I became a new mom (over three years ago), I tried to breastfeed, but I failed. I wish I had all these tools. I asked many new mom’s what they used for breastfeeding and these are just a few of them.

Here are my favorite breast feeding items.

 

Nursing Breastfeeding Cover Scarf – Baby car seat Canopy Multi-Use Stretchy, BONUS Pillow case and eBook, carseat covers Universal Fit Best Baby Shower Gift 

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Lataly Womens Sleeping Nursing Bra Wirefree Breastfeeding Maternity Bralette

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My Brest Friend Original Nursing Posture Pillow, Grey & Yellow Fireworks 

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Breastfeeding Cover Infinity Scarf – Nursing Cover Converts to Multi-Use Baby Car Seat Canopy, Stroller Cover, High Chair and Shopping Cart Liner – Black 

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Lansinoh Lanolin Nipplecreams for Breastfeeding, 100% Natural Nipple Cream, 3 Mini Tubes (0.25 oz each)
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Nacome Breastfeeding Shirt Striped Patchwork Long Sleeve Maternity Breastfeeding Nursing 

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** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

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New Parent’s Check Our Top Parenting Books

I know there are so many people around me having babies, especially new parents. When I became a new mother, I felt like I NO resources or tools. I felt like I couldn’t learn enough before becoming a parent. But even after you become a parent there is the constant learning and struggling going on.

So whether you are a new mother, or a second time mother, know that all of these books can be a great tool for you. Each of them have personally helped me.

Enjoy my top parenting books I picked:

1-2-3 Magic

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The Whole-Brain Child 

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No-Drama Discipline

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The 5 Love Languages of Children

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Toddler Discipline for Every Age and Stage: Effective Strategies to Tame Tantrums, Overcome Challenges, and Help Your Child Grow 

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Strong Mothers, Strong Sons: Lessons Mothers Need to Raise Extraordinary Men 

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** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

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doTERRA Baby Collection

As the heat of summer arrives so does dry, irritated skin. The new limited-time doTERRA Baby Collection has been made to keep your baby’s delicate skin soothed and moisturized. Our sensitive formula has Raw East African Muyao Shea Butter blended with doTERRA essential oils of Lavender, Carrot Seed and Tea Tree. The dōTERRA Baby Collection includes baby hair and body wash, lotion, and diaper rash cream for your baby’s hygiene needs.

dōTERRA’s conveniently designed baby wash and lotion are safe and effective way to cleanse and moisturize your baby and incorporate natural ingredients you know and trust. Our tear-free wash combined with our easy-to-use cleanser pump makes bath time effortless and simple.  Keep your baby giggling with our unique dōTERRA Baby Diaper Rash Cream, infused with CPTG® essential oils. Together, these limited time products are a truly impressive baby care collection.

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Baby Hair & Body Wash

The doTERRA Baby Hair & Body Wash contains Vanilla Extract, Lavender, and Roman Chamomile oils, which create the signature soft scent. You will also find raw East African Muyao Shea Butter (an ingredient in all three baby products) which possesses fatty acids that support your baby’s soft skin. One of our favorite parts? This gentle, every day-use formula is also clinically tested tear-free.

It comes in an easy-to-use pump bottle so that you can easily pump the body wash into your hands or a washcloth for quick use. (A must when you’re trying to wash little wiggly bodies!)

Baby Lotion

It is fairly common for kids to have occasional skin irritations; the doTERRA Baby lotion is the perfect answer to soothe your child’s sensitive and delicate skin. Made with the same gentle oils and Muyao Shea Butter as the doTERRA Baby Wash, the lotion is perfect to use right after a bath, or anytime the skin needs some extra love. The lotion’s scent is light and calming to the emotions as well, an added bonus around bedtime.

Diaper Rash Cream

The active ingredient, Non-Nano zinc, is a skin protectant. It is used to create a barrier between your baby’s delicate skin and excess moisture. Many diaper creams, despite their intentions, can cause your baby’s skin to become more irritated. The doTERRA Diaper Rash Cream is tested and approved for even the most sensitive skin. The Lavender, Carrot Seed, and Tea Tree essential oils included in the cream work to balance and soothe the skin, and work in concert with the Muyao Shea Butter as it moisturizes.

doTERRA Baby Collection

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As always if you are interested a wholesale account send me a message susielib003@gmail.com or sign up here https://www.mydoterra.com/susieliberatore/#/and make sure to use my ID: 43961

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5 Signs Of Postpartum Depression

Guest Post by Lauren Cecora is a Postpartum Mentor for women who are desperately overwhelmed and overscheduled. Through her Sanity Saving Tips, free challenges, and book, she’s here to help you regain balance in your life- while making it all effortless.
And when she’s not saving women’s sanity, you can find her with a bottle of wine (yes bottle!), traveling the world, or out on the occasional kid free excursion.
Meet Lauren and get ready to Save Your Sanity at www.laurencecora.com

I want to start off by clarifying that any maternal mental health disorder is different for every individual person. Everyone experiences things differently, and while that isn’t much help initially- my biggest advice is to trust your gut. If you feel that something is out of place- run with that. You know your body best and even when things are different or new- you more than anyone else will know if something feels different than before.

It’s my hope in sharing some of my signs and symptoms with you that it will empower you to think about your life and to help you seek help and healing if suffering with a maternal mental health disorder. Now that I have made it through to the other side of Postpartum Depression and have been managing my Postpartum Anxiety for almost 2 full years, I can see now where my first initial signs were present. I later wrote a book with way more information and tips for healing with PPD and PPA- called: Past-Partum from Shattered to Sane, but something was not quite right in the little corner of my world..

  1. Every little upset in a routine or schedule was debilitating.

I didn’t know how to function or problem solve; everything was overwhelming me and I couldn’t wrap my head around adjusting little things. This was everything from nap time not working out, a fussy baby, more crying than normal, more nursing sessions than normal. Everything that happened to throw me off my grove trapped me. I felt helpless and as is everything in my world was falling apart. I just stopped functioning and I would sit in my house, cancel plans, and just be miserable.

2. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt happy or joyful.

Even when my baby would coo or smile at me or do something amazing, I wasn’t truly happy, that rush of happy endorphins never happened. I would smile on the outside, but I would be annoyed or sad or angry on the inside. And instead of me relishing in beautiful moments I would chastise myself for not appreciating things the way one should. Wasn’t having a baby supposed to make me happy?

3.  I was crying over everything.

Baby woke up 5 minutes early, I cried. I took a shower but didn’t have time to do my hair, I cried. Someone took my parking space at Whole Foods, I cried. Everything made me cry and it would happen without warning or control. And it lasted so much longer than the normal talked about 1-2 weeks post delivery. This went on for months.

4. I would imagine ways to make my daughter stop crying.

This one is probably going to raise some red flags, but I feel it very important to mention because some moms, think thoughts like these and they are not bad moms. When my daughter would cry for hours on end, or wake up in the middle of the night and I was struggling to get her back to sleep, I would sometimes be pacing the dark house, humming a lullaby and thinking of ways I could make her stop, and not in a good normal way.  “If I hit her head on the counter hard enough maybe it will knock her out and she will sleep for a few hours” or “Could I just put her in the car in the garage and shut the door so she could cry it out”.

Sleep deprivation caught up quick with a newborn nursing frequently and a husband deployed without family around. I’m not proud of these thoughts, but they happened, and it was a clear sign that something wasn’t right with me if I was even thinking these thoughts, sleep deprived or not.

5. I would get these debilitating migraines.

I was never one to get even headaches unless I was really sick or stressed out. Maybe once a year, but I had experienced a migraine several years prior due to a work related concussion and I vowed to never want to experience that sort of thing ever again. So when I started getting these piercing aches in my head and I couldn’t get them to go away, I knew something was wrong. The only way I could stop a migraine was to go to sleep. Well for a mom with a husband deployed and a newborn at home and not a single family member around, sleep was not an option in my life. While I thought it was sleep deprivation or stress related as a cause, it turned out to be a severe nutrient deficiency due to pregnancy, nursing, and then not taking proper care of myself. After honing in on a whole food nutrition diet and adding in supplements on a daily basis, not only did it help my stress levels but the migraines stopped after a few weeks.

While these were some of my big signs that I was suffering from more than normal “new mom blues” I have met plenty of women that experience symptoms that are different or similar. Maybe it shows up as insomnia, or uncontrollable anger or rage. Maybe it shows up as exhaustion or lack of empathy or feeling. There is no single definition of PPD- but there are perimeters that you can hit to fall into the category. My best advice for any mom (new or seasoned) is to seek help: your OB or Midwife, your primary care doctor, a nurse, or friend- have them screen you for maternal mental health and get a referral for some counseling. Counseling was an excellent way for me to express my feelings without judgement and provided me guidelines to start taking care of myself.

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here’s some reputable sources for you:

 

 

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Daycare 101

Finding the right daycare can be a pain, especially if this is your first time using one. I know that I made a few mistakes when I first put my son in daycare, and I would love to share them with you so that you don’t make the same mistakes as I. First, take a deep breath and know that daycare is a huge part of your childs life; it is the first step to independence. You will be worried and thinking about your child, but know that it really is good for them.

Make sure you do your research. Check out how long hey have been in business, their website, their reviews, and read their story. Compare and contrast your top three daycare picks, so you can narrow down your decision.

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  • Ask Questions: Make a list of questions that you have. You have to ask questions so that you will feel secure leaving your kid with them! Make sure to keep a notebook of questions to ask and ask them all at the same time so that you can feel organized and confident.
  • Know pricing: Does it cover sick days, etc? this one is huge since it is expensive! If someone can’t work with you on this then it’s not worth it for you. What if you go on vacation? What if your child is very sick? What if you want to go down to part time? Furthermore is it hourly based or just day based? Do you have to have them there for a certain amount a day? Is there a late pick up fee? Find out all of these things so that you can feel at ease.
  • Know what food will be served: Make sure to get a menu for the week and note if your child doesn’t like certain things. If your child likes juice or something else make sure to note that and ask what they will do for this? Find out how often they eat and what times they eat, etc. This will help you keep you on schedule on days when your child isn’t at daycare.
  • Will they give you updates hourly? Ok maybe not hourly, but will they call you if your child isn’t eating well? Will you get email notifications? How will hey communicate things to you through out the day? Make sure you let them know to call you if your child isn’t eating, feeling well, etc.
  • What will they do in an emergency situation? If your child isn’t eating and having trouble breathing will they call you or take him to the er? Ask them if they have CPR certifications?
  • What is their schedule like? Are they open from 6-6? What is the day schedule like? Furthermore, what will they be doing hour to hour. Do they do story time? Is there learning activities? If there isn’t any learning going on you might as well skip it because this is a must. Ask for criteria that they will do so that you can work with the child at home.
  • Do they enforce discipline? If so how? Ask them if we don’t want them biting on things will they help enforce it? The hardest thing is trying to break your child from a habit that they are doing in daycare but not at home; it has to complement on another.

Putting your child in daycare is no easy task by any means, but this will help you prepare for it. What are other things do you look for in daycares?

Read our disclosure. **This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 

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Family time:: parents visiting is the BEST

This past week my parents came into town. It was such a great visit I guess time flies by and you never realize how much time flies by! I wish I could hold onto memories and cherish them forever. I never realized how fast time flew by until I had my own baby!

I had some of the greatest childhood memories the greatest and I sit here and wonder how Antonio will be! I love watching him grow grow each day. I see my parents feeding him and playing with him and wonder where has time gone!? It feels like yesterday I was the one being feed by my grandparents.

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I see how emotional my mother gets every time Antonio does something new. I see how she cares for him and me at the same time. They both get so excited whenever Antonio does something new or old. HAHA! There is quite the stories when it comes to parenting. I now have a new bond between my parents because. My mom always tells me “you did the same thing.” By the way.. mom’s are ALWAYS right 😉

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I see how my father acts silly just to make him laugh. Here I was sitting on the couch taking it all in with tears in my eyes knowing that we are all so loved and blessed.

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You see. It doesn’t matter how much money you have or how what needs to get done life is perfect if you look around and really take in every single movement. Hold your little babes tonight because it goes too quick!

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A cleaner toothbrush?! Germ free! IntelliDent Products

I never really enjoy brushing my teeth but have to do it at least three times a day just because I hate the way it smells or feels sometimes. I don’t like talking about teeth or the products there are out there, it is just one of those things that I don’t like to talk about! I hate going to the dentist and wonder how people could be in that field!!! Have you ever thought about how dirty your toothbrush is? Seriously I cringe thinking about how dirty it is!

However, when I found out about IntelliDent Products I thought it could solve a lot of my problems!! Seriously, no lie! We all know the struggle that goes into keeping your toothbrush clean. We use it several times a day all the time. It needs to breathe and it needs to be cleaned, but how can we do that? They have some simple and affordable products.

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IntelliDent has two primarily fantastic products: IntelliDent MouthGuard Shield and ToothBrush Shield. The IntelliDent MouthGuard Shield protects the mouth guard that you might have. Instead of having plastic containers for your mouth guard they have these disposable covers for your mouthguard that you can use. It is so much cleaner than anyone can ever imagine! The mouth Shield gets rid of moisture, but also protects the harmful germs and bacteria that are within locker rooms, etc.

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Seriously this is pretty awesome. IntelliDent Toothbrush Shield is perfect for when you are traveling or when you want to keep it safe from germs. It keeps your brush clean right after you are done brushing. There is no need to place your toothbrush in containers where bacteria can’t breath, this is your savior!

Go ahead and check them out on the web:

Website: www.intellidentproducts.com

Twitter: @IntelliDent1 @IntelliDent2 @SusanKlinsport

Facebook: www.facebook.com/IntelliDent

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Coin Jar!

You have heard us talk about this coin jar idea for so many things. We know that this seems like a no brainer, but really we promise that it is worth it. It will build up over time.

I seriously find change all the time!! I put change into a coin jar then deposit it into my sons savings account, its a no brainer. I don’t know how I even have change when I use my card like all the time? So crazy. Instead of letting it lay around or spend it on lunch I just deposit it at the bank. I don’t go to the bank often, but once I have a large amount of coins in my jar I go there to just deposit them.

I clean out wallets, drawers, and purses monthly. You wont believe how much change I find in there!! An average month I get about $100 in change. LIKE WHAT!!! That’s $1,200 a year without even knowing it!? That is beyond crazy. 

Its so easy and fun to do. When you find change you are like YAY I am saving 25 cents!!!!! Make it fun! If you have kids, tell them that if they find change you will buy them a piece of candy and put the rest into the change jar they will love it! We promise.

Do you have a coin jar? How much do you find in your coin jar? Head on to your bank and deposit that money, save MONEY! 😉

Bulk Shopping

Let’s talk bulk shopping this week. Do you do it? Do you buy in bulk from Sams Club? We do! It is so much better and easier for us for certain things. You have to be smart when you go into the store and have control otherwise you will be like a little kid in a candy store!

I try to go to Sams Club on my own, without my husband, otherwise he can spend a lot of money! No but seriously Sams club is our savior. We go there bi-weekly for diapers, wipes, and formula. That alone is worth it. You can get more diapers and formula than any other supermarket, we did the comparison. You might find other ways and use coupons, it is just our preference. Lately the baby hasn’t been taking as many bottles as he used to so that cuts back on formula costs (it’s expensive y’all).

Besides for baby stuff we find that cleaning and pantry stuff is perfect to get there. So we buy a 24 pack of paper towel that is mega large and we seriously can wait 3-4 months before buying more! It is worth it for us. Same for toilet paper! These simple things save us from running to the grocery store, or getting them weekly!

We also get Clorox, Lysol, Pledge, and Air Fresheners. All of these items last about 4 months plus. I think we bought the three pack of Clorox wipes back in September and we are JUST now getting through the last of it. It seriously makes it so much easier. I make a list of the things that we need to pick up every three months at Sams, then bi weekly at Sams. I will be sharing that list on our blog soon, so you can have it for your needs!

How do you save money? Do you bulk shop?

Sick Baby Fun

Oh my goodness last week we had a sick baby. It’s hard being a mom and small business owner. You really have to learn how to manage it all. Even if you have help it still sucks.

I just don’t get when babies are sick they are miserable so are we. But there’s something about the baby. You don’t know how to care for baby other than cuddle. You know what they are going through but they can’t relate or talk because it’s new. It’s so frustrating for a mom. You know it sucks for them and they just want to feel better.

You go to the doctors and its normal like they just can’t put baby on medicine when theres nothing wrong?! It’s frustrating and Im thankful its nothing major, but I just want him to feel better!

Yeah we lose sleep and get extra sweet cuddles but really…,  I feel so hurt I wish there was more I could do. I don’t know about this whole new mom thing I just don’t. We learn and adjust but how!?

What are some your secrets to help a baby get better? We have him some tyenol but really I think it’s just one of things that will go away in time. Luckily he was still content, ate, and didn’t have a fever!

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