Water anyone?

How many of us actually track and focus on the amount of water we are in-taking during breastfeeding?

Answer: Probably not many!

Water is so important in my experience to producing an adequate amount of milk. It also is the most overlooked! We watch what we are eating, we limit our consumption of alcohol, we watch when we eat products that contain or drink caffeine. So why not Water?
I think its just an assumed easy drink that we take for granted. I have found you should be doubling the amount you would normally be drinking in a normal day if you are breast feeding.
If you are a person who exercise, you in-take of water should increase even more!

So the Focus this weekend is WATER! So drink up!

Super mom

More likely than not your a working mom, whose trying to fit everything on your todo list for the week into just that... the week! I don't know about you but I'm barley getting everything done. from cleaning the house, doing laundry, grocery shopping, to quality time with the kids, time with the spouse, time for me, cooking dinner, actually getting my 40 hrs a week in, and I'm sure theres stuff I missed. Not to mention, having to work in pumping time for my little one. I think I'm going to give moms like me a new name.... SUPER MOM! People forget how tedious it is and how much focus you need to breasts feed for more than a couple months. You need to know your daily timing, work in pumping at work, know when and what will be needed for you baby the next day. So I think super mom is a fitting name for us moms. We are juggling everything and should be giving a title to reflect it!
So to all you super moms out there... Keep up the good work, and good job! What your doing is a selfless act for your little darling!

Any Man of Mine!

What does it take to get to one year of Breastfeeding? A lot of support and understanding from the man in your life. I have to say my husband is very good about trying to understand the in's and out's of making it to the one year mark of breast feeding. The emotional roller-coaster that I'm on... the night feedings and the lack of hormones that us as breastfeeding moms will have.
Even though they may not fully understand the inner workings its the effort and empathy that is truly appreciated. Dads sometimes don't get enough credit being the supporting role in breastfeeding? This post is dedicated to those husbands, boyfriends, spouses, partners that support us and our choice to breastfeed.

Is Working..... Working?

Many of use get to that point after we have kids that we think to ourselves is working in the workplace really worth it? Here's a couple ways to see if your on the right path... Maybe its a choice, maybe its a need -- where do you fall?
One of the biggest concerns is can we make ends meet with only one income? Learning how to calculate you debt-to-income ration is important for your household.
http://www.ehow.com/how_7226_calculate-debt-income.html

http://hffo.cuna.org/12433/article/316/html
If you follow the above links it'll walk you through the easy way to do that!

Another concern is what to do when the kids go to school and how to get back into the work field. Many people think taking off so much time, they will have to start at the bottom and work there way up.

Who will be watching your kids if you are not? In-Home or out of home nanny service, daycare, grandparents, or relative? Which is the better fit for your family. Every choice has positives and negatives attached to it.

Can you work part-time or flex time? If you've been at your position or company for a while, sometimes they will let you work a flex schedule or part time hours to accommodate your families schedule.

Can you or your spouse handle the demands of staying home? Staying home is an unpaid full time job, that never gets as much credit as it deserves!!!

Smarter than the average parent!

I feel like babies are so much smarter than us as parents! Especially when it comes to transitioning them from breast feeding to bottle feeding. If your a working mom you know the feeling of needing your baby to take kindly to a bottle. And when it doesn't happen, true panic sets in!

"Ever think about what would happen if your maternity leave runs out and your vacation and personal days are all used up, and baby will not take a bottle?" Then what???


Start the transition as soon as your infant is nursing well. Obviously you want to avoid nipple confusion, so let your newborn get the hang of it first. But don't wait to long to introduce a bottle, you might get into a tough situation. I've talked to some moms, where they never actually made the transition. They went from breast to sippy. Some babies just wont take the bottle! Where others first try and they got it.