When You No Longer Need a Diaper Bag

Mar 8, 2012 by desiringvirtue

As your babies grow bigger and require less “stuff” while out and about, your begrudgingly beloved diaper bag seems more and more of a burden than a necessity. Half the stuff in there doesn’t ever get used, while the crumbs accumulating at the apple juice-stained bottom of your bag seem to enjoy making appearances every time you whip out a diaper. You start to realize that besides diapers and wipes, there isn’t much more that your toddler really needs, making this humongous “mom bag” a little pointless. For this reason, many consider moving to what is called a “diaper pod” or “diaper pouch.”

These bags are not only helpful for those who are looking to forgo the diaper bag altogether, but for those who may still need a diaper bag for long trips but are looking for something smaller to use for quick outings. For instance, a quick trip to the grocery store. There is really no need to haul in your entire diaper bag, but you definitely don’t want to be caught unprepared when stinky smells begin emanating from your shopping cart! Many people keep their diapers and wipes in a diaper pouch within their diaper bag and then grab the pouch rather than the whole bag for quick outings.

We first began looking for a diaper pouch to lighten the load we were carrying into church on Sunday. With two toddlers in diapers and both of them needing separate bags for separate nursery classes, we easily lugged around three separate bags plus Bibles and note pads. I was happy to continue on in this burdensome way, but my husband couldn’t help but see the ridiculousness of our situation. He decided that we needed a “Sunday Bag.” He suggestion that we find one very large bag that could hold our Bibles, my personal products, snacks, wallets, and two separate smaller bags for the boys (to be divvied up when we dropped them off at their classrooms). Though I had my doubts about this “magical” Sunday bag, any idea my husband has that allows me to purchase a new purse is a-ok with me! Finding a large tote was simple enough (even one that was really cute), but finding smaller bags that could substitute as diaper bags was a little harder. Turns out you have to order those online.

The diaper pouch we settled on was a Ju Ju Be bag called the “Be Quick.” Let me tell you, I LOVE this bag. Here are the pros to the Be Quick:

• It is small, but not too small. This bag is small enough to fit inside your purse, but large enough to fit everything you need it to. For instance, on Sundays I can fit 2-3 disposable diapers, a small wipe case, and a sippy cup.
• It has a small zippered pouch on the inside. This pouch can be used to put a pacifier, a package of crackers, or a travel size diaper cream.
• It is super washable. The fabric doesn’t collect stains and can easily be cleaned.
• It has a wristlet. This is handy for quick outings when you just want to sling the bag on your wrist and go. Also, the wristlet provides a way for you to hang the bag on a hook if needed and attach a name tag.
• It comes in really attractive prints. Ours is in the Marvelous Mums pattern, and I absolutely love it.
• It is a high quality bag. This bag isn’t going to get ugly or break any time soon. We have had ours for over a year now and it still looks brand new. Ju Ju Be makes top notch bags (and they have a price to prove it). Just check out some of their other products and you will see what I mean.

Here is a YouTube video of the diaper pouch we settled on:

For anyone who is either looking for an alternative to their heavy duty diaper bag or a bag to use with their diaper bag for quick outings, I highly recommend the Ju Ju Be “Be Quick” Diaper Pouch.

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My Favorite Cloth Diaper Cover

Feb 21, 2012 by desiringvirtue

Since writing Diaper Diaries a couple years ago, I have stepped into the world of the prefold/diaper cover combo. Though I only needed to try one pocket diaper to fall in love (my beloved Fuzzi Bunz), it took quite a while to find a cover that I truly enjoyed using. Many leaked like crazy, others were not very soft, most of them used velcro fasteners rather than snaps, and most of them wore out rather quickly. Then I tried out the Thirsties Duo Wrap and fell in love. Here are the benefits to this diaper cover:

1. Adjustability

Thirsties Duo Wraps come in two sizes and both have the ability to be adjusted to fit your child as needed. This ability to customize the fit, minimized the amount of covers you need to buy and also cuts down on leaks caused by ill fitting covers.

2. Snaps

I am a big fan of snaps. Velcro gets old and yucky over time. It snags other diapers in the  wash. It loses it’s grippiness over time. Most importantly little, curious fingers can easily pull velcro diapers open. For all of these reasons I love the snap closers that Thirsties Duo covers use. Some people enjoy the ease of velcro for diaper changes. If this is you, Thirsties has a velcro option as well.

3. Gussets

At first I wasn’t sure about gussets. Do they really make a difference? Does that extra little piece of fabric around the thigh really make a difference? I have come to the conclusion that it does. Gussets really cut down on leaks because they provide a more natural fit that covers more of the prefold diaper.

4. Texture

I am big on texture. I hate the feeling of jeans under my fingers (though I struggle through it). The texture of seat belts is another one that really gets me. I know, I am very strange. All of this to say, texture can make or break a diaper for me. Thirsties Duo Wraps are soft, while at the same time do not absorb the wetness beneath, providing greater leak protection. Want to know a cover that does absorb wetness and leaks like crazy? Click here.

5. Design

Thirsties Duo Covers come in lots of adorable, bright colors, but I have bought all three of the cute (boy friendly) patterns they have available. There is no getting around how adorable these covers are!

Curious as to what I use underneath these covers? These prefolds (I use the unbleached option), these Snappis, and these liners. 

This post is linked up with Raising Homemakers, Time~Warp Wife

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Nursing Days (What to Wear)

Jun 22, 2011 by desiringvirtue

Let me begin by getting a simple truth out there: breastfeeding is hard. Can I get some “Amens!”? It requires time, energy, commitment, and so much more. (Notice the very large mocha frappe I’m holding?)

Nursing your children is a marvelous way to lavish sacrificial love on them. It is natural. It is beautiful.

But sometimes it doesn’t feel very natural and sometimes it doesn’t feel very beautiful.

I nursed Elliot for 6  months and Hudson for almost 8. I am hoping that our next baby will make it to the coveted 1 year marker, but know that a whole year is a lot harder than the magazines and books lead you to believe!

Now that I am no longer nursing my sweet little Hudson, I thought I would share my favorite and most helpful breastfeeding items. These are all items that I have worn and loved. They are items that made breast feeding easier and more enjoyable.

The Bra

At the heart of breast feeding is a great nursing bra. I have tried a lot of nursing bras from Walmart, Target, Gap Maternity, to online companies. By far, my favorite nursing bra out there is made by a company called Bravado!. While it is true that Bravado! is not the cheapest option out there, the quality just can’t be beat.

These bras are comfortable and well made. I will introduce you to the two that I have used:

1. Bravado! Seamless Nursing Bra. This bra is SO comfortable. It was my pajama bra… and sometimes daily bra. It is wireless, so it may not have the support you desire for every day use, but the comfort is well worth the cost. Trust me.

Something unique to this nursing bra is that it has removable foam lining in each cup. They are like small shields that you can insert (or take out) to keep your nursing pads from showing through to your shirt. I never used them, but many of the people who reviewed this bra on Amazon really loved them.

2. Bravado! Women’s Allure Underwire Nursing Bra. This is the nursing bra that doesn’t look like a nursing bra. It gives you that little “pretty” under your clothes that you start to miss when you are nursing. It offers great support and helps to hide those lines caused by your nursing pads. This is because the material of the cup is an interesting nylon blend that acts as a barrier between your nursing pads and shirt. The great thing about this material is that, though it is thicker, it doesn’t lose its shape or get odd wrinkles after you fold it down (to nurse) many, many, many times.

The Tank

I was once told that layering is the key to modest/comfortable nursing. This is so true. Wearing a tank top under your shirt can give you that tummy coverage you desire while still providing easy access for your little one. The only down side to wearing a nursing tank under your shirt is that you are then face with twice the amount of “buckles/clips” to undo and then redo every nursing session. First comes the tank, then comes the bra and before you know it, you have forgotten the bra clip and you’re walking around looking like you have a strange growth coming out of your chest!

I was so happy to find a nursing tank that would actually serve as a bra and tank top without giving me that uniboob action that most shelf-bra tank tops produce! Of course it was created by Bravado! (One of my all time favorite companies as you can see). This tank is designed to give you the convenience of a nursing tank with the support of a bra.

This tank can also be a very comfortable and convenient sleep shirt (giving you the freedom of not wearing a nursing bra to bed. I found myself wearing my Bravado! Essential Nursing Bra Tank over and over again, and still occasionally don it due to its comfort factor.

*I do not recommend wearing this tank on its own in public or with the bust exposed as it is rather immodest and serves better underneath a complete shirt.

The Nightgown

When it comes to nursing at night, you want to make the task as easy and quick as possible. This is where my favorite nursing nightgown comes in. It is made by Eve Alexander and has a couple advantages over other nightgowns on the market.

The most important quality about this nightgown is the fact that it actually keeps you all contained throughout the night. The construction of the bodice provides easy no-clip access while keeping you from “falling out” throughout the night. Another nightgown that I bought which was similar to this one was not helpful in this manner. Throughout the night I would have to “readjust” which interrupted the little sleep I should have been getting.

I can’t tell you how much I LOVED not having to deal with a buckle/clip in the middle of the night to nurse. With this nightgown all you have to do is slide over one side of your bodice and you are ready to nurse. Because this nightgown keeps everything “in place” you can actually go without a nursing bra altogether and simply attach your nursing pads to the inside of your gown.

This nightgown is made out of a thin material that gets really soft after only a few washes. I will admit it is not the most fashionable nightgown out there, and if you wear your nursing pads directly under the gown they will show through. For this reason I typically wore a light robe over mine before bed time or wore a bra under it until I actually went to sleep. The nightgown is just so incredibly comfortable and convenient that fashion took a back seat on this one!

The Nursing Pad

Traditional:

Oh nursing pads… how I despise thee! Disposable nursing pads are expensive and a pain, but the protection they offer compared to cloth pads is not even worth comparing. That being said, some disposables are better than others and it really stinks to end up with a big box of nursing pads that create an embarrassing ring around your nipple when worn under clothing! While no disposable nursing pad is perfect I have found that there is one that stands out among the rest and it is made by Lansinoh. They are very thin and slightly curved so that it doesn’t look like you are wearing a coaster under your bra. They also have a nice adhesive strip to keep them secure during nursing sessions.

Something Different:

A product that I really enjoyed using was LilyPadz. This product works differently than the traditional nursing pad. Rather than absorb the milk your breasts let out throughout the day these pads keep any milk from coming out at all (if applied correctly). While I do not recommend using these on a day to day basis, they can be really helpful for times when you can’t wear disposable nursing pads. Situations that Lilypadz might come in handy would include under a swim suit, an evening gown, under a negligee, etc.. Basically any time you don’t want to be constrained by the bulkiness of a disposable nursing pad! They work really well and give you a little bit of freedom every once in a while.

The reason I don’t recommend using them in substitute of the more traditional pads is because my skin tended to get very dry when I would wear them for days at a time. For one day or one night every once in a while these are well worth the cost. Each set will last for about a month and even more if your usage is sporadic.

 

 

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Sophie, She’s Perfect in Every Way

Mar 8, 2010 by desiringvirtue

Teething Blues?

Meet Sophie. If you are a mom of a teething baby or a soon to be mom you need to. My first encounter with Sophie was in a desperate search for a teether that my son would actually use. I don’t know if he is simply a picky little guy or what, but every Target, Walmart, and Babies R Us teether was a flop. He simply showed no interest in them whatsoever. This was rather frustrating considering that he was in so much pain and I had been given all of these wonderful toys specifically for such an occasion that now seemed absolutely useless. Enter my search for the perfect teether on Amazon.

It wasn’t long before I came across Sophie. She isn’t listed as a teether, but as a sensory toy. You see, her cute little body is malleable and easily squeaks when squeezed (so easily that a six month old would have no problem eliciting a pleasant sound). All of the reviews swore up and down that Sophie was their child’s favorite chew toy. The only bad reviews I could find were people complaining that it looked and felt like a chew toy… for dogs. Well, this did not deter me because honestly my son seemed to prefer my dog’s Kong to anything he had received at his baby showers. The only problem with this toy was the price tag, which boasts an incredible $17 for a  7’’ tall rubber squeaky toy! On to Elliot’s Wishpot it went and we patiently waited for a loving family member to bless him with this little joy.

Thanks to my wonderful Aunt Darla, our son received his Sophie on his first birthday. Can I tell you that I think she is worth $17? I know it sounds crazy but everything about Sophie is perfect. She is adorable, from her sweet eyes to her caramel colored spots; she is the perfect size and shape for little hands to grasp; and she has many different places on her body that are great for rubbing sore gums against. From the harder surfaces like her little horns and hoofs, to the softer ones like her legs and head, Elliot always finds what he is looking for in a moment of need. Her legs are even long and slender enough to reach the back gums! The texture of her body is a soft rubber that makes that “squeaky clean” sound when baby rubs it between his gums. That sound makes me so happy because I just know that if feels good against his tender mouth.

Another asset that is unique to Sophie is her multi functionality. I am impressed by how much Elliot likes to simply play with Sophie. He loves the ease of her squeaker and finds it so hilarious when he really gets it going. I love that she is something he actually enjoys looking at, playing with, and using to sooth himself. I have even found him looking into Sophie’s eyes for extended amounts of time and then giggling at her!

Elliot recently gave Sophie to his little brother Hudson who loves her with equal delight, but he sneeks in some play time whenever he can!

Because of my love for Sophie I had to share her with you. Many of you probably already heard about her in magazines and such, but just in case you hadn’t I felt compelled to introduce you!

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