It is finished

 This is a wrap conversion half buckle with wrap straps. I'm not sure if this is considered a Mei Tai or a hybrid. The straps and waist band are padded with a soft high density foam, while the head rest and legs out sides padding is a little less dense.

The reason I went with wrap straps instead of a full buckle design is because I find buckles under my arms to be somewhat annoying. Now, if one were to have fixed straps without the buckle (such as with a Boba or Tula) than there is only webbing to contend with. Though I can still get a nice carry with an adjustable buckle carrier like Kinderpack and Beco's Gemini that allows you to wear the straps straight or crossed because of the buckle. Truth be told I miss my Gemini, which I sold to acquire a infant sized Kinderpack. I feel that right now the Kinderpack is too wide on the top and my little one doesn't seem as comfortable in it. While the standard size was a fabulous fit for her older siblings, I'm struggling to find the love with the infant version. I save it for times when I truly just need quick "ups" or errands.

 Meanwhile at home I'm more drawn to using a wrap to achieve a carry that's imitates what an arms embrace would feel like. Which brings me to the second reason I wanted wrap straps and this narrow contoured body panel was so I could adjust the carrier for a more custom fit every time. To narrow the seat I place the waist belt higher (where you'd want a new baby anyhow), and can spread the wrap passes in such a way as to hug the baby more snuggly than I could in my full buckle carrier.

I wish I could make more of these! I wish I could sell them... or donate them without fear of regulations and lawsuits should someone has an accident or something. I think that this design has some potential, but I don't have the time nor capital to test it in order to make it compliant... but if all I had to do was sew, I'd make one of these a week with whatever wrap someone wanted just for the thrill of accomplishing something.

Rainbow Ring Sling

Big squish
(little squish was asleep)

Since the new squish arrived, I've been reminded why it is that ring slings make the best carriers for newborns. They're so little, you just want something that hugs them up close and snug. They don't weigh much so a one shoulder support is amply sufficient. Yet, my other slings were inching in towards my neck instead of resting on my shoulder. The solution for this is a different shoulder style; Eesti Shoulder.

The hardest part was building up the courage to cut my wrap. Since I like to use the sling tail to create a second seat pass or to serve as a nursing cover, so this is a long sling.

I selected to convert my Girasol light rainbow size 2 "shortie."

knitting right along

I wasn't sure if this would be a sweater or more of a poncho... from the top down you can go either way. Now though, the decision has been made and it will be more of a sweater with traditional sleeves. Sleeves are now on holders (stitches are just looped onto a piece of yarn and tied in a circle). The circulars are proceeding with working down the length of the body.

Baptism Gown in a new medium

Usually I knit these with my yummy stretchy cotton, but alas, I couldn't find any in white. Instead I decided upon a 50/50 Merino/ Bamboo sport weight blend called Galileo by Knit Picks. Both being very fine and silky straight fibers, there's not much crimp, and the only elasticity is created by the ribbing effect of the cable patterns. Befitting a spring time baby, this is short sleeved, and hopefully won't be too hot or heavy. It's no lace knit, but it's certainly not worsted either. I purchased 6 skeins for this project, but only used four. I could make booties or a hat, but neither would be worn. My last Baptismal gown had a matching hat, but it was worn for like a minute and was practically a waste of time and energy.

Baby carriers for sale: Updated

Since I'm technologically challenged I'm hosting my own pictures here on my blog for some baby carriers I'm needing to re-home. PM me if you're interested.

 

The mei tai with the country print is constructed with cotton canvas and has been lightly used. I made it back in 2005. the top straps are only very lightly padded in the upper region with 100% cotton batting. This was triple stitched. Asking $20 OBO ppd

Breast: A Natural and Unnatural History

Florence William's book, Breast: A Natural and Unnatural History, came to my attention after I completed some continuing education on women's cancer. This book has a lot of gems, and reading incrementally helps me to process them all.

Lactation is just part of this book, Williams isn't pushing it on us, but looking at the science in a fairly unbiased way. There have been a few damming accusations thrown at human lactation and it's important to look at all of the surrounding circumstances. For instance, why does lactation act to decrease breast cancer in some women, but then you hear about women who are pregnant, or nursing a baby discovering they have breast cancer? I've personally known two women diagnose with breast cancer within two years of childbirth, who breastfed exclusively. That has baffled and frightened me. Williams interviews a scientist who speculates that it's not so much nursing your babies, but the age of the mother during her first pregnancy that is important, and my friends were older when they started having children. The  younger you are when you give birth, the less likely you'll develop breast cancer, supposedly.  The theory is that a first pregnancy later in life, when the breast might have more pre-cancer cells, might actually trigger an outburst of cancer when the breast tissues rapidly expand for lactation. So in these situations, the older first time mom, may have an increase risk of breast cancer than the woman who never has children at all. This makes me grateful that I had my first child in my early twenties. I hope it was soon enough. Still, this is not great news and needs to be researched further.

 My attachment towards lactation is solid, and I wish more moms and babies would benefit from it. Still, it is important to find alternative ways to feed the babies who can't be breastfed. Having been bottle and formula fed myself, I morn the loss of all the protections I might have had, and wonder what damage might have been done, and what am I lacking in my milk that won't be passed on to my children, as the effects are thought to be multi-generational. When my grandmother's generation abandoned nursing their babies they probably had no idea what they were giving up. I think the loss is affecting us even today, as it seems that children are even less healthy then they used to be.

Another section of the book deals with environmental contaminants and toxins in breast milk. This is tragic, however, I wouldn't toss in the towel on human breast milk, simply because if our bodies are polluted, surely the cow's milk is too. So I doubt formula is going to be "cleaner" than we are since it's derived from animals walking and eating from the same planet as us.

Clearly, this post isn't complete since I haven't finished reading this book yet. However, I'm learning so much from it that it seemed appropriate to go ahead and recommend this book to anyone who has ever wondered at all about anything breast related. The thing I like the most so far is that Williams has done her research and come into contact with so many scientist who are currently studying many different aspects of the breast, breast milk, and our immune system. I hadn't expected it, but this book is tying into the theme that emphasizes the importance of good gut flora to our health.

Electrical outlet safety

Nothing I can stick my
fingers into here...
moving on...

Just about every electrical outlet in our house is covered with a special outlet cover. Babies really do try and stick things into uncovered electrical outlets, at least mine do. Sure the cheapest way to cover the sockets is with little plugs, but it's so inconvenient having to pry them off in order to use the outlet, and my past experience has proved that often one will forget to replace the plug cover. Another downside to  the plug cover is that they are small enough to be a choking hazard if a small child or infant decided to stick one into his or her mouth. But a fair amount of supervision can prevent this as removing the plug covers can be difficult and you're likely to notice a child hard at work doing something like that, unless you have the press and pull plug protectors which are easier to removed. Still the plug covers are the cheapest and easiest way to cover electrical outlets quickly. I purchased a box for less than $5 once while on vacation to quickly baby proof the home we stayed in for about a week.

However, when I began baby proofing our house I decided I'd upgrade to the an outlet cover model for two reasons. The first being my annoyance with my experience with the pesky plug covers, and the second being all our outlets were an unattractive beige. The outlet cover provided not only baby proofing, maintaining easy outlet accessibility (for mom), but also hid the ugly outlet behind a fresh white plate, making all my outlets look modern and new.

We've had three babies learn to crawl in this house and I've not had any regrets about our investment in these covers. I did buy them in batches initially because covering the whole house felt like a lot of money up front. However, as the babies venture into various rooms, or rearranging furniture exposes another batch of outlets, we've purchased these covers as we went. I'm certain we've procured a few different brands, but they all seem the same to me and I've not noticed much difference between them.  I absolutely take it for granted until I find myself in a place where the outlets are not covered in any way, such as church or someone else's house. When there's no covers I'm uneasy and feel compelled to just keep the baby in my carrier so I won't have to worry about a finger finding it's way into the electrical socket. Of all the baby proofing items we've tried, these have been one of our best investments and brings me a bit of peace of mind.

Now if only I could find something that would disguise my knitting so that I could lay it down and not have to fear a little one pulling all the stitches off the needles the moment I turn around.

Sunflower lecithin prevents my reccurent plugged ducts

As a lactating mother I had been plagued with recurrent plugged ducts and finding myself in the throws of mastitis, or as I sarcastically refer to it, boob flu. All nursing mothers need to be aware that flu like symptoms might be an early sign that you might have a blockage which can lead to mastitis. As soon as you notice these symptoms you need to slow down, go back to bed,  and nurse the baby as much as possible. This is the time to cancel appointments, utilize all the help you can get, and just relax. The sooner you do next to nothing, the faster you'll get better.

However, despite all the tricks I had learned, I was still coming down with plugged ducts every time I turned around until I came across advice to take lecithin. It certainly was worth trying. Since I tend to be a less is best kind of gal, I skipped the high dose recommendations and have been taking just one 1200mg capsule a day, which is well below the maximum dosage. It's been about three months since I started sunflower lecithin capsules and I've realized that I haven't had anymore plugged ducts. I choose sunflower lecithin over soy lecithin because I'm not comfortable with the long term use of soy products. However, I've been unable to find anything negative or scary about sunflower lecithin. As long as it keeps my ducts healthy I'm going to keep taking one a day as long as I'm nursing.

Some of the other recommendations I've tried are:
1. wear a very loose bra or something just to hold nursing pads in place and ensure that lines or seams do not press upon the breast area. With self stick pads such as Lansinoh Disposable Nursing pads, I've been able to avoid using a bra most of the time.
2. avoid stress.
3. take it easy.
4. nurse on demand and don't wait till the baby is fussy and cranky to offer the breast.
5. keep the breast milk flowing, especially if you're suffering a bought of plugged duct or mastitis
6. hot showers and very warm compresses can help loosen duct blockage. It also helps to message or hand express milk during a hot shower, focusing on the region of the blockage to help expel the plug.
7. A clean disposable diaper that is chlorine and perfume free filled with hot water makes a wonderful hot compress. I've used Nurtured by Nature and the old version of Bambo Nature. You can reheat it in the microwave when it gets cold. However, I wouldn't advice using the same diaper compress for more than a few hours. Toss it and make a new one.
8. Take better care of yourself! Drink water, make sure you're well nourished with proteins and foods naturally rich in the vitamins and minerals you need for both you and your baby.

Bamboo prefold diapers are my new favorite

Diapers, diapers, diapers, I'm going back to the basics when it comes to diapering my baby. Except I've been around the block a time or two and I'm keeping a few of the modern inventions in my bag of tricks. Recently, I downsized my large stash of pocket diapers when I realized I didn't need enough to diaper twins. While they work really well for the toilet training stage, as we move closer to underpants, I seem to be using fewer pocket diapers for the older toddler, as they have fewer toilet misses. However, I wanted a softer natural fiber fabric next to the baby's skin, which you just can't do with a synthetic fiber pocket diaper. My experiments with "natural" lining pockets always resulted in wicking leaks
.

Grovia sz 4 over an older
European Prefold

My old prefold diapers were a little too long and sometimes too narrow so that the diapers were outgrown before they reached the max rise. Always, the old prefold needed to be folded down in either the front or back. However, the newest designs has ushered in the advent of the newly sized prefolds that are now wider and a little shorter making for a much better fit.

Cotton, a fiber for the ages is still king for it's endurance and absorbency, but bamboo and hemp have made their mark and are taking their place in the diaper world. I have a few different prefolds in my stash, but my favorite right now is Grovia's bamboo and cotton blend diaper. Certainly more expensive than a standard prefold, but still cheaper than a months worth of premium disposable diapers. They come in three packs and four sizes. The only size I would bother with, given my children's fast growth tendencies, is the toddler size 4. Currently, I have nine of these prefolds, and I "want" more. However, since I still have three little ones filling my diaper pail with (diapers, training pants, and extra thick night time fitted diapers), I have to wash long before I've actually run out of clean ones. Nine Grovia's is more than enough, if reserved for nap and bed time, when you're washing your diapers every other day.



Amazon Mom Discounts

Baptismal Gown

Sometimes simple is best.

Sewing spree

I'm on a new sewing spree. The baby is a long one, and has nearly gown past the point of fitting into what I define as "real" baby clothes. I like being able to snap him in, or unsnap for diaper changes, yet they stop making clothes like this after the 9 month size. So I've been inspired to build a stash of larger jumper-sleeper like outfits for the cooler weather coming up.

I also made myself another under-nursing shirt. Gone are the shirts with hidden panels, buttons, flaps, and such. Now, I find it so much easier to layer with a soft nursing bra-like shirt under a normal shirt while I'm nursing. I just need to make more so I can cull the nursing shirt collection. 

bibs

A friend of mine asked if I've be interested in making some things for her store. You know, every now and then someone will ask me and I'm sorely tempted to start making things to sell again. I decided that I would like to try and make some things for her though. Even though I really don't have any free time, I feel like I should at least try. Yet, I'm torn about stealing time away from the kids and my family for a business proposition that might only be a drain on them instead of an enhancement. I'm dabbling my toe back into the waters and trying to see what I can do. Right now I have 4 bibs I managed to complete this weekend. We'll see how it goes.

There's just so many things I WANT to make, and so many things I NEED to do. And for the first time in my life I feel like I'm maxed to the max, and coming up short from what I've got going...yet, there's just got to be a way to work all that I want and need to do. Maybe, perhaps...well, I'll give it my best try.

What do you think is a fair price to pay for a bib? I saw something similar on Etsy for $9, is that too high? I wouldn't pay that much, of course, I'd just make it myself.

Baby Bunting

A double sided opening on a baby snowsuit is a must in my book. I've had it in my mind to make a new snowsuit for the baby with a cotton jersey lining and a wool shell. I purchased this tan fabric to be the shell, then found it felted up too much in the wash (after I'd already cut out the peices). So I needed to purchase a different wool fabric for my shell (and wash it before cutting out my peices). Not wanting to waste these dark tan peices, I decided to practice with it. This one has a lot of snaps.

The double snap front panel allows for dressing the baby more easily. The snaps along the inseam and crotch allow for diaper changes without having to take the baby out of the bunting.

This particular peice will be just fine for the fall weather, and I'll just need to remember to wash it by hand.

Baby's Alpaca Sweater

I started this about 20 days ago...that's a long time for me...and long time in the life of a quickly growing baby. But it's still big enough for my little one.

The yarn came from an impulsive purchase at a local shop. It's 100% alpaca wool, and just looked so chocolate and pinkilicious! I had to make my princess something girly with this.

Pouch Sling

I thought I really needed one of these... and I love how it turned out. However, the baby has not let me put her into it (without crying) so it's failed to gain her approval.

This pouch is double layered with cotton sateen fabric, and wool flannel. I thought it would be great for winter time baby wearing. Oh well.