Let’s face it. Not all moms are blessed with the ability to be a SAHM or WAHM. When we realized I would not be able to stay at home after the baby, we had to make the decision to look for a daycare provider. We were blessed when we found an at home daycare. I compiled this list to take with us to interview different facilities and providers. I have tailored it to work with an “attached parenting” style. You can always narrow this list down to fit your needs, but we find that this list asks the questions we need to know most:

“Are you going to take care of my child as if you were me?”

New Daycare Provider Questions

•       Licensed?
•       Do you know CPR?
•       Vegan diet/ food allergy friendly (separate eating area)
•       Handles and warms breastmilk properly
•       Any specific supplies we need to provide?
•       Do you drive around with the children?
•       Do you keep any other children? If so, how many?
•       How and when do you bill us?
•       How much? (Sibling discount?)
•       Do we pay when children are sick, not there, vacation?
•       Do you require days off? What days?
•       How far in advance can you notify us?
•       Holidays in Advance?
•       Will you notify us if our kids are sick?
•       Do you keep other kids when they are sick?
•       Are your drop off and pickup times flexible?
•       Will you give us a daily report on our kids? Times they eat? Nap times?
•       What do you do for time out?
•       Do you allow them to “cry it out”?
•       What activities do you do during the day?
•       What is a typical day for you all? Flow?
•       Is your house child proof? (Cabinet locks, appropriate toys, baby gates, plug         covers?)
•       Do you allow smoking inside the home?
•       Do you allow TV? What will they watch? How long?
•       Outside play? Is backyard fenced in and appropriate for kids to play in?
•       Do you clean toys often?
•       Are there animals? Are they good with kids?
•       Where will Laila and Daisy sleep? ( Daisy sleeps elevated on her back because of Laryingo Malaysia)
•       Do you have a disaster plan? (In case of tornado/earthquakes/flood?)
•       May we show up unannounced?
•       What do you like most about running an in-home childcare facility? Least?
•       Do you have any references of children that you have kept previously?

Happy daycare provider hunting and remember, you are not any less of a parent for having to go back to work. You are amazing and your child will be cared for no matter what! 

Do you have any additional questions you think we should add to the list of daycare provider questions? Comment below! We’d love to hear from you!

Be sure to join us in our social media accounts to be up to date with the progress of our project!

And… Don’t forget to share your brelfies using our HT #BreastfeedingWorld 

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Spen’sar Custer

Born and raised in Central Florida and currently reside in Tennessee. I am a working mother of 2, a wife, a vegan, a Buddhist, a breastfeeder and last but not least a breast milk donor. My dream is to one day become a certified Lactation Consultant. I have experienced an unplanned C-section, and a natural non medicated VBAC. Find her on Instagram: @themilkmonsters

themilkmonsters.blogspot.com/

The post Back to work: Daycare Provider Questions appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

With my first baby, I’d always keep the boppy pillow in the car and nurse beforehand, which is completely fine…but not always practical. Most baby stores provide nursing rooms for you but other retail stores don’t. Whether your nursing style is right out in the open, in a room, in the car, or under a blanket, unless you are dressed properly, you’re going to have a hard time.

The Nursing Bra

Most of you know this is a necessity. The nursing bra is normally soft with latches located at the shoulder for easy access to the breasts. All you have to do is undo the clip and latch your child on. You may choose underwire for extra support, but beware. The underwire can press the small milk ducts surrounding your breasts and can sometimes lead to mastitis or clogged ducts.

The Blouse

I’m six foot tall so I normally will opt for an oversize T-shirt with a cami underneath. They do make easy access shirts with special built in bra and snap clips. Great for layering and it makes nursing in public a breeze; you literally just move your shirt to one side and go!

Nursing in public in you carrier or sling

This also makes for discreet nursing in public, and is wonderful if you are walking through a store or theme park. I’ll even do it around the house in my soft structured carrier. Most people will be none the wiser and baby will be close to you and happy.  If you are unsure on how to do this, most carriers now include instructions on how to do this. There are also TONS of YouTube tutorials that explain how to do this for certain types of carriers.

Nursing covers

Ah, the nursing cover! The bane of many a nursing mother’s existences. They work for some moms, others look at it as a symbol of oppression. Either way, if you are using one, it needs to be light weight and breathable for your nursing baby’s sake.

Neither of my girls would nurse under a cover, they got too hot and I found it was a distraction for them. Some companies make amazing covers and they really have come a long way. Some look like stylish like a scarf that can easily and comfortably be worn by mom all day long as part of her outfit. Other nursing covers fold up as a handy bag that can be stashed inside of the diaper bag or purse. Most covers have a wire that is ran through the fabric at the top to allow mom to glance in at baby and for air to flow freely through the cover.

Nursing Necklace

I have to admit that when I started nursing, I honestly thought these were a waste of money and a fad. I am a believer now. After nursing 2 fidgety babies, these are a must have in my opinion. They are necklaces worn by mom while nursing to keep baby pre occupied and helps them finish up with the task at “breast”. You can find an array of nursing necklaces online. Just make sure they are brightly colored and textured. Also take care in finding a non-toxic necklace and if they have beads or shapes, you want to make sure they are secure and cannot be removed by baby and become a potential choking hazard. If you crochet, check out my blog post on how to create one yourself! 

I hope these tips help you while on your nursing journey, because we all know if mama and baby aren’t happy during nursing…ain’t nobody happy!

Be sure to join us in our social media accounts to be up to date with the progress of our project!

And… Don’t forget to share your brelfies using our HT #BreastfeedingWorld 

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Spen’sar Custer

Born and raised in Central Florida and currently reside in Tennessee. I am a working mother of 2, a wife, a vegan, a Buddhist, a breastfeeder and last but not least a breast milk donor. My dream is to one day become a certified Lactation Consultant. I have experienced an unplanned C-section, and a natural non medicated VBAC. Find her on Instagram: @themilkmonsters

themilkmonsters.blogspot.com/

The post Nursing in public, tricks of the trade appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

Once again, I am nursing and working. Which means pumping every 3 hours. This means I needed to notify my manager and HR department when I came back to work. The first time I came back from maternity leave, I had no clue what to do, or how to tell my manager I needed the extra breaks. I pumped in my hot car for the first week. I took to Instagram to ask what other moms did. I was quickly informed that there are laws set in place that give mothers the right to pump on the job and take the necessary breaks needed. I mean, we are keeping someone else alive…it’s kind of a big deal.

Our Lactation Room Fiasco

I got online and printed out the Break time for Nursing mothers law and headed down to my HR department armed with literature and law. I was informed that my workplace didn’t have a lactation room. I presented the paperwork I had printed from online and was told that my HR department would work to get this going for me and that I was the first mother to come to them and request a lactation room.

The next day I was informed they had cleared out a storage room for my use. On my break, I went to the room to pump. I noticed the room was filthy, no table, no sink…nothing. Just dusty old books. I went back to HR and explained to them the need for cleanliness and a place to sit. Within the month they installed a sink and got me a table and chair.

Our lactation room

It’s been a battle, let me tell ya. People did not grasp what the lactation room was for. They still don’t honestly. People go in there and take lunch breaks, they lock the door so no one can go in, we’ve walked in on people sitting at our pump table eating burgers (I’m vegan so that’s not cool!), or hanging out in there talking on the phones and we’ve had supplies stolen. HR has tried posting signs everywhere notifying others that it is NOT a designated breakroom, and that it’s for nursing moms only on tightly scheduled breaks. Still no luck. A fellow lactating coworker informed me she was making her own signs for the room because obviously the other 8 signs were not getting through to people.

One of the many signs we have up

So far, we’ve had no issues. We’ve had to leave the door closed and the occupied sign up to give the illusion someone is in there, but other than that, it’s been smooth milking. My manager and HR have been awesome about working with my many pump breaks during the day, and because of this I am able to continue nursing my baby and donate milk. If you are having issues at work, approach your HR with the laws in hand. You’ll be surprised how quickly your managers will work with you once they learn it is law, and if all else fails…make some signs!  Happy lactating!

Don’t forget to check out my previous article: Giving back – Human milk for human babies

Be sure to join us in our social media accounts to be up to date with the progress of our project!

And… Don’t forget to share your brelfies using our HT #BreastfeedingWorld 

–

[col1][/col1]

[col2][/col2]

[col3][/col3]

Spen’sar Custer

Born and raised in Central Florida and currently reside in Tennessee. I am a working mother of 2, a wife, a vegan, a Buddhist, a breastfeeder and last but not least a breast milk donor. My dream is to one day become a certified Lactation Consultant. I have experienced an unplanned C-section, and a natural non medicated VBAC. Find her on Instagram: @themilkmonsters

themilkmonsters.blogspot.com/

The post Going back to work – lactation room fiasco appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

Image taken from google search

When it comes to breastfeeding, I’ve been blessed with the gift of oversupply. This was also the case with my first child as well. I can usually pump up to 16 oz. in one sitting…more if I’ve overslept (youch!) or go over 3 hrs without pumping or nursing. My freezer is nothing fancy just a normal top of refrigerator compartment, it’s tiny though. My frozen bags that were already filled to the top were falling out everywhere when we would open the door. Most of the milk was coming close to expiration. I couldn’t bear the thought of throwing my milk away as I had so many times before. At one point we had tossed 54 bags!!!

I was fighting with myself about having to toss more milk out. We can’t afford a deep freezer so that was out of the question. I hopped on to google and found out that you could donate your frozen milk as long as you were healthy and met certain guidelines. My milk was actually considered “high demand” since I am vegan and my diet is dairy free.

Me, pumpin’ it up at work

All within a day’s pump session at work

Several sites indicated how you could donate and charge others for your services. Being Buddhist, I’m not into all that. I just wanted a way to give back. Not everyone can breastfeed. Not everyone wants to. But we can all agree that it’s the best start possible for our little ones. I took to Instagram to ask other mothers for advice and to see if they knew of any ways I could donate without having to charge people for my milk.

I was pointed to Human Milk for Human Babies which is a public facebook page where you can post your milk and what area of the country you are in. People looking for milk in your area can contact you through the site and you arrange a public meeting area to donate to them. I made my first Facebook page and posted my ad to the donation site. Parents began contacting me left and right. My heart was just exploding at the thought of being able to not only feed my children, but to help others.

I met with my first donor baby shortly after. The exchange was peaceful and the baby was so cute. The mother was young and told me about how her supply plummeted shortly after he was born. She was so grateful to find a donor. She even brought me some storage bags to say thanks. Since then, I have been donating every month and have met mothers and babies from all over my area. It’s an amazing way to give back while also keeping your refrigerator from exploding. There are other websites out there to help get you started on your donor journey.

My breastmilk, ready to be donated

Milk donation is one of the best decisions I have made while on my breastfeeding journey. If you are able to donate, I think you will agree with me. The feeling is indescribable and it’s such a wonderful way to give back.

Have you ever been able to donate your breastmilk? If so, we would love to hear your experiences! Leave us your comment below telling us all about it!

Spen’sar Custer

Born and raised in Central Florida and currently reside in Tennessee. I am a working mother of 2, a wife, a vegan, a Buddhist, a breastfeeder and last but not least a breast milk donor. My dream is to one day become a certified Lactation Consultant. I have experienced an unplanned C-section, and a natural non medicated VBAC. Find her on Instagram: @themilkmonsters

themilkmonsters.blogspot.com/

The post Giving back: Human Milk for Human Babies appeared first on Breastfeeding World.