Bummis

Here! Now! Breastfeeding in the Strangest Places

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:38:00 +0000

In 2010 Licia Ronzulli, a Member of the European Parliament in Italy, wore her baby to work. Not sure whether she was breastfeeding, but people were nonetheless excited to see a baby in such an unexpected place, and the photo was widely circulated on the Internet.

A little while ago, our very own MomOfThree@Bummis posted this on our Facebook page: If you breastfeed, at one point or another you have probably had to nurse your baby in places that are less than ideal... For me it was Halloween, and I was sitting on the curb at the side of hte road, in a costume, surrounded by kids on sugar highs, nursing my little pumpkin!

What followed was a long list of hilarious and inspiring comments from moms describing the most unusual circumstances in which they've ever breastfed. Hey, if your baby's hungry, your baby's hungry. Sometimes the best place to breastfeed is HERE. NOW.

So, where is the strangest place you've breastfed?

On a tractor.

At the Silent Film Festival in Topeka, Kansas! Note the word "silent" hence the need to nurse!

At my dad's office

At Seaworld watching a show with a 6-week-old kicking the whole time. I'm sure the person behind me got a show.

Vancouver 2010 Olympics

On a bench at Disneyland

Marineland in Niagara Falls. My then 3-month-old nursed during the dolphin show.

During a pelvic exam at my postpartum visit

At a restaurant while my three-year-old cousin came to see what we were doing and started flapping my nursing cover up and down so he could play peek-a-boo with my daughter.

Slow dancing with my husband at a friend's wedding. My son was 2.5 weeks old, and he wanted to nurse, and I wanted to dance! All three of us got to dance!

On the back porch while it was snowing and my little one was in her snowsuit. My big girl wanted to play out in the snow and the little one wanted to nurse... what can you do?

During carnaval in the Netherlands, sitting in front of a bar, dressed in a costume, nursing my Pippi Longstocking. Also in the middle of a market square, dressed in a different costume. It might have shocked the people in my hometown, that I was nursing a 2-year-old right there.

At a hockey game amongst 3000 yelling fans!

At Navy boot camp graduation, sitting in the bleachers facing 3000 brand-new Navy sailors standing at attention.

At the circus. (seriously)

On the sidewalk while watching the Santa Parade go by, with my 5-year-old, and the rest of the West side.

In line for the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland. I was a brand new mommy and so unsure of myself! I was nursing in the sling for the first time, both baby and I struggling, and people seemingly breathing down my neck! Rough.

When my hubby was finishing up the paper work for our new van last week. It was taking forever! We were at the car lot for 6 hours! At the end, my 5-year-old was rolling on the showroom floor. My 6-year-old was coloring nicely. And I was walking around nursing my 7-month-old. Thankfully I was double-layered with a nursing tank and a regular shirt on top. All the men working there didn't even give me a second look.

Fort Knox military base during my husband's basic training graduation.

In was in the E.R. with Gallstones and was nursing my 5-week-old while the male nurse put in my IV. Not a very fun nursing time, but I will nurse my little one through anything!

My husband and I were gate judges at a kayaking event when our daughter was 4 or 5 months old. It was coldish and rainy so I put warm, nursing-accessible clothes on, then my Ergo, placed bundled babes in Ergo, then a warm jacket. About 3/4 of the way through the event babes got hungry for her afternoon snack... so here I am sitting at the side of a raging river, under an umbrella trying to manoeuvre baby around so she stayed warm but got what she wanted. Definitely one for the baby book!

Sitting on the folding table at a laundromat!

On a bench set up in between the port-a-potties at a flea market

Standing up in the viewing gallery of the B.C. Provincial Legislature as the Lieutenant Governor was entering the Leg for his throne speech.

My dad is a referee for our local roller derby team. We went to a match when our peanut was only days old. I breastfed him in the middle of a bunch of crazy fans watching women smash each other up. It was so funny.

Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Walt Disney Resort.

Hockey game, post-partum visit during the exam, on a bench during a fraternity conference (while a couple hundred college kids are walking around of course), back seat of the car a number of times.

In a restaurant bathroom on a toilet without a lid because they only had 2 stalls and no handicapped one with a lid... we never EVER went back to that restaurant.

Back seat of the car. A rare time that I was grateful for bigger elastic boobs and a family with a sense of humor.

While baby was in the Ergo, while I was on the elliptical trainer.

On the wagon on the back of the tractor during a hay ride.

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.

While playing in the snow with my big kids, while baby was still strapped in his car seat, at the zoo, while grocery shopping, at church, at the park, farmer's market, roller derby... I don't know that I could get much done if I didn't have all of my wraps, slings and Mei Tais.

Wandering around the chicken show at our local country fair.

During a doctor's visit. The doctor did my physical while I had a baby attached to my boob. I still don't know who deserves more credit, me or the doctor!

Home alone, doing an initial walk-through with 3 male movers from the moving company!

Giving out candy during Halloween and having a little girl scream IT'S A REAL ONE!!!

During a massage, walking everywhere (mall, groceries, drugstore, etc.), any festival (all seasons), of course in the car, most appointments (dentist, chiropractor, etc.), during yoga class (you understand all the meaning of yoga when you are breastfeeding doing it), in the bath, on the toilet, at the restaurant (trying to eat at the same time). I'm breastfeeding on demand REALLY.

On my balcony in the snow in my pyjama shirt.

At the dentist while getting my teeth cleaned.

While having my IUD put in. My baby lost her mind during my exam and was hungry.

Volleyball tournament, right on the beach surrounded by volleyball courts and people playing. It was so warm and my LO would not let me cover her. That day gave me so much confidence as women were coming over to see her nurse and complemented me on breastfeeding in public. Went from being very embarrassed to very relaxed and happy.

On an air plane, sitting between a congressman and a lobbyist.

I was called in to court to testify on someone's behalf. We were sitting in a small consultation room talking with the lawyer and I breastfed right there in the little room across the small table from the bigwig lawyer. After a while he lit up his cigarette (was allowed in those days, still). I was aghast at his nerve. I politely asked if he'd mind not smoking in the presence of such a young baby. The lawyer looked confused, then I nodded toward my baby sleeping in my arms. He was almost bowled over in surprise... hadn't even noticed her! So of course, he hadn't noticed my previously bared breast when I nursed her.

In the Pentagon. I went to see a friend get promoted to Col. and had to feed the baby. By the way, no changing tables there either!

In the bathroom at my wedding, in my wedding dress that had a corset top... so I had to bend the boning down... hence why I was in the bathroom!

New Easy Fit (with minky!) Review

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:09:00 +0000

Let me start out by saying that when I initially heard that big changes were coming to the Tots Bots Easy Fit diaper, I was a little nervous. Ever since I won an Easy Fit in a Bummis blog giveaway, I fell in love with them and they have been one of my favourite diapers. My initial thoughts were "why mess with such a near-perfect thing?" However, I have been very happily surprised by the changes to the diapers. Apparently, near-perfection can indeed be turned into a whole new kind of perfection.

Some features that have changed:

The interior of the diaper:
The old Easy Fits were lined with two layers of fabric - one layer of rayon from bamboo, and one layer of microfiber. On the new version, the interior is made of minky. The minky interior should be far more durable, it eliminates the need for microfiber (which is more prone to stink issues) and, according to Tots Bots, it absorbs up to 20% more than the old interior and dries a LOT faster.

The elastic around the waist:
This is now wider, making for a tighter fit at the back, which keeps messy early poops in even better than before. Very conveniently, when I was sent these diapers for review I had a son at the top end of the weight range at about 34 lbs and was about to give birth and thus be able to test the diaper out on a baby at the bottom of the weight range at the same time. I was honestly a bit skeptical about how these would work on my tiny newborn girl, since the new stretchier waist gave a much more spacious fit on my son. However, I was happily surprised to find that they fit and worked on both children fantastically well. Kind of a shock to me, since I'e always been more of a sized diaper kind of girl.

What I like about the New Easy Fit:

The wider waist and extra stretch gives a much nicer fit on a baby at the top of the weight range. Although our other Easy Fits (old version) still fit my 34lb son, they do tend to slide down off his bum and give him "plumbers butt." This problem is entirely gone with the new version.

The minky interior is soft and stays soft even when line drying. A general complaint about diapers made of natural fibers is that they tend to get stiff and a bit crunchy when they are line dried. This was true of my older style Easy Fits. The minky is pretty much as soft as new, even after two months of only hang drying.

The drying time on these diapers is incredible! I live in Canada and was given these diapers mid-February in the thick of winter. I have been able to hang dry them every time because they dry so quickly. The actual drying time will of course depend on the temperature and humidity in your home, but at my house, when hung side by side, the old Easy Fit took about 12 hours to fully dry while the newer style dried in about 6 hours. Not only is hang drying better for the diapers, but it also saves money and energy not having to throw them in the dryer!

I like the snap version for my newborn, which was a complete surprise for me. I'm not a fan of snap diapers in general. My little girl has a tendency to be a bit gassy and the snaps on her provide a much less rigid line around her tummy than the hook and loop, so she can move more freely and get that gas out. She always cries less when wearing a snap diaper.

The look of them. The matching hook and loop and outer fabric look fantastic! It gives a much more polished look than the white hook and loop on the older version.

Minor issues for us:

The snaps are a little bit harder to do up and undo than other snap diapers that I've tried. It just means extra time putting the diaper on and taking if off, as well as needing to be careful to hold the fabric very close to the snap when undoing them.

The design of the New Easy Fit with snaps is slightly different than the New Easy Fit with hook and loop. To avoid having cross-over snaps for the smallest setting, Tots Bots made the front of the diaper slightly longer and the tabs slightly shorter on the snap version. This means that they fit fantastically on my little girl at just under 8lbs, but are on the last setting for my 34lb boy. They do fit him, but honestly it's a bit of a struggle. That being said, the weight range on these is 8-35 lbs, so they do cover what they should.

In conclusion

All in all, I love the New Easy Fit. When I ask my son (who's nearly 3) what he thinks, his response is that they're like a teddy bear on his bum. He likes to snuggle with the minky. He's extremely comfortable in his New Easy Fits, they absorb more than the old ones, they dry faster and they look great. What more could you ask for?

Great Cloth Diaper Change at Boutique Bummis in Montreal

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:34:00 +0000

A few weekends ago, on April 21st, our very own Boutique Bummis co-hosted a Great Cloth Diaper Change event with Baby Auric Diaper Service. We had 93 parents and babies gather together from all over Montreal, the surrounding suburbs, and even as far away as Quebec City (about 270 km, or 168 miles away!), all to celebrate cloth diapers. It was so much fun seeing all the cloth diapered babies in the room!

While we counted down to 12:30p.m. exactly, we read some wonderful stories about respecting our planet, in honor of Earth Day. We followed that with a great parent-baby yoga warm-up and face-painting. The main event was a great success thanks to our three official witnesses: human rights activist Milton James Fernandes, Jamie Orchard from Global Television, and cloth diaper expert Lesley Everest from MotherWit Doula Care. They were incredibly wowed by the families who attended and they were genuinely thrilled to be a part of our event.

We had less-than-perfect weather that day, so we are very grateful to everyone who came out to participate. We’ve been very excited to see photographs posted from around the world over the past weeks, so we wanted to be sure to share some favourites from our event. You can see more cute and inspiring photos on the Montreal GCDC Facebook page. You can also watch this great little video from Global Montreal!

We're very grateful to all of our friends and supporters who made this event possible. All participants went home with amazing gift bags, and 27 lucky participants left with a rockin’ raffle prize too. In total we gave away over $15,000 of swag! To see a full list of sponsors, check out the original version of this post on the Boutique Bummis blog.

Earth Mama Angel Baby Giveaway Winner

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who participated in our EMAB giveaway. It seems that for many of you, cloth diapers have been a gateway to green, and that you've started thinking about everything that touches your little one's skin!

The winner of the Baby Essentials Bundle is entry #32 on our blog:

We always look for natural products and read the labels, I usually check the cosmetics database through EWG before I buy any skin care products. Cloth has always been our choice, it is just so much better for holding things in...way more blowouts with disposables. I also hate the idea of any toxic ingredients near my kids!

If you're our lucky winner, we will be emailing you shortly to arrange the delivery of your prize. Thanks again to everyone who entered!

GCDC & Earth Mama Angel Baby Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 20:15:00 +0000

Tomorrow, April 21st, is the second incarnation of the Great Cloth Diaper Change. Want to participate? It's not too late! You can find a location near you.

"This world record attempt is a great way to show the world how many people are already choosing and using reusable cloth diapers successfully."

In celebration of this wonderful event, we've teamed up with our friends at Earth Mama Angel Baby to offer an exciting giveaway! We include a small sample of EMAB's Angel Baby Bottom Balm in our Organic Cotton Diaper Kit and BeautifulBASIC 2-Piece Cloth Diaper, but for this giveaway they really went all out!

We're offering one Baby Essentials Bundle (worth $60.75): a love-filled bundle of safe, natural products all bundled up in Earth Mama’s reusable, 100% Certified Organic cotton Mini Logo Tote. The Bundle includes: Angel Baby Lotion, Angel Baby Shampoo & Body Wash, Angel Baby Oil, Angel Baby Bath Blossoms, and Angel Baby Bottom Balm (cloth diaper safe, of course!).

Contest Details and How to Enter:
Many people who use cloth diapers have chosen to do so because they love knowing exactly what's in the soft fabric against their baby's skin. When you're shopping for baby skin care products, or mama care products, do you try to find natural products? Do you look for specific ingredients? If you're using cloth diapers, has your decision to use cloth made you think about what other kinds of products touch your little one's skin?

Post your answer in the comments section below and/or on our Facebook page under the link to this blog post. Be sure to include your email address, and write it as example(at)gmail(dot)com to avoid being spammed!

Contest open to residents of Canada and the USA. Maximum two entries per person, entries must be submitted by Monday April 23 by midnight EST. The winner will be announced next week.

DIY Mama: Part 5 (by guest blogger Jenna Robertson)

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:19:00 +0000

Jenna Robertson is studying to become a midwife, she is a former employee of Boutique Bummis in Montreal, and she is the mother of 10-month-old twins. She has been sharing her experiences as a parent of twins in a series of guest blog posts over the past few months. In this post, she writes about being a DIY mama.

Sewing machines are wonderful but my true love is my serger, which allows an untrained and imprecise sewer like me to produce straight beautiful lines in a sort of magical way. The serger cuts as it sews leaving behind little scraps of fabric. Somehow those scraps don’t seem like trash to me so they collect in bags and become stuffing for other things.

As winter approached this year I knew I needed a bunting bag for my stroller and I didn’t see anything I liked for less than $200, so I decided to try to make my own. With all the wool pants and mittens and hats I’d been making, I had a whole bag of wool and cashmere serger scraps.

I used some old cotton to make a kind of quilted bag and stuffed it full of tiny wool pieces to make a toasty layer for inside the bunting. I also found a long down coat at the Salvation Army for $20 and serged the edges, making a down layer to add over the wool. I used fabric I found at an antiques market and an old velvet curtain to make two sacs to fill with the down and wool pieces. I sewed those together by hand with heavy thread using a blanket stitch.

Giant button holes in the back piece became the openings for the five-point harness in the stroller seat and antique buttons from two grandmothers close the whole thing up around the baby. The bunting bag was my most ambitious project to date and I will admit to being pretty proud of it.

We have a Montessori bed, and as my girls got bigger and started wiggling around, I needed some bumper pillows for the floor around the bed. Once again I turned to my bag of serger scraps and half-filled some pretty pillow cases I had lying around, folded them over, and sewed the whole thing together with a blanket stitch to protect small heads from hitting the floor.

Jenna really is a DIY mama, and she makes a lot of wonderful things. This is the last in a series of posts about her amazing DIY projects. Scroll back through our blog to find more great ideas.

DIY Mama: Part 4 (by guest blogger Jenna Robertson)

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:24:00 +0000

I get intimidated by store-bought fabric. I prefer to turn one thing into another thing. Sweater sleeves make good pants, pillowcases make good pillows, old skirts can become new tights. It’s partly thriftiness and partly just what inspires me. Also, it’s impossible to ruin something you would probably throw out anyway. There is little chance of failure and no chance of wasting money. Figuring out how to make things gives my brain something to do, saves my family money, and gives me a sense of satisfaction.

Since my babies were born, I have somehow managed to get a lot of sewing done. When they were tiny I could sew with them strapped to me while bouncing on the yoga ball and since they have been bigger I sometimes sew during naptime. The great thing about sewing for babies is that projects are tiny and imperfections don’t matter, because if your babies are anything like my babies, they will wear holes in whatever you make in a month anyway. In the fall, a friend sent me this great tutorial on how to make baby tights and I got a little obsessed with it. I also adapted the pattern to use with old wool sweaters and became equally obsessed with making woolen footie pants (which can also be used instead of a wrap over cloth diapers).

The woolen footies led me to our Halloween costumes, which needed to be warm and practical for such little babies who couldn’t walk so I decided to dress up our Ergos as turtles with woolen legs and mitts and hats.

Jenna really is a DIY mama, and she makes many wonderful things. This is just one in a series of posts about her amazing DIY projects. Scroll through previous posts, and stay tuned for more ideas to come!

DIY Mama: Part 3 (by guest blogger Jenna Robertson)

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:42:00 +0000

After a few years of full-time midwifery training I hadn’t touched my sewing machines or done anything creative in a long time. At the end of the school year I was really excited to have some time to play around with sewing projects before giving birth. In preparation, I made curtains for the girls’ room, bum wipes from old towels and t-shirts, and a whole stack of cloth menstrual pads for myself.

Cloth menstrual pads are expensive and I knew the four I had had for fifteen years wouldn’t be enough postpartum. I had this great pattern from the Blood Sisters in Montreal so I made myself a whole stack. I hate disposable pads and I wasn’t about to use them for weeks on end. Making those pads turned out to be one of the nicest things I’ve ever done for myself.

I also made a sitz bath from garden and wild crafted herbs (calendula, comfrey, chamomile, and lavender). I soaked a few of the cotton pads in the infusion, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and froze them in a curved position in case of perineal pain. The rest of the infusion got frozen in containers and it was great for soaking tiny bums for the occasional diaper rash.

We also use herbs from our garden to make our own bum spray to use with our cloth wipes. We make a calendula and chamomile olive oil and then add that to distilled water and a couple of drops of lavender and tea tree essential oil. As nice as the store-bought natural bum sprays are, we have calculated that it costs us a few cents to make our bottle and I like knowing we grew the herbs ourselves.

Jenna really is a DIY mama, and she makes a lot of wonderful things. This is just one in a series of posts about her many amazing DIY projects. Stay tuned for more!

DIY Mama: Part 2 (by guest blogger Jenna Robertson)

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:05:00 +0000

In our house we tend to prefer to do things ourselves. We have a big garden in the summer and we do a lot of canning, and yogurt-making, and beer-making in the winter. We have been known to dabble in cheese, sauerkraut, and kombucha. We don’t really think much of it, we just like knowing how things are made and what they’re made of. I also love buying well-made things that I could never make myself, but discovering what I am capable of is always a nice surprise.

One of the challenging things about a twin pregnancy is simply getting enough calories. I wanted to do everything in my power to avoid having my babies pre-term and eating well was something I could control. Many midwives will say that nutrition is a significant factor for carrying a multiple pregnancy to term. There's only so much a person can eat in a day so I had to get creative to get the calories I needed. I decided to replace the water in my water bottle with almond milk. When I couldn't find any unsweetened almond milk that I liked, I soaked some almonds and made my own.

The by-product of making the milk is a lot of almond meal; I didn’t want to waste it, so I tried to think of ways to use it up. I made muffins (also high in the fat that I needed), and granola bars, subbing in my fresh almond meal for oats and flour. I figured the bars had more nutrients than a commercial energy bar and cost me a few cents per bar (rather than a couple of dollars). Also, they were delicious!

Jenna really is a DIY mama, and she makes a lot of wonderful things! This is just one in a string of posts about her many amazing DIY projects. Stay tuned for more!

DIY Mama: Part 1 (by guest blogger Jenna Robertson)

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:05:00 +0000

I don’t actually think of myself as a crafty person even though I make a lot of things. I almost never make the same thing twice (or I never did until having twin babies), and I tend to work with scraps and old clothes and whatever is lying around. In my mind crafty people measure and follow patterns. I almost never follow patterns and I’m lazy about measuring things. Usually I’m motivated by one of two things. Either I see something in a store that I like, but it seems very expensive and I think, “I could make that!” Or I don’t see anything in stores that I like and I think, “Well then I will make something I like.”

I was lucky enough to inherit the contents of my grandmother’s and my partner’s grandmother's sewing rooms, so I have enough thread (some of it beautiful old silk on wooden spools) to last three lifetimes, wonderful fabric scissors, jars full of buttons, and all kinds of tools and notions I don’t know what to do with but secretly hope my daughters will some day. I also have a partner who is so very capable and DIY that when I compare myself to him I sometimes don’t notice my own craftiness. When the wonderful women at Bummis suggested I write a post about being a DIY mama, I took stock and realized I sure do make a lot of things.

After a few years of full-time midwifery training I had hardly touched my sewing machines or done anything creative (unless you count making flashcards) in a long time. When I started sewing again I was pregnant but didn’t know it yet. We were having a family reunion and I wanted to make something for all the little kids. One of my great, great, great aunties was a dressmaker in Philadelphia in the late 1800s and I inherited her lace collection. I decided the heirloom lace would be better served dressing up sock bunnies for her grand-nieces and nephews than sitting in a bag in my attic, so I got to work. I was at the reunion when I discovered I was pregnant, so there was a strong feeling of connection between the work of sewing for babies I love and discovering my own pregnancy.

When the girls were tiny we decided they needed a baby gym but the nice wooden ones are expensive, and wouldn’t be wide enough for my two babies anyway. So my partner and I collaborated. He made the wooden frame and I whipped up a couple of clouds, an apple, and a carrot stuffed with serger scraps (they really come in handy - more serger scraps projects to come).

When Jenna says that she "took stock and realized I sure do make a lot of things," it may have been the understatement of the year. She makes A TON of things, and this is just the first in a string of posts about her many amazing DIY projects. Stay tuned for more!

New Product: Cotton Wipes

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:39:00 +0000

We're introducing a handy new product - 100% unbleached flannel wipes!

Regardless of the type of diapers they've chosen, every new parent needs a healthy stash of wipes. Wipes are a must-have for diaper changes, drool-soaked chins, runny noses, sticky hands... babies need a lot of wiping up!

Our Cotton Wipes are made of 100% unbleached cotton flannel. They are 1-ply, and at 8" x 8", tiny enough to tuck into your pocket. they're soft and practical, with just a touch of whimsy in the rainbow stitching. Sold in packs of 6.

Cotton Wipes are shipping out to Canadian retailers now, and will be available to our U.S. retailers in the near future. Look for them at a store near you!

Easy Fit Holiday Print Giveaway Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:36:00 +0000

The results are in! We have our winners for the Easy Fit Holiday Print Giveaway. In order to enter, we asked people to describe their dream pocket diaper. It was the second time we asked people to invent an ideal, perhaps unrealistic or magical diaper to enter a giveaway, and it's always so much fun to read the entries. It just goes to show - there's a lot of creativity out there!

And the Winners Are...

VikingKitty

"Well I don't really like pockets very much (apart from the Easy Fit, but that's technically an AIO in my book)"
It's true! The Easy Fit kind of straddles the fence in the pocket diaper / all-in-one divide. There is a pocket, and a liner, but the liner is attached, so technically it's a one-piece... we just like to think that it's the best of both worlds.
As for prints, anything with a pattern and bright colours... maybe hedgehogs or moose, because we really like those animals in this house!
I'm really loving the hedgehog or moose idea for a print - the moose in particular... but maybe that's just the Canadian in me...

Trisha Wieber

Why have a dream pocket diaper when the Easy Fit is so great? Although, I do think I'd like a minky layer to touch my baby and have the hemp/bamboo/organic cotton layer be underneath that on a snake style soaker.
A) Flattery will get you everywhere! (just kidding, the winners were randomly chosen, but it's still really nice to hear!) B) Never thought of minky on the inside of a diaper, hmmm, food for thought...

JAWilson

My perfect pocket diaper would be a sized (available in multiple sizes) pocket diaper with snap closure. The liner would be organic cotton with a hemp/cotton insert. Ideally it would have double gussets to keep the messiest of messes in. The outer waterproof would be whimsical mushrooms in a rainbow of colors - gender neutral. I am ready to win.
A very thorough design proposition here, I like it. Are you familiar with the Mushroom Magic Easy Fit print? It doesn't have the full rainbow of colours, but it does include red, orange, blue and green. Glad to hear you're ready to win, because it's happening!

Thanks to everyone who participated, and congratulations to the winners! You'll receive an email from us shortly so we can arrange the delivery of your prize. Happy Holidays!

Babywearing with Twins (by guest blogger Jenna Robertson)

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:11:00 +0000

Jenna Robertson is studying to become a midwife, she is a former employee of Boutique Bummis in Montreal, and she is the mother of 8-month-old-twins. She is sharing her experiences as a parent of twins in a series of guest blog posts. This is her fourth post, on babywearing with twins.

When I worked at Boutique Bummis in Montreal, my favourite thing was teaching new and soon-to-be parents how to use the various baby carriers we sold. I loved them all and couldn’t wait to become a mama so I could use them myself. Before I had my own babies, I had a hard time understanding why people carry their infants around in car seats. Now that I’ve had my own babies, I understand it even less. Especially when they were tiny, I wanted to hold them all the time! When we did have to drive, I would practically jump out before the car was parked, unable to wait one extra second before I could get them out of those seats and into my arms.

Before finding out that I was carrying twins, I wasn't planning to use a stroller for the first year. With two babies a stroller became a necessity, but I was determined to carry my babies as much as possible. We chose a stroller that can have one or two seats at a time rather than a double-wide stroller, and we got a bassinet for the beginning. When they rode in the stroller as tiny babies (which was hardly ever) they lay side by side in the bassinet and we never took their car seats out of the car.

When my partner and I are out together they both still get carried. Even two of their grandparents have gotten in on the babywearing action (see above). When I am out alone, I always carry one baby and push the other and switch them pretty often. I love having at least one baby close and we are so much less unwieldy with the single stroller and a carrier.

I was so lucky to have all the practice and training from my time at Boutique Bummis because I was really comfortable using a wide variety of carriers and even knew some twin carries. When they were very small, they often got carried together around the house. Having free hands and two sleeping, happy babies was so liberating in those first few months. While I think a good carrier is important for one baby, I think it is totally essential for two. I cannot imagine how I would function without them. With my carriers I can get both babies out of their car seats and into the house without using the stroller. I can nurse one baby in the carrier while pushing the other, which gives me a lot of freedom to be on the move.

When they were little over the summer and refused to be put down, it meant I could cook and sew and garden a little and wasn’t stuck in bed all the time. I wish more people in our culture knew more about carrying babies. It makes so much sense to me and as a mama of twins it is the only way I can imagine getting around.

If you’re interested in learning more about carrying babies, correct positioning, and some of the research on babywearing, this article from boba is an excellent source for further reading.

Easy Fit Holiday Print Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:38:00 +0000

By now you probably know that Tots Bots released three limited edition holiday prints for the Easy Fit diaper. When we announced this news, the response was unbelievable - everybody was so excited! Our retailers snatched up the prints within minutes (literally), and we're now sold out. But luckily we kept three aside for this wonderful giveaway!

Contest Details and How to Enter:

From left to right: Ginger, Robin and Rudolph

To enter, we want you to tell us what your all-time, absolute *dream* pocket diaper would look like. In a previous giveaway, we asked this same question about wraps, and it was really fun to read all the entries, so we thought we would revisit the question with pockets in mind. Would your ideal pocket diaper be sized or one-size? Would it have snaps? Aplix (velcro-style) closures? Would the liner be made of microfiber? Bamboo? Organic cotton? Would there be a stay-dry layer built in? Removable liner or attached? Would it be something completely different, that no one has ever thought of before? What print would it have? Orange elephants on a turquoise background? Red bicycles flying through a field of clouds? They sky's the limit, folks! Let your imagination run wild.

Two entries per person: post a description of your magical ideal wrap invention in the comments section below and/or post it on our Facebook wall, under the link to this blog post. Be sure to include your email address, so we can be in touch if you win, and write it as name(at)gmail(dot)com, to avoid being spammed. This contest is open to residents of Canada and the continental United States. Entries must be posted by Monday, December 13 at midnight EST. Winners will be randomly chosen, and will be announced next week.

Put your thinking caps on, and have fun!

Long Distance Grandparenting (Guest post by Jo-Anne Corbeil)

noreply@blogger.com (Malina) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:30:00 +0000

One of the benefits of coming from a divorced family is that my son is blessed with several extra sets of grandparents. Unfortunately, none of them live any closer than 4 hours away but despite the distance, my son is close with them all. Technology has allowed him to have relationships with even those across the ocean through Skype and I can always rely on my Mother down the road in Toronto to do a mini babysitting stint over the phone while I make supper. It's a distance that worried us when I was pregnant and has turned out to be a non-existent issue. Below is a story my Mother wanted to share about her long-distance relationship with my son, her grandson.

Some grandparents do not get to see their grandchildren very often because of distance. I am one of those grandmothers. At times this has made me wonder if I make an impression on my grandson. The reality seemed to me that if you live in the same town there are more opportunities to build a relationship. On our last visit to see our grandson an episode in the park made me realize it's not that simple.

My grandson and I climbed to the top of a ‘twisty’ slide in a nearby park. His grandfather ("G.G.") was at the bottom of the slide. When the little guy sat down, he was apprehensive about going down the slide. I waited a few seconds then I said ‘You know, I think you are going to be ok’. He went down the slide and "G.G." was there to catch him. He then proceeded to go up and down the slide about 25 times and now for every single time that he sat down he would look at me and say "I think I am going to be ok Granny" and off he would go and then he would direct his G.G. to move further away from the bottom of the slide.

What I learned on that visit as a Granny is that there are always opportunities for special ‘ordinary moments’. They are the ones that stay with us the longest and I have banked many in the last 28 months. My ‘Granny’ relationship with my grandson is in my heart and there is never any distance there.

Are your families nearby or do you also struggle with distance? I would love to hear your stories and ideas on staying close despite the miles between you and the ones you love.

Why Me? Parenting a Child with Down Syndrome (by guest blogger Jin-Hee Choi)

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:00:00 +0000

Jin-Hee is a mother of two who currently works at Boutique Bummis in Montreal. She will be writing a few posts for us about her journey as a mother. This is her first post, about her experience as a mother of a child with special needs.

My family and I were living in London in the UK when one afternoon in January 2007, I received a follow-up phone call from Middlesex hospital. “Ms. Choi, can you come in to the hospital with your husband and Toru?” I hung up the phone and started shaking. On the way to the hospital, my husband and I didn’t talk much - we just held Toru (4 months old) tightly. Toru is our second child, and 2 weeks before this we had gone to the hospital to have him checked for Down syndrome. On this day in January, we arrived, and waited anxiously in the waiting room until finally the pediatrician called us in. There was a medical student in the room, and before saying anything to us, the doctor insisted on explaining to the student why we were there. Then she turned to us and said “Toru has Down syndrome.” I don’t remember anything about what she said after that. My husband and I both burst into tears and wanted to leave the room. We could not believe how brutally the news had been delivered to us, and couldn’t understand why. Why, why, why?!?

Toru’s birth had been a wonderful drug-free birthing experience, at home in our small London flat. I had two midwives, a doula and my husband with me. When I finally held Toru in my arms, it occurred to me that he might have Down syndrome, as his Asian features were so much more pronounced than those of my older son, Kai. I kept my initial reaction to myself that whole first day. However, the following day, I discovered that my husband had thought the same thing. We asked the midwives what they thought, but they told us all was well and that they thought Toru just looked like me – and, well, he does look like me! We asked our GP, and she also thought we were wrong. But a couple of months later, I took him to the clinic because he had an ongoing condition of teary eyes, plus he seemed rather floppy. The doctor examined him and then said he wanted to bring in a senior doctor for a second opinion. They whispered to each other and said to us, “We think Toru has a squint.” And I said, “Yes, I agree - but more importantly I think he has Down syndrome.” The doctors, however, disagreed with me. They said; “Babies with Down syndrome tend to have a very low muscle tone, and they don’t roll over at 3 months the way Toru is doing”. One of the doctors however, noted my extreme concern, and finally agreed that we should do a blood test right away.

So we did – and our fears were confirmed on that fateful day in January. The following month was an emotional roller coaster. Neither my husband nor I have ever cried so much in our lives. The nights were the worst. I would lie down and my mind would wander all over the place. I was worried about the unknown future of Toru and also about the future of my older son, Kai, who would have a disabled brother. But mostly I felt sorry for MYSELF. Why me?!? This kind of thing is supposed to happen only to others - to friends of friends of friends. Some people told me that special children are given to special parents. It sounded to me like a load of crap! I didn’t feel special and I didn’t want to be special. I felt myself to be ordinary and I wanted an ordinary child. Is that too much to ask?!? I wasn’t even over 35 (the chance of having a baby with Down syndrome increases as a woman gets older, and I was 31), so why was this happening to me? I was angry and I was grieving - grieving for the loss of the child that I wished to have. The pain was as if somebody was stabbing me every day, and I never thought that the pain would go away...

Fast forward to now – and my Toru is 4 years old. He is walking, talking (not much), signing and using an iPad! He is super adorable and the amount of joy he brings to us is just priceless. If 4 years ago someone had told me that it would be like this, I would have never in a million years have believed them! I might even have sworn at them for not understanding the gravity of the situation. Don’t get me wrong - having a child with special needs is not a walk in the park. We have lots of hospital visits and tons of therapies all throughout the year. And sometimes it is emotionally draining to be surrounded by ‘normal’ kids his age or by people who are somewhat insensitive in this kind of situation. But you know what? I can’t even be sure anymore what I was like before I had Toru – in fact I myself could have been that insensitive person.

Having a child with special needs has taught me so much. I am a much stronger and more empathetic person. However, my life is better only because I changed. The question I ask myself when something happens, is "why NOT me?" And with this question, so many other more positive questions follow. For example, “How will I get through this?” Someone told me that we cannot change what happens to us but we CAN change how we react to the situation. How empowering is that? This is how I am living my life now and it is exactly how I want my children to live their lives.

Cloth Diapering with Twins (by guest blogger Jenna Robertson)

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Jenna Robertson is studying to become a midwife, she is a former employee of Boutique Bummis in Montreal, and she is the mother of 7-month-old-twins. She is sharing her experiences as a parent of twins in a series of guest blog posts. This is her third post, on cloth diapering with twins.

Any parent of twins will tell you that having two babies elicits comment from the public. It comes with the territory. And there are times as a parent of twins when one doesn’t feel like smiling at strangers and saying, “yes twins!” and, “yes I do have my hands full!” But one of the times I don’t mind talking to strangers about my babies is when they catch me changing our cloth diapers.

People usually comment because they can’t believe I have twins and I’m using cloth. I’m happy to talk to them all about it for as long as they will listen. I don’t see why the fact that I have twins would change anything about my use of cloth diapers. In fact, I can think of several reasons why having twins makes it extra necessary to use cloth. The first is that having twins is expensive. Other families with two kids buy things once and use them twice (when they hand them down to the younger baby). A family with twins buys things twice and uses them once. So finding ways to cut costs is important and cloth diapers are so, so, so much cheaper. Another good reason to use cloth with two babies is that we would have been drowning in garbage at the beginning if we had used disposable diapers. Because of generous family and friends we were able to start out with a diaper service, which was a good thing because our babies went through over 200 diapers a week for the first few months.

When the babies hit 15 pounds and could fit into the bigger size of prefolds we made a pilgrimage to Boutique Bummis in Montreal to buy our own. We decided to get seven dozen flats and while we could have gotten by with less, it’s a nice amount. These days we do a diaper wash about every 3 days and we always have plenty of clean diapers lying around. We also have enough to leave a bag of clean extras in the car for emergencies.

We use prefolds and both my partner and I love them. They are inexpensive and easy and stack well, and in addition to catching pee, they are good for peekaboo and spit up and a million other things. With the number of diapers we change in a week, we don’t want any extra snaps or Velcro in our lives. There is a simplicity and a beauty to flats.

Recently we were forced to use disposables for a few days on a plane trip and I was at a loss without my diapers. Plus it was the first time I had ever had to wash poop out of clothing. The disposables leaked with every poo. We had never had a leak with our Bummis diapers. It made me really wonder why people pay so much for throw-away diapers that don’t even seem to work well.

Cloth diapering with twins makes perfect sense to me. Babies have a pretty big energy footprint. We use cloth wipes that I made from old sheets and towels so when we change a diaper we don’t throw anything away, and that makes me feel pretty happy. So while I’d sometimes rather avoid having the same “yes they are twins” conversation with strangers five times in one day, I’m very happy to tell whoever is asking all they want to know about using cloth diapers (yes, for my twins).

Rockin' Green Giveaway Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:35:00 +0000

As part of our Rockin' Green giveaway, we asked you what detergent you're using to wash your cloth diapers. Judging from your responses it seems like the good word about Rockin' Green detergents has already reached far and wide - many of you are already big fans!

The giveaway winners are...

Brige (b.malloy)
Anonymous (A.Wheeldon)
Shannon Barlow
Elizabeth Andrews

Congratulations! You will receive an email from us so we can arrange the delivery of your prize. Thanks to everyone for participating!

Rockin' Green Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:37:00 +0000

As you may know, Bummis is the Canadian distributor of Rockin' Green detergents. Rockin' Green makes eco-friendly detergents that are specially formulated for washing cloth diapers, and we're LOVING them! They make three different versions of their detergent that are specially formulated for different types of water: Soft Rock (for soft water), Hard Rock (for hard water), and Classic Rock (for regular, in-between water). Hard Rock and Classic Rock come in all kinds of fun scents, like Rage Against the Raspberry, so laundry time is always a blast.

When they're not working on detergent formulas, the folks over at Rockin' Green are hard at work (hmmm, I don't know... is this work?) making hilarious not-your-average-kind-of-commercial videos:

Rockin' Green Giveaway

In celebration of our new partnership with Rockin' Green, we're gonna rock a giveaway for all of our Canadian followers! We'll be giving away four bags (45/90 loads) of Rockin' Green detergent. In order to enter, we want to know what kind of detergent you use to wash your cloth diapers. If you're still expecting, you can tell us what detergent you use to wash your regular laundry, or the one you plan to use for diapers, if it's different. Two entries per person, and here's how to enter:

Post your answer in the comments field below, being sure to include your email address so we can be in touch if you win. Write it as: yourname (at) gmail (dot) com, to avoid being spammed.
Head over to our Facebook page, find our link to this blog post, and enter your answer in the comments field beneath it. Please include your email address.

This contest is open to residents of Canada only. Entries must be posted by midnight EST on Monday November 21, 2011. Winners will be randomly chosen, and will be announced next week.

Mama With Milk to Spare! (by guest blogger Michelle)

noreply@blogger.com (Malina) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:48:00 +0000

Guest blogger Michelle shares her experience as a mama with milk to spare. Michelle discovered that she had more than enough breastmilk for her own son, so she decided to share her extra milk with families who, for one reason or another, didn't have enough.

I thought it would be funny to put MY storage bags full of milk in a bag that I bought milk in.

While I was pregnant I searched the internet for as much information as I could about having a healthy pregnancy, a safe and natural birth, doulas, cloth diapering and everything else related to having a new baby. I came across a blog post about a woman who donated her extra milk to a baby in a nearby city and thought it was so generous. I wished I could do that someday. Later, on a forum for women, another pregnant mama posted some pictures of her "freezer stash" of breast milk that had been donated for her soon-to-be-born son. She wrote about how happy and relieved she was to have enough milk to last a few months. I again thought how great it would be if I could donate my own milk. So I decided right then and there that I would! I didn't have any milk yet though, not even a drop.

About a month before my son was born I found a natural parenting forum and a milk sharing website and posted my offer of milk. I was clear that I was only considering donating my milk IF I had enough for my son and extra to donate. I connected with one mom right away and we kept in touch and met when my son was 3 weeks old. By then my milk had come in and my son nursed on demand and often. I was actually needing to get up in the middle of the night to hand express a few drops into the bathroom sink to relieve some pressure so I could sleep. I hadn't yet learned that if I just put my breast near his mouth he'd nurse in his sleep ;) The mom that I met gave me a pump and some storage bags and I began to pump that night. It felt great to be able to help her and her formula-sensitive baby with my extra milk, which I felt was being wasted when one breast leaked while I nursed my son with the other one. I learned to "tandem" with my son on one side and the pump on the other ;)

Shortly after this, a mom from another city sent me a message telling me she didn't want to go through the hassle of bringing frozen donated milk through airport security for her vacation, and asked if I'd have enough for her stay here. Just before she came to pick up the milk I'd put aside for her, I got a phone call from another woman who knew a family with a 17-day-old baby who needed my milk, and she asked if she could she give them my phone number. I said sure. Two days later the father came and collected about 100 ounces of milk. That milk helped his baby gain the weight he needed to be healthy and gave his mama time to help her own milk come in.

I loved to pump, but sometimes I will admit that I got a little bored doing it and I hated washing the bottles after. I allowed myself to take a couple days off from pumping so I didn't get burned out. I kept donating because I kept thinking about those babies who were drinking my milk and how much they really needed it. I donated to 4 families during the 10 months or so that I was donating milk.

Two Tiny Milk Vampires: Breastfeeding Twins (by guest blogger Jenna Robertson)

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:49:00 +0000

Jenna Robertson is studying to become a midwife, she is a former employee of Boutique Bummis in Montreal, and she is the mother of 7-month-old twins. She is sharing some of her experiences as a parent of twins in a series of guest blog posts. This is her second post, where she describes her experience as a mama of TWO exclusively breastfed babies!

My (full term) babies were born wagging their tongues and smacking their lips. My Baby B latched eagerly within minutes of finding herself on my chest and once we were all cleaned up and settled in, both babies got to work fattening themselves up right away. We spent our first night in the hospital and I took both babies to bed with me, one in the crook of each arm. To my delight I found that they wiggled and more or less latched by themselves as long as they could reach the breast, and so what worked that first night was how we would spend most of our time for the next four months. At home I devised a sort of throne of pillows: two behind me and one firm pillow propping up each arm so that I could have the babies level with my body. And that was how we slept.

We took the money we would have spent on cribs and invested instead in a king size mattress stuffed with wool and natural rubber. Our old double mattress went into the babies' room on the floor (a “Montessori bed”). For the first four months the babies slept on top of me on the pillow throne. My partner did all the diaper changes at night because I was always holding one sleeping baby. I could latch them on and fall back asleep myself so I wasn’t sitting up all hours nursing. I slept flat on my back with an arm around each baby without moving for the whole summer and save for the sweatiness of it all, I slept quite well.

I was, however, totally dependent on help for anything I wanted because I couldn’t move. And that kind of support is probably the most important aspect of breastfeeding twins. Without family and friends who understand that the new mama’s only job is to nurse the babies, it would be impossible. If you are accustomed to being an active, independent person it is certainly a challenging shift to suddenly take to your bed and lie flat on your back for many hours of the day and night for several months with two tiny milk vampires on top of you. It is hard to fight the feeling that you are useless or lazy when you are spending so much time in bed. In this, I found family support was also essential. Having people who will not only do all the cooking, cleaning and laundry, but who will also tell you that you are doing a wonderful job, important work, and that you're not lazy or the least bit useless is so important.

The other thing about the period of intense nursing flat on your back is that it ends. At four months my babies started rolling off the pillow throne and asking to sleep on the bed beside me instead. By five months they were reliably nursing down to sleep around 6pm and I could leave the room and suddenly had evenings back to myself - upright, fully clothed and somewhat bewildered (I spent most of this past summer totally topless when at home because putting a shirt on just wasn’t worth it).

Now at seven months my babies have never had a bottle. They have grown and been fed 100% at my breast. For me, one of the sad things about having twins is that because both babies are the same age and are nursing at the same time, it will likely shorten the total number of years of my life I will have spent nursing. Because of that, I don’t want to miss a minute of it. I love nursing my babies. It feels like the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. I can easily understand why other twin mamas would choose to get some help feeding two babies. But I wanted to do it all myself.

I feel like I should end this post with a disclaimer. When it came to breastfeeding, it went easily for me. I want to say this because I have seen how hard nursing can be for many women and it does not come naturally for most. It is hard work to get breastfeeding established well. In sharing my story I don’t want to inadvertently claim that I am representative of the norm.

Training Pant Prints: VOTE!

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:57:00 +0000

The Story

We're brainstorming ideas for new training pant prints.
We've found some potential prints, and collected them in the images below.
We want to know what you think.
If you've been following our blog, you'll know that this past summer we asked you to vote on potential new Swimmi prints, and we actually ended up producing the one that received the most votes! So vote wisely... we might just end up making the prints that win!

How to Vote

Check out the prints in the images below.
Go to the Bummis Facebook page.
You'll find a "girl print" poll, and a "boy print" poll.
Select your favourite print in one or both polls!
If you would like to comment on any of the prints, feel free to post your thoughts in the comments field at the bottom of this post, or on our Facebook page, but please note that preferences stated in the comments will not be tallied for the final vote.

Limited Edition Easy Fit Prints

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:46:00 +0000

From left to right: Ginger, Robin and Rudolph

Our friends at Tots Bots have done it again! They've just released three great new limited edition hoilday prints for the Easy Fit diaper, and we're happy to announce that we will be offering them to our North American retailers and customers! Retailers are placing their pre-orders now, and we will start shipping them out at the end of November. There's limited stock, so you'll have to check in with your local retailer to see if they'll be getting them in. And sure, they're called "holiday" prints, but a gingerbread cookie in July tastes just as good as a gingerbread cookie in December ;)

Homemade Baby Food: Easier Than Pie!

noreply@blogger.com (Malina) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:39:00 +0000

I decided from the beginning that when it came time to introduce solid foods to my son, we would make as much of it at home as possible. That turned out to be much easier than I'd ever imagined. I quickly discovered that all I had to do to make my son baby food was to make too much of whatever it was that my husband and I were making for dinner and mush up the leftovers.

We had an actual food mill for making baby food but a blender or food processor work fine as well. You may find you need slightly larger quantities of food in them to get it fully pureed. Once the food was blended, I simply put it in the freezer in ice cube trays and then transferred it to labeled freezer bags until we needed it.

Here are a few of our favourite baby food recipes. The little guy loved them and we did too. The amounts used can vary as much as you and your little one like. You know the food is ready when it tastes delicious!

Healthy Potato Mash

Left over mashed potatoes
Add one or two swiss chard leaves or a handful of spinach
About 3 Tbsps cottage cheese
Add as much breast milk, formula or water as you would like
Blend until desired consistency is achieved

Pork Chop Dinner

Half a pork chop
Leftover mashed potatoes
Add apple sauce until desired consistency is achieved

Broccoli and Cauliflower with Cheese

Left over steamed or boiled broccoli and cauliflower
Add enough water, breastmilk or formula to achieve desired consistency and blend
Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese when served warm

Zucchini and Mushrooms

Steam a zucchini and about 6 mushrooms
Blend until desired consistency is achieved

Red Lentils and Applesauce

Cook lentils according to package instructions
Add applesauce at about a 1 to 1 ratio
Blend until desired consistency is achieved

Oatmeal with Flax and Berries

About 1 serving of oatmeal made with breastmilk or formula rather than water if you prefer
Boil the oatmeal with 1/4 berries
Once cooked add 1 Tsp flax
Blend if desired

Macaroni and Cheese with Cauliflower and Sweet Potato

We like to add veggies to our Mac and cheese and this recipe is one that even my picky toddler enjoys. I tend to make it after a night of sweet potatoes and use the leftover sweet potato in the recipe
Cook noodles with a half cauliflower in the water as it boils
While noodles and cauliflower are cooking:
blend 1 cup sour cream, and 8 ounces of either cheddar or parmesan cheese over medium low heat. Stir until melted.
Mash the sweet potato
Add mashed sweet potato and cheese sauce to the cooked noodles and stir until well blended. Eat it just like this yourselves and blend some for you baby adding breastmilk, formula or water as needed to achieve desired consistency.

Do you have any favourite baby food recipes? I'm always looking for fresh ideas and would love to hear them!

A New Mama... Of Twins (by guest blogger Jenna Robertson)

noreply@blogger.com (Maeghan) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:24:00 +0000

Jenna Robertson is a former employee of Boutique Bummis in Montreal. She is currently studying to become a midwife, and she is the mother of 7-month-old twins. Over the next few weeks, she will be sharing some of her experiences as a parent of twins. In her first post, she explains how she had to reconcile her idea of motherhood with the reality of being unexpectedly pregnant with twins.

I once worked as a nanny for a 10-month-old baby girl. She was formula fed, disposable diapered, and rode in an unwieldy forward-facing stroller. I remember feeling dismayed about the prospect of having my own children as I pushed the stroller, unable to see her to make faces or sing or laugh with her unless I stopped and walked around to the front. I hated that stroller, I hated mixing the formula and cleaning the bottles and I found the plastic diapers gross. I knew that I would want to breastfeed because my mother had nursed me into toddlerhood. And I knew a little about cloth diapers because my moms had used them for my (much younger) little brother. I left my nannying job when I was hired at Boutique Bummis, and discovered the wonderful world of parenting options that felt right to me.

The weeks of training at Boutique Bummis were a parade of thoughts of, “Of course! It just makes so much sense!” I became fascinated with baby carriers and learned all I could about them. We sold the Didymos wrap, and I spent all my free time at the store practicing ties with the weighted baby dolls. I learned front carries and back carries and even used two teddy bears to practice twin carries. I had no idea at the time that the twin carry knowledge would ever be useful to me personally.

Fast forward to November 2010. I was 31 years old, 20 weeks pregnant, and three years into a four-year midwifery degree. For a variety of reasons, my partner and I had decided not to have any early ultrasounds. So at 20 weeks and 3 days pregnant, we had heard our baby’s heartbeat with the hand-held Doppler at our midwife’s clinic but no one had seen inside yet. There were jokes going around that I was carrying twins. I showed early but didn’t actually measure big and so people waved their hands and said, “Oh you’re just so thin.” Two other women in my small midwifery class had spontaneously conceived twins that year. The chance that a third woman in this little group would also have twins was so unlikely that although we joked about it, I don’t think any of us actually believed it was possible.

On a sunny November day my partner and I rode our bikes to the ultrasound clinic. I asked the sonographer to confirm fetal number. “There’s this joke about twins,” I explained, and told her about my two classmates. She quickly scanned across my growing belly and said briskly, “One baby!” After that we relaxed and enjoyed watching the tiny kicking feet, the tiny beating heart, and marveled at the tiny round head. Towards the end of the exam she was having trouble locating a small brain structure. She left to ask another sonographer for help. When she returned, she put the transducer on my belly again and suddenly she said, “Huh.” We asked, “What?” She moved the transducer again and suddenly there were four feet on the screen slowly bouncing in time as if they were dancing. I didn’t believe it. She moved her hand again and there they were, two tiny heads staring at one another across a thin wavering veil of membrane. I burst into tears. She flicked her wrist and there were two heartbeats. Three beating hearts inside my body, the largest one now pounding hard. “Well you’re going to be here for a while,” she said. “We have to re-do all the measurements for the second baby.”

The second baby. That night I couldn’t sleep. It felt like the way I had imagined being a new mama was flying out the window. The vision of myself with my (one) baby tucked into a baby carrier, easily hopping on and off the subway was suddenly replaced with a new image of struggling with a double-wide stroller on snowy sidewalks. The home birth I had planned was suddenly high risk and contraindicated. Pre-term birth, the need for pumping, bottles, and even formula feeding all became real possibilities. I felt like I was losing control.

I am very lucky to live in Ontario, where midwifery care is integrated into the healthcare system. I was able to plan a hospital birth under the care of my midwives, with specialist obstetricians as consultants. I set about making plans to parent in the way that I wanted to, regardless of how many babies were coming. Over the next few weeks I’ll share some of our stories about babywearing, cloth diapering, and exclusively breastfeeding our now almost 7-month-old twins. It can be done! Stay tuned.