Tilly Tally Diaper Review and Giveaway

Tilly Tally Diapers is an ETSY shop run by a stay at home mom who decided to try cloth diapering after having her second child and deciding that disposables were too expensive. She tried many different designs until she came up with the one that worked just right for her little ones (and mine too!). She now uses this same design on all sizes of diapers that she makes.

I had the opportunity to review the newborn size cloth diaper, here is what Naomi says about her diapers "This Newborn(approximately 6-14lbs) Pocket Diaper is made with 1 MIL PUL on the outside, and lined with white microfleece on the inside. It is bound with plush Fold over Elastic. It has a back pocket opening for the insert placement. It has excellent snap placement to ensure a good fit without being too tight against baby's legs or tummy. This diaper pattern has been baby tested to absorb and contain extremely well. Comes with tri-fold super thirsty insert."

Naomi was super generous and sent me the newborn diaper in the 'Go Green' color along with 4 organic bamboo jersey wipes. When Little Guy was one week old we put his first cloth diaper on and this was it! Honestly, he did wet through that time but has not since then so I think it was because we were inexperienced and they probably hadn't been prewashed enough. The tri-fold soaker definitely held a lot after that! I really like that this diaper is sized for a newborn; we bought a lot of one-size fits most and they just look SO BIG!! The only downfall I found with this diaper is that it is hard to stuff as the pocket is so small, but that can't be changed as this is a newborn diaper.

The bamboo wipes are so soft!! I have actually reserved these diapers for his face only. I like to wash Little Guy's mouth and face each day and these are the only ones I will use.

You can buy the newborn cloth diapers for only $10.99, that is an amazing price and for how well they work I think we will be picking up some of these when the next child comes along.

**Win It**

Super-generous Naomi is giving one of these newborn diapers away!!

**Mandatory Entry**
Follow my blog.
Be sure to include your email address in all of your entries. If your name is drawn but your email is not present, I will choose a new winner.

This contest will end Friday, June 18, 2010 at 11:59pm. A winner will be randomly chosen and contacted via email.

**Extra Entries**
~Visit Tilly Tally Diapers and tell me which diaper is your favorite (1 entry)
~Grab my button. (2 entries)
~Blog about the contest. (2 entries)
~Subscribe via email. (1 entry)

Tilly Tally Diapers provided me with the the diaper and cloths for this review. No other compensation was received and the opinions are all mine.

Vote for a chance to win $250

The American Baby magazine is hosting a contest and you have a chance to win $250. They want you to vote for your favorite baby item - you have until May 31st to get your idea in.
I was a little dissapointed because I was going to vote for The Woombie (review to come soon) but there was no category for it. The categories you can enter items in are Meal time and feeding, playtime, baby medical musts, car seats, high chairs, and nursery. Click here to vote for your favorite baby item.

I'd be interested to know if you voted and what your favorite item is, you can leave a comment and let us all know.

Oatmeal Lactation Cookies

When I was talking to a friend about my milk production she told me that eating oatmeal helps and also told me about a recipe for oatmeal cookies that were beneficial but she had not personally tried them. So, being curious and really wanting more milk for Little Guy, I got the ingredients and had my mom and sister make them. They were definitely delicious!!
I want to share the recipe with all of you...

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal (available at WalMart)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups oats
1 cup chocolate chips
2-4 tablespoons brewer's yeast (Buy 1, Get 1 at Puritan's Pride)

Directions
1 Preheat oven to 350°.
2 Mix the flaxseed meal and water and let sit for 3-5 minutes.
3 Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar well.
4 Add eggs and mix well.
5 Add flaxseed mix and vanilla, beat well.
6 Sift together flour, brewers yeast, baking soda, and salt.
7 Add dry ingredients to butter mix.
8 Stir in oats and chips.
9 Scoop onto baking sheet.
10 Bake for 12 minutes.
11 Let set for a couple minutes then remove from tray.

Breastfeeding woes....

Growing up I always assumed that I would breastfeed my children - in my mind it was that natural thing that all Momma's do. Not only that, but the benefits of breastfeeding are numerous. I was excited when our Little Guy came along, I had plans to feed him all summer and then to pump when I returned to work so he could have the best milk around.

After Little Guy was born he was brought to me in the recovery room so I could feed him, he was less than an hour old at this time and seemed to latch on without a problem. Over the next few days we woke him every 3 hours so he could eat; I felt that something wasn't right but since I had never done this before I listened when the nurses reassured me that this was breastfeeding. It hurt like crazy (I was bleeding before we left) and he kept falling asleep; I know that these are both normal but something just wasn't right! Be we were released I asked to see a lactation consultant (I had seen them throughout my stay but never during a feeding)but she was busy. Yes, we could have waited but after 4 nights we were ready to go home! Instead, one of the nursery nurses walked me though it again and gave me a few pointers - this time I felt good about it. My other concern was that Little Guy hadn't had a wet or dirty diaper in over 24 hours; the nurses were a little concerned but said that since he had so many in the 1st day he was probably okay.

The next afternoon the lactation consultant called to see how we were doing and I mentioned that he still had only had one wet but no dirty diapers. She told us to bring him in and we weighed him, then fed him before weighing him again. Besides the fact that it hurt and he wasn't latching on well, he only gained 0.1 ounce!!! I felt that I was neglecting my son because I wasn't feeding him enough.... Since he really needed to eat more but we wanted to breastfeed she suggested that we feed him for 10 minutes on each breast and then use a syringe and tube to give him more. The tubing would be tucked into the corner of his mouth and he would suck it out- this would improve his sucking (immediate reward) as well as help me produce more milk. While this was quite a production it was definitely worth it to help our little one grow!! She also suggested that we start pumping and giving him my milk and supplementing with formula as needed.

We did this for 3 days before going in for our next appointment with the lactation consultant...

These were 3 very long days...the feedings took over an hour and then we had to turn around and start over again three hours from the start time. This left no time to enjoy our family that was visiting, no time to sleep, and we were VERY stressed!! We went in ready to just bottle feed and while the lactation consultant wanted to help us out I was almost in tears so she suggested that we simply bottle feed and I continue to pump.

The pumping is going okay. It is definitely tough to make time for it while I am home alone with the Little Guy but I know how much better my milk is for him. Do we get enough for him to live solely on breastmilk? No way!! In fact I have tried many different things including fenugreek, blessed thistle, eating oatmeal, homemade oatmeal lactation cookies, etc.

Do you have any suggestions to increase milk production? I would love to hear them!

Free sample for breastfeeding moms

Get a FREE sample of The First Years Nursing Care Instant Relief System to heal & soothe sore breasts. Click here http://tinyurl.com/y9c2fjl and fill out your shipping address and we'll send you a free sample!! This is a new doctor-developed product that naturally soothes and begins healing sore nipples. A cooling gel pad slipped into a milk protein treatment sleeve provides quick relief.
I got mine in the mail and can't wait to tell you all about it!! FYI- You only get one gel pack and might want two so I would suggest signing a good friend up for one as well :)

SKOY Cloth Review and Giveaway

SKOY cloth was started by 2 California stay-at-home-moms who wanted a quality cloth that was also environmentally friendly.


SKOY cloth is a reusable and biodegradable (made from natural cotton and wood based cellulose pulp) cloth that is meant to take the place of paper towels (which can be super expensive and used only once!) You can use these in place of paper towels, wash cloth or sponges and are much healthier since they dry quickly lessening the chance of bacteria breeding.


When I got my SKOY cloths in the mail I had a hard time using them because they were so cute with a flower design on each; I did decide to use one for each room of the house and one for the floor. So, I labeled them with 'bathroom', 'kitchen', 'laundry room', and 'floors' and got started cleaning for my baby's arrival. I was very impressed with the quality of the cloths - I have been using one to hand scrub my floors for over two months and there is still no sign of wear! I use the other three to wash counters and cabinets so I expect them to last quite awhile. For washing they suggest putting it in the microwave, dishwasher, or washing machine. I have put them in both the microwave and the washing machine and both came out clean, and when you wet it and put it in the microwave it steams and is excellent for giving your microwave a quick clean.


I absolutely love the convenience of the SKOY cloth and feel like I am helping save the earth everytime I grab one instead of a paper towel!

--Buy It--

You can go to the SKOY website and buy a 4-pack for $6.99

**Win It**

The people at SKOY cloth have generously offered a reader 2 cloths of their own.

**Mandatory Entry**

Visit the SKOY website and tell me something you like or learned.

Be sure to include your email address in all of your entries. If your name is drawn but your email is not present, I will choose a new winner.

This contest will end Friday, May 28, 2010 at 11:59pm. A winner will be randomly chosen and contacted via email.

**Extra Entries**

~Visit SKOY on Facebook and leave a message on their wall telling them that Caching Family sent you. (1 entry)

~Follow my blog. (1 entry)

~Grab my button. (2 entries)

~Blog about the contest. (2 entries)

~Subscribe via email. (1 entry)

SKOY provided me with the cloths for this review. No other compensation was received and the opinions are all mine.

Winner

Winner!!!

The winner of the Seventh Generation free and clear kit is Bebemiqui.
Congratulations and thanks to those that entered.

Bebemiqui has been emailed and has 48 hours to respond.