This review was performed by DDL Contributor Kristen.

I was given the opportunity to review a hat made by lcraftanddesign on Etsy.  I discovered her store on Etsy because a while ago I reviewed a hat by MoBoleez, which was made for helping the breastfeeding mom to nurse discreetly by having the baby wear the hat and the brim is so wide that it covers everything.  It quickly became my favorite method of discreetly nursing in public.  The only problem was that my baby kept growing, and then the hat no longer fit her head.  I was in the market for a summer hat for my baby anyway (we spend our days at the beach, the pool and the park) and I figured if I found one with a really wide brim, it could serve a double purpose.

I found what I was looking for at lcraftanddesign’s Etsy store. The hats she sells through her store have such adorable designs that I had a hard time choosing!  I finally chose the “Crazy Daisy” patterned sun hat.  When I received the hat, I could tell that it was well made, in addition to being adorable!  One of the things I liked about it was that it has ties on it to help keep it on my 6 month olds head.  She isn’t too good about getting hats off yet but I know it’s in the near future and there’s always the wind to contend with when outside so the ties help to keep the hat securely on her head. They also help to make me feel secure that when I use it for nursing, I can reliably know that it won’t fall off her head and randomly expose what is going on underneath there!

Compared to the MoBoleez Nursing hat, this one did have a smaller diameter brim, although it was wider than pretty much any other sun hat I have encountered, so while it works well for nursing, it would be even nicer if it was a tad bit wider to make me feel even more comfortable.  The brim itself was pretty floppy, which has advantages and disadvantages.  I loved it because it shaped well to cover things when I nursed, but when she wore it as a hat, it often flopped into her face.  Easily remedied by having her add the snaps to the hat to hold the brim up.  As I stated I love that it ties, but I almost wish it had a hook and loop closure instead of ties. (snap closure available upon request) The reason for this is that I often nurse while I am wearing my baby in either a ring sling or soft structured carrier, and it’s really hard for me to tie it on her head while wearing her (if she isn’t already wearing it).  It would be easier to plop on her head and fasten a hook and loop closure instead.  However, when I’m not wearing her, it isn’t an issue and the ties actually look really cute and are also nice because no matter what size head your kid has, you can tie it as tight or loose as needed.

All in all, I really love this hat for all the purposes mentioned above.  It’s a fabulous sun hat at a reasonable price and I think it’s great to support people on Etsy.  I get so many compliments on the hat and pattern and she sells many different cute patterns in her store so there are a lot to choose from.  For breastfeeding purposes, I do kind of wish the brim were a tad wider (maybe another inch or two in diameter?), but as it is, it still works great for the purposes of discreet nursing, which is a bonus in my book!

If you’d like you can find lcraftanddesign on Facebook!

For the month of August, DDL readers can save 20% on lcraftanddesign’s hats with code: DDL20.

Kristen received a Wide Brimmed Sunhat free of charge for the purposes of this review.  All opinions expressed are genuine and 100% her own.

Today marks the first day of “World Breastfeeding Week” which lasts August 1-7.  Their theme this year is “10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.”

I have written a lot about breastfeeding since I started this blog.  It is something I am passionate about.  This week my featured posts will be some of my older breastfeeding posts.  My newest posts will still show up underneath so don’t forget to look for those!

Even though I am not currently breastfeeding I can still advocate!  Besides, I will be nursing again in 10 weeks or so.

Visual of my acrobatic son in bed with us

I have decided that my son needs to sleep in his own bed, all night.  Not because I don’t love sleeping with him, because I do.  I love snuggling all night and waking up next to him saying a random word every morning like “uh oh” or the standard screaming of “mama, Daaadeeee!”  I need him to sleep in his own bed because in a few short months I will have a new nursling by my side in the bed.  I will also have a husband in that bed.  Our bed is a Queen, not a stately King!

Plus, lately he has been very restless at night.  He used to wake around midnight from his own bed to come to ours (at least we get a little bit if evening time alone in bed!) and sleep all night.  Now he tosses and turns and wakes so that he can put his head on my chest or place his hand in between my boobs.  You read correctly; he likes to put his hand down my shirt in my cleavage for comfort.  This is a little thing that developed after he weaned.  He still loves my boobs but they have a new purpose.  Being that I am pregnant, him moving and kicking and doing acrobatics next to me has gotten very uncomfortable and a little scary.

Sleeping with his hands down my shirt

Since he falls asleep with me rocking him or with me laying next to him in his own bed I have a head start.  He knows he goes “nite nite” in his bed.  He has never fallen asleep on his own but he definitely knows the routine.  I just have no clue how to get him to accept that his bed is his home for the entire night.  I have tried many times to get him back to sleep once he wakes up in his bed.  It works, but he wakes up shortly after I leave and then points to the door screaming.  He wants to be in OUR bed.  I give in and we all get a good night’s rest.

For the past 2 nights I have slept on the floor next to his bed on a couch cushion.  As soon as he wakes I try to comfort him back to sleep.  So far he has crawled out of bed and onto the floor with me.  I have to put him back in his bed.  The only way he falls back asleep is if I am in bed next to him.  Even worse, he has spidey senses and knows when I leave.  I have to wait until he is deeply asleep before getting up and going back to my floor pallet.  If I were with him he would sleep the rest of the night but he knows I am not and wakes again.  This time he won’t let me slip away.  No matter how ninja like I escape after he falls back asleep he will wake up.  So for these two nights I have actually slept in a short twin bed with my son.  I have to curl up because it isn’t long enough for my body.  Often times I am relegated to a small section since my son hogs the bed.

This isn’t solving our problem.  Now I am co-sleeping in a short twin bed.  I would rather co-sleep in my comfy queen!!!  I feel like doing this has to say something.  It says “You are not allowed back in my bed for sleeping.  You will sleep in your own bed.”  But how do I get him to let me leave him?  I try shhushing him to sleep, patting, etc, things that don’t have me IN bed with him but after the 2nd waking he has none of those.  I know I have to do this now before I am too pregnant to do it later, and of course before his brother arrives.  Co-sleeping with a restless 2 year old, newborn, Mommy, and Daddy is not going to work for this family.  Sorry!

I would love any advice from those who have been in a similar situation.  Or just words of sympathy for the pregnant lady sleeping on the floor/ in a toddler bed!

This review was performed and written by DDL contributor Kristen.

I was given the opportunity to review the MoBoleez Hat, which is a great alternative to a nursing cover.  It is a stylish hat with an extremely wide brim that can be worn by the baby while breastfeeding and it will discreetly cover all that someone could want to cover while nursing.

When I discovered this product I thought it was an extremely amazing idea.  Why had I never thought of this?  Luckily, someone else did and I was able to try it out with my baby.  As I have mentioned in other reviews, I was extremely determined to exclusively nurse my baby this time around but needed to get over the whole “nursing in public” thing.  I was never comfortable with the idea of using a typical nursing cover because I felt like it was like you were wearing a big sign that told everyone you were breastfeeding.  Alternatives like the MoBoleez Hat has helped me to make it much easier and more comfortable for me to nurse in public with my baby.

The MoBoleez Hat is made of all natural cotton/bamboo fabric, which is nice.  It is a lightweight hat, which is great for the summer months or if you live in a hot climate.  The fabrics in the couture collection are made of cotton and a little bit of spandex material.  It is easy to use obviously…just put it on your baby’s head and you are good to go!  It does come in 2 sizes, 0-6 months and 6-12 months.  They were offering a preemie size as well, but it has been discontinued (they still have some available though).

Tropical Tiles Design

I really loved using the MoBoleez Hat with my daughter.  It is easy to use, lightweight and I can toss it into my diaper bag and it doesn’t even get wrinkled!  I think it’s an amazing idea for someone who wants an alternative to a traditional nursing cover and yet it provides just as much coverage, without being so obvious as a nursing accessory.  In fact, I have used it a few times as a sun hat and when nursing, I have had people come up and compliment me on Suriah’s cute hat (I was reviewing the couture “tropical tiles” hat).

Kristen, Suriah (in Beco), Emerson (in stroller), Me, and Fletcher (in Boba)

I do have a few suggestions though.  I would LOVE to see more designs.  The classic collection has illustrations on them and are cutesy, but cutesy isn’t my thing.  I would like either plain colored hats or simple designs that are more adult-like.  The couture collection has a few nice designs but there are so many nice fabrics out there, I would love to see them offer some different designs.  Also, I was reviewing the 0-6 month size hat.  My daughter has a slightly smaller than average head circumference (30^th percentile) and at 5 months, I feel the hat is a little too small for her head.  It fits because it is a nice stretchy material, but I would like to see a chin strap or something so that the hat doesn’t slide its way off her head.  Also, as a modest person, I think the chin strap might be a good idea to assure me that the hat won’t fall off and expose my boob to the public’s eyes!  I LOVE how wide the brim of the hat is and it really makes the difference with coverage, but I would like to see it have a little more structure to it.  It’s pretty floppy, which is nice in that it molds well to the curves of your breast to keep things covered well, but if the wind blows hard in just the right way…it might jeopardize your coverage.  Also, if it had a little more structure to it, I would be able to use it more as a sun hat as well and it would be the best darn sun hat out there, in addition to being a fantastic nursing cover.

All in all though, even with the slight adjustments I would like to see, I think the MoBoleez Hat is a great product and as of right now, it is my favorite nursing cover.  With it being so hot lately, I haven’t wanted to cover up by wearing layers and some of the other nursing cover alternatives I have require more preparation to cover up.  The MoBoleez Hat is easy and it protects my baby from the sun AND it’s cute.  I can’t think of another nursing cover that does all that as well as the MoBoleez Hat!

If you would like to get your own Moboleez you can find them on DDL Affiliate, Amazon.com or Moboleez.com.
Moboleez Nursing Hats- Amazon.com

Kristen was sent a product sample for the purposes of this review.  All opinions are 100% her own.

Photo Credit: Flickr, AFP PHOTO/PHILIPPE DESMAZES

This article was recently brought to my attention, however it appears that it is 4 years old.  Since the first publishing Rabbi Shmuley has since apologized.  I address that at the end of my response.  No matter how old the article is it is still alive and kicking on the internet and doing damage to new and expecting mothers, perpetuating “booby traps.“

Recently I read the article by Rabbi Shmuley titled “Moms, Don’t Forget to feed Your Marriages” which may as well have been titled “Moms, Screw Nature, Use a Bottle and Give your Husband a Blow Job.”

While I agree being a Mom sometimes makes being a Wife a chore, I think most husbands (good ones that is) will concede that taking care of your child is the priority.  This includes breastfeeding them for as long as the mother and child wish.  In the article, 11 months is thought to be too long!  11 months is a great acheivement, but not all mothers wish to stop there.  As much as my husband would have liked having me back 100% and our bed, he knew how much breastfeeding meant to my son and I.  Plus, he didn’t have to wake in the middle of the night to feed him.  PLUS, any time my son was cranky, I had these magic things that instantly shut him up.

Even if you take breastfeeding out of the parenting equation, marriage still isn’t easy.  Raising a child is a 24/7 obligation.  One that leaves little time for romance and sexy time.  Showering is a chore for most moms if they stay at home.  Then there is the constant house cleaning, dish washing, butt wiping, tamtrum handling, and toddler wrestling.  By bed time most days I just want to veg on the couch and eat ice cream, with or without my hubby.  He is also tired from his day job and night time toddlering that he appreciates the quiet time by playing video games.  These things make us happy, but don’t necessarily equal a candle lit dinner.

In truth, we have been trying to prioritize our marriage by going out alone at least once a month.  Somehow this keeps getting put on the back burner.  We have to find a sitter and arrange somewhere to go.

I am not even breastfeeding anymore!  But our lives are less than sexy sometimes.  The Rabbi wants to see happy, in love couples.  And breastfeeding supposedly makes that impossible.  Really?  Because even while nursing my husband and I took time to hug, to kiss, to cuddle, to say “I Love You” in front of our son, or not.  Being in love doesn’t mean having sex like you are teenagers.  Any married couple knows sex in college and sex after kids are not the same.  Being in love means loving each other even without the crazy drunk pre-kids sex.

Saying breastfeeding turns your husband off may or may not be true.  But that shouldn’t even matter.  I personally got to a point where I wanted my breasts to be left alone by everyone.  I assure you though, my husband never lost interest in them.  And my husband saw me give birth as well, and he still loves me!  He didn’t get “all up in that” but he saw things.  More things than I saw.  Yet we still managed to make another human baby, and I was breastfeeding then too!

Regarding nursing in public, the Rabbi has it all wrong there too.  Some men let their wives run around half naked for the world to see.  To each their own.  But when a mother has the top half of her breast exposed (or not even) this is considered indecent or overexposure?  This will extinguish the spark?!?!  Rabbi, do you know men?  Men get turned on by waking up in the morning.  I think they can deal with their wives feeding their own children on a park bench without a blanket over their heads.  You know what this made me think of?  This reminded me of conservative Muslim women who have to wear burkas in public and only their husbands can see their bodies, any of it.

Articles like this do a disservice to potential mothers.  Women who love their husband and want nothing more than to have a relationship with them even after the baby comes.  Will they choose to formula feed for fear of losing an intimate relationship with their husbands?  Maybe.  Is that necessary?  No.  Plenty of women breastfeed their children for 1, 2, even 3 or more years and still have a loving relationship with their husbands.  And plenty of women formula feed and don’t.  And Vice Versa.  I can’t say there aren’t men who fit this article.  But those men suck.  If your husband can’t be adult enough to get over breastfeeding, you don’t need him.

*** After I wrote this, but before publishing it, someone posted a follow-up by Rabbi Shmuley since he received quite the backlash from his writing.  The article orginally appeared 4 years ago and looks to have been recently republished on Beliefnet.com.  His response can be read on his website. Still, even after apologizing and back pedaling, the damage was done.  Not only to his reputation, but to potential influential readers of his old article.  His first article comes off as misogynistic which he acknowledges.  I understand the point he is trying to make, which is valid, but he did it all wrong. Still, I find the apology a small step compared to the weight and tone of the first article.

While pregnant with my son Fletcher, I had a dream.  In this dream I was in my glider rocking my newborn baby boy.  He was in my arms, beautiful, wrinkly, sweet, and perfect in every way.  And, I was nursing him.  It was the most wonderful dream…. we seemed so happy and breastfeeding was natural for us.  I woke up excited about this particular aspect of having my son and the idea of being everything to him.  His life source before and after birth.

It seems like only yesterday I had that dream.  Today marks 7 days without nursing my son.  He weaned when he was 18 months and 5 days.

I knew it was over when I was rocking him in the glider before bed.  He had not nursed the night before so I was trying to not offer it again thinking maybe he was done.  He was crying and very upset; he didn’t want to go to bed.  I caved and offered him “milkies.”  Instead of happily agreeing he shook his head “no.”  Cue the mommy waterworks.  As much as I wanted him to be finished knowing he really was done broke my heart.  In theory, having him wean would make my life much easier.  Once I hit my second trimester my nipples became extremely sensitive.  There were many times I cried while he nursed.  He never bit me, but he does have a mouth full of teeth and one tight latch makes for a very painful experience.  Reality was a lot harder to cope with.  Realizing that I would never again bond with him in that way.  He was really done…

Our nursing journey began on a rocky road.  Latch trouble, very painful and bleeding nipples, nipple shields, lactation consultant visits, and marathon nursing sessions on the couch followed by cold gel packs and lanolin cream.

By 3 months I finally had it figured out, including the all important side lying position which transitioned us into a cosleeping family.

By 6 months I was nursing in public comfortably and proudly.

By a year I was ecstatic that we made it and was ready to go where the wind blew us.

Then I got pregnant and had to decide whether we should try weaning or tandem nursing.  At that point he was nursing on demand many times a day.  I decided to limit our sessions to a few a day.  This took about 2 weeks for him to stop signing for milk unless it was time for a nap or night time.  To get him to that point I used distractions when he would come up for a nibble.  I would offer a cup of milk or play with him, read, anything to distract him from boredom nursing.

A few weeks ago I nixed the first of the morning feeding.  This was a sad one.  I loved laying in bed with him in the morning and nursing him while cuddling.  However, out of the three a day, this was the only one I could get rid of.  He nursed to sleep for his nap and bedtime.

Then away went the nap nursing session.  I rocked him to sleep without nursing him which was a gradual transition.

I felt sure I would be nursing him to sleep every night, however.  We tried having Daddy rock him to sleep but even if he did get him asleep he could never get him into bed without him waking up.  So he would come to me them want to nurse.

Then we went to visit our family in North Carolina.  We had some major sleep issues at first.  Me and my husband took turns trying to get him down.  Some days he fell asleep very late and many hours after his “night” nursing session.  Then, he dropped it.  Suddenly he was fine with me simply rocking him to sleep.  He didn’t ask and I didn’t offer.  When I did offer, he refused.  I believe this was mostly due to a drop in supply.  There was nothing to get so why try, he decided.

I won’t call it baby led weaning because I consciously pared down feedings over a few months time.  I tried to make it as painless as possible for both of us.  In the beginning when we transitioned from 6-8 to 3 a day, occasionally when he asked and cried I would give in.  I knew he loved it and so did I.  But as a busy toddler he has quickly forgotten the days of constant nursing.  He has signed for milk once or twice but he also uses it as a synonym to “sleep.”  He knows the milk is gone.  I already had a low supply from being pregnant.  The last time he nursed it was for a few seconds.  He got the comfort then allowed me to rock him to sleep.

I know I did what was right.  Even though I would have gone longer, having 19 weeks of not nursing is good for everyone.  I dreaded nursing him due to the pain, and I know he could sense that.  I resented having to nurse him to sleep while being in pain while my husband watched TV.  This break gives me time to rest my nipples and mentally prepare for nursing a newborn again.  I’m really not sure how I would have coped with nursing my toddler to sleep on top of nursing a brand new little one.

Now I am already excited about getting to nurse my next little boy.  I hope my experience will make the first few weeks more relaxing for me and the new baby.  I look forward to watching my toddler grow and become a little person while I get to nourish a new little life.  Only time will tell if my son will become jealous of the new nursling or if he will have forgotten that that was our thing.  I am so proud that we had a happy, healthy, and joy filled 18 months of breastfeeding.  I am also proud of the transition we have made.  It wasn’t easy but it was worth it.

This review was written and performed by Kristen, DDL Contributor.

I was given the opportunity to review the Hygeia EnJoye personal breast pump.  I had never heard of the brand before, and had previously used Medela products or manual pumps.  I was excited to try it and was certainly not disappointed.

Anyone who breastfeeds or pumps knows that looking at, listening or thinking of your baby helps with let down.  Hygeia took this knowledge and applied it to their breast pumps by creating a CARE (Custom Audio Record Button) button, allowing you to record your baby crying an play it back, which among other neat features, is pretty brilliant in my opinion.

I was pretty intrigued with the opportunity to review this breast pump for many reasons.  One big reason is that this company designed their breast pumps to be “green”.  All parts that come in contact with breastmilk are BPA and DEHP-free and are one of the few pumps that are FDA approved to be safe for multi-users.  This means that you can re-sell or recycle the pump (send it back to Hygeia…address located on back of pump).  Many people do buy used pumps and I was one of those people…and I even used the pumps, until I learned that they aren’t really meant to be multi-user pumps.  So the Hygeia already was on my good side, because if you aren’t supposed to re-sell or re-use other pumps, where do they go??  Landfills??  That’s a lot of wasted pumps, so the idea that you can share this pump hygienically is pretty awesome (as long as you have your own Personal Accessory Set).

Why Hygeia Breast Pumps? It’s Simple…

• Risk – Free, 21 day return/exchange policy - Our Total compatibility Guarantee
• Clearance as Multi-user breast pump. Safe to share using a new Personal Accessory Kit
• Green Company, with recyclable breastpumps to protect the environment
• 3 year limited warranty, the best in the industry
• Unique C.A.R.E. button lets mom record/play baby’s cry or other sound, proven to help with letdown
• BPA/DEHP Free – all pump/kit parts that come in contact with breastmilk are safe for baby
• WHO Code Compliant supporting mothers and babies throughout the world.

So…all that wonderful stuff aside, how did the pump perform?  Well, I was able to try out the Hygeia EnJoye Dual Electric Professional Grade Breast Pump.  It was very small and came with a discreet drawstring bag to keep the pump and all supplies in.  It’s pretty simple and modern looking and was very easy to use.  There are two knobs, one to adjust the speed and another to adjust the strength of pumping.  This allows you to be able to mimic the different sucking patterns of your baby, which allows for optimum milk collection.  There is also the record and play buttons, where you can record your baby crying in order to help stimulate let down.  They do have a pre-programmed baby crying in there, which my 1.5 year old discovered by pressing the button and it scared the crap out of her!  Haha.  She was okay with it though once I recorded her sister crying instead.

When I was using the pump, I was pretty pleased with the overall feel of the pump.  I was able to easily adjust the speed and strength, and even at the highest settings, didn’t feel like my nipples were about to be ripped off, which has happened with previous pumps I have used.  The pump itself with really quiet and had a pretty consistent sound to it, which helped to make it more discreet.  One of the best features for moms who pump at work is that this pump has an internal battery.  This pump would have been my savior when I had my first daughter because I had nowhere to pump at work that was near an outlet.  If I had this pump then, I would have been able to pump in a bathroom stall (not ideal but hey, it would have been private and would have yielded the end result of pumped milk for my baby).  This is also great if you want or need to pump in your car (maybe even while driving if you are using a hands free pumping bra??), or if you go camping or even if your electricity goes out and for some reason you need to pump.  There are probably a million situations that I could think of where an internal battery would come in handy.

So anyway, with the aid of my recorded crying baby and the easily adjustable settings, I was able to get a lot of milk, and fast.  I have mentioned in other pump reviews that I have been able to use many different pumps and I can easily say that this pump is the best electric pump I have ever used.  I honestly don’t even know if I can think of any suggestions to make the pump better.  I guess maybe the bag it comes in could be cuter?  But seriously, I would recommend this pump to anyone who plans to pump, whether it be sporadically or regularly, over any other brand of pump out there.  Overall, I can’t think of any better pump to use, both because of it’s “green” rating and also because it just works so darn well.

Kristen was sent a Hygeia Pump to review, free of charge.  All opinions expressed are the writer’s and were not influenced by the company.

I have always understood that when babies nurse they compress the milk out, and don’t actually “suck” like it would.

Looks like we may all be wrong!

Watch this video of an ultrasound showing a baby nursing. The full article can be found at New Scientist.

What do you think about this new information? Will this help lactation consultants better help mothers who have trouble with their babies breastfeeding? Or, will the possibility of a test for babies without a strong enough suction give doctors more power to tell mothers to give up?

Let me first say that I love breastfeeding.  And I love that I have been able to nurse my son for 17 months now.  I never thought we would make it this far.  I was happy to see six months, then a year.  Then a few months after he turned one I found out I was expecting.  It wasn’t a shock; we weren’t trying but we weren’t preventing either.  I didn’t even have my first post partum period until 5 days after my son’s first birthday.  With extra long cycles I had only had two before I took that test.  I feel very fortunate that we were able to get pregnant while I was breastfeeding at all!  I do not take my fertility for granted one bit because I know others who struggle.

After the idea of being pregnant settled into my brain it hit me: my son is still nursing like a fiend.  I knew weaning wasn’t an immediate option, though not out of the realm of possibility.  I had already hit my earliest set goal of one year.  I understood making it to two years is what is recommended and I fully expected to reach it.  When I found out I was pregnant my son was nursing on demand 3-8 times a day and sometimes at night.  He had reached a stage where he was mobile and would walk over to me and lift my shirt.  If I were bra-less (usually this was normal early in the morning before I had a shower) he had free access to “milkies.”

Frankly, this wasn’t my style.  I was happy to nurse him but being treated like a buffet, and not as gently as one would like, was wearing on me.  Also, the fact that he would paw at my shirt in public wasn’t my style.  I did (and do if needed) nurse in public and will never shy away from that.  However, I didn’t want this behavior to continue.

I finally decided I had to take it back a notch.  No longer was my son going to saunter over and latch on forcefully with his 8 little teeth, then hear a tune and rip away to dance, then hook back on when finished.  I decided to restrict his nursing to certain times: Mornings (my favorite!), naps, and night time.  Also, if ever there was a need for comforting, I would nurse then as well.  This turned out to be a challenge.  He has gotten very used to walking up to me and reaching for them, or signing for “milk.”  It was very hard to see him sign for me, and I caved many times.  My tactic was to distract him when he was bored and just wanted milkies.  I would either offer him a sippy cup of milk, or play with him, or cuddle him.  In 1-2 weeks he had gotten used to the new routine and all was well.  Since most of our nursing coincides with going to sleep (I nurse him to sleep for naps and nights still ,mostly) he now signs for milk when he is tired too!

That has been going on for a few months now.  I had originally intended on paring him down slowly until he is weaned.  My son has other plans.  He would actually wake up once a night every day that I had only nursed him twice.  He demanded his third feed come hell or high water.  Eventually that changed, mostly because he started sleeping in our bed again!  Oy!

So what am I to do? I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that I am likely going to be tandem nursing.  Ask me 2 years ago if I thought I would be nursing a toddler and a newborn and I would have asked if that was even possible, then maybe laughed at you.  Now I know that many mothers have done it.  I will be buying and reading “Adventures in Tandem Nursing” soon.  Is this how I want to go?  Frankly, no.  I would also like my son to fall asleep without nursing.  This is the big stumbling block.  He sleeps a few hours in his big boy bed, then walks to our room where he either nurses and falls back asleep, or just cuddles and falls asleep.

What would you do in my shoes?  Push the weaning?   Or accept that he loves to nurse and prepare for double duty?

***Update.  Since I wrote this a few days ago we have dropped the morning and afternoon feeding, but he still nurses 1-3 times at night!  I might not have to tandem afterall, but nights are going to be hard to get rid of.  Any ideas?

After reviewing a few of Bravado’s nursing bras, I was wondering if they could get any better.  I had great experiences with all of them.  Then the new Bravado Bliss came in my mailbox.  I can’t say it was love at first sight because I was doubtful it would fit.  it looked larger than my other bras and thought I was either sent the wrong size, or I would need a smaller one in this bra.

Turns out I am just not used to seeing a molded cup Bravado Bra.  I tried it on and it fit like a dream!  While the Bliss is not as “sexy” and lacy as the Sublime or Allure, it is practical for under t shirts.  The lines and cups are silky smooth and leave no bra imprints under your shirt.  I tend to wear plain cotton t shirts a lot so this was a wonderful addition to my nursing wardrobe.

In fact, I chose a jersey, low cut dress for Easter.  I wore the Bliss underneath and not only did my boobs look way too hot for Easter thanks to the cleavage, but you couldn’t see any bra lines underneath the dress.  Once again, I wonder how I ever lived without it.

Comfort wise, this bra fits perfectly.  No digging straps or digging in the back, and the cups are fully supportive.  Like I said, it isn’t like sexy lingerie but that doesn’t matter because you need the full support bras in your life too, not just the pretty ones!

I would actually say that if one were to purchase any of the Bravado bras I have reviewed so far as a staple of their wardrobe, it would be Bliss.  It is functional, comfortable, and still prettier than most other nursing bras out there.  You can wear it under almost anything!

More about Bliss:

The Bliss Nursing Bra provides elegant shape and exceptional fit for everyday use with Bravado’s proprietary Flexi-Fit^TM support channel. Featuring smooth, seamless and molded foam cups for discretion and comfort, a low neckline, and a luxurious satiny finish, Bliss disappears under clothing so all they see is your beautiful silhouette, and all you feel is blissfully comfortable and totally fabulous!

Features

•	An innovative firm, but flexible under-breast Flexi-FitTM support system that offers remarkable shape and lift, while maintaing comfort and good breast health.
•	Foam cups that are also seamless, offering discretion to hide nipples and breast pads, as well as having a seamless appearance under even fitted clothing.
•	Satiny fabric that clothing just glides over, a delicate center front detail, and embroidered straps that offer subtle, yet stunning design elements.
•	Gentle stretch in the cups to grow and contract with your changing shape, while maintaining support.
•	Easy nursing features, including cups that drop fully and easily away from the breast for skin-to-skin contact with baby, and signature Bravado B-clips that lie flat under clothing and provide one-handed access.

Bravado is going to give one very lucky DDL reader a Bliss Nursing Bra.

Mandatory Entry:

Visit Bravado and tell me which color of the Bliss you prefer. Leave a comment.

For extra entries do any or all of the following.  Leave a comment for each you do.

Follow @KimRosas on twitter and tweet this giveaway. Please tweet, “Treat yourself with Bravado Bliss, seamless nursing bra.  Enter to win from @KimRosas. http://etdsy.th8.us #breastfeeding Ends 5/10″ Leave a comment with a link to your status.

You can tweet once a day for the duration of the contest. Leave a comment with your status for each tweet.

Follow @Bravadodesigns on Twitter. Leave a comment.

Subscribe to my blog via email through feedburner. Leave a comment.

Follow me through Google Friend Connect or via a reader. Leave a comment.

Grab my button and post it on your blog. Leave a comment.

Blog about this giveaway and link to the review. Post a link in the comment.

Get Creative: Post about this giveaway on a messageboard or forum. Leave a comment with a link.

New Entry: Become a fan of Dirty Diaper Laundry on Facebook and get 3 extra entries! Just leave your comment as FB entry 1, FB 2, and FB 3.

Giveaway ends on May 10. Winner will be chosen using random.org. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours a new winner will be drawn.

***Open to US and Canada***