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Babywearing made simple with the Soothe Shirt (GIVEAWAY!!!)

June 23, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 66 Comments

by Alanna Peters

I received a complimentary product for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own! 

I am all about babywearing. I wear my baby pretty much all day long, and we love it! I’m getting to be pretty good at wrapping and I’m figuring out the soft structured carriers, but when my baby was just a little squish it all seemed pretty complicated to me. Lalabu has come up with the sweetest, simplest way to wear and nurse your baby throughout the day! They created the Soothe Shirt, which has a built-in, cross-front nursing bra for easy breastfeeding and a pouch to put your baby in!

The Soothe Shirt is perfect for new babies up to 15 pounds. My baby is almost 16 pounds already (holy moly, she is getting big SO fast!) but we gave the shirt a try just to see how it works. You guys, I SOOOO wish I had this shirt from day one. My baby LOVED it! As you can see, she was all smiles as soon as I put her in the pouch. She’s a little big for the pouch so she was leaning out of the top but it would have been PERFECT for her when she was a little smaller. (Another bonus? I felt like the shirt made me look quite slim when the pouch wasn’t full of baby!)

Lalabu_Soothe_Shirt

Watch this cute video “A Day With Lalabu” to see how easy it would be to go through your day in this shirt. I LOVE it!

The Soothe Shirt is such an awesome product. The pouch is very comforting for newborns, who crave that closeness to mom. It is not intended for hands-free carrying but it does take baby’s weight off of mom’s arms and provides the comfort and bonding benefits of a wrap without the complexity. It is made in the USA and the seams are very secure, with the strength of climbing apparel. The shirt itself is designed to be worn all day long, either alone or layered with your favorite outfits.

0 Lalabu-Soothe-Shirt-All-In-One-Park

Check out these other videos showing how to wear and nurse with the Soothe Shirt:

Lalabu Soothe Shirt | How to Wear
Lalabu Soothe Shirt | How to Nurse

Another aspect of Lalabu that I love? Lalabu gives back. The company was created by Keri Fosse and her husband, Brian, who were inspired on a trip to Africa. In addition to the creation of a great product, they’ve built a One Day One Dollar business model. Each Lalabu team member volunteers one day a week to help women in need. They also give $1 of each sale back to women in Africa. What an awesome concept!

Buy it! You can purchase a Soothe Shirt from the Lalabu website for $60. Shipping is free!
Win it! Would you like to win a Lalabu Soothe Shirt? Enter to win a Lalabu Soothe Shirt (winner can provide size and color preference).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: General, Giveaways, My Favorite Finds · Tagged: baby pouch, baby wearing, baby wearing shirt, giveaway, lalabu, lalabu review, nursing top, review, soothe shirt

Milk Nursingwear Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

July 24, 2012 · by Tiffany Merritt · 85 Comments

I’m not one of those “on the go” moms who runs errands every single day with baby in tow. I actually plan rather strategically so that I can do most of my shopping and other outside-the-house tasks done either by myself, or just with Darah while Tim stays with Layah. I’m not afraid to go out with her; I just know the tasks will be completed much faster without a baby.

But there are times when I simply need to be out for a long time, and my entire family is with me. For example, when we went to Atlanta for a mini-vacation a few weeks ago, we had several things we wanted to do during the day before heading to the hotel (a trip to Ikea, which I’ll blog about later, a trip to Trader Joe’s, and a trip to the Varsity for some dinner). I wasn’t going to let the fact that I needed to breastfeed Layah multiple times during that trip spoil it for me.

All I needed to do was dress appropriately so that nursing her would not be too difficult. Milk Nursingwear had the perfect top for me to wear during our marathon day, and I have to say, it made breastfeeding a breeze. It also made me feel stylish, which is a HUGE accomplishment for nursingwear.

Here I am at the Varsity enjoying my meal. Layah enjoyed her meal afterwards! Ha!

To get a better idea of what the shirt looks like  and how it works for nursing, here’s a image from the Milk website:

The cowl neck nursing shirt is really soft, and I love the color. I wore this all day, and probably fed Layah 4 times while wearing it. I was never uncomfortable and never had a hard time feeding her on account of my wardrobe. It was really quite refreshing! At home I just wear whatever, and often have to completely remove my top to feed the baby. That’s fine if I’m in my own house, but it actually gets kind of old. I’ve started wearing this shirt at home for convenience sake, and if I’m out with the baby, I almost certainly am wearing this. It’s my favorite nursing shirt!

Milk Nursingwear has the best selection of affordable and fashionable nursing clothing I have ever found. The company is also founded by a mother of four. Elisa knows first hand how important it is to have modern styles that support breastfeeding. She’s done a wonderful job with her company, I think!

I also want to point out the sale section of the site. That’s a great place to find a bargain! 

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a $35 gift certificate to Milk Nursingwear!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. 

Filed Under: Giveaways · Tagged: best nursing tops, breast feeding clothes, breastfeeding clothes, breastfeeding clothing, breastfeeding nursing clothing, giveaway, maternity clothing, milk nursing wear, milk nursing wear coupon, milk nursingwear, milk nursingwear coupon, milk nursingwear review, nursing clothes, nursing clothing, nursing shirt, nursing shirts, nursing top, nursing tops, nursing wear, nursing wear breastfeeding, review

26 Days In: How Breastfeeding is Going

June 1, 2012 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

I was very dedicated to breastfeeding my first child. I assumed that after the initial physical pain of breastfeeding, everything would go super smoothly and we’d never have any issues. Unfortunately, we did have some troubles and I found myself supplementing close to half her daily food with formula by 6 months. By 10 months, Darah had weaned herself.

While I know it is too early to declare that we are going to be problem-free this time around, I will say that so far, things are going much smoother! And I think a fair amount of that success has to do with my approach to the process. Simply put, I’m much more relaxed about the whole thing this time around. I’m still keeping track of her feeding times like I did last time, but I’m not obsessing over whether or not she’s eating too frequently or not frequently enough. I just feed her when she seems to be hungry. Sometimes that’s every 1 1/2 hours….sometimes it’s every 4 1/2 hours. I can see with my own two eyes that she is growing like a weed, so I’m not getting all caught up in putting her on a schedule this time around.

I also discovered in the first week of feeding Layah that she has a very favorite way to nurse: laying down! That works for me, especially in the middle of the night! I suspect that I also have an overactive let down, and the laying down position helps with that because it is easy for Layah to just let the milk that she can’t drink quickly enough flow right out of her mouth.

Another thing I’ve done differently this time around is kept my resources for support close at hand. I went to a breastfeeding support group meeting when Layah was just 8 days old, and even though we weren’t having major problems, it was SO great to connect with other moms in the early weeks of breastfeeding. I’ve also been quick to consult kellymom.com when I do run into questions, as that is a very comprehensive site with some really terrific information.

Finally, I have made sure that I have the right clothes for comfortable breastfeeding, which is something that I did not have squared away when I was nursing Darah in the early weeks. One of my very favorite items is The Essential Nursing Tank from Bravado. There are many things to like about this particular nursing tank, but my absolute favorite is that it comes with a built-in bra, so you don’t have to wear a separate bra under your tank. HALLELUJAH! And these tanks come in specific sizes for different breast sizes, so it really and truly will fit you, even if you are a bit larger up top!

I also love the snap design on this tank. While it holds in place just fine on its own (I have never had it come undone on me!) it is also easy enough to unsnap with just one hand, which is a clever design for those of us with hungry, mad babies in the other hand!

I also really appreciate the length of the tank. I’m a short gal, so the top isn’t so long that its more like a nightgown, but it does completely cover my tummy, which makes me feel more secure. I’m definitely not at the stage with my post-baby body where I want my mid-section hanging out for the world to see!

While I held on to my nursing tank and didn’t use it until Layah was born, the material is stretchy, and designed to be usable during pregnancy, as well. So if you purchase this tank, you are sure to get LOTS of use out of it!

I personally am trying to decide which other colors I should purchase. I currently have the brown tank, and it is constantly being washed and re-worn. I could definitely use one or two more!

The Essential Nursing Tank by Bravado is available for $49.00 and comes in 9 beautiful colors that will help make your maternity and post-partum wardrobe super functional. It can be purchased here.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. 

Filed Under: Featured, Parenting Tips · Tagged: bravado, bravado essential nursing tank, bravado nursing, bravado nursing tank, bravado nursing tank tops, breastfeeding, breastfeeding clothing, breastfeeding tips, nursing tank, nursing tank reviews, nursing tank tops, nursing top, nursing tops

Maternity Monday: Undercover Mama Nursing Tank Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

March 12, 2012 · by Tiffany Merritt · 79 Comments

One area that needs some advance thought before you bring a baby home is your new wardrobe, especially if you plan to breast feed. For the first two weeks after you have a baby, you’ll pretty much be living in a nightgown or something else that is super easy to get on and off and not too tight. Once things start to calm down a bit and your body slowly starts the process of taking on its new shape (not its old shape, because that’s not coming back for most of us!), you can also start to wear more “normal” clothes.

Sort of.

You see, when you are breastfeeding a little one, you’ve got to be able to get in and out of your clothes quickly and often. So you need clothes that will easily accommodate that. Trust me, I tried to wear more traditional things early on, and quickly found that I had to completely remove my clothes in order to nurse. That might work in your home, but it certainly won’t work if you are out and about.

So you are going to need some nursing clothes. Most tops designed for breastfeeding are ugly. There, I said it. In my experience, the way to go is to get nursing tanks which you can wear underneath tops that are more attractive then nursing tops. Even if you have to completely remove your top, you still have on a nursing tank and can remain covered.

But after having spent a lot of money on nursing bras (which are a necessity), there wasn’t much money left over for lots of nursing tanks. This is where today’s featured product comes in really handy. It’s called Undercover Mama, and it is a tank top that will attach to any of your nursing bras, transforming them into nursing tanks! Genius!

Check out this quick video that shows you exactly how Undercover Mama tanks attach to your nursing bras to create nursing tanks for you!

Talk about one of those “Why didn’t I think of that?!” products! I can tell you right now that my Undercover Mama tank is going to be a workhorse in my post-partum wardrobe. What a great money saver this is, and it also is more comfortable than a traditional nursing tank because you don’t have to wear one more layer of straps. Just your bra strap is needed! Thank you, Undercover Mama, for making dressing for breastfeeding more comfortable and more affordable!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win an Undercover Mama nursing tank!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Giveaways · Tagged: breastfeeding bras, breastfeeding tank, giveaway, make tank top, nursing bra top, nursing cami, nursing shirt, nursing tank top, nursing top, nursing undershirt, nursing undershirts, review, undercover mama, undercover mama nursing tank, undercovermama.com

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Welcome!


Grab your beverage of choice (mine is iced coffee) and let's hang out for a spell! I'm Tiffany, and I've rambunctious little girls and a fierce desire to share any tip and trick I can find to make lives with little ones a bit less hectic and a lot more fun. [Read more...]

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