How To Keep Your Kids Safe & Itzy Ritzy "Hush Happens" Door Silencer Giveaway!

The stages of safety after becoming parents are as follows:

Stage 1: Yay!!! The baby can roll over!!! We've hit one of the most amazing milestones, yipee!! 

Stage 2: Oh crap! The baby is rolling over! Quick, get everything out of their way and do NOT let them out of your sight! Even if you've thought about trying this, do NOT try this, as we hear it is frowned upon, although at first glance does seem genius....

Stage 3: When did this child start crawling??!!! And now they're pulling themselves up!! Hurry up and move all the dangerous breakables off the tables! Strap all the things to the walls! Add cushions to all of the edges so they don't bonk their head! Cover the plugs!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Stage 4: Awwwwwww, oh my goodness, the baby took their first steps!!! Can you believe it honey??? Awww, errr, no wait!! Not the stairs!! 

And once walking begins, it's all over, as they say. All jokes aside, we truly believe that it is very important to safeguard your home once your child goes through the stages of rolling, crawling, pulling themselves up and finally once they walk. For tips from Safe Kids Worldwide, simply click on the link. They offer age specific tips, which we found to be very helpful ourselves. 

Here are our thoughts on safety from our Mamalogues YouTube channel, we hope you enjoy it! 

Would you like to enter to win the "Hush Happens" Door Silencer from Itzy Ritzy?? Well, you're in luck, because we have been gifted with 3 of them to give away!! Styles available are pictured here:

 Special thanks to Itzy Ritzy for being so generous and for helping parents who just got their baby to sleep everywhere!! The struggle is real!! We appreciate your business thinking outside the box to create a product that protects our children and also keeps us from waking them up!!  

Shout again once again to LouAnn and Anthony at Jersey Fire & Safety Products for answering our safety question and for all that your business provides to the fire and safety community! The work that you do is so important!! 

The "Hush Happens" giveaway entries begin at 3PM PST on June 13th, 2017 and will end at 11:59PM PST on June 21st, 2017! Good luck! Winners will be announced within 72 hours of entry completion time. 

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Cake Maternity Nursing Bra Review & $100 Gift Card GIVEAWAY!!!

Here at Mamalogues we try to feature a product we LOVE in every episode of our YouTube show. This week we are doing a $100 GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY from Cake Maternity!!  We are so excited to share our thoughts with you on the nursing bras we received from them.  Let's start by saying we were SHOCKED that they had our exact sizes with no issues.

Dani's size is pretty standard, 36B, but rarely do all 36B's fit on the first try. As we all know, no bra company creates their bras equally. Mary Beth, on the other hand, has a very difficult time finding the right bra, and sometimes needs a custom order. Thankfully, Cake Maternity had her correct size AND IT FIT PERFECTLY!!!

The next thing that struck us was how great these bras look and feel! They're super cute and they are even more comfortable. Dani recieved the Waffles 3d Spacer Contour Nursing Bra in black. Pictured below:

While it may be true that Dani is no longer nursing her children, she has A LOT of experience with uncomfortable and down right hideous nursing bras - you know the ones we're talking about! Cake Maternity's nursing bra is hands down THE BEST nursing bra Dani has ever worn.  So soft, and even sexy to wear. It's sad how often we feel un-sexy while nursing, so it was really heartwarming to see that Cake understands a nursing mama still wants to feel good about the lingerie she is wearing.

As we mentioned above, Mary Beth has a more difficult time finding the right bra because her size is less common.  She has an even harder time ensuring that those bras offer the appropriate back support and comfort, while also keeping her feeling sexy. Mary Beth was blown away by the Croissant Smoothing Flexi Wire Spacer Nursing Bra that she received in Beige, pictured below:

Did you notice the super cute lime colored accents? We did, too!! What a fun way to spice up a nursing bra, right??!!  Mary Beth loved the comfort and security she felt while wearing this bra which is super important to any mom that is pregnant like she is! She's already ordering more bras as we speak!!

Would you like to try out Cake Maternity's selection of nursing bras, maternity lingerie and more?? Well you are in luck because we are running a giveaway that ends on June 13th at 11:59pm.  What will you win? A $100 gift card to their website so you can order your very own bra, too!!! 

Hooray!!! Check out the link below to find all the ways you can enter our raffle and GOOD LUCK!!! 

Thanks for stopping by!

XO! 

Dani and MB

$100 Gift Card from Cake Maternity!!!!

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Sleep!

By Kate DelPizzo

One thing every new mom is guaranteed to hear soon after her baby is born is some variation of the question, “Does he sleep?" This query can (and will) come from anyone and everyone she encounters: good friends, family, acquaintances, co-workers, other new moms; heck, I even had a total stranger at CVS ask me when I was waiting in line to buy some baby item that was designed to make my son’s gas miraculously disappear (hint: Colic Calm is magic in a little bottle).

When my son was born, I learned very quickly that he was NOT a good sleeper. His tiny eyes were always wide open, looking around the room, taking in every sight and refusing to close. He was happiest when he was surrounded by a crowd of people and fought like the dickens whenever it was time to go down for a nap or to bed at night. My reports from daycare would read as follows: "Ben napped for 20 minutes...all day."

As other new moms were exclaiming with joy that their 10 week olds were giving them 6 hour stretches at night, my little guy was waking up every 45 minutes and refusing to sleep once 4am hit unless he was being held and rocked simultaneously. It was around this time that my husband learned to excel at sleeping in motion and I got pretty good at googling "how long a person could actually go without sleep?"

By 4 months, I started doing some serious research on sleep training. I learned all about the various methods: extinction, Ferber, Sleep Lady Shuffle, Babywise, pick up put down, Pat/shush; you name it, I read about it. I joined Facebook groups about sleep training. I read about the pros and cons of sleep training. I convinced myself that I was crazy to sleep train. Five minutes later, I convinced myself that I was crazy not to sleep train. I even went so far as to get the number of a sleep consultant who touted "a good night's sleep is closer than you think."

At 5 months, when the sleep deprivation was getting real, and I was surviving on coffee and the occasional lactation smoothie, I decided to bite the bullet and call the sleep consultant. My husband and I filled out an extensive questionnaire, cleared things with the pediatrician, and booked an immediate Skype conference with the hopes of getting one step closer to that ever so coveted “good night's sleep.”

Our 60 minute consultation covered everything from temperament and nursing habits, to comfort level with different methods of sleep training and evil "sleep crutches" impacting my baby's ability to self-sooth and sleep independently. It even instilled a glimmer of hope that my restless son could (and would) eventually sleep through the night or at least for more than 45 minutes in a row.

We decided, since my son was rather persistent, to try a more extreme version of sleep training, where we would put him in his crib awake, let him cry for 45 whole minutes before entering the room to calm him down and repeat the process over again. It seemed brutal, and I was hesitant to agree, but our consultant ensured us that this method would take about 3 or 4 nights and result in his learning how to sleep independently.

On that first night, we did our typical nighttime routine (bath, lotion, pj’s, nurse), but instead of letting Ben nurse to sleep (aka evil sleep crutch), I handed him off to daddy who topped him off with a bottle and plopped him into bed... wide awake. Truth be told, I then raced out the door and immediately drove to Wendy's where I purchased a huge order of fries and a frosty. If the wine store hadn't been off limits, due to frequent breastfeeding and disinterest in pumping and dumping the liquid gold that is breast milk, it would have easily been my next stop.

I decided to call my husband and check in with him about the process. We had agreed that it would be best for me to leave the apartment after putting the baby down, because my hearing him scream would have been helpful for no one.

To my great surprise, my husband told me that the baby had "fussed" for about 10 minutes and then had fallen sleep. It was a miracle. The child who had lungs of steel, had actually fallen asleep without a major fight! 

Despite this win for our team, my husband urged me to come home to relax because "the worst was yet to come." I wish I could say that this wasn't the case, but unfortunately he was right.

That first night, Ben woke up around 1am, (an improvement from past nights). I went in to nurse him, as we had agreed to sleep train with 2 overnight feedings, fed him, and put him back down in the crib... awake. I left the bedroom and had high hopes that he would fuss for 10 minutes and return to sleep. For about 2 minutes, my delusions of grandeur were real and the baby merely "fussed".  After that, however, the lungs of steel kicked into high gear and he began to wail.

I had the immediate urge to go in and hold him, but we went through with the plan, and let him cry for 45 agonizing minutes, before my husband went in to comfort him and we began the process over again. By the end of the night Ben had cried and cried and cried and cried, my husband and I had yelled and cried and screamed and cried, but ultimately the baby had put himself to sleep.

As the process went on, each night got easier and by night 4, things were much smoother. Although Ben was still putting up a fight, he was crying less and sleeping more. My husband and I were less irritable and finally feeling slightly rested and in better spirits. Although "sleeping through the night" was still a ways away, the nights of waking up every 45 minutes were behind us for the time being (I'll save sleep regressions and nap transitions for another time).

In conclusion, I would be lying if I said this process was simple, worked immediately and made my son an amazing sleeper. It was hard, time consuming and exhausting. It made me question myself as a person and wonder if I was a horrible mom for letting my kid cry. Heck, I am sure there are several people who will read this blog and think that I am a mean mommy for sleep training my son and letting him cry at such a young age. To those people, and to all mommies in general, I say this: Being a mom is deciding on what is best for you and your child and trying your best to see it through to fruition. It isn't the same for every family and it won't always be pretty. Sometimes your kid will cry for 45 whole minutes, you will feel horrible, and end up questioning your decisions. But no matter what, as long as you love your child with all your heart and try your best, you are doing a great job.

Sleep well mommies!! ‘Til next time.

Hello and Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the Mamalogues Blog! This is the home for longer pieces about the pleasures and pitfalls of pregnancy and parenting by members of the Mamalogues community. We always aim to give you the best advice on a range of topics that we struggled to find information on during our own journeys in pregnancy and parenting. Enjoy!

Check out the Mamalogues YouTube channel for new videos every Tuesday.

For tips, tricks and articles, follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/mamalogues123/ 

Exercise During Pregnancy

By Cassy Pressimone Beckowski

Whenever a friend asks me for pregnancy advice, “Exercise!” is my go-to answer. On more than one occasion, my enthusiasm has been met with a dubious smile or exhausted stare. And I completely get it. I remember how utterly wiped out I felt during my entire pregnancy.

But I can’t help myself. I’m convinced that exercise was the magic ingredient keeping me from falling apart – at times mentally, at times physically – during my pregnancies.

You may already be doing some guesswork about the kind of person I am. Let me assure you – I am not someone who grew up a natural-born athlete. As a middle schooler, I tried to be a sprinter because I thought it meant I’d have to do less running. In college, I started running to counterbalance the large quantities of cheese fries and ice cream on which I subsisted. I started running even more in grad school to manage stress and to make up for the half a pizza I could polish off in a sitting. And yes, I run even more now, and yes, I eat less pizza (because I have to share it with my kids), but I am by no means a fitness guru.

Nevertheless – I am a big fan of exercise during pregnancy. Here are a few of the reasons it made a big difference for me.

Exercise gave me some time to myself. When I was pregnant with my second son, I had a two-year-old at home clamoring for my attention. Those naps I had enjoyed during my first pregnancy? Those hours of watching TV with my feet up? Yeah, that never happened second time around. One of the best ways for me to actually hear myself think turned out to be exercising. For me, that often meant running. Sometimes it meant walking. Sometimes it meant yoga. Regardless, when I was exercising, I was doing something good for myself and the little guy in my abdomen, and it often gave me the space to mentally decompress that I needed.

Exercise alleviated some of my pregnancy aches and pains. I was lucky to have two healthy, low-risk pregnancies, but that does not mean that I felt great all of the time. For example, the larger my belly grew, the greater the pain in my low back – a dull, persistent ache that left me squirming in my office chair. But pelvic tilts – one of the simplest exercises out there – almost instantly made the pain go away. Some days, I would head into the bathroom at work and take a few minutes to merrily tilt away. Was it worth the occasional awkward run-ins with colleagues? You had better believe it.

Exercise empowered me. I happened to be in pretty good shape at the start of my second pregnancy, so with my OB’s approval, I kept running throughout the whole 42 weeks (you read that right). There was something about weaving belly-first through the throngs on the Wildwood Boardwalk that made me feel like a total badass (even though I’m glad there’s no video footage). And when I logged a few miles on a treadmill on my due date, I felt more confident about my impending labor. Whenever I was feeling anxious during my pregnancies, exercise always helped me to feel like I was in control.

Exercise helped me mentally prepare for labor, delivery, and everything that followed. Remember how I said I was in good shape at the start of my second pregnancy? My first pregnancy was a different story - when I found out in August that I was expecting, I had just gotten back from an amazing road trip that involved LOTS of eating. My first trimester was hot and uncomfortable, and my feeble attempts at running left me feeling drained. I ended up turning to prenatal yoga, which was a game-changer. I learned yogic breathwork (pranayama) and poses that strengthened parts of my body that I would need for labor. I practiced mindfulness that helped carry me through some pretty agonizing Pitocin-induced contractions and later helped me cope with sleepless nights as I attended to my crying infant. Also, I was able to practice prenatal yoga in my living room, thanks to a great selection of classes available on what continues to be one of my favorite websites – YogaDownload.com. 

Exercise during pregnancy motivated me after pregnancy. Taking care of a newborn (or a newborn and a toddler) is exhausting and time-consuming, and makes showering – let alone exercising – seem impossible. Because I was used to making time to exercise during my pregnancies, however, I was able to make it a priority to resume exercising once I had recovered from delivery. All of the benefits I had experienced when I exercised during pregnancy – getting some personal space, feeling healthy and in control – continued after I had my babies. And while it took way longer than I had hoped it would, I did eventually lose my baby weight. Exercise probably helped with that, too.

So now that I’ve made my case, I’ll dish out my usual pregnancy advice – while you’re expecting, consider making exercise a regular part of your self-care! Of course, you should talk to your doctor or midwife before you begin any new fitness program, and be sure to set reasonable goals and limits for yourself. I wish you and your baby a happy, healthy pregnancy!