Category Archives: Parenting

How Dads Can Play an Important Role in Breastfeeding and a Giveaway

06/15/2014 R.C. Liley 9 Comments

Happy Father’s Day to all of you awesome dads out there! These two girls make me a happy father/husband every day!

Yep, I’m one proud and lucky guy, and I’m elated to be celebrating this day for the first time! Avery also turns 7 months old today; she’s past the half year mark!

I finally get to find out what my wife has been keeping me from in our front room for the past month. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you soon.

Besides having two beautiful girls in my life, I’m proud of the fact that Going Mom chooses to only breastfeed Avery and will never consider formula. I understand some situations where it’s not possible, but just giving up isn’t a good reason or fair to babies.

No doubt, breastfeeding, from what I’ve seen and heard, is no walk in the park and has many hurdles to get past, but it’s not impossible. Going Mom is one of many mothers who deal with the #boobissues on a daily basis, and I do my best to support her however I can.

In honor of Father’s Day, Medela shared with me that they have collaborated with Kuroji Patrick, one of Medela’s 2013 Breastfeeding Hall of Excellence inductees, to create a list of tips for dads to get and stay involved with the breastfeeding journey.

We take pride in raising our daughter with the best nutrition from Mother Nature, and I hope this list will held dads support their partners and be an advocate for breastfeeding.

Daddies and Breastfeeding: Ways to Stay Involved

Before the Baby Comes

Be supportive of your partner’s decision to breastfeed by understanding the benefits of breastmilk.

Help your partner find information on what breastpump your insurance will cover. The Affordable Care Act requires insurance companies to provide equipment and support with no co-pay, but the actual pump provided will vary from company to company.

Join your partner in preparing for the experience of breastfeeding by taking a course that will provide you both with the information you’ll need to know.

Seek out other fathers who have supported their partners while Breastfeeding to gain real world advice.

At the Hospital

At the hospital, be an advocate for your partner. Make sure the staff knows that she wants to breastfeed and that formula should not be given to the baby without consent.

Find the lactation consultant if mom is struggling. Many hospitals have one on staff, and early intervention and support from a professional is crucial, particularly for first-time moms.

Ask the hospital staff about local breastfeeding support groups for after your family goes home. Peer encouragement is helpful, and it’s an excuse for mom and baby to get out of the house.

At Home

In addition to making sure your partner has what she needs while she heals from childbirth, you can help the breastfeeding transition to home by making sure she is comfortable while nursing—by bringing her pillows, foot rest, water, etc.
It doesn’t sound glamorous, but diaper changes are a great way for you to get involved in baby care. In addition to giving your partner a break, it’s a chance for you and your baby to start practicing conversation skills by making eye contact, cooing noises and engaging your baby with changing facial expressions.
If your partner starts pumping, you’ll have a chance to bond with your baby over a bottle and give your partner a break. You can further help your partner by washing and sterilizing pump parts and bottles.
Be your partner’s biggest cheerleader. Breastfeeding can be frustrating and difficult in the beginning, but you can provide moral support by acknowledging the difficulty of nursing and offering to find a professional to help, such as lactation consultant (which should be covered by your insurance). And remind your partner of why she wanted to breastfeed in the first place!

I have been utilizing tips like these since Avery’s birth and know I have a stronger bond with my daughter and wife as a result. The benefits of breastfeeding are powerful and I’d hope any parent would want only the best for their children.

Medela’s online education course, Breastfeeding University, costs a reasonable $25 and offers you priceless information, but they have agreed to allow me to offer 3 readers free access codes to the course! This would be perfect for the expecting couple to complete together or any couple looking to add to their breastfeeding knowledge database.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below telling me about your experience or plans with breastfeeding. I will randomly select 3 commenters to receive access codes to use to take the course for free. Contest ends next Friday, June 20th.

This giveaway has ended, but don’t worry, I’ll have plenty of other opportunities to win great prizes in the future!

Thanks to everyone who read and commented on this post, it’s something I am deeply passionate about. The three winners are Maggie, Ashley, and Stacy. Congrats and I have sent an e-mail for your code!

Hope everyone has a great day! Treat the dad in your life extra nice today! 🙂

Disclosure: I was not compensated in any way for this post and all views are strictly my own.

Life, Parenting

Fresh Raspberries You Can’t Eat?

06/13/2014 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

You can’t even pick them or find them on store shelves, but you might find them in stores.

I’m sure you see where I’m going here; these are the kind of raspberries you blow making a”pbtpbtpbtpbt” sound along with a little or a lot of spit.

Avery has been giving us plenty of these fresh from her mouth each day. She blows them when she’s happy, she blows them when she’s mad, and hell, she blows them when she’s sleeping!

It’s been going on for a while now, but lately she’s making a point to show us how well she can make raspberries at all times of the day. Emphasis on “all”.

We’ve woken up to the sound of raspberries emanating through the baby monitor at night, and she blows them every time we change her. I get that babies love to do new things they learn, and it’s cute, but what’s not cute is that she has also found her high pitch voice.

Ugh, anytime she’s crying (which is a lot since she’s teething), it has to be in the highest pitch she can muster. My throat hurts just listening to it, and I have no clue how she carries on for so long. But you pick her up and you’d think nothing was ever wrong; she just goes back to raspberries and smiles.

Since she’s given us several pictures of her raspberry blowing in action, I want to share the photos with you today. Enjoy the pics, and please share any raspberry stories you may have. I’d love to see the pictures of your kids’ raspberries if you have them; just share them on Going Dad’s Facebook page please!

The "I'm not listening." raspberry. — The “I’m not listening.” raspberry.

The "Hey, my cheeks are huge!" raspberry — The “Hey, my cheeks are huge!” raspberry

The "Last one before bedtime." raspberry — The “Last one before bedtime.” raspberry

The "This is what I think about giant bows." raspberry — The “This is what I think about giant bows.” raspberry

The "I can do anything and still be cute." raspberry — The “I can do anything and still be cute.” raspberry

"I'm innocent" raspberry — “I’m innocent” raspberry

"Look at me" raspberry — “Look at me” raspberry

Life, Parenting

Co-Sleeping in the Crib and Learning to Crawl with Lasers

06/12/2014 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

Would you believe I’m still not done covering my birthday weekend? I guess I am more wordy than I realize. Sorry but not sorry, if you know what I mean. 🙂

After opening my tasty gifts from Going Mom and Avery, we hung around the kitchen to have breakfast and more coffee (for me, at least). It had been a few hours since Avery was awake, and surprise, she started showing signs of sleepiness!

Face rubbing, ear scratching, constantly squirming, and let us not forget, fussing, were all happening with Avery. So, Kelley gathered our little fuss box and brought her in the nursery to attempt getting her to sleep. Avery went fairly easily and slept without much resistance.

And then she kept sleeping. Finally, we were ready to bring her out to the pool, so after almost 3 hours, it was time for us to wake her! But first, I had to try something…

Co-sleeping in the crib! Sure, we did co-sleeping in our room when Avery was younger, but what about the crib? Besides the wood creaking in protest at a heavy adult climbing into it, Avery stayed asleep…..for 30 seconds.

I’ve seen other pictures of dads doing this, so I had to give it a shot. I’ll call it a success, and I think Avery didn’t mind, she was just a little confused.

Since she was finally awake, we gathered our pool gear (which is really nothing but swimsuits) and walked down to our neighborhood pool. Avery had been one time before this trip and enjoyed the water, so we expected the same again.

Our expectations were right on as she had a blast, and we even brought her in the big pool!

Kelley and Avery_Pool_B-day — Too cool for drool

She wears her shades with pride; just like her mommy!

After getting our fill of the water, we journeyed back home to spend the rest of my 30th relaxing. We’ve been laying a blanket out in our living room for Avery to roll and attempt to crawl around on, and we figured we would try and teach her to crawl. This meant laser pointer time!

Yep, fun for Lou (the fat cat) and Avery! Abby, our Golden, wasn’t too impressed. We would hold the red dot in front of Avery and marvel at her raising both arms in the air as she lunged forward into crawl position.

Each time, we’d hold our breath and think “This is it!”, but then she’d fall over or just sit back up.

Oh well, we’ll keep trying because she is very close to figuring this out, and lasers will help get us there! As night drew near, Kelley and I shared one of the awesome beers she got for me and had a cheers to a great weekend.

I was still feeling it from the day before at the brewery, so splitting this hefty beer was plenty.

Avery slept a little better that night and so did we. It’s never fun saying goodbye to the weekend, especially when it’s your birthday, but I had a wonderful time with my mom, Paul, Kelley, and Avery. Thank you all for the great 30th; love you!

How did/would you train your baby to crawl, or did they do it on their own?

Ever try sleeping in a crib?