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Kid safety: at home, on the road, while they eat, and while they sleep

November 18, 2019 by Leave a Comment

This campaign made possible by Title Sponsor: Naturepedic

Let’s talk about the responsibility of keeping our kids safe.

I bet that most of us never thought as much about kid safety as when we had our own kids to look after. All of a sudden we have the responsibility of keeping our kids alive, and not just that, but to keep them safe and healthy! A lot of that is outside of our control, which is daunting, but there are a number of factors we have to manage in our efforts to keep our children safe. That can also be daunting.

There’s a whole lot of pressure that we experience as parents, from outside as well as from within ourselves, to make sure that no harm comes to our little ones. The good news is that kids are extremely resilient. Most of us are going to mess up a few times without any lasting damage to our offspring. But we all want to keep our kids from experiencing any pain or discomfort that we have within our power to prevent.

However, as there’s no one guidebook for child safety and well-being, it can be overwhelming to figure these things out, especially when some of us still have parents who remember a time before car seats. They can only help so much in the safety department as the world’s understanding of child development and safety have steadily grown since they were new parents. What’s outdated advise? What are the latest recommendations? What new or newish products are really helpful? Which ones can you trust? What do you really need?

The Leaky Boob is here to help.

We are launching a 4 week campaign focused entirely on child safety, and we have 4 trusted brands coming alongside that each represent an area of expertise with child development and safety standards: Naturepedic with sleep, Qdos with home safety, Olábaby with infant feeding, and Britax with car safety.

From now through December 15 TLB will be focused on discussing safety that include and go beyond these areas of expertise.

Join us as we all seek to make our world a little safer for our kids. Look for posts with the hashtag #TLBsafekids2019, tune in to the 3 campaign livestreams on TLB FB, and enter to win some wonderful child safety products from our campaign sponsors below.

 

 

Thanks so much to these brands who invest time, creativity, technology, and funds to support new parents with products to help keep our precious children safe. The following products are featured in the #TLBsafekids2019 giveaway. Enter for your chance to win after the info about the campaign!

Naturepedic: MC46 Organic and Breathable 2-Stage Crib Mattress
Retail Value: $349
This mattress starts with a firm, flat crib mattress made from food-grade polyethylene for easy crib changing, and then we add the most hygienic breathable cover to maximize airflow. The waterproofing the back of the cover protects the mattress and the 2-stage design allows it to grow with your child.

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Qdos: a variety of wonderfully designed child safety products for your home- winner’s choice!
Retail Value: $100
Modern, innovative, easy-to-use, and made to complement your home’s style, Qdos designs products to make your home safer for your children, from outlet covers, to anti-tip furniture kits, finger slam guards, and more!

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Olábaby: GentleBottle, Steambowl, Training Spoon, and Toddler Spoon
Retail Value: $42
Made of 100% non-toxic silicone, the GentleBottle’s soft texture and shape allow baby and parents a safe and comfortable grip. Use the clever Steambowl both to prepare steamed baby food puree AND as a serving bowl. And the Training and Feeding Spoons are the perfect tools to get your baby started on solid food. The flexible material allows for easy scooping, cutting, or even slicing, and doubles as a teether!

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Britax: One4Life all-in-one Car Seat
Winner’s choice of color
Retail Value: $375
The Britax One$Life all-in-one car seat grows with your child for 10 years (from rear-facing infant to forward-facing 5-point harness, to high-back belt-positioning booster) and it’s the only all-in-one with ClickTight. It goes from 5 to 120 lbs.

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Meet our Campaign Ambassadors!

Here to test out these wonderful products is a group of moms that will be posting about #TLBsafekids2019 on their own social accounts.

Here’s a little info on this campaign’s ambassadors, listed in the order of the above picture, left to right, top to bottom: 

 

I’m Lissette. A stay at home momma from NYC. Have two little ladies, ages 4, and 3 months. Been breastfeeding nearly continuously for 5 yrs with the support of my husband as well as online spaces like The Leaky Boob. When I’m not on Instagram, I’m rewatching The Office, crocheting, or helping out at our local Community garden.

Follow Lissette on Instagram!

 

I’m Chinenye, mostly called “Chi” or “Nenye” by my friends and family. I’m a finance analyst but left my job to take care of my little munchkin Jidenna who is almost 13 months old and still grabs on to my boobs like his life depends on it. Lol. When I’m not chasing my little one and preventing him from putting the tiniest things only his eyes can see into his mouth, I’m making scented soy candles and other natural products or testing out new fragrances to include in my candle line. I’ve also recently picked up photography as a hobby.

Follow Chinenye on Instagram!

 

My name is Rachel! I am mother to 4 living children, 1 angel baby, former foster mother to 4 different children, and current foster mom to a teenager and her baby (yes, I’m a grandma at 33!) and wife to Milkman. I can be found stealing kisses from my husband in the kitchen, munching on baby cheeks, nursing a kid or two, chasing chickens around the farm we live on, juggling social workers, and sending memes to my besties. I blog over at SheRocksTheCradle.com, where I talk about parenting, babies, fostering, breastfeeding, and marriage. I am so excited to be back on a TLB Campaign, because it gives me the opportunity to build community with other mothers.

Follow Rachel on Instagram!

 

Hi, I’m Katie! I am a stay at home mom and Coast Guard wife. I have one beautiful daughter who is almost one and a nine year old chocolate lab who still demands as much attention as a real kid. I am one week away from my breastfeeding goal of one year with no intention or desire to wean any time soon. This is my third campaign with The Leaky boob and I am so happy to be back. When I’m not chasing around a baby you can find me in the woods hiking, camping, or exploring.

Follow Katie on Instagram and Facebook!

 

I’m Kimberly – mom of four, married 15 years, coming out of the fog of PPD and learning to fall in love with our big surprise baby and how different this stage looks than I expected. I love baking, binge watching, anything outside, and being right – just ask my husband 😂

Follow Kimberly on Instagram!

 

Hi! I’m Amanda. I am a wife to a hilarious and hardworking man and mama to 4 earth-side kiddos ages 7, 5, 3, and 3 months, and one precious angel baby. I’ve got a Masters in Clinical Psychology and had grand plans to become a Marriage and Family Therapist, but the pull of motherhood was strong within me and I’ve been a Domestic Engineer for 6 amazing years! I thrive in the crazy that is motherhood! I get my kicks hoarding books, singing, drinking coffee and wine, backing, and playing Sims.

Follow Amanda on Instagram and Facebook!

 

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#TLBsafekids 2017 – a Giveaway to Inspire and Support

October 4, 2017 by 287 Comments

Keeping our kids safe is quite a daunting task. They start out so little, so vulnerable, and though they are amazingly resilient and life comes across as a force with a seeming will of its own, at least babies can’t get themselves into trouble – they’re immobile.

But as they gain mobility, and curiosity grows inside them, each new stage of development has a way of keeping their parents on their toes. How do we balance allowing them to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity, with keeping them safe from dangers lurking around every corner? If we slack on the one side they’ll get hurt! But if we slack the other way, we’ll hold them back.

Put that under things you never thought you’d worry about when you became a parent. This parenting thing was going to be challenging, of course, but frightening? We didn’t see that coming.

But I can tell you this much: those fears are healthy, and so is your desire to allow your kid to explore. Your emotions and your brain may seem like they’re pitted against each other, but in reality you need both to parent well. Because deep down you already know that you can’t completely shield your child from getting hurt, and you also know that hurt, to a degree, is a great teacher. Who ever learned how to walk without falling a hundred times? It’s par for the course, and you are a better parent for allowing your child to learn how to walk even though they will get hurt. And you are an even better parent if you demonstrate to them that you believe in them, comfort them when they’re frustrated and overwhelmed, and encourage them to try again when they’re ready.

We, the parents, have got this, modeling how we can use both our brains and our hearts.

We can learn about developmental milestones form experts, and everyday experiences from others just like us. And there are a ton of tools available to make our life easier, and products designed by people who care about child safety. #TLBsafekids 2017 is featuring several of these products, from brands that were created out of a desire we share with them: making the world a safer place for our kids.

A huge thanks to Diono, Pura Stainless, and Crane for supporting parents and their kids year-round, and for supporting #TLBsafekids 2017 for the next few weeks. Check out their featured products below and enter the giveaway for your chance to win all of them!

 

Diono

The radian rXT All-In-One Convertible Car Seat, retail value: $359.99

Your child’s security is our top priority. We engineered our radian® rXT with premium, innovative features like a steel alloy frame, aluminum reinforced sidewalls, energy absorbing EPS foam and a reinforced adjustable head support to keep your little one protected and comfortable. 

 

Pura Stainless


Pura Kiki Stainless Steel Bottles, retail value: $24.99

100% plastic-free, NonToxic Certified stainless steel bottles that grow with your child from infancy through grade school.

 

Crane

 

Crane Drop Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier, retail value: $54.99

Get relief from dryness in style with a Crane Drop Humidifier. Featuring an award winning design and top rated performance, Crane’s Drop Shape Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifiers provide up to 24 hours of soothing moisture to help relieve the effects of dryness and congestion, helping you and your Family to breathe easy and sleep through the night peacefully. Crane’s Drop design complements any home’s decor. Not only are Crane Drop Humidifiers stylish, but they are easy to use, whisper quiet, more efficient than a household light bulb, and include a built-in auto-shut-off feature that engages when the water tank is empty to ensure safety. The moisture that humidifiers add to dry air also help alleviate many common nuisances brought on by winter heating such as static electricity, peeling wallpaper, shrinking wood, and cracks in paint and furniture.
 

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Focusing on the Safety of Our Children – #TLBsafekids 2017

October 4, 2017 by 1 Comment

#TLBsafekids 2017 is made possible thanks to Title Sponsor: Diono

Every parent’s first job is to tend to their child’s health. Every parent is aware of all the ways that they could let their children down. All the ways that they could fail at protecting their children’s health. All the ways that they are likely to screw up their kid(s).

As a mother to 6, almost 7, here are a few things that I wish I had known when I first became a mother:

First off, it’s normal to worry about the safety of our children. Yes, there are unhealthy levels of worry that can lead us to thinking that maybe the best thing to do is to move to a remote area of Montana and never leave the homestead – which is why we need people around us to help us stay within a healthy level of worry. But being concerned for the wellbeing of our children is a good thing. It means we care about them, and we want good things for them.

Second, we will screw up our kid(s). My kids like to point out how everyone is unique in their own way – that weird isn’t bad because we’re all weird in our own way. And while I agree with them and nod my head, in my mind that translates to “we’re all screwed up in our own way.” And the most likely people to have screwed us up? Family. Namely, our parents. But not exclusively. Siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins, all have the honor of being in the position of screwing us up too. Moving to Montana is probably sounding even better right about now isn’t it? Except that if I’m the only one left to influence my child, guess who’s the only one left to screw them up? That’s right. I am. You are. Time will tell just how much time our children will end up needing to spend in therapy – and I’m not joking about that, so far 2 of ours have needed it and we’re big believers in therapy – but in the meantime, all of us parents are just trying to do our best to not screw up our children too much.

Third, we need information. Which means that we need to be able to ask the questions that we have. Which means that we also need to feel safe in asking those questions. That has been one of my primary goals in shaping The Leaky Boob community: to make it a safe place for moms to find information, encouragement, and support, in a judgment-free space. There are no stupid questions. There are only questions needing answers. And a safe space to admit the mistakes we’ve made.

And as first-time parents, we have a LOT of questions needing answers. Second-time parents too! And even seventh-time parents.

As a mom of 6, soon to be 7, you might think that I have it all figured out! But I don’t. There are some things that I’ve learned, sure, but each of my children has proven to me that what makes them unique requires me to adapt my parenting to fit their mould, and not the other way around. Just because one of my kids thought it was a good idea to stuff peas in their nose doesn’t mean that they all will. Just because one of my children seemed to understood the theory of relativity at 12 months doesn’t mean that they all will. And I’m joking about my 12 month old being a super genius. The point is, even I’m still learning, things are changing, new information is regularly becoming available, and I still need a safe space to ask my questions too.

So for the next 3 weeks, The Leaky Boob community is going to have a special focus on safety in a campaign that I like to call #TLBsafekids. And we’re going to talk about all the things that could potentially threaten the health of our little ones. I’ll spare you a list because it basically includes pretty much everything. Which is why we really need a space to be able to talk about it all.

 

Join our private Facebook group #TLBsafekids, check out and follow our team of brave campaign ambassadors below on social, and show some love to the wonderful campaign sponsors below who care very much about the safety of our kids.

 

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#TLBsafekids 2017 Campaign Ambassadors

 

Hello Everyone! My name is Amber. I have 3 beautiful girls: 4, 2 and 4 months. My husband is an over the road truck driver and I am a registered nurse. I am currently not working but am a stay at home mom. My oldest just started preschool, so we are trying to get used to a more structured schedule. I am very excited to be a part of this opportunity!

I live in a small town called Glencoe, in Minnesota. I am originally from Colorado.

You can find Amber on Instagram.

 

Hey everyone! I’m Brianda and I LOVE The Leaky Boob – it’s been a huge resource as a mom. We live in Woodstock, GA, a small suburb of Atlanta. My husband Reid and I have three littles… Olivia (2 years old), Owen (7 months old) and Benjamin (7 months old). Life with a toddler and twins is absolute chaos but I truly love it.

You can find Brianda on Instagram.

 

 

 

Hello Everyone, I’m D’Andra from the great state of Texas and the best city, Dallas, lol !!!!

I have only my 9 month Old Princess, Miss. Emorie Dakota, 3 fur babies, and a Man Child I call Husband  😂 😂 😂

I’m obsessed with natural parenting and learning about different things for my baby to try.

You can find D’Andra on Instagram.

 

 

I’m Leah. I have a 3yr old daughter, HER (Hannah Elizabeth), a 1yr old son, SIR (Saul Isaiah), 2 babies in heaven and I’m currently a little over 14 weeks pregnant! I’m the head Nurse of a missionary organization, but from July to January/Feburary I’m a SAHM. My husband is a part of the Ministry as well. I look forward to connecting with you all on social! I am from NJ but currently live in Lancaster county PA.

You can find Leah on Instagram.

 

 

Hi! I’m Micah. I live in So Cal with my 4 kids (10, 5, 3, 20 months) and boyfriend.

I’ve been a SAHM since the baby was born but I will be going back to work starting Monday at one of our local coffee shops. I’m super excited about it because I’ll still have a pretty flexible schedule for kid stuff.

You can find Micah on Instagram and Twitter.

 

 

 

Hey guys, I am Ophelia. I am a SAHM to my two little guys. Noah is 3, and Joseph is 20 months old. We are from Alabama, and we LOVE being outside. Both boys love getting dirty, as do I. #boymom

You can find Ophelia on Instagram.

 

 

 

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#TLBsafekids 2017 Sponsors

 

Title Sponsor: Diono

Here at Diono we’ve made it our passion to lovingly engineer ideas that are all about safety and smiles. So, whether it’s a big day out or a little trip around the corner, we’ve thought of all the things you’ll need. Find out more here. 

 

Pura Stainless

100% plastic-free, NonToxic Certified stainless steel bottles that grow with your child from infancy through grade school. Find out more here. 

 

Crane

Here at Crane, we put “Design for Better Living” into everything we do. We started with a few designs in 2005 and continued to grow each year, working towards solving your indoor needs. Crane products are designed with efficiency, function and style in mind. We love to be creative with colors, designs and we know our products will bring comfort and smiles to your home!

Crane humidifiers help add humidity to any room in your home and will help relieve congestion to keep your family healthy. Any room in your home can be warm and cozy when you have a Crane space heater at your side. Air pollutants are everywhere; Crane air purifiers help eliminate dust, pollen, pet dander and smoke, leaving germ free air in your home. Sometimes you just need a cool breeze, and Crane fans let you direct fresh air into any room you need, whenever you need it.

Find out more here. 

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Safety: Who To Listen To, Carseat Giveaway, And Pregnant Lady Talk

October 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment
This newsletter generously sponsored by our friends at
Dear Leakies,Have you found confidence in yourself through the challenges you’ve faced in your parenting journey? Has feeding your baby taught you something about yourself?  You’re not alone and we want to hear all about it, email your story to us at content@theleakyboob with the subject #ConfidentMoms.

The first time I drove after finding out I was pregnant I discovered 5 things:

  1. I had no confidence and was suddenly nervous about driving because my baby was an extra person to take care of and
  2. Driving safely was challenging with constantly needing to vomit.
  3. Safety was more important to me than it ever had been before.
  4. Keeping our babies safe starts before they’re even born.
  5. Everyone else in the whole world drives like they just don’t have they’re in a clown show! (I’m working on letting go of this one.)

It can be hard to tell what’s really a safety concern and what’s an old wives’ tale when you’re pregnant and so many well intended people will hurry to dispense even more confusing information that could just be a myth and not information at all. What practices are dangerous? What food should you really avoid and why? Are there any chemicals you should be worried about? Is your shampoo ok? What about your hair dye? Face wash? Sleeping on your back, yes or no? Is that thing about raising your arms about your head just something silly or is it a real thing? How to tell?

No really, how do you tell?

Four ways to figure out if the pregnancy warnings are real:

  • Talk to your health care provider. They’ve heard it all and if they don’t already know the answer, they know how to find the answer from a reliable, evidence based source. And if you aren’t sure about their answer, get a second opinion and of course…
  • Talk to your family and friends. We’re not alone in this life for a reason. Feel out your friends, ask their experience, and ask around. The answers may be diverse but that’s not a bad thing as you…
  • Do your own research. Use the CRAAP test to be sure the source and the information provided is something you should trust. But in the end…
  • Listen to your gut. If you can clear the noise around you, take some deep breaths, and just listen to yourself, that mom-sense is probably already starting to heighten. Listen to it. And don’t do something that makes you uncomfortable.

You’ve got this Leakies. You can keep your little ones safe when they’re inside and out.

#TLBsafeKids is coming to a close, we hope the information and support has been helpful to you. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a clek car seat, Newton Crib Mattress, Crane humidifier, California Baby gift set, CatBird baby carrier, and Rhoost home safety items. Also, we teamed up with Euphoric Herbals to offer all of you a special discount to use in their online store! (Organic, sustainably-resourced all-natural products for mama and family!) CLICK HERE for the exclusive coupon code!

Happy Parenting Leakies!

For more tips and resources, read the rest of our exclusive newsletter HERE.

Peace,

Jessica Martin-Weber
Founder, TheLeakyBoob.com
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#TLBsafeKids: Home Safety Tips

September 25, 2015 by 1 Comment

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This newsletter brought to you by our friends at

Ergobaby logo

 

Dear parents,

One of our primary concerns as parents is the safety of our children. They depend on us for nutrition first, but also for everything from diaper changes, the clothes they wear, the place where they sleep, cuddles and kisses, a clean house, bandaids, car seats, child-proofing, to owning kid-friendly products, teaching them safe practices while out and about, and more, all of which are connected to keeping our little bundles of joy safe.

And nothing brings out the mama and papa bear in us than hearing, or just fearing, that our children may not be safe. 

For this edition of #TLBsafeKids newsletter, we are zooming in on safety in our homes. There is a balance that all parents need to strike between creating a bubble-wrap world for their kids and letting them have an all-access pass to everything in the house. One extreme leads to kids – and then adults – with limited problem-solving skills and a stunted understanding of their own limits. The other is more or less a test of survival with the real possibility of severe and lasting consequences. 

Some of the safety precautions that we have chosen for our home have come straight out of our own near-tragic experiences.

For example, we have never had much aesthetic appreciation for blinds, but every home that we have lived in has had some for us to enjoy. When EarthBaby, our first child, started toddling around, we found ways to make sure the pull-strings were safely out of reach of her little hands. We tied them up in knots, we hung them up over the blinds, we were creative. Fast-forward a number of years and a few children, and Jessica and I went on a trip, entrusting our children to some dear, trusted friends with children of their own. While we were away, one of our children ended up getting tangled up in the strings of their blinds, with one section of string pulled up tight around her neck. Fortunately, our friends got her untangled right away, with no more serious injury than a slight rope burn on our child’s neck. They relayed the story to us, horrified, and explained that it has been a while since they had small children in the house and didn’t think of all the ways they needed to child-proof their house. In our current house, we simply took the blinds down, preferring to risk someone taking a peek into our open lives than to keep the ugly things up. If we were ever to choose to put them back up, we would most likely invest in a cord winder like the ones Rhoost makes for home safety.  

I won’t go into as much detail with other examples… read more here.

#TLBsafeKids, Home Safety Tips, newsletter

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Jeremy Martin-Weber, headshot, The Piano Man

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Car Seat Safety: The Mistakes I Made So You Don’t Have To

September 21, 2015 by Leave a Comment

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Dear Leakies,

I’m not even going to tell you all the things I did wrong with my older kids when it comes to car seat safety but suffice it to say it was bad. Really bad. There was much I didn’t know considering I thought all that was involved in keeping kids safe in a vehicle was getting a car seat (might have used one purchased at a thrift store- ack!), buckling it in a car (this was before LATCH), and strapping them in.

Now, I could argue that my parents weren’t even in car seats and they turned out fine but I know that statistically the whole reason car seats were introduced by my generation was because they absolutely do save lives. My parents turned out fine but many other children of their generation died in car accidents. And my generation also turned out fine with seats that wouldn’t even come close to passing today’s safety standards but again, I understand that those standards are in place now because statistically they make a difference. Maybe not for me, but for some they have. Maybe those different standards have made a difference for my very own children.

Selecting, installing, and properly using a car seat can be a huge pain, literally and figuratively. I have a scar on my shin from installing one of our car seats a few years ago. I’d gladly take another one, that was the car seat my now 7 year old was in when we were in a hit and run when she was a toddler. She was the only one in the car that day that didn’t require medical care.

I’ve learned a lot even since then and I had learned a lot with her 3 sisters before her. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Clek for #TLBsafeKids, to help us all learn together. Sharing information, personal stories, and asking questions, Clek is helping us through #TLBsafeKids to keep our little ones safe. All through the year Clek is sharing information and support for families through our Ask the CPST feature on theleakyboob.com and on their Facebook page and Instagram.

Few topics are as explosive as child passenger safety on parenting social media sites, it can be right up there with breastfeeding in public, formula feeding, and circumcision. There are a lot of feelings tied to how we keep our kids safe and passion can easily turn information sharing into a bludgeon. Even though I sometimes disagree with what I may see on social media and in real life when it comes to child passenger safety there are a few points I have seen come from even the most heated debates.

  1. Parents love their children and want to keep them safe.
  2. Attacking people isn’t a teaching tool.
  3. Information can be overwhelming.
  4. Sometimes the minimum is the best someone can do.
  5. Judging doesn’t help anyone but the judger and even then only with a false sense of superiority.

Learning happens in stages, even as adults. Finding out there is something to learn, figuring out where to get the information and who to trust (Your mom? Your friend? Do you have to go to car seat school?), and fitting all that in with your life reality is a process. We need to be gentle with ourselves and with others through that.

So what do we really need to know when it comes to car seats?

There’s more than can be contained in a newsletter or a single article, in fact, there is car seat school. People can go to car seat school (not really called that) and become Child Passenger Safety Technicians. That’s just how much information there is.

You can find a CPST to help you install your seats (they have lots of bruises and scars from doing this so often) and that’s probably a good idea. It takes some time but often you can find places that offer that service for free and that time buys you peace of mind.

The rules from one seat may not apply to another. Manufacturers are the experts on their seats and your #1 resource for support. Have a question about your seat? Check your manual and if you still aren’t sure, call a manufacturer.

Be open to learning as you go. Get as much information as you can, but standards and even laws are changing all the time so being open to learning as you go can make a difference in how you’re keeping your child safe.

We’re here for you, sharing the journey and it’s ok if you don’t know something, we won’t judge. And there’s no way it could be as bad as what I did with my older girls- I’m just grateful they have lived to tell about it. We won’t judge but we will point out if we see something dangerous because of stories like this heartbreaking one of loss due to unknown car seat misuse.

Join us this Thursday, September 17th at 9 EST/8 Central/7 Mountain/6 PST for a live chat on The Leaky Boob Facebook page with Diono and Allana Pinkerton, CPST (she went to car seat school). We’ll have a giveaway and lots of information to share responding to your questions about car seat safety. Hope to see you there!

If you’d like to read more exclusive tips and articles on real life parenting, up-to-date carseat safety research and wholesome recipes with your health in mind, visit our latest newsletter HERE.

Happy Child Passenger Safety Week!

Jessica Martin-Weber
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#TLBsafeKids Helpful Tools for You

September 18, 2015 by 245 Comments

#TLBsafeKids sponsors have joined forces to offer you a chance at winning all of their featured products in this year’s #TLBsafeKids campaign! What is #TLBsafeKids? Here is a description from the post introducing it:

“Respecting each other, ourselves, and our children, #TLBsafeKids brings together parents concerned about safety around information, ideas, and sharing our stories. And we believe it can be fun. Though there are aspects of safety conversations and education that can be scary, when we approach it with respect and a sense of fun it can become a part of parenting that isn’t dominated by fear and instead builds confidence in ourselves, our communities, and most importantly, our children. Together we are journeying toward health, safety, confidence, and awareness. Not as isolated individuals, but as a family, a community. With each other and with our kids, we’re taking steps to be confidently and freely safe. It may mean getting your car seat installation checked, reassessing your home for safety hazards, changing how you talk to your children, adjusting your sleep arrangements, fixing something broken in your home, you name it, you define what #TLBsafeKids looks like for you.”

#TLBsafeKids is in full swing now and here is a list of all the products one lucky Leakie has a chance at winning in this giveaway:

Group Giveaway pic

Clek: Fllo car seat

Clek’s new compact convertible car seat equipped with safety from every angle – Extended rear-facing, Energy-absorbing crumple technology, and Advanced side-impact safety!

Fllo is tailored in GREENGUARD Select Certified Crypton Fabrics (except for drift) and is designed with best in class width at 17 inches, providing space to fit 3-across easily.”

Retail Value: $399.99
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California Baby: Travel Caddy

This travel caddy is filled with all California Baby must-have products and essentials for folks on-the-go! Also included, a fun activity sheet for kids and language flash cards, printed right on the packaging material that would otherwise be tossed out—part of California Baby’s REuse before Recycle initiative, encouraging re-fill vs. landfill!

Retail Value: $19.99
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Catbird Baby: Pikkolo in Georgia

The Catbird Baby Pikkolo is the perfect buckle carrier for newborns without the need for an insert and lasts well into the toddler years (up to 40 lbs!). The versatility of 5 carrying positions (including a perfect high back carry) is combined with streamlined style and comfort for parent and baby.
Retail Value:$129.00
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Crane USA: Bumblebee Humidifier

Crane’s Bumblebee Humidifier is a cool mist ultrasonic humidifier that holds 1 gallon of water and runs up to 24 hours. Crane humidifiers help to relieve congestion, dry coughs other cold and flu symptoms. All Crane humidifiers are made with BPA free plastic and have an anti-microbial Clean Control material made into the base to help fight bacteria buildup. You’ll be ‘Buzzing’ after you experience the great health benefits and a better night’s sleep with Crane’s Bumblebee Humidifier.

Retail Value: $49.99
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Newton: Crib Mattress
Newton’s crib mattress is “revolution-airy.” The Wovernaire core makes it highly breathable and 100% washable and recyclable, making it the healthiest mattress on the market.
Retail Value: $295.00
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Rhoost:  Finger Guard and Cord Winder

Finger Guard -A sleek and simple take on a classic product, the Rhoost™ Finger Guard protects little fingers from door and hinges, keeping your loved ones safe and your personal style intact.
Cord Winder – A sleek and simple take on a classic product, the Rhoost™ Blind Cord Winder makes dangling blind cords a thing of the past, keeping your loved ones safe and your personal style intact. Features screw free installation.
Finger Guard – 10.99 (2 pack) /  Cord Winder – 8.99 (2 pack)
Retail Value: $19.98
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Total Retail Value : $913.95
 #TLBsafeKids
Good luck to everyone!  Please use the widget below to enter. The giveaway is open from September 18, 2015 through September 30, 2015. A big thanks to our #TLBsafeKids Sponsors Clek, California Baby, Catbird Baby, Crane, Newton and Rhoost  for their support of TLB and all breastfeeding women. This giveaway is open to participants in the USA.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: Featured, giveaway Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

SAFE SLEEP: What it IS. What it ISN’T.

September 14, 2015 by Leave a Comment

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Bonus giveaway code for the Baby Guy Box hidden in this week’s email, don’t miss out! 
Sleep. It’s on the brain. What is enough? How do we get more of it? Can you actually MAKE little people sleep? (HA! Trick question.) What is safe? What works for me? We’re talking about Safe Sleep for all ages this week with our TLB family. Want to get more advice on parenting or connecting with your family? Jump down to Our Stable Table and Beyond Moi or get connected on our NEW Facebook Group for more tips on #TLBsafeKids! 

                This Newsletter and #TLBsafeKids brought to you by the generous support of                     
                               
Hey Leakies,How ya sleepin’? One of the most common questions new parents get is if their baby is a “good” sleeper or if they’re sleeping through the night “yet” (asked as soon as day 2). As if sleep is some determiner of quality parenting, these questions are poised with utmost concern, as if the number of hours an infant sleeping being the ultimate in parenting success.But nobody is asking if our babies are sleeping safely.

Well, we are. This month we’re focusing on safety with #TLBsafeKids with our sponsors with clek car seats, California Baby skin care, Newton crib mattresses, CatBirth Baby Carriers, Crane USA humidifiers, and Rhoost and we’re talking about it all, including safe sleep. It is a controversial topic, not everyone agrees on what constitutes safe sleep arrangements for infants. Not even public health officials. Campaigns focused on completely different ends of the spectrum abound. We’re not here to tell you one right way, we’re here to engage in a conversation and share information together. We respect you to make the best, informed decision that is right for your family according to the resources, circumstances, and information that are a part of your reality.

So, is your baby sleeping safely?

Safe sleep can look several different ways. Here are some of my favorite resources for safe sleep information. Pick what works for you.

  • Co-sleeping: room-sharing. Setting up the space to work for your family is key. If the baby’s sleep space is attached to the parental bed or not depends on your needs. Room sharing could be a bassinet by your bed, a co-sleeper (such as Arm’s Reach) attached to your bed to facilitate breastfeeding, a converted crib set up to side-car with the parental bed, a free-standing crib (safe crib set-up here), or a safe mattress on the floor. There are options and it is likely you’ll need to adapt as your child grows. There’s a good amount of evidence that room-sharing can be a great thing!
  • Co-sleeping: bed sharing. Anthropologist and leading infant sleep expert, Dr. James McKenna from the University of Notre Dame has many resources for co-sleeping families here. Detailed safe co-sleeping arrangements describedhere. This WikiHow has a thorough step-by-step guide for setting up your bed sharing space safely and Rebecca Michi shares how to safely figure out what works for your family with bed-sharing here.  Why the normal infant wants to be at your chest– one of my favorite articles on normal, healthy, term infants sleep and feeding behavior.
  • Separated sleep: own room. Be it in a crib or a Montessori bed (what’s that and why?), setting your baby up in their own room also requires intentional safe set-up. I love this in-depth check-list for safe crib set-up. And here are some tips for when it is time to transition your child from a crib to a bed.
  • Separated sleep: shared room with other child. As a mom of 6, whenever our babies have transitioned out of our room, they’ve pretty much transitioned into sharing a room with a big sister. There are some special considerations to make when setting up space for siblings sharing a room together at a young age. You’ll need to check for additional safety concerns for room sharing with siblings such as checking that choking hazards haven’t been introduced to your younger child’s bed (*cough* Legos *cough*) or that the sleep space has otherwise been compromised. The same safe sleep standards for cribs apply if you’re using one and it isn’t recommended for infants to co-sleep alone with siblings. Here’s what a Montessori bed set up for twins looks like and the mom shares what she has learned along the way.

As a family we have also made some other arrangements for our sleep space safety. For our basement bedrooms, we use air purifiers (we’re in an old musty house) and during the winter when we’re running the heat, we have humidifiers running in all of our sleep spaces. Babies in particular benefit from having a humidifier running when they are sleeping (tiny nasal passages mean tiny pathways for their air!) see here for info and ideas, (but make sure you’re avoiding potential problems by caring for your humidifier correctly!) so we make sure to have a humidifier set up where our babies are sleeping.

However you and your littles ones are sleeping at night may it be safe and eventually, enough.

To read more in our newsletter and find the bonus code for The Baby Guys Box inside, VISIT HERE 

Peace,

Jessica Martin-Weber
Founder, TheLeakyBoob.com
Filed Under: Newsletter, TLB Newsletter Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

#LeakyLooks: Safety Wherever You Roam

September 9, 2015 by Leave a Comment
by Kileah McIlvain

We are into full autumnal mode around here, Leakies! I finally want to look at my oven (Yes…even bake in it!) again, and my soft fluffy duvet and an extra mug of homemade pumpkin latte are calling my name. Which means of course the weather is mocking me by trying to push 90 degrees by Thursday.

Have you ever “forced” the coming season? Had it and said “Ok. I’m over it. Let’s move on?” Well this week with #LeakyLooks we’re taking a look at Safety-whether that’s snuggling down for a morning of movies and snuggles on a cloudy Saturday, or that last-minute trip up to Seattle before the seasonal rain hits the I-5 corridor. Let me know in the comments what you’d like to see next as we celebrate a month of #TLBsafeKids!

Remember, Leakies. Fashion-even breastfeeding fashion- is a great way to express who YOU are and tell a story of WHERE you are. Not who anyone else says you need to be, but who YOU want to be today. So shine on. Be YOU. All the way. No regrets. Because you are always ENOUGH.

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We don’t make spur-of-the-moment trips that often with 4 little ones, but when we do, we GO for it! We pack light, pack the essentials, and get our roadtrip on (our kids last about 3 hours, which makes Seattle or the beach our only options for realistic road travel. lol.) I put this look together to highlight some of my “mama and baby” essentials! I am an organizing enthusiast so anything that can stack well, compartmentalize well and not take up a ton of space is totally my jam.

1.Figure8Maternity Bobbi Nursing Shirtdress   2.Cake Maternity Raisin Croissant bra   3.Clek Fllo Tokidoki    4.California Baby Suncare Basics tote    5.Ju-Ju-Be Be Prepared   6.Rhoost grooming kit    7.ThinkSport GO2 container

 

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Oh Plaid. How I love thee. Let me count the ways! This look I pulled from some of my own wardrobe staples (including one of my favorite natural hand sanitizers!) One of our family’s favorite autumn activities is going to one of the many local farms we have in the area and sampling all of the fall bounty and preserves everyone has brought to the local farm markets! Weather is kind of back and forth so it’s best to dress in layers.

1.Modcloth Bonfire Stories Tunic (easy to nurse in!)   2.AE Wide Brim Fedora   3.Torrid Skinny jeans    4.Bebe Au Lait Nursing Infinity Scarf   5.Catbirdbaby Mei Tai in Victoria   6.California Baby Lemon Myrtle hand sanitizer    7.Target Women’s Premier Tall Rain Boots

 

 

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Bedtime. No matter where we are, that compound word is cause for exhausted celebration. A simple bedtime routine around here for our littles includes brushing hair, brushing teeth, and massaging a bit of therapeutic oil to relax and calm fidgety tired bodies. We usually run a cool mist humidifier at night as well to keep the air moist as our house can get a tad dry in the fall and winter.

1.Target Daizies Union suit   2.Rhoost grooming kit   3.California Baby Overtired & Cranky Massage Oil   4.I just want to knit this. Or have someone on Etsy make it for me 😛 knittinglove   5.Newton allergen-free crib mattress   6.Crane cool mist humidifier   7.Coyuchi organic crib sheets

Filed Under: #booboutfashion, #LBLwednesday, Article, breastfeeding fashion, Featured, Leaky Looks Breastfeeding Fashions Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Newsletter: Babywearing Gone Wrong and Three Safety Tips with #TLBsafeKids

September 8, 2015 by Leave a Comment

 

#TLBsafeKids and this newsletter generously sponsored by:

#TLBsafekids clek sponsorNewton Logo      #TLBsafekids with California baby, skin deep safety#TLBsafeKids Health safety sponsor Cranecatbirdbaby_logo                                imgres-4

Dear Leakies,

What is your biggest fear for your children’s safety? Does it keep you up at night or creep up on you when you’re relaxing? Does it make it hard to enjoy life sometimes?

I have a few. Some I don’t even want to write down here because it makes it seem more real, more possible as a threat. How do we cope with that worry?

Worrying is kind of part of the job description for parents. With all the warnings we receive about keeping our kids safe, it can be easy to be overwhelmed with all the could happen. We’re ditching fear and choosing to confidently inform and equip ourselves instead. Because our children can be in danger even when they are literally tied onto our bodies. Babywearing safety is a thing, and for good reason (check here to see if you are making these common babywearing mistakes).

For the month of September, #TLBsafeKids is a campaign (read about it here) with clek car seats, California Baby skin care, Newton crib mattresses, Catbird Baby Carriers, Crane USA humidifiers, and Rhoost home safety, to support parents in learning and implementing safety practices that don’t bog us down in worry but give us the tools to feel confident even as we’re aware of the risks around our families.

I don’t have all the answers but I have learned a few things about IMG_4122keeping children safe and not being controlled by worry. They aren’t feel good tips, in fact, they’re rather unsettling but if you can embrace them if can be incredibly freeing. My top 3 tips for protecting our children without stifling and crippling them or ourselves:

Recognize that you can’t protect them from all danger. If you think you can, you’re more likely to miss danger when it sneaks up on you. Accepting that they will be hurt, they will experience scary situations lets you put your energy into recognizing which ones pose the biggest threat and equipping them to recognize that as well. Instead of trying to eliminate all risk (which will greatly increase the risk that your children will resent you some day), aim to reduce real risk and learning how to manage lower risks concerns.

Inform yourself and be open to being educated by others. If you can’t receive safety advice or warnings from others without getting offended, you’re going to end up out of touch and out of date on the most current recommendations. That will increase your risk of making a potentially dangerous mistake. We should always be learning and just because you’ve always done it one way doesn’t mean you should keep doing it that way. So much of our safety concerns have increased because many of us feel less connected to community. Sharing together, looking out for each other, admitting our concerns and our mistakes, and passing along information can go a long way in protecting all of our families. Looking out for each other is safer. If you’re looking for a judgment-free support community talking about all aspects of safety, join the Facebook group #TLBsafeKids.

Learn to listen to your gut. I know, it sounds so vague, but being out of touch with ourselves and that sense when things are right or wrong can cause us to tune out when we should be tuning in. Teaching our children to listen to that sense can make a difference between them trusting the wrong person because they feel it is more important that they be nice, and coming you with their concern that something isn’t right. And a child who learns how to listen to that part of them that sometimes just knows will also be more confident in making friends and moving in society as they won’t see everyone as a potential threat.

The good news is we’re not in this alone. Though it is easy to judge other parents from a distance, if we come together to support each other, we can be that much stronger.

Here’s to growing daily and finding the confidence to be safe while living freely.

For more information on babywearing safety and more resources in parenting and living holistically, CLICK HERE

Peace,

Jessica Martin-Weber

Founder, TheLeakyBoob.com
Filed Under: Newsletter, TLB Newsletter Tagged With: , , , ,
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