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Posted on August 16, 2017November 14, 2021 by The Stork Bag Team — Leave a comment

10 Tips For Back-To-School With A Newborn At Home

This article originally appeared on HuffPost

Back-to-school time is back. If you have a newborn and also have children attending school, it’s a lot for everyone in the household to deal with. Over the summer, you probably had more time to give everyone what they needed. Now, the days will be going quickly as the school schedule moves forward and you will want to keep up with it.

There are many things you can do so that the family doesn’t feel overwhelmed during the school year. While sleep is at the top of the list, it’s also about sticking to a schedule, keeping life balanced, knowing where to find things in your home and more. Here are 10 back-to-school tips for parents with a new baby and a school-age child.

1) Rest on the Same Schedule: Put the kids in bed and then get in bed as well. No TV watching. You will probably have to get up in the night for a feeding. By the time the baby is going to be fed at night, you will already have had some rest. Do the feeding and get back to sleep. People start resenting each other when they are tired, so rest is more important than anything else for you and your spouse.

2) Ride to School Refreshed: In the morning, mommy will feel refreshed if she went to sleep right after the children did. Put the baby in the car seat and drive the kids to school. The sleep was important because you want to get behind the wheel with your family in the car feeling rested in the morning.

3) Organize to Save Time: It doesn’t matter how much space you have, if you are organized it can work. One of the hardest things to do during the school year is to get the children’s clothes together. When each child has their own drawer or a cubby hole, you can easily find things rather than spending time searching through a hamper.

4) Pre-Pack Lunches: At night while daddy is holding the baby, you should lay out the children’s clothes for the morning as well as pack their lunches before you go to bed. Remember to refrigerate their lunch boxes.

5) Restock on the Weekends: Weekends are a good time to get restocked on everything your family needs in the house during the week. Make sure the laundry is done, the snacks are available and so on.

To read the rest of this list, head over to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marva-soogrim/10-tips-for-back-to-school-with-a-newborn-at-home_b_3932347.html

What are your tips for Back-to-School? Let us know in the comments below!

Posted on July 19, 2017November 14, 2021 by The Stork Bag Team — Leave a comment

New Breastfeeding Emoji Could Help Normalize Nursing

(This article originally appeared on Scary Mommy.)

On Thursday, the internet powers-that-be, specifically Unicode, “the computing industry standard for encoding,” are gifting us with 56 new emojis for 2017. These include a zombie, a bowl of cereal, an elf, a bearded dude, a woman with a hijab, men and women in lotus positions, gender non-binary adults and children, and — may the heavens open and lactation consultants rejoice — an emoji of a woman breastfeeding.

Sisters in boobage, we have an emoji.

I don’t have to tell you this is a big deal. Unicode approved a baby bottle emoji in 2010, and since then, that bottle’s been the only way to use emojis to express infant feeding. And this has been a big deal, for several reasons: According to the proposal for the breastfeeding emoji, the baby bottle ranks in the top 50% of emojis used. It’s also important when U.S. breastfeeding rates are only 49.4% at six months, and 40.7% exclusive breastfeeding at three months — meaning 59% of mothers are supplementing by three months (this can include formula or food). So more than 50% of mamas do need that bottle emoji by then. Nobody is taking issue with that, I promise.

The CDC’s goals for 2020 have 60.6% of mothers nursing at six months, and 46.2% nursing exclusively at three months. The only way we’ll accomplish that is to make breastfeeding more accessible, and one of the key ways to make it more accessible is to make it more acceptable, more normal, more woven into the fabric of society.

Cue our new emoji.

The breastfeeding emoji was submitted for just that reason by Rachel Lee, a registered nurse at University College of London Hospital. She argued that it would fill a gap “given the prevalence of breastfeeding in cultures around the world, and throughout history.” She cites the frequency of breastfeeding, especially at birth (nearly 80% in the United States), and argues that other apps and sticker packs include breastfeeding moms. Apparently a breastfeeding emoji was one of the top 30 emoji requests, and inspired a Change.org petition, in addition to many tweets asking for it.

To read the entire article, please visit the link below:

http://www.scarymommy.com/new-breastfeeding-emoji-could-help-normalize-nursing/

Posted on June 28, 2017May 16, 2022 by The Stork Bag Team — Leave a comment

Getting Out! Our Summertime Diaper Bag Checklist!

Summer is now officially in full swing and warmer temperatures means fun things like festivals, parades and picnics! New parents can sometimes be overwhelmed by the thought of trying to leave the home “bubble” where you have everything you need for baby but if you know the right things to pack, it should be like you never left home (almost)! Here is our checklist for packing the perfectly prepared diaper bag!

Extras! Having a spare set of clothes (including socks), diapers (swim and regular), wet wipes, pacifiers, and bibs is crucial. Even one extra set of these things, excluding the diapers which you will need more of, will help you in a pinch regardless of where you are headed. It wouldn’t hurt to throw in an extra shirt for mom and because mom-brain is a real thing, an extra set of car keys and some cash doesn’t hurt either!
Plastic grocery bags: These pack easily and are so helpful in an emergency. They can be used for dirty diapers, wet or soiled clothes, or anything that needs compartmentalized in a diaper bag. Throw 3-4 in the bag and I promise you will use them!
Light blanket: Rolled up nice and tight, this takes up hardly any space at all but it can have many uses including a space for baby to stretch or play, a clean place to change a diaper, or even a nursing cover if needed in a pinch.
Sun protection: Sunscreen and a hat for sun protection are a must for summer and baby’s vulnerable skin. Keeping these items in your bag means never being unprepared and risking a sunburnt baby!
Snacks/beverages: No matter where we go and regardless of the last time we ate, my kids are always hungry and thirsty. Bottles, snacks, and water are always good to have no matter if you think baby will be hungry or not. Better to have them and not use them then desperately need them and not have them!

What are your diaper bag must-haves for Summer? Let us know in the comments!

Posted on May 31, 2017May 16, 2022 by The Stork Bag Team — Leave a comment

Registering For Baby: The Top Five Favorite Items According To Moms Like You!

My sister in law, who is due with her first child later this summer, recently came to me overwhelmed. She needed to register for baby “stuff” and as a first-time parent, was full of questions regarding the list of items she was told she needed to have. Let’s be honest, it’s really hard to figure out if you need something without ever having used it before or on some items, not even knowing what it is. With the help of myself and a few friends, my sister in law was able to figure out her list but it had me wondering, what do other moms love? Obviously, what works for some mamas doesn’t work for others but we asked anyway and below are the top five favorite baby items, as told by our tribe of mamas!

Rock N Play: This was the overwhelming winner. Moms love this because it’s great for sleep or play and babies really seem to love the gentle vibrations.
Infant swing: A close second, this is a variation on the Rock N Play. Moms love this because of its ability to rock side to side, as well as front to back. This was a big time favorite of my babies as well.
Bobby Pillow: Another favorite in our house, the pillow has so many versatile uses: feeding, sitting, corralling, etc. Per our mamas, having an extra cover or two is very helpful!
Burp Cloths: While it’s not higher on our list, these are so critical and mess saving for most mamas. Most (if not all) babies burp and spit up and these can be used anywhere, anytime. Advice from our moms: cloth diapers can double as burp cloths and whatever number of burp cloths you think you need, double it!
Nasal Aspirator: A snotty baby is a sad baby for sure! There are a few different versions of this but they all accomplish the same goal. Having a useful tool like this is so helpful with little ones that it managed to make the top five with our moms!

Other items that didn’t make out top five but still got lots of votes: baby carrier or sling, swaddling blankets/receiving blankets, and the diaper caddy! What are your “must have” baby items? Comment below!