HankandLucy

Little Henry chilling out in his ring sling.

(an instagram, obv. are you all on there? i think i have taken to treating it like mini blogging. love it.)

I thought I would share some community resources for any of you reading locally (?). And even if you're not, maybe this will encourage you to get out and find something similar in your own city!

Online message group: One of the first things I joined, kind of early in my pregnancy was this "Natural Families" yahoo group. I was desperate for alternative childcare resources, as most of the mainstream ones did not appeal to us, and I just wanted some sort of better filtered referral in general. It has been a great place to bounce questions and ideas off of other more experienced moms & families with similar approaches to life & parenting. And it did eventually lead to the woman we hired for childcare (yay!).

Lactation consultant/breastfeeding support: Before Henry got here we took a breastfeeding class that we really liked. A few days after he was born it was clear we might be having some latching difficulties (ouch!). I called the lactation consultant who taught our class, Robin Kaplan. Guys, she rocks my world. She called me back on a Sunday. Easter Sunday. While she was in New York on vacation. We talked through my problems and she (accurately) assessed that I wasn't in urgent need (though she gave me the number of another consultant in case I wanted in home help ASAP) and suggested that I save money by coming to the free breastfeeding support group that she hosted later that week.

I went to the group when Henry was 6 days old. Even though I was walking funny and still had a catheter in. (Oh, I haven’t told you about that fun yet?) It was awesome. So many like minded moms! So many babies! Free lactation help! I went most weeks during my maternity leave and it was great. In part, it was nice to just have somewhere to go that was out of the house, with real people to talk to, that it was ok if Henry cried. And it was EXPECTED that I would whip out my boob and start feeding him.

I did end up hiring Robin for an in home consultation, but she has been so much more. The lady is always there for me. It is awesome. Oh, and you can check out her resource packed blog here.

Babywearing groups: Ok I haven’t actually been to one of these but I am dying to go to a local one. Like Lucia and her strollers, we have tried everything with Henry & carriers. He is finicky about positioning (likes to be facing out) and which carrier type. At the baby wearing group they will help you with different techniques and positions (helpful for things like the ring sling- which I want him to like so bad, cause we bought a Sakura Bloom sling and it is beautiful. Something I WANT to wear.) And some groups have a lending library! Great, so you can test out what your baby likes before you buy.

That's what I got for now!

xo