College Savings and Nursing Pads
I’ve been researching 539 plans for our son, and I’ve found the one we’re going to go with. We’re going with a plan that our own state offers, so I’m not going to give specifics, but here is the website that I used to do a lot of my research. I found it to be very helpful and easy to understand. The plan we picked is managed by Vanguard and the money we put into it will be invested in Vanguard mutual funds, which I’ve always been impressed with. Now we just have to wait to get our little guy’s social security number, since I assume that will be required in order to enroll him. But it feels good to have done my homework and picked out a plan. Enrolling should be easy now. We’re going to put $100/month into his plan. We have no desire to pay for the entire cost of college for him, but we believe we should help, and $100/month for the next 18 years invested in mutual funds will definitely help.
Changing the subject completely… I’ve been using disposable nursing pads, because I got two boxes for free. A lady who sold me some cloth diapers through Craigslist gave me a box of nursing pads when I was at her house getting the diapers, and my mother found an unopened box at a thrift store and got them for me. I definitely need something, or else my shirt is soaked from my chest to my waist by the middle of the day. But once the boxes I have are used up, I want to switch to reusable nursing pads, since I’m all about avoiding disposable products and paper products whenever possible. I went online this morning looking for reusable nursing pads, and was comparing various options when I came across this website that talks about making your own. Can’t believe I didn’t just think of that right off the bat, but at least I found this site before I pulled out my credit card and paid to have someone send me little circles of fabric in the mail. Next time I visit my mother (since she has a sewing machine and I don’t), I’ll take along a couple baby blankets and a towel, and make some reusable nursing pads. The websites I was looking at were charging anywhere from $2 to $6.50 for a pair of pads, and it sounds like you need several pairs, as they get soaked and you have to change them a few times a day. I already have some extra flannel blankets and a towel – I’m sure I can make at least five pairs in a couple hours… for free, which I always like.
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Hey,
Reusable nursing pads are a great idea.
I used disposables with my first baby (wish I had known better!), and cloth with my second – but I purchased them instead of buying them. Now that I think about it, it does seem a little ridiculous! I can sew, I don’t know why I didn’t just make them myself.
I always needed at least five or six pairs, accounting for laundry and extra wet days. I found that by about four months I don’t use them any more, so they’re a very necessary but short lived item.
How are the diapers working out?
Pretty sure I’ve heard of new parents starting 529′s during pregnancy–I think you can start it in your name and transfer it…not that it will make much difference at this point.
Wish I could give you a name,but years ago (try 37) my sister had a 2 piece ‘milk catcher’ that she used on the breast not being nursed on and also just to catch the overflow othertimes. The milk was then transferred to bottles for emergency use. Some days she’d get 1 ounce, some days 4. The contraption was 1 piece round shaped on the next to bra side, the other piece next to breast side had a hole for the nipple to enter. Milk collected at the bottom, you just had to be careful when you opened it not to spill.
They worked great – I have a feeling they were from Europe as my sister’s husband was in grad school at the time and several students and faculty were from Europe.
I used a “milk catcher” – I stuck my pump in my nursing bra on the non-nursing side. Seriously, I was like a fountain.
On the nursing pads – I never found ones that were reusable that would work for me – I leaked WAY too much. You might want to keep a few disposables around for going out in public. Thankfully, it gets better….
Although my daughter is 18 months (still nursing) and I STILL leak a little bit… lol
I have gotten used to the milk spots. Heh.
Congrats!!!
I used Lilypadz with my last pregnancy. They worked great! They stopped the milk from leaking everywhere and they weren\’t bulky like regular nursing pads. They are reusable.
I agree with the notion that sometimes in the beginning you will leak right through the reusable pads and the disposables are good for going out. I did buy mine (can’t remember the name) but I think the important thing is to try to include an outer waterproof layer, like PUL for the diaper covers. I have two kinds and the ones I had first were just multiple layers of fabric and I would leak right through those.
Thankfully the milk does eventually regulate and I think I stopped needed pads around 8 or 9 mos. I think I would have gone insane wearing those things for years!
Why not venture further and use reusable menstrual pads? I switched from disposable about less than a year ago and found that it was a huge saver, not to mention that they were very comfortable (made of flannel and old towels).