I'm a full-time mummy

(Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial. )

Few months ago, I received an email invitation to review some maternity/nursing clothes. You know, ever since I have children, I have never stop breastfeeding and because of that, most of my clothing are geared towards breastfeeding-friendly, easy and fast access to nurse on the go. Because of that, there are not many selections of nice nursing clothing in my wardrobe. By the way, do note that just because some clothing is deemed to be maternity line, it doesn't mean that you cannot wear it if you are not pregnant. For me, as long as I can wear it in style and yet still be able to nurse our kiddos easily, that is all that matters! Without further ado, check out my review below...

About the company:
"Our clothing has been selected to show off your new curves and allow you to grow in comfort. In fact, our pregnancy clothing is so fashionable that many of your non-pregnant friends will want to get pregnant too. Plus, many of our designs won’t look out of place being worn when you’re no longer pregnant!

Our company is also putting in place measures to be as green as possible. Our personal philosophy is to leave this planet in as beautiful a condition for our children and future generations as it is for us. Our office has solar panels so we generate pretty much all the electricity we use. We offset any business flights we take plus all the carbon generated by our air or sea freight. The plastic bags we use for our clothing and postage are recyclable. In the future we will introduce more clothing made from bamboo which is a more eco-friendly fabric due to its fast-growing properties and unrequired use of pesticides."

I browsed through the website and finally decided on the following:

* Grey/White Polka Dot Maternity Top

This is the first one I tried on. It is a long sleeved top with nursing access via the overlap under the bust. I like the stretchy material and the press button in front enables me to have further access to nurse. The grey white polkadot color is easy to match with my pants and I can easily wear it as a long or short sleeved top. I chose the smallest size (8) available for this design and being an Asian, (we are smaller frame in size) this size fits me nicely.

* Cobalt blue striped maternity dress

This is the second one I tried and one of my fav. Hubby likes this too as the material hugs and accentuates my body figure. I personally like to wear stripes design type of clothing as the horizontal stripes makes me looks less skinny that I am - you know, it gives the illusions that I am fatter hehehe which I do not mind seriously.

I love the cobalt blue grey and black combo on this dress. Nursing access is via the overlap under the bust, easily camouflaged by the dress design. The dress length is just nice for me - knee length and I wear it as it is, never need to wear a leggings or pants underneath. I chose the smallest size (8) available for this dress and being an Asian, (we are smaller frame in size) this size fits me nicely.

* Black/Gold Stripe Maternity Dress

This is the last clothing I tried. I like this dress as well and for its classy and elegant look, I feel it would be great to wear this to a formal function or event.

I love the black and shimmery gold combo on this dress, love the golden sparkled knitted belt which I tied to my sides. Nursing access is via the overlap under the bust, easily camouflaged by the dress design. The dress length is just nice for me and I like the wavy skater style skirt in the bottom. I chose the smallest size (8) available for this dress and being an Asian, (we are smaller frame in size) this size fits me nicely.

You can browse for more designs at http://www.maternitysale.com.au/

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Do you know that every year, 2 million children under the age of 5 die of infections like diarrhoea and pneumonia? That is quite a scary statistic! 2 million deaths in a year!! And do you know what is worse? What is worse is that a lot of these deaths can be prevented by the simple act of washing hands with soap. Yes, washing hands with soap!

Handwashing is an easy way to prevent infection and it is just like a DIY vaccine — it involves a few simple yet effective steps: Wet your hands, Lather the soap, Scrub your hands, Rinse your hands and finally Drying your hands.

As the world’s leading health soap, Lifebuoy aims to make a difference by creating accessible hygiene products (soap) and promoting healthy hygiene habits.  With this in mind, Lifebuoy aims to change the handwashing behaviour of 1 billion people by 2015 and in the last 4 years, Lifebuoy soap has reached 183 million people to teach them about the healthy hand washing habits.

Go watch this video story of Utari and her strange affection for a tree. A story of love, longing and loss below:

Go join the movement now!

** Further reading:

~ Diarrhoea - Why children are still dying and what can be done

** Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. However all thoughts, opinions and words are 100 % my own.

Whenever I posted about our kiddos' potty training status, I often get asked by my blog followers on how to start potty training their kiddos or what tips I can share with them as their kiddos are having difficulty going forward in the potty training stage (example: still pooping in diaper).

I have recently also posted on my accidental potty training on our almost 8 mths old girl, well, calm down, there is no need to be horrified as I personally feel it is too early too. For me, I would personally prefer to start potty training when our kiddos can understand the difference between pee and poo and know when the urge to do either comes. However, during that particular moment, since I can easily observe the signs that our baby wants to poo, I just make it easier for her to poo into the potty instead of the diaper. If I can see the signs, I can do the potty thing. That is simply a mother's decision to help save a diaper. Just feel I should clarify this again since some parents seem to get riled up and assumed I am potty training our 8 months old girl!

Now, back to today's topic... I just want to share that the success of potty training our 2.5 years old girl in 1 month time, they are mainly due to:

• Her big brother (now 5 years old) paving the way and showing good example for her to follow in her potty training journey.

• Her readiness and ability to understand instructions.

• The magic sentence of 'Do you know that princesses do not wear diapers?!'

Do note that the above personal tips I shared is applicable to second or more child. And I actually started her at almost 1.5 years old but was not disciplined enough to continue on due to being busy with our 3rd baby then so I only managed to resume potty training her seriously in April 2014 (almost 2.5 years old then).

With our first kiddo, I tried starting him on potty training when he was 2.5 years old (I was 8 months preggy with 2nd child then) and only managed to get him to be comfortable around a potty. I did the sticker reward chart, the snacks and candies and treats, the target practise (putting a sticker in the toilet seat for him to aim at), lots and lots of patience and praises. Everything. I even came up with my personal BE AWESOME potty training tricks for him.

I stopped potty training him when our 2nd kiddo came along and resumed potty training when our first kiddo turns 3 years old. It is so much easier by then with our 1st kiddo maturing a bit and able to understand cause and effect and instructions properly. He was successfully potty training before he turned 4 years old.

So having our 1st kiddo fully potty trained by the time we started our 2nd kiddo helps very much! Big brother exudes confidence and shows to baby sister it is a simple petty task makes our potty training job so much easier 2nd time around. Also with our 2nd kiddo getting more verbal nowadays also contributes to the success as well.

The magic sentence of 'Do you know that princesses do not wear diapers?!' is a coincidence and I dared to say an awesome idea that just pops at the right time. Our 2nd kiddo is very into princessy stuff so I just take advantage of the situation and gained something out of it.

Some additional tips of mine that I can share:

• Preferably start potty training only when your kiddos can understand instructions so that you can then gently explained and teach them the differences between pee and poo, how to know when the urge to have one comes.

• Research as much as you can on what to expect when potty training your kiddos. Do remind yourself every child is different, some takes on to it easily, some takes a longer time to adjust and practice.
  

• For peeing part, take small steps in potty training, let them get used to being around a potty or toilet seat, then let them sit on it (with pants on) so that they can be assured that it is like sitting on a chair, to be brave when sitting on one, then slowly get them to pee in potty or if using toilet seat, you can put a sticker for them to aim when pee (for boys), then slowly move on to getting them to hold a wee bit longer (helps when you go out next time and they can hold their pee a wee bit while you quickly look for a restroom!), then move on to diaper-less during daytime, then in public outing.

• For pooing part, a lot of parents shared that their kiddos refused to poo without their diaper on. For our 1st kiddo, it is timing that I managed to get him to poo the first time without diaper. He was playing in his water pool at our balcony when he needed to poo. He frantically asked me to put a diaper on for him so that he can poo and I told him not enough time to wear diaper, go to potty NOW and he went. Once done, I praised him for the breakthrough and repeatedly told him how good is he to help mummy and daddy save money for not using diaper to poo in. The moment will come, you just gotta wait patiently and seize the opportunity.

• Once you have tackled the peeing and pooping part, I think the last stage of potty training is going diaper-less at bedtime. What we did with our 1st kiddo was we made sure he pees before bedtime, then we wake him up at 3am to pee again, after a while, he got used to the routine and sometimes wakes up himself to go pee after that. As for our 2nd child, so far she has dry diapers at bedtime for 2 weeks already but I still put on a diaper for her just in case.
  

I hope my article helps!

~ Further reading:

• 20 Best-Ever Potty Training Tips

• Toilet Training

• Elimination Communication: The Natural Alternative to Diapers
  

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.