Sunday, August 17, 2008

Twiddling leads to a nursing necklace

Mikko has started twiddling in full force -- tweaking and picking at one of my nipples while feeding from the other. It would be one thing if he used a flat hand and just caressed or gently held it, but he uses one fingernail to dig into it, and I can't stand it.

I had found this post with instructions for making a nursing necklace at Jewelry and Beading through a couple other posts from Breastfeeding 1-2-3 ("How to Make Your Own Nursing Necklace" and a safety follow-up).

At the time, the twiddling hadn't yet gotten extreme. I looked around at some etsy and eBay stores online for nursing necklaces that work-at-home moms were selling, but I didn't so much relish the thought of wearing a plastic, babyish-looking one, and some of the more sophisticated styles were out of my price range. I have enjoyed beading in the past, but when to do that now with a grabby baby around? I put the thought aside for another day.

That day is now. Mikko has gotten so determined to maul my breasts that he will forcibly remove clothing (mine) that is in the way of his poky little hands. I'm bleeding and sore.

And so...I opened back up the link for the beading pattern, and I miraculously found my bead stash in the closet on the first try. I waited for Mikko to fall asleep, and I made myself a whole nursing necklace, in just one evening, in between pausing to watch something exciting in the Olympics.

Mine is definitely not as pretty as the one Tammy Powley put together. I was too impatient to wait to go shopping for extra beads, so I had to make do with what I had. I was nearly out of spacers, and I had only a limited supply of interesting large beads. I also got a little carried away with the length of the loop, forcing me to keep the length of the rat-tail cord so short that I can barely yank it over my head without pulling my ears off. That said, it's pretty interesting looking and doesn't scream "nursing necklace," and it definitely intrigues Mikko. I found it's long enough for me to drop down into my décolletage and just bring out for when I need it.

Next time I'm by a bead store, though, I'm going to search out beads that promise lead-free, since I don't know about the safety of this one and I keep needing to keep Mikko from putting it in his mouth.

I'll have to keep you posted on whether it works for its intended purpose -- the pinching fingers have calmed down for a few days.

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UPDATE: See the picture here: My nursing necklace

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cool! I'd love to see a picture!

Lauren Wayne said...

I'll work on getting one up! :)

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you found my instructions helpful. It sounds like you really need a few of those necklaces!

Lauren Wayne said...

Thanks so much for creating those instructions! Yours was so elegant looking -- I loved it.

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