Welcome to The Milky Way

Hello, friend and fellow traveler,

The Milky Way was created to help new parents have the best, most rewarding and easiest experience possible during that first magical year of their new baby's life. Our customers liked our products for newborns so much that we soon found ourselves offering gifts, clothes, shoes and anything groovy we could get our hands on to brighten the first 4 years of a child's life. We also now look backward a bit in this process to the last trimester or so of pregnancy to make it as easy and enjoyable as possible for the mother.

As our name would suggest, our specialty happens to be products, aids and support for breastfeeding mothers and their babies. Our mission is and has always been to offer moms who want to breastfeed the best chance possible to achieve nursing success and enjoyment. With that mission in mind, we opened our first Milky Way store over three years ago in a trendy shopping district in the neigborhood of Dilworth, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

We believe that we've had a fair amount of success as we were subsequently invited by Carolinas Medical Center, one of the largest public hospital system in the country, to open a second Milky Way store within their main hospital complex We have been helping new parents at our new hospital location now for nearly a year. In that time, we have worked closely with the Carolinas Medical Center Lactation Outpatient director and head Lactation Consultant, Lisa Mather. She has helped us learn a lot about breastfeeding and together we have helped many new families have great success with nursing. It makes getting up and going to work, quite frankly, a real joy.

We also work closely with the Obstetric Education Department at Carolinas Medical Center and have learned from them and, we hope, helped some of the new parents in their classes have a more enjoyable "brand new baby" stage. This is one of the greatest, most awe-inspiring, and let's be honest folks, most difficult times in anybody's life. We believe that we've helped more than a few new families have it all a little bit easier, a little less stressful and a little more rewarding (and with a cuter, more stylish baby to boot!). One of our favorite things by far about owning The Milky Way is seeing new parents become new families. We see the highs, the lows, and almost always, the greatest high in life there is.

Thanks for listening,
Wooten & Adam Schmitz

P.S. And don't forget us!
Signed, Zeke (4) and Josephine (2)

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Mission Statement

The Milky Way is a store for nursing mothers owned and operated by a nursing mother and father. That’s the two of us – Wooten and Adam Schmitz. For us, nursing has always been a family affair. We were committed to making nursing a success with our first child, Zeke, and thank goodness we were! It sometimes took the two of us working together just to get him latched on during those first days after birth! Since then, we’ve shared in all the challenges and joys that nursing and parenthood have brought. And it was these challenges and joys that inspired us to open The Milky Way, a one-stop shop for new and nursing mothers, in Charlotte and amilkyway.com worldwide.

Both in our storefront and online, we hope to provide the nurturing environment we believe is so important to successful nursing. In our retail shops and online we offer only the best, most natural and most necessary nursing aids and baby care products, a wide array of nursing bras (sizes 32B to 44H), helpful literature and a supportive environment and personalized and knowledgeable service. In addition to these services and products, our website offers breastfeeding blogs, expert tip sheets, and a recurring blog called Lisa's Corner (LC for short) with an experienced lactation consultant.

By offering these products and services we believe that we can accomplish our mission to provide parents who wish to nurse their children every opportunity to succeed at something we, ourselves, found deeply fulfilling.

Thoughts for New Fathers

Hi this is Adam, father of two beautiful children and husband half of the mom & pop Milky Way equation. I certainly haven’t figured it all out yet (or probably ever will), but maybe I’ve discovered a few tricks and strategies that might be of help to you new fathers. These aren’t tried and true, patented pieces of advice, rather just some things I found that enriched my fathering experience or things that made the awesome task of parenting a little bit easier. I’ll keep posting things as I discover them.

Take ‘em for what they’re worth:

• Attempt to accept (it can be really hard) that your baby will be mommy-obsessed for at least the first 2 – 3 months. You will hardly appear on his/her radar those first few months. But don’t take it personally. S/he’ll come around, and if you hang in there and give him/her as much care and affection as you can, you’ll soon find your way into his/her heart (in no time). But, at first, it’s easy to get jealous and frustrated and worry that you’ll never have a deep bond with your child; but you will if you give the time and effort. It just won’t come right away like it will with the baby’s mother.
• During those first few mommy-obsessed months, keep reminding yourself that your baby has just spent the last 9 months literally being a part of his/her mother. Then, after your infant is born, your baby only needs to eat and sleep. Its mom is best at providing the food and the comfort for sleep. Your baby doesn’t even know at this point that s/he’s But when your baby “wakes up” and realizes there’s more out there than a milk-filled breast, s/he will notice you and you will become a big part of his/her life. Believe me – it’s worth the wait.
• I noticed that one of my daughter’s first interactions with the outside worth (at about 2 months old) was a two-dimensional black & white drawing of a face on the underside of her mobile above her changing table. She actually would get giddy with delight at seeing this face. I figured to get myself noticed I’d stick my mug in roughly the same place when Josephine was lying on her back on our bed. She smiled at me, cooed at me, made raspberries at me and entertained me for a good 15 minutes before she needed another diversion. The mobile: $14.95. The changing table: $40. The changing pad: $9.95. My first major interaction with my daughter: Priceless.
• My bonding with Josephine began about the same time my wife, Wooten, took our son, Zeke, to see Shrek II. Just the two of them. Leaving a very scared daddy (that’s me!) and Josephine home alone for over 2 hours. Just me and a little baby who has been a high-needs baby and refuses to take milk from anything but my wife’s breast. I played my guitar for Josie for awhile. I took a bath with her for awhile. I walked her for a while. I let her enjoy her mobile for awhile. We took a nap together for awhile. And after that we were best buds. Moral of this story: Find some time to be alone with your baby! S/He won’t forget it.
• Music. Both of my kids love music. Classical is okay, but what they really love is music with a beat. Zeke and I really enjoyed a Music Together class that we both loved. Zeke now has his own set of percussion instruments and loves to bang away with them. We have enjoyed hours and hours rockin’ out together with air guitars and real guitars (mostly used as drums, of course).

Lisa's Corner

Having operated our Carolinas Medical Center retail store next to the Outpatient Lactation Services where Board Certified Lactation Consultant Lisa Mather sees families in need of nursing assistance and care for nearly a year now, we would conclude without hesitation that there is no better (and better loved) LC than Miss Lisa. She is not only a great LC but also a great friend. And her patients just love her. I've never seen such a parade of stressed out moms, and often dads, marching into her offices and such a parade of relieved, smiling, even ebulient people heading out of her office. The transformation is remarkable. Not only do her patients relate to us how much she has helped them and how much they appreciate and respect her, most partings between mom and Lisa end in big bear hugs.

We have started a blog strand called Lisa's Corner to offer her advice and help to those in need who are online, but also as a tribute to her amazing Lactation Consultant abilities.

INSTALLMENT #1: Did you know..

....that Mother's Milk makes a difference?

• Mother's Milk provides infants all the nutrients for the best physical and mental development.
• Mother's Milk helps infants fight infections and develop healthy immune systems.
• Mothers who choose to breastfeed are healthier, with less risk of ovarian and breast cancer, and wider child spacing.
• Mother's Milk is convenient with no bottles or nipples to prepare or refrigerate.
• Familes who breastfeed save $$ on food and healthcare costs.
• Mother's Milk contributes to a better environment by using less energy and creating less waste.

Infant feeding costs:

Breastfeeding: Requires that the mother consume an additional 200 kCal per day, the equivalent of two tablespoons of peanut butter. The annual cost is $57.

Just for Fun: Figure the weekly cost of formula and put that amount in a special savings account for every week your baby is exclusively breastfed. A great start on your baby's college fund. Depending on which formula you use, the cost could be as much as $3,000. Now that's a pretty good first step toward a great college education!

INSTALLMENT #2: The Benefits of Nursing

BENEFITS FOR MOTHER

• Bonds mother and child
• Provides the baby with a hormone-induced contentment
• Encourages efficient uterine contractions after childbirth
• Allows mothers to lose pregnancy weight and size faster
• Convenient (the milk is pre-warmed, clean and always available)
• Cost-effective (costs a family approximately $3,000 a year to formula feed one infant)
• Contributes to natural family planning
• Contributes to household food security
• Fosters confidence and promotes self-esteem
• Protective against cancer (breast, ovarian, cervical)
• Lowers the incidence of chronic hepatitis
• Reduces the risk of hip fractures and osteoporosis
• Reduces the requirements of insulin for diabetic mothers
• Empowers the mother

BENEFITS FOR BABY

Breastfed babies:

• Get sick less often and get illnesses that are less severe
• Are hospitalized less often and have a lower mortality rate
• Have a lower risk of diarrheal disease
• Have lower incidence of gastrointestinal illness
• Have a lower risk of urinary track infections
• Have a lower incidence of respiratory disease
• Have a lower incidence of otitis media
• Have a lower rate of obesity
• Have a lower incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
• Have fewer learning and behavior difficulties
• Have better psychological development
• Develop a more energy-efficient and rhythmically functioning nervous system
• Have a lower rate of pneumonia, neonatal sepsis, and giardia infections
• Are less likely to develop heart disease and cancer later in life
• Studies have shown protective substances in human breast milk can help ward off ear infections, allergies, vomiting, diarrhea, pneumonia and meningitis. In fact, if every mother nursed for the recommended period of time it would save the country an estimated $1- $5 trillion annually in health care costs.

BREASTFEEDING:

• Helps bond mother and baby
• Confers passive immunities
• Is protective against measles and other
• Provides optimal growth and neurological development
• Protects against hypothermia
• Provides partial protection against necrotising enterocolotis
• Provides major protection against bacteremia and meningitis
• Reduces the incidence of childhood lymphoma
• Enhances visual development
• Provides protection against neonatal sepsis
• Is less risky for premature babies and babies with low birth weight

INSTALLMENT #3: What Every Mom Needs to Know About Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding isn't always easy. You may need more patience, more practice than you might have imagined.

• Ask for help!
• Breastfeeding is not supposed to be painful
• Feed your baby often
• Get comfortable
• Let your baby set the pace
• Hold off on a pacifier at first
• Gauge your success
• Wear loose clothing
• Make healthy lifestyle choices
• You may cry a lot but try to laugh...this time will go by way too fast
• If it feels right to you, then it's right
• Trust your maternal instincts!