One Mommy's World

And the Beat Goes On.

2011-10-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

Turns out eating at the tables isn't much of a problem. He took to it with no real issue. Sometimes he'll sit in his booster, sometimes he wants to sit in your lap or on his knees on a chair, but ultimately he has taken his meals and snacks there, even on the weekend. Now the focus is really turning to discipline. He likes to play in the dog bowl. This is a real problem because the dogs need access to their water and the water is around the corner from the living room through the kitchen, so we have to constantly jump up and run in there to see what he is doing. I don't want to make the house a warren of gates, I want him to learn to listen. As it is, with another baby on the way and money super tight, I just had to purchase a fireplace gate for almost two hundred bucks. We have a wood stove and it's getting cold now and having that kid burned in the process of learning that the wood stove is an owie is NOT something I am ready or willing to deal with, despite my husband's opinion of "I hope he doesn't get burned too badly before he learns". Um, NO. In the winter we have that stove burning all day some days and with two giant dogs running around, it's just not something I want to even begin to deal with. So the stupid dog water and his habit of spitting water- these are the two things that are the major pain in the ass right now. Seems like once you solve one problem, another appears, but hey, that's parenthood and the hardest job in the world (and the best!!).

Rolling Hills

2011-09-29T17:37:00.000-07:00

The kid has adjusted exceptionally well to the concept of eating everything at the table. We really haven't had any problems with dinner time this whole week. Of course the weekend is coming and that is the real test. Life with a kid is all rolling hills. Bad hours, good hours, bad days, good days, longer stretches of both. Luckily some of those good hours, days, stretches are full of such amazing, beautiful things that it just takes me breath away at times. Just to have him quietly read a book in my lap while I smell his magical head. When bad times come I remember to be thankful that he is a smart, healthy boy, and well, those pass too.

Still Holding Firm

2011-09-27T18:08:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty successful day with minimal drama (ie: foot stomping temper tantrums). The boy ate dinner at the table with us fairly well, though he did throw food on the floor. This has been a problem for ages so it will take a while to fix. Firm no's worked pretty well and didn't result in any major breakdowns. We CAN do this!

Discipline. For All of Us.

2011-09-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

At 20 months old things are getting challenging. The boy is smart, willful, thinks he knows everything and wants to do everything for himself. That combined with mom and dad's laziness (and mommy's growing belly) is the makings of disaster.

Today is the day we buckle down. All eating will take place at the table. Bad behavior will only get one "no" and then we are getting up and doing something about it. So far today (and granted it's a work day so it has only been a few hours so far), we managed to eat dinner at the table in a timely and nondramatic fashion and have only had a few minutes of crying despite several very firm "no's". He does get it, he really does.

This all reminds me that parenting is work, especially with a smart stubborn child. It's HARD work a lot of the time. When we are exhausted after work, that is when the hardest work starts. When we just want to eat on the couch or sit here and wonder what that child is doing and marvel at the naughtiness of it all, that's when it's time to get motivated and get up.

I want to try to keep a record of my successes and failures so I've chosen this spot to do it. This child is the most important thing in the universe and I am going to put in all the effort I need to go make sure he is the person I know he can be. Even when I am exhausted and falling apart, I will get my ass up and try my best.

On Oral Development

2011-07-07T16:10:00.000-07:00

Wow I haven't blogged in months! Time flies so fast and any downtime, I just want to read or watch tv or, believe it or not, get some cleaning down. Everything else is filled with the lovely stubborn amazing wonderful boy (and the husband, dog, parents, friends...). Nevertheless I was just sitting here watching Sawyer eat Happy Baby Puffs, something that he's been doing for over a year now, and thinking about what a great chewer he is at 17 months. I think good chewing and oral motor development is a learned, gradual process. I believe that I helped his skills by slowly introducing him to continuously more firm/ chewy/ crispy food from 4 months old. First the baby oatmeal (Happy Baby again) very runny, then more and more firm so that he had to use his tongue to move it around his mouth. Then progressively more bulkier soft foods like roasted sweet potato or squash. Then even more "solid" food like bananas and avocado. Now he eats crispy cereal puffs and apples with no problem. And. he's done with his pile of puffs so off I go...!

This Is What They Meant When They Said You'd Have to Make Hard Decisions

2011-04-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

In 2005 the dog I had for 13.5 years, since I was 18 years old, got really sick. He lost his hearing, the ability to hold his bowels, some of his vision, and ultimately didn't know who I was. I had to make the incredibly difficult decision to put him to sleep. It was difficult even though I knew that he had no quality of life anymore and wasn't feeling good. I made myself go with him to the vet, and sat with him as he quietly passed. When people lose a beloved pet they seem to generally react in one of two ways; they immediately get a new dog or they can't stand even the idea of getting a new dog for several years or maybe ever. I fell into the former category. I borrowed a dog right away, not being able to stand the loneliness of not having a furry companion to meet me at the door. I was single after all, dying for a family of my own, with no prospects. I got that dog, my first dog, as a 4 week old puppy. I found him on a redneck from hell compound in some shit hole backwoods of North Carolina. A grimy little child was holding two puppies who were dangling by their neck and a bag of doritos. I did everything I knew to raise him right. When he was a few years old one of my roommates had a pit bull who repeatedly attacked him. It was a terrible situation. I don't know if it was that or his nature but he turned mean. I spent most of his life keeping him from children, mailmen, etc. He only liked adults.

When it came time to get a new dog, I wanted to make sure that I got one who would be peaceful. I am a person who believes in being committed to animals and I didn't want another situation where I would have to constantly be fearful of the dog doing something bad. Maybe in retrospect I should have waited and taken more time to find the "perfect" dog, but I thought that I had found the perfect dog for me.

My roommate and I found Cooper in the basement of Montgomery County Humane Society. The behavior specialist asked me to give him a chance. He was quarantined for kennel cough. She said he was a good boy, that he listened well. I took him home and he sneezed green snot all over my walls. I tried to crate train him but he was obviously scared of the crate from past experience. I penned him in the kitchen and for weeks every time I left for work my roommate would call and tell me that he had escaped. My dad would come and fortify the gate, make it taller. He ate the phone. We were all committed to him. I took him through beginner and intermediate behavioral training, took him for walks, let him sleep in the bed. I brought him around every dog and child I could find. He turned out wonderfully. He looked at me with those soulful brown eyes and cuddled with me in bed, letting me use him as a pillow. He let kids poke and prod him. He listened to me and he loved me.

Down the road I met my husband to be and he loved him too. They went jogging in the mornings. He was the lab my husband had wanted. We moved to a big house with a three acre yard. Cooper ran free and chased things and went swimming and jogging. We got him a yellow lab friend. He tolerated that puppy chewing and drooling all over him. We had a baby. He lay in bed with me and my son while I nursed through the night, keeping me company.

Cooper was always anxious though. He feels safe on a leash but when he is loose, he doesn't like unpredictable situations like being cornered or surprised or when there are a lot of people around. We put him outside when people come. He nipped my husbands friend and his father once, but honestly I thought that those situations could have been prevented. We managed things and time passed calmly.

Now my son is a toddler and he loves the dogs. Cooper has growled at him three times now. We are scared that if pushed he may bite him. I find myself in this impossible place, being this person who has to find a dog a good home because of a baby. I scoffed at these types of people, thought they were lazy, bad dog owners, assholes, really. But yet again life has taught me that judging people is just stupid because you don't know what you will do in a given situation. We have talked this to death and we can't live in a situation where we have to worry that our golden beautiful miracle of a child could get hurt in any way. Just today I was cooking dinner and my son ran right to Cooper laying in front of the door and was going to dive right on him. The dog didn't react but my heart froze in my chest. I just can't live like that.

I am trying to spread the word through facebook, everyone I can think of, craigslist, freecyle, everything. If we can only find him a good home with an adult, he would be the greatest most loving companion, just like he was to me. Sometimes I have the faith that this will happen, and sometimes I am filled with despair over who would want a 7 year old dog with his temperament issues. I the meantime, I have to somehow reconcile myself to living with him. I torn between loving him and distancing myself. I haven't slept in my bed since we made the decision several days ago. I am going up there tonight and already hyperventilating at the thought of what it will do to me emotionally. He sleeps up next to me like a body pillow. I USE him as a pillow most nights.

So this is what "they" meant when they said you'd have to make hard decisions when you have children. I never wanted to be this person who gets rid of a dog. I never wanted this situation where I would have to make this type of decision. How did this happen to me again? But here I am, and I will do what's best for my son.

My How Time Flies/ The Struggles of ToddlerHood

2011-04-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know how three and a half months have passed since I last managed a blog. Oh wait, yes I do. I work full time, mother full time, wife full time, cook full time. I make everything the boy eats, pick out everything he wears. And I am NOT COMPLAINING; this is exactly what I want to be doing. It's just that something has got to give, and blogging/ writing in my mommy journal are at the top of that list. I don't want to give these things up entirely though. Time flies... this "baby" is 14 and a half months old!... and I want to document the moments.

Speaking of moments, my best current mommy advice is to cherish every moment, the good, the bad, the ugly, the AMAZING. Recently I found out that a boy I know from elementary school and his wife both were diagnosed with very serious, possibly terminal cancer. They have a toddler who is not even two. They were living a wonderful life. I think of them daily and every time I do, I remind myself to stop and stare at my boy, to appreciate my husband, to thank my parents, and to just live my life and really try not to complain and sweat that proverbial small stuff. It's hard sometimes to focus on the positives and not let things drag you down, but life IS hard and it IS a bitch and it CAN knock the living shit out of you, so you have to just appreciate what you have or you will be pure miserable.

As for that beautiful, phenomenal, delicious, stubborn, willful golden boy of mine... what can I say that won't involve writing a small novel? He is the light of my life. I have such a surge of joy when it is time to pick him up from nannyshare, it makes my whole day. He's at the stage now when he runs to me when I come, and that is better than any drug. Being a mother has always been challenging in some ways and at this stage of the game, there is definitely power struggle involved. I see it with myself, my friends who post on facebook, the other kids in the nannyshare. They start to figure out that they have control, and all hell breaks loose. This is another big lesson for me to just sort of be firm and go with the flow. I try not to get too stressed over days when he wants to whine more than usual, when he wants to spend hours going in and out of the screen door, when he doesn't want to eat or throws all that careful food I make on the floor for the dogs. Ultimately everything levels out; hard days are followed by extremely pleasant, easy ones. Bad food days are followed by him eating everything in sight like a little piggy. He is even learning "no" and some measure of safety. This is important as the kid really has no fear! I want to let him blossom while learning his limits as well.

No one ever said being a mother was easy. It is work almost every minute of every day. But this is the work that I always wanted, so I have to drag my tired ass forward sometimes and really try to be the best that I can be at any given moment. And there is nothing, NOTHING, more rewarding and worthwhile.

Obsessed with Food

2011-01-30T12:53:00.001-08:00

Today's baby menu-
Breakfast: Happy Baby Organic Whole Grain Baby Cereal (oats, amaranth, quinoa, fortified with probiotics) with fresh banana and blueberries. As I mentioned before I am still giving the baby cereal because it is an easy way to get a variety of whole grains plus probiotics into him. Starting tomorrow we are going to start mixing it with goat milk for extra protein, calcium and fat. He's barely in the 4th percentile of weight (98th or "off the charts" for height) so I am trying to sneak fat and nutrients into everything.
Why goat? http://www.abundalife.com/goats.asp
Snack: Half a container of blueberry goat yogurt.
Lunch: Palmful of baked sweet potato, one egg from our backyard chickens scrambled with fresh spinach and a bit of organic cow milk mild cheddar, cooked in a bit of organic unsalted butter. He LOVED this, ate every bit of it.
Snack: Organic raisins
Dinner: Chicken with some sweet potato and broccoli, pear.

Bonus: I am still trying to figure out a way to use up some of the purees I still have in the freezer. He went so quickly from purees to more chunky foods that I was left with a bunch of prepared items in the freezer and I hate to waste anything. I cooked up some brown rice pasta and mixed it with a chicken, leek, potato and pea puree. It tastes awesome! That's what is going to the nanny's for lunch!

Goat!

2011-01-27T09:55:00.001-08:00

I am so excited, my big boy (one year and 4 days--- a "toddler" now!!! still my baby love) is finally liking goat yogurt. It took a few tries but today he had half a container of this, blueberry flavor http://www.redwoodhill.com/yogurt
for his snack. Goat milk is easier to digest than cow milk, easier to break down the enzymes, and has really great health benefits. I want to try to avoid giving him a ton of cow milk dairy, so this is a big triumph in my little world.

PS I tried sheep too- I am going with this goat one because it is easier to find and comes in flavors.

The diet is still my big project and I am really enjoying finding new ways to nourish the little man. Now he can have dairy, eggs (we have our own chickens so this is super exciting!) and honey so that opens up a lot of options, including easy items like the yogurt or organic cheese that offer protein and fat while being easy to chew for a guy with six teeth. This little man is barely 4th percentile in weight but 98th in height! He is walking and never stops moving, just like from the time he was in the womb, so he burns his calories quick!

We are home in the snow today. Breakfast was Happy Baby organic multi grain cereal http://shop.happybabyfood.com/our-products/happybellies/multi-grain-cereal.html with banana and blueberry in it. I keep giving this baby cereal even though he could eat regular oatmeal because grains are always a challenge for me to get into his diet, and this is made with amaranth, oats and quinoa and has probiotics! Snack was half a container of blueberry goat yogurt. Now we are ready for lunch- we will do avocado and chicken.

More lentils!

2011-01-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

The latest baby news is, he doesn't like mushy food anymore. This is problematic on a few levels, one being that lots of very healthy foods, like lentils and hummus, are mushy, and two... well, he has six teeth at best (two being just barely through). Laying in bed last night I started thinking about meatballs. I previously created a little recipe with organic turkey, potato and spinach, turned into meatballs that could be frozen, cooked in a sauce, etc. and easily broken up to pieces that he can grab, but since the ingredients were mushed up before cooking, also easily gummed. It occurred to me that I could do a lot more with a meatloaf, which would also be easier than rolling a whole bunch of meatballs. Another downside to the meatballs is that they are very easy to overcook. So, today I managed to whip up the meatloaf while the boy took a blessedly long nap. I wanted to use ingredients that I already had in the house because I'm on a freezer clearing mission.

I used-
1 organic russet potato and 1 small sweet potato- chopped and boiled until soft
1/2 cup of organic red lentils, cooked
about 3/4 cup of frozen organic spinach, defrosted
2 organic turkey burger patties, raw
about a tablespoon of olive oil

I mashed the potatoes, mixed in the rest of the ingredients except for the olive oil, formed it into the loaf and brushed the top with the oil. I baked it at 350 until it was firm but not dry, about 30 minutes or so.

He ate two slices! And I was able to freeze half, because it made plenty. The best thing is it's a "one pot meal", which means I don't have to run around thinking of components to make him a balanced meal. He ate the two slices and some pear chunks, and that was dinner for my almost one year old baby love bug.

Yay!

On Lentils and Blueberries

2010-12-24T17:37:00.000-08:00

I am very interested in food in general and my son's nutrition in particular. For the past 11 months he has had almost nothing that was not made by my hands with the best possible intentions. I think what he eats, particularly at this early age, is of utmost importance. I have to say I am in no way a perfect eater myself, but that little tummy is only so big and I don't want to put anything in it that does not have true value. I try not to be judgmental on this topic, I really do, but it KILLS me when little ones eat junk. I figure I have about 5 years at maximum to push my diet agenda before he is overly influenced by his friends and ends up eating McNuggets. Oh, my heart! In the meantime, the only things I have given that I haven't made myself are: Babys Only Organic Formula (would have breast fed until a year but could not keep up when I started working), Happy Baby cereals (I use the organic whole grain cereal now and it's made with excellent stuff), Happy Baby Puffs (only at day care because he needed something for when the other kids have snacks- I also send raising and blueberries), canned organic beans now and then and just recently Trader Joe's freeze dried mango, blueberry and banana. These are great; while they are unfortunately not organic, which gives me chest pains, they have only one ingredient, which is the fruit itself, and the freeze dried consistency melts in your mouth. It is a challenge to make all of his food, that is for sure. That is why I myself will occasionally pick up a rotisserie chicken or even order out. I work full time! But I had this baby because I wanted to try to do it right, and damn it I am going to try to do that! So far it seems to be going super great. He loves loves vegetables, fruit and meat. He will eat just about anything with gusto. Dinner tonight was steamed broccoli with lemon, red lentils, meatballs made with turkey, potato and spinach with a little olive oil and baked (everything organic needless to say) with blueberries and some freeze dried banana for dessert. He also drinks water like a champ, no fruit juice. I always through fruit juice was healthy but when I had gestational diabetes I learned that it's just not that good for you. I have to say I am proud of myself. I have looked longingly at the jarred baby foods, especially the high end organics, and thought "ohhhh I could just grab one of those..." but I have always refrained and now they are less of a temptation since he likes chunky foods. Of course on that note things have gotten easier as he has grown, since things don't need to be pureed anymore (except I still make applesauce to put in his morning cereal) and he can eat many things that we eat too. It is my sincere hope that as my friend at www.notjustkale.com says, I am setting his palate for life!

The Battle of the Spoon

2010-11-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

My son began eating rice cereal at 4 months. I was eager to introduce him to solids for many reasons, topping the list being that he is long and skinny and I thought it would be helpful in bulking him up some, and I also thought that giving him plenty of time to get used to solids and eating from a spoon would be beneficial to his eventual eating habits and oral motor development. He loved his baby cereal from day one, eating from the spoon like a little bird, that little mouth popping open for bite after bite. On a complete side note I switched to baby oatmeal rather quickly because the rice gave him bouts of constipation, and now he has moved on to happy baby organic multigrain cereal which is made with oats, amaranth and guinoa. Good stuff. We mix it with various fruits for breakfast. Time passed as it always does and after 6 months he began eating various single item purees and then pureed baby stews and eventually moved on to feeding himself soft foods like banana. He has become an excellent eater and happily chows down on spinach, brown rice, quinoa, any fruit you can think of, broccoli, peas, sweet potato and on and on. BUT!!! In the last few weeks he has taken a dislike to the spoon, especially when it comes to dinner. He wants to feed himself and will eat a ton from the tray but just does not want me to feed him. At first I could sneak in a few mouthfuls here and there but he is getting really upset with the whole situation and I am getting frustrated and upset at dinner times because I don't want to be fighting with a 9 and a half month old and making his mealtime miserable for both of us. I've done a bit of research online and spoken to a few friends, and I have decided that I am going to give up the spoon battle when it comes to dinner time. He is still accepting the spoon at day care and when daddy gives him breakfast. I initally thought that I should keep insisting on at least a few bites with the spoon so that he learns that the spoon is part of meals and not an option to refuse, but I don't want to make it so aversive that it affects all meals and I absolutely despise upsetting him in any way. The real battle here is that he continues to eat a variety of foods, not really HOW he eats them at this stage of the game. My plan is to get a bit more creative with getting grains and smaller foods into some kind of finger food consistency and let him try a suction bowl. I want dinner time to be pleasant again. I guess the real lesson here is adaptability and creativity.

Bottles

2010-09-19T06:54:00.000-07:00

Like everything else for baby, there are many choices in the bottle arena. Many people talk about Dr. Browns bottles, how they are great for gas and just all around wonderful bottles. Personally, I don't get it. There are 5 parts to each bottle: nipple, lid, bottle itself and a two piece vent system. You need a special little brush to clean the vent system. Also milk gets inside the inner tube and if you don't open the bottle to drain the milk, it leaks. I have tried several Dr. Browns including the 4oz, 9oz tall and 8oz wide. They all have the same problems. Why did I keep buying, you ask? Well, the 4's are a waste of money in my opinion. Yes, when the baby was little he only needed 4oz at a time, but that stage passed after a few months and now the 4oz-ers are packed away. There is no reason why you can't buy the bigger sizes and just fill them half way. Incidentally my nanny does not like the Dr. Browns either. She has been a nanny for over 30 years so she knows her stuff.

The other bottle I use is Born Free. I like it a lot better, the leaking problem is not there. It too has 5 parts to clean but the flat vent system is very easy to deal with both washing by hand and in the dishwasher. No special tools needed.

At this point in the game, with the baby approaching 8 months, I won't be trying anything new in the bottle arena. I do recommend stocking up on bottles so that you are not washing them constantly, and again, avoid the smaller sizes. They are a waste of money.

Of course don't make the same mistake I did (see previous post on things I've learned along the way). Buy some dishwasher baskets as soon as possible and throw all bottle parts right in there on the sterilize cycle! It's 2010 people!

Things I Wish I Knew

2010-09-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

It has been months since I've had time to post. Working full time and taking care of a baby is hard! I have a lot of thoughts about the whole issue but I always have them when I don't have time or desire to put them down. Thus I find myself typing this during the last ten mintues of work, while I sit at my desk and pump.

Sitting at my desk and pumping is NOT FUN. Pumping while working in general is a nightmare. It's very hard to find two consistent opportunities throughout the day, let alone in private. I have found myself pumping in front of my boss, my coworkers, my MALE coworkers at times, and currently right at this moment in front of one of my female employees. Thankfully she is across the room and I am not exposed in any way. I have also been walked in on by various people on many occasions. Throughout all this, during the past 5 months or so of doing this, I have only managed to forget my pump once and my flanges twice. One of those two times was today. So I sit here pumping one side at a time, with the spare flange that I bought last time I forgot my flanges, to keep in the office for just such occasions.

Pumping one side at a time brings me full cirlce to the topic of this post. When I first started pumping I was doing one breast at a time, for like an hour every night. What!?? I even have a double pump. I was doing one at a time because I didn't want to hold both flanges at once. Eventually before going back to work I bought some stupid Pumping Pal contraption that hangs around your neck to hold the flanges up. Not comfortable, not convenient to carry around. Finally one of my friends found out about this craziness and .... DUH.... PUMPING BRA! Hands free! Two at a time! Can't live without it, especially now that I pump four f$%*& times a day!!!

Another thing that I slap myself in the head about: dish washer basket. For MONTHS AND MONTHS I was washing nipples and odd bottle parts by hand. It never even occurred to me to buy a contraption to use in the dish washer. Dish washer baskets are cheap and fit many nipples, spoons, tiny little lids, etc. Now the only things I wash by hand are lids, because they take up too much space and fit together in such a way that they don't all get clean. I still absolutely hate the whole bottle washing process, what with all of the parts to each fancy bottle. On average my bottles all have five or more parts: Born Free for example have lids, nipples, a two piece vent system, and the bottle itself. However the baskets really do help. One Step Ahead is a great catalog and they have these little mesh bag type things that fit a lot of various parts, pacis, etc.

And now it's 4:02 and I'm out of time!

On Returning To Work

2010-04-30T09:40:00.001-07:00

More than three months have passed and suddenly, somehow, I find myself in the middle of my last day of maternity leave. My feelings and thoughts are mixed to say the least. On the one hand, being at home with the baby 24/7 has been extremely challenging, especially on days when sleep has been at a minimum and baby crankiness has been at a maximum. I have been more exhausted mentally and physically than I could have thought possible.

But then, many days at home have been pure bliss and I have truly enjoyed every single moment of spending time with this baby, even the extremely trying times. I have been able to see every new smile, roll and grab. I can't believe how much I adore this kid.

Truly I don't want to be a stay at home mom, even though it makes me feel bad/ guilty to say so. It's just the truth, not everyone is cut out for it. I would ideally love to work part time but that is not possible right now. I do have the best of all possible situations, which is that I have a fabulous nanny less than two miles from work and I get off at 4pm when lots of people get to spend minimal evening time with their kids before they go to bed. Also I need the paycheck. It's soooo hard though to think of not seeing his little face all day long and trusting someone else to take care of his needs. It is also completely overwhelming to try to remember everything he and I need to take with us every day. Pump, pumping kit, milk, clothes, bottles, blankets, etc etc etc. I know it will get easier and we will get into a routine quickly. I just have to get the first week under my belt.

I know this entry is about as scattered as my thoughts and feelings are lately. That's the way it is right now.

Hello World!

2010-04-20T11:03:00.001-07:00

Hello World is a clothing company that I found through another website that I read religiously- www.dooce.com. They only make one product, which is a sleeper in blue for boys and pink for girls.

www.helloworldclothing.com

This is the best sleeper that I have come across, and I have tried many. It fits my long slim son just perfectly without bunching up in his face. The fabric is nice and soft. Their claim to fame is that the sleeper opens from the bottom as well as the top, which is super convenient. It's a company started by a mom, which I love, and they give a ton to charity in Kenya. Finally, the customer service is stellar.

Those are all the positives. The negative is that the sleeper is very expensive, almost $40 when you factor in shipping. I guess since they give so much to charity the price is somewhat understandable, but even so it's pretty steep for people who have tons of other baby (and life) expenses.

What is Colic Anyway?

2010-02-28T16:17:00.000-08:00

I don't know what "colic" is. It appears to be a catch all word for a fussy baby who cries a lot for no specific reason, ie: medically diagnosed reason. What I do know is that my baby has gas, and a lot of it. That damn gas makes him go from happy smiling bug to face of fury in a matter of seconds. It makes him kick and squirm and rip off my nipple every once in a while. The poor guy burps and hiccups and toots up a storm, and you can feel that little tummy gurgling away. I guess that he doesn't qualify as "colicky" because honestly he doesn't cry that much and can you usually be soothed with something, but the whole gas thing sure isn't fun. So, I would like to post some options for soothing gas. Sometimes one thing works really well, sometimes a combination of things.

If the baby is too distressed to stay on the breast comfortably, I switch to a bottle of expressed breast milk so that I can make sure he is getting enough to eat, especially at night. Thankfully he goes from breast to bottle easily and we haven't experienced the dreaded "nipple confusion". I keep at least two bottles of expressed milk in the refrigerator at all times, and take one to bed at night just in case. I always do breast first because there is a very good chance that he will calmly get his fill on the breast, and I like to save any extra breast milk for going out, daddy feedings and freezing for when I have to go back to work (snif). I should also say that I tried modifying my diet, cutting out dairy, etc. and that didn't seem to help him. According to kellymom.com (which is an excellent breastfeeding resource)and other sources, what the mom eats is very rarely associated with gas anyway, unless accompanied by rash, excessive spitting up, and other allergy or intolerance symptoms.

Walking with the baby on someone's shoulder almost always makes him happy. Luckily my husband seems to enjoy this activity. He also likes going for walks outside in the baby bjorn but I don't think this has anything to do with gas relief? Maybe just being in the upright position? Repositioning does seem to help with gas, especially making sure to have tummy time. At five weeks I try to do ten minutes of tummy time at least once a day, always when he is calm. This builds his neck and shoulder muscles and also puts pressure on the tummy, helping that gas come out or go somewhere. I usually rub his back while he's in this position. A pediatrician recommended tummy time with back rubs for gas. After ten minutes he is usually tired of trying to hold his head up and does face plants or otherwise gets frustrated, and I want to make sure he enjoys tummy time so I don't push it.

When walking, repositioning, tummy time, back rubs, and also belly rubs fail, I turn to some supplemental assistance. I've looked up several products and read many reviews, and the bottom line is none of these things is a magic remedy. A product might work great for some babies and not at all for others. I've had varying degrees with success with all of them and they all have positives and negatives. The baby liked the taste of all of them and ingested them without difficulty.

First, I tried mylicon gas drops because I got them for my baby shower. The positives: It did seem to work to at least take the edge off. Also you only have to give a tiny amount. The negative is that it's not a natural substance so I can't help but think of it as medicine.

Next I tried Baby's Bliss Gripe Water. I also received this as a shower gift so I thought I'd give it a shot. A lot of my friends swear by it. Again, it seemed to take the edge off, at least for a short while. It's an "all natural herbal supplement" so I guess that's good. The negatives: It has fructose for some reason, and also 15 mg of sodium. Also it doesn't come with a dropper in the box so I had to order one separately. Finally you have to give a very large amount of this stuff- a whole tea spoon for 1 - 6 months of age which is a lot for a little baby!

The last thing that I have tried (so far) is a product called Colic Calm, which is also a type of "gripe water", whatever that means. I read several reviews online that said this stuff was a miracle and better than the Baby's Bliss because there is no sodium or sugar or anything funky in it at all. It's just a bunch of herbs. So, I ordered it up. Ok, this stuff is BLACK. No one mentioned that outright, until I dug further and found that many people were similarly surprised. The blackness comes for vegetable charcoal, which is one of the active ingredients. I guess this ingredient makes sense because charcoal is used for poisoning victims to bind with the poison and purge it from the body (usually with a vomiting agent). In the case of the Colic Calm, I believe the purpose is to bind with toxins and expel them (from the rear, not the mouth thank god). Obviously the black is the main negative. It makes for dark poops (green and black) and also stains whatever it comes in contact with black- clothes, burp cloths, what have you. I have found that if the baby drools right away it does come out with some black, but any spit up that occurs after the first few minutes has not had black in it. So I guess it moves its way down pretty quickly towards the poop end. From what I have read the black stuff is supposed to wash out easily but I haven't tried washing anything that had it on there yet. The positives: this stuff seems to work best of all. It comes with it's own dropper too, which is nice. Also you can give a very little bit- they recommend up to 1/2 teaspoon which you can give every 30 min up to three times in a day, but I start with 1/8 teaspoon. I think this is a mental block for me because I am putting black goo in my baby's mouth. I had an easier time giving him a whole dropper full of the clear gripe water. Still I would rather start minimally and add more if necessary. I don't know that it works every time I give it, but there have definitely been times when I have given it to him and there was an almost instant calmness followed by a good sleep or play period.

In the end I still try many of the remedies listed above to help my baby with his gas, rather than going straight to the Colic Calm. I still feel that if I can help him without any "medicine" that is the best way to go.

Of Course There Are Things That Are Good

2010-02-24T12:19:00.000-08:00

I try to use natural products for the baby, the dogs, the dishes, cleaning the house, etc. as much as possible. In some cases there are great substitutes for common products, and in others you just can't beat good old Pampers. I will try to post about good natural products whenever I find them. Please note that in most cases I am not endorsing any websites when it comes to purchasing these products. I am just posting common sites so that you can see what I am talking about. Of course in some cases I am actually endorsing a website, as you will see below when I reference the Vintage Pearl or Earth Mama Angel Baby products.

Instead of Purell, I found Susan Brown's Baby Moisturizing Hand Sanitizer. It works great, smells good, and doesn't dry out your hands.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ET7EDW/ref=oss_product

Costco carries a good natural baby wipe made by Nature Babycare that is also cheap to buy in bulk and will ship right to your house by the case:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11482813&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|48022|76405&N=4040783&Mo=15&No=1&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=56098&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&topnav=
They are not as thick as some of the other products on the market but they do the job and have no chlorine or alcohol.

The Fisher Price My Little Lamb Cradle and Swing has saved our sanity.
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2002&e=product&pid=45667
I bought it on craigslist.com for 60 bucks. The inside part where the baby sits is all washable so there is no reason to buy new if you can find a good used one. The swing plays music as well as nature sounds and has a mobile and mirror to entertain the baby. He loves to fall asleep in there and it works great during those times (every evening at about 7pm!) when he wants to be rocked or moved constantly and mommy and daddy are about to fall over dead.

I love multifunctional items like the Graco Silhouette Pack'n'Play Playard.
http://www.buybuybaby.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=16257710&RN=7081&
It's a bassinet, changing station and pack'n'play all in one, and portable too (thought a pain in the rear to take apart and pack). We use it constantly. It also holds wipes, lotions and potions for convenient use. My only complaint is that the wipes holder is a little shallow so you have to restock often. They should make it so that a whole pack of wipes fits in.

Another great natural product line is Earth Mama Angel Baby. Their baby lotion is amazing. I have used it on my newborn baby from the start with no skin irritation at all. I have also used it on my own face and it's just as good as any expensive skin cream.
http://www.earthmamaangelbaby.com/

I looked for a simple little charm with my son's initial on it everywhere and couldn't find anything that wasn't super cheesy. A friend recommended this site:
https://www.thevintagepearl.com/
It's full of adorable, reasonably priced monogrammed charms and jewelry. After I placed an order, I found out that it's a small business by a stay at home mom, which makes it even more appealing to me. Be advised that the jewelry is hand made and thus it takes a while to ship.

Another great product developed by a mom is the Woombie.
http://www.thewoombie.com/
Swaddling is a total pain in the rear. I thought I could avoid the whole concept all together but as it turns out, my son likes to be in a tight space. The Woombie is a little sack that is tight around the baby but also stretchy so he can move their arms and legs around. It's super easy to use, especially at night when I am trying to move him as little as possible.

Things That May Not Suck But I Wouldn't Recommend

2010-02-24T10:19:00.000-08:00

I have also come across several products that aren't exactly awful, but are either not very good or a waste of money.

Mom 2 Mom products at Safeway:
I received a package of diapers and a box of wipes from this brand for my baby shower. At first I thought they were from some mom's club but it turns out they are Safeway brand. The diapers are purple, so they aren't very unisex. Also they are really stiff and it's hard to tell when there is pee in them. The worst thing is that they leaked numerous times, once memorably all over my cousin, who questioned my diapering technique in front of many relatives. I haven't had any leaking problems with Pampers Swaddlers. The quality of the wipes is pretty good and they are nice and big. However the lid on the box broke almost immediately and I had to transfer the wipes to a box from another brand.

Baby nail clippers
It's very hard to cut tiny baby nails with clippers. I use sharp manicure scissors, while he was sleeping, and have had no problems. Many of my friends tell horror stories about the clippers, involving loss of skin and lots of blood :(

Breast Pumps
The Medela Pump in Style Advanced backpack runs about 280.00. The Pump in Style Advanced in the metro bag runs about 330.00. For $50.00 you basically get two upgrades: the soft cups (breast shields) that go on your breasts and a carrier that can be used as a diaper bag. I went with the backpack. I thought the metro bag was too big and ugly to be used as a diaper bag and just bought the soft breast shields separately. I am sorry I bothered. In my experience the hard breast shields work much better. The soft ones fold up and pinch the breast on the sides. They are also harder to clean and stick to the breast more. On another note, I found a lot of Medela breast pumps on sale used on craigs list. I should mention here for propriety's sake that a Medea sales representative told me that it is not safe to purchase a used breast pump because it's possible that breast milk can get into the pump mechanism and germs/ diseases can be passed on to future users. This prevented me from buying the pump used. However, now that I have one I cannot see how cross contamination can occur, since breast milk doesn't come near the actual pump mechanism and all other parts can be purchased new (and cheap). Just food for thought.

Clean Well Hand Sanitizer
I am always looking for green and natural products to use for the baby and around the house. I wanted an alternative to Purell to keep around the house and in my diaper bag. I bought a whole bunch of this stuff because it comes in multiples on amazon. To my taste, it smells just awful. It has this weird, piney odor that stays on your hands for hours after. I returned all of it.

Things That Suck

2010-02-22T05:20:00.000-08:00

The world of baby products is full of every gadget you can possibly think of. As a new mom, I tried to be wise about what I was buying, preferring to have minimal quantity of items with maximum use and quality. To that end, I watched, listened, researched and queried my friends as to what I would really need. Still, I have found myself with several things that are just pure crap or totally useless. I thought I would post them here so that my experience could possibly benefit some future moms...

PeePee TeePee:
http://www.amazon.com/Peepee-Teepee-Sprinkling-WeeWee-Airplanes/dp/B000EBQ8DI
This is a very cute and clever-seeming item. Unfortunately it is completely useless because babies squirm when you change them and the teepees simply don't stay on. As a side note, I have found that very few things actually work to prevent getting sprayed by pee when changing my son. The best method is just to go as fast as possible, which isn't easy when you are trying to get poop off a very small yet sensitive scrotum.

Prince Lionheart Wipe Warmer:
http://www.amazon.com/Prince-Lionheart-Ultimate-Wipes-Warmer/dp/B00008ODBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1266845193&sr=1-1
This seemed like a very useful item to me. It's cold upstairs in my house and I didn't want to startle the baby at night by using cold wipes. The warmer does warm the wipes as promised. However the cushion that you have to put in to keep the wipes from drying out has several issues. First, it has a weird smell. Second, by the time you get to the bottom of the wipes, with several still left, they are all dried out and so is the cushion. Third, you have to throw the cushion away when it gets dry and funky, which happened to me after I ran out of the very FIRST set of wipes in there. Finally, when I got down to the cushion at the bottom of the wipes I found that it had left some kind of weird orangey liquid at the bottom of the container. I don't know what that liquid was but I don't want it on my baby. I gave this thing away to someone who's about to have a baby.

Mobi Digital Thermometer:
http://www.amazon.com/MOBI-70119-Digital-Ultra-Thermometer/dp/B000HZF0W6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1266845558&sr=8-1
Probably my worst experience was with this crap thermometer. It seems pretty neat- you place it on the temple or in the ear and it pops up with a temperature reading super fast, which is great for squirmy babies. It also tells you the room temperature, has a convenient light, and even speaks readings aloud. However, you can take 10 temperatures from the same location in the space of a minute and get 10 different readings. Here is a fun experience: it's about 2am, the baby feels a little warm and is fussy so I take a temperature. It reads 102.5. I take it in another location, it's 99 something. I take my own temperature and it's normal. In a panic, I run the baby downstairs and take a rectal temperature with a cheap hospital thermometer and it's 98.2. I tried resetting the thing, read all the directions (which are written in script so small you need a magnifying glass to decipher them), and finally put it in the bin with the diaper warmer for give away.

Adiri Natural Nurser:
http://www.amazon.com/Adiri-Natural-Nurser-Ultimate-Bottle/dp/B000VUN41G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1266845899&sr=8-2
This particular type of bottle was recommended to me as being "most like the breast" and therefore least likely to cause nipple confusion. I don't know about confusion, but the nipple is so short, the poor baby could hardly get a grip on it and just drooled precious breast milk all over himself. Into the bin it went.

Boppy Changing Pad Covers:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_11?url=search-alias%3Dbaby-products&field-keywords=boppy+changing+pad+liners&sprefix=boppy+chang
I really liked these but they roll up on the sides. Nothing I did could stop this from happening. Also they roll up when you wash them and then do not get dry in the dryer for anything. You have to unroll them and pin them down with something at both ends for them to dry. Even then they do not lie flat and continue to roll up on the ends. This is just too inconvenient and too much work. Disposable liners are much better for covering changing table surfaces.

Sleep Gowns:
http://www.amazon.com/Tadpoles-Organic-Cotton-Sleep-Months/dp/B001DLYRTU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1266846086&sr=1-1
I don't understand the functionality of these at all. You put a baby in them and then what, have to add pants, socks? Otherwise you have naked baby legs sticking out all night. How is this useful? Footed pajamas (especially with zippers!) or sleep sacks work much better.

These are all that come to mind right now but I am sure I will think of/ come across more later. I hope this helps someone! If nothing else it's nice to rant about this stuff!