I’m Moving!
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Review and Rate Baby Products
I am beyond stoked right now.
I was contacted by media relations for The First Years brand of infant gear. They wanted to know if I’d be willing to receive pitches and samples of new products to consider reviewing on my families.com blog.
Um, YEAH, I’d LOVE to!
After contacting my editor to make sure this was within the guidelines set up in my contract, I emailed the gentleman from The First Years back and gave him the okay. He’s shipping me one of their new baby monitors – one where the receivers work as 2-way radios, making it possible for parents to talk to each other and to the baby.
This thing is worth $85, and I get to have it for FREE! How awesome is that?!
Baking Cookies with No Baking Soda
I decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies from scratch today. As easy as it is to buy pre-made cookie dough from the store, I think homemade cookies are SO much better.
I realized I didn’t have any baking soda, but wasn’t feeling ambitious enough to go to the grocery store. (Plus, I hadn’t taken a shower yet. It didn’t used to bother me to go out without showering, but after watching “What Not To Wear” several hundred times, I feel a little bit of guilt going out looking like a slob.)
Anyways, I decided to try substituting baking powder for baking soda. I’m pretty pleased with the results. The cookies are a little puffier than normal – not chewy, like I prefer – but they taste good.
Now the next dilemma: What will motivate me to get outside and walk off all of the calories I just ate?
DIY Baby Proofing: Curtained Storage
My 7-month-old baby is getting ready to crawl. She’s gotten pretty good at scooting backwards and can roll like a pro. Half of me is excited, and the other half is freaking out thinking about all of the work I need to do to make our apartment safe for her. Our place isn’t trashed, but we definitely leave clutter lying around.
The worst thing in our apartment is probably our TV stand. We hang out in the living room a lot, and the stand isn’t even close to being safe for a baby. There are cords and wires EVERYWHERE under that thing.
I did a little research, and discovered something called curtained storage. It involves putting tension rods up wherever you want to hide something and hanging curtains over the mess.
I made a quick trip to Target and Joann Fabric and got to work. Here are before and after pictures.
Before:
Fabric choice:
After:
I’m hoping the hanging fabric keeps our daughter away from the cords. I’ll find out soon enough!
Five reasons I’m glad winter isn’t over
1. There are no mosquitoes in the winter. Sure, it’s cold outside, but when we go for walks, I don’t have to worry about my little one getting bitten to death. I don’t like the idea of putting bug spray on her, and it’s nice not worrying about it.
2. The chance of my baby getting a sunburn is quite low. Not only is most of her skin completely covered with warm clothing, the sun doesn’t shine as much, and it isn’t as intense as in the spring and summer.
3. If I don’t shave my legs, no one knows. Sure, some days I have the leisure of taking a long shower. More often than not, however, I’m sudsing and rinsing as fast as I can in case my baby decides she wants me.
4. Heat is free in our apartment building, and air conditioning is not. We’ve been cranking the heat all winter long to keep it comfortable for our little sweetie. It’s very unlikely that we will crank the A.C. quite as liberally since it will mean a hefty electric bill.
5. And last, but not least: Some days it’s nice to have an excuse to stay home all day. “It’s cold outside,” always works as a reason not to go out with your baby. I love that people want to get together with us and that there are always things to do, but my life is much slower-paced since giving birth, and I have to admit that I rather like it that way.
bumGenius 3.0 One-Size Pocket Diaper
When I found out I was pregnant, I knew we’d be using cloth diapers. We wanted to use them because we knew they were better for a baby’s health than disposable, although it was nice that they would save us money & be better for the environment also.
I’d heard of SO many people who had decided to use cloth & gave up right away. Lots of people said,”Yeah right, good luck with that,” when they heard we were planning to use cloth, as if there was no way we’d be able to stick it out.
We went with the bumGenius 3.0 one-size pocket diapers. They are awesome! I prefer them to disposable! We’ve never had a blowout, they never give our daughter a rash, and they’re cute! Not even hard to care for – we just spray them off with a diaper sprayer and throw them in the diaper pail. Every couple of days, I dump the pail in the washing machine. Simple as that!
Who should hold the crying baby?
I’m struggling with a seemingly never-ending dilemma of how long to let my baby cry when others are holding her!
I want her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and others to be able to spend time with her, bond with her, and get to know her. However, I also don’t want this to happen at the expense of her feeling secure and safe. Yes, she loves them, but there is no substitute for the kind of comfort and security a mother can bring.
When she starts fussing while being held by someone else, I usually give it at least 5 minutes. I give myself little jobs to do – get a drink of water, go to the bathroom, fold a load of laundry – things I HAVE to do before taking her away from them. This gives them a chance to comfort her. What I really want to do is take her right away because I know I can get her to stop crying almost instantaneously! But, I don’t want to hurt the feelings of the person holding her, especially if that person has already raised children. I get the impression that that would be insulting – they obviously know what to do if they’ve raised their own children!
Anyways, I usually try to wait awhile, but if she is getting upset and nothing is working, I take her. Sometimes I say something like, “I think she is hungry,” but other times I simply say, “Come here, sweetie,” and take her.
I always wonder what impression this leaves on the person holding her. Are they relieved that I am taking her? Does it hurt their feelings, because they think she doesn’t like them? Are they insulted, thinking that they are perfectly capable of comforting her and don’t need my help?
I’ve decided that, although I care about their feelings, I care more about my daughter! If she is upset and wanting me, I’ll let it go for 5 minutes, but that’s long enough. I’d rather an adult be upset, because adults have the ability to reason. All my daughter knows is that she wants me, and doesn’t understand why I’m not getting her right away. I try to take her in the nicest way possible and give people a chance to comfort her, but if it doesn’t work, I don’t hesitate to step in. As soon as she’s happy again, I hand her right back J
To introduce solid foods or not to introduce solid foods? That is the question!
Our daughter is approaching the age when solid foods can be introduced. She’s 4 ½ months old and currently is exclusively breastfed. I’m going back and forth on when we’re going to start giving her solids.
She’s gaining weight fine on breastmilk alone, and I hesitate to mess with something that is going so well. I’ve read about possible allergies that can be caused by introducing solids too early, and it seems like such an easy thing to avoid. I also love the bond we have with breastfeeding. As of right now, I am the only person who can feed her! If she is fussy when someone else is holding her, I can always use the excuse of, “Well, she’s probably hungry.” This helps me avoid hurting anyone’s feelings or making anyone mad!
On the other hand, I’m so excited about the thought of her eating real food! I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she first tastes rice cereal, squash, sweet potatoes, pears. I see her curiosity when we eat, and notice how she watches what we do.
I suppose there is no rush in doing “big kid” things with her – someday I’ll look back and wish I hadn’t been in such a rush!
Blood in 4-month-old breastfed daughter’s poop
We first noticed that our daughter’s poop looked a little strange when she was 2 months old. We took her to her pediatrician to test it, and discovered her poop had blood in it.
I immediately eliminated dairy and soy from my diet, which helped at first, but the blood came back. Then I did block feeding to correct a possible foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, which helped at first, but the blood came back. Then I tried the Dr. Sears Elimination Diet. Everything I tried seemed to work at first, but it always came back.
She was exclusively breastfed, and her pediatrician told us I had to switch to formula. She said that my daughter was allergic to my actual breastmilk.
This immediately raised red flags for me. I know it’s not possible for a baby to be allergic to breastmilk – maybe to something in the breastmilk, but not the milk itself. I also had read that breastmilk is given to babies to fix GI problems. In addition, I knew of the numerous health benefits of breastmilk, and the risks associated with formula. Why was her pediatrician so quick to want me to switch to formula?
I sought a second opinion in another pediatrician, who told me that as long as our daughter was gaining fine and not appearing to be in pain, we wouldn’t do any permanent damage to her if I continued to breastfeed her while we spent more time trying to figure out what was causing it.
I emailed Dr. Jack Newman, who responded very promptly, and was told to continue breastfeeding if the blood was the only concerning symptom (i.e. no weight loss, no fussiness, no apparent pain).
Her regular pediatrician still continued to check up on her poop and still continued to urge us to switch to formula. I asked her many questions one day, including,”What happens if we switch her to formula and she continues to bleed? What if we had never noticed the blood – would she suffer permanent damage?” She didn’t have answers for me, and finally suggested that we take our daughter to a GI specialist.
I took her today. He tested 2 of her diapers, and found no blood. He said that unless you test the poop as soon as it comes out, you can get false positives for blood. This makes me wonder if there was ever blood in any of her poop, since we never tested them right after she pooped. He also said that even if there was blood, it is VERY common in infants, and they grow out of it. He said as long as she is gaining weight and not fussy, she is fine. Said breastfeeding was completely fine. Said I could eliminate dairy and soy if I wanted, but that if she was happy, I didn’t need to.
I am SO relieved that nothing is wrong, that I can continue to breastfeed with support from the GI specialist, that there is no permanent damage being done to my daughter.
I am also VERY upset with her first pediatrician for trying to make us switch to formula. I realize she was probably giving us the best advice she had, but shouldn’t she be more informed? If I was able to find this information, shouldn’t she also be able to? Isn’t she aware that breastmilk is SO far superior for a baby’s health than formula? That breastmilk is best ESPECIALLY for a baby like ours, who appears to have a sensitive GI tract?
I feel sad for all of the babies who have been switched to formula under her care and are missing out on all the benefits of breastfeeding. I’m debating whether I should talk with her about this, or just switch to the pediatrician we saw for a second opinion. I don’t want to make her feel like she is being attacked, but, at the same time, I don’t want other babies to miss out on breastfeeding, or other mothers to feel like they are hurting their babies by breastfeeding them.
