Friday, February 25, 2011

Pump It Up!

Found this GREAT deal on Facebook, so I had to post it here (even though I have like 2 readers! Oh well!). It's a $50 gift card that only costs $25!  I love half off!!!!!

The Pump Station is a great store- and a wonderful resource for nursing mommies.  They have SO much more than just pumps.  The lactation consultants there are AMAZING, as are all the girls that work there.  They have Mommy and Me classes, breastfeeding support groups, and all the best products for babies!  I LOVE the Pump Station!!! Check them out!!  They helped my little lazy bear cub get his latch down perfectly and now he is nursing like a champ and getting fatter by the day!! It was very important to me that he be breastfed exclusively, and with the help of the Pump Station, we made it happen, even though he wasn't getting the hang of it right away.  Thank you, PS!!!



Btw, I'm not getting anything for posting this, I just love sharing good deals/ awesome places to shop!!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Sneezing and Coughing and Barfing, Oh My!!!

My big boy had a cold this week. Boo.  Poor guy.  Then he gave it to my little guy (who just turned 6 weeks old). Yikes.  He is toooooo little to get sick.  I wasn't sure if it was just a cold and not the flu, plus I was just nervous about the little one getting sick so early on, so I took them to the doctor... She said it was just a cold and that what I thought was the baby throwing up was probably just spit up (phew! So as it turns out, there was no barfing, besides the dog, but that's another post and the title just sounded better with the word 'barfing' in it!).  The doctor also said that when a baby spits up breast milk, they get the antibodies again, so it is actually a good thing- weird!

Anyway, besides the usual rest and lots of fluid, these are the things that she suggested (and what we have been using) to help both little ones feel better:

Humidifier:

This is way cuter than the one we have, but we have been using one religiously through the winter months with our older son and it does seem to work.  He rarely gets sick, even though he is in a mommy and me preschool class full of snotty-nosed kids!

Boogie Wipes:
I have seen these for a while and always thought they were just another useless baby product, but they are AWESOME!  They get rid of those awful sticky boogers and cement-like snot, and you can wipe your little one's nose all day long without rubbing it raw.  I have stocked up!

Vick's:

I remember my mom using this gunk on us, but guess what? It still works!  My friends have suggested putting it on the babies' feet and then putting socks on- I guess so they don't rub it everywhere or accidentally put their hands in it and then put their hands in their mouth?  I'm not sure, but for my little one I did the feet thing, and for my big guy I rubbed it on his chest.  Luckily, he has been really good about not touching it.

Vapor Bath:

Along the same lines as the vapor rub, this vapor bath and the warm water/steam made our big guy feel so much better!  I was too scared to use it with our little one since he is so tiny and has such sensitive skin.  When he gets his next cold and is (hopefully) much bigger he can enjoy the actual bath... for now, I wore him in his sling while I bathed his big brother, so at least he got the benefit of the warm steam.

Saline nasal drops/ aspirator:

We love this non-medicated spray.


Here is the aspirator we use with our toddler.  Believe it or not, he likes it!  I think it is because he likes to look at the "boogies" inside.  Gross.

Even grosser is the one that I use for the baby.  I was a little freaked out when I saw it, and when the girl at Whole Foods told me how to use it.... but I have to say, it works sooooo well and really is the ONLY way that works to clear that tiny little nose.  Even that blue bulb aspirator from the hospital doesn't get the job done like this bad boy.  The weird thing is that you use the suction from your mouth to suck the yuck out of your little one's nostrils.  Before you judge me (or throw up), know that somehow the stuff does not get in your mouth, I swear!  It just stays in the tube until you rinse it out.  The things we do for our babies!! Here it is, on all its glory:
I promise it is worth the trauma of that picture on the box, because it makes the baby feel sooo much better!  And, at least for my little guy, when he was less stuffed up, he nursed so much more, which meant he slept more, and that is what they need when they are sick!

A few more things:
My pediatrician is a little old school.  While she is very educated on all the latest developments in medicine, she also thinks some things that are "no-no's" these days shouldn't be.  She usually believes that organic and natural is the best way to go, but she also said that my older son could have half a dose of children's cold/allergy medicine to help dry out the snot so it doesn't drip into his throat when he is trying to sleep.  I was a little surprised by this, because right on the package it says that it is not for children under 4, and he is only 2.  She says that this is because some parents were using cold medicine to make their kids sleep (yikes!) so they came up with the new directions and age limits.  Do any of you other mommies ever use children's cold medicine for your kids before they are 4?  I figured since my doctor said it was ok that it would be fine, and especially since we were only giving him half a dose... and she was right!  It made him feel much better!  Of course it won't be something we use often, and I think the other remedies are very important too, but it is good to know that this is something that we can use once in a while to give him some relief.  Of course she would never give the ok for us to give it to our infant, nor would I do it, even if she did!

The other thing that she suggested about a year ago was to let our big guy sleep with a firm pillow.  It was because, at the time, he was on his third ear infection in a row, and she was convinced that if we propped his head up a little at night, the problem would be solved.  It worked like a charm!  I couldn't believe it.  Of course we would never give him a pillow when he was tiny, but once he was past the danger zone for SIDS, she said it was ok, and he hasn't had an ear infection since!

The last thing she said was to make sure that I was nursing the baby as much as possible, because the antibodies in the milk were the best protection for him.  I took her advice of course, and even gave our older son some pumped milk... he hasn't had any boobie milk for about a year, but he seemed to like it and hopefully it made his sore throat feel better.  He better not get any ideas though- he is not going to start nursing again! I have my hands full as it is! :)

Stay healthy!  This cold/flu season seems worse than it has been in a while!!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Adventures in Potty Training

Last week I had the brilliant idea that it was time to start potty training our older son, who turned 2 in December.  Yes, right after we brought home a new baby, I thought his life needed to change even more.  So smart!  Well, it didn't go very well...

He was VERY excited at first.  We read books and talked about it for days.  We have had a little Elmo potty for a few months and he has actually used it once or twice before, but it had been gathering dust (literally), so I figured it was time to buckle down and do this for real!  We went to Target and bought some big boy undies~ he was excited about the Mickey Mouse kind, and he proudly tried them on when we got home.  The next morning was the big day.  I took him out of his diaper and put him in just the undies, which looked super cute on his little tush.... I had him sit on the potty every 30 minutes on the dot, but of freaking course my timing was off and he peed in the undies.  He did make a very puzzled look as he was doing it, so I knew what was happening.  I scooped him up, ran to the potty, pulled down the very wet undies, sat him on the pot.... and maybe two drops came out.  I still went nuts with excitment and praised him and told him he did a great job.

We kept up the 30 minute schedule and wouldn't you know it- he actually peed in the potty one of those times!!  He also peed on the carpet, the couch, the tile, etc. etc., soooo I wasn't that pumped. We were on undies pair # 5 by nap time, so I put him in a diaper to sleep in.  When he woke up, we tried again, and I got one more successful potty trip.  After that, it was all downhill.... He absolutely did not want to sit on that potty for one more second.  He was totally over the novelty of the undies and didn't even care about how cool the flushing sound was anymore.  I even tried bringing the little potty out in front of the tv and letting him sit on it while watching a movie (a real treat!), and still nothing.

I finally threw in the towel when he took off his big boy undies and tried to flush them down the toilet.  He then paraded around the entire house, naked, marching and punching his arm in the air, chanting/singing, "No pee pee in the potty, no pee pee in the potty!!!"

Soooooo no more potty training for us.  I don't know what I was thinking taking on this project with a newborn at home.  I just loved the idea of only having one in diapers I guess!!  We will try again in a few months.  I guess two and a half is average for boys anyway.  Sigh..... size 6 diapers, here we come!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

It's a Miracle!

Just a quick post about my very favorite new baby purchase.... the Miracle Blanket!!!  My newest little guy (5 weeks old) is very tall, and though he LOVES to be swaddled, just like his big brother did, he easily kicks out of even the most well-done baby burrito.  We love the Swaddle Me blankets and "Ultimate Receiving Blanket" , but even those are pretty easy for him to get out of with his super long arms and legs.  I heard about the Miracle Blanket and was willing to give it a try.... and I am IN LOVE.  Finally, a swaddling blanket that is super easy (even after a 3 a.m. feeding!) and works for even the loooong babies out there! ;)  Give it a try and let me know what you think!!

Click here for the Miracle Blanket!!

ps. Who knows if it is the blanket, but our little man sleeps like a champ!!  Anything that helps in that area is worth every penny!! Happy Swaddling!


pss. Disclaimer: This is not our baby!  I just wanted to include a photo of this amazing product! :)

EDIT: I am new at this whole blogging thing, and I just read via a very eye-opening post from an awesome blogger about blogging etiquette (which can be found here), that when you use someone else's picture you are supposed to link back to where you found the picture. Crap. I have no clue where I found this pic, and now I can't find it again. So sorry, whoever is the mommy of this adorable baby!!!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Better Late Than Never

So here it is- February 1.  I'm just a little late with starting my New Year's Resolution of creating (and regularly updating) a blog.  (One of my others was to not procrastinate, but what are ya gonna do?!)

Just what the world needs is another mommy blog, right?! I probably won't even tell my friends and family about it, either, so there will be little traffic here, but it seems like everyone I know has a blog, so why not me too?

I can't even really decide what I want this blog to be about... At first I thought it could be reviews on different baby products that I love (and hate), but does anyone really care what I think about all the baby paraphernalia out there?  Probably not, but I might start with that anyway....  I also thought maybe this could be a place where I post pictures of my little ones, and talk about all the cute things that they do.... Or maybe it could be an outlet for me to complain about my hubby never picking up his dirty socks...Who knows what it will evolve into, but it has officially been started, so I can check it off the list.  So what if I am a month behind schedule?  I have a 3 week-old infant, so I think the fact that I am even able to type a complete thought should earn some pretty major points!!! I literally am typing with one hand and holding my nursing baby with the other, so this entry is about to come to an end...  I would rather not wait until I start leaking milk on to the laptop!  Yikes.