Friday, November 13, 2015

Baby DeeDee Review - Winter Sleepwear

I have searched high and low, all the way to China and Europe to find a thick warm good quality sleeping bag for Alexis and Audrey. I've bought the down alternative bags from China and they were just terribly cheap. It kept Alexis warm but the one size fit all was just too big for her and it made me nervous.

I finally found Baby DeeDee which I LOVE. It keeps Audrey (now 1) warm and safe. Surprisingly, she seems to sleep better now so YAY!! Although Audrey is 1, she is still not ready for a blanket. She gets tangled in it and it upsets her.

Sleep Sack Pros:
1. There is a large size plastic zipper so its super easy and safe to zip. Since its big, it's super fast and easy to zip up or down in different positions.
2. There are also buttons on the shoulder which for my husband, he loves. He wants to just "drop" the baby into her sack....men.
3. Soft and comfy - It seems to get softer the more you wash it. Nice and thick, the baby wakes up with warm hands which warms mommy's heart.
4. I ordered from their website and it ships FAST.
5. Size options - there are 3 sizes so you're not stuck with a super long bag. If your baby is a mover, a bag too big just wakes them up and no parent wants that.

Sleep Sack Cons:
1. Expensive - I think it's a bit on the expensive side. The large size goes up to $48. Items like this, I normally buy 2 so I can rotate and wash. However, when you buy 2, they cost close to $100 and that can get a bit too much. I've invested in 1 so far so I'm tempted to try to make just having 1 work instead of buying another bag for convenience.
2. Availability - It's not yet sold in major retailers like Babies R Us or Buy Buy Baby so you don't get to tough and feel just yet. The baby boutiques around me and just not easy to get to with kids. Normally, they are located downtown or in the city and no mom wants to deal with finding parking, paying for parking, and dragging 2 babies depending on how far you had to park to get to a boutique. So, its online shopping for me for now.
3. No organic option - not that big of a deal but seems like a good idea?

I also got the sleep kicker for my 3 year old. I'm not 100% satisfied with the warmth of it yet. I would like a material like the sleep sack for her as she still seems to be cold and again, won't keep on a blanket. This search continues.

Audrey got the baby sleepsie:

Sleepsie Pros:
1. Warm
2. Easy diaper access. A separate zipper around the legs so baby stays warm and dressed during diaper changes.
3. Super soft
4. CUTE!

Sleepsie Cons:
1. A little too tight. My daughter is 12 months old and I bought her the 12-18 months and there is no way she will last another 3 months in this size. She's not a big girl, she's only 17.5 lbs and its pretty snug on her. There isn't too much room for her to grow in length through 18 months either so I think their sizing needs to be adjusted and offer more in between sizes to keep the snug.
2. Footsies - the slip guard they put on the bottom of the footing does not work on hardwood or tile. Baby still slips around. I recommend bigger rubber dots on the bottom. Also, if the sizing got adjusted with a smaller range, it would fit better on the foot area without the extra room to grow which will allow the footing to work better. This is a big con for me because its a safety issue and also this is the age where they are learning to stand and walk.

Overall, LOVE the sleep sack. Still looking for a better sleep solution for my 3 yo, and the sleepsie needs a bit of refinement and it'll be perfect!

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Beware the public bathrooms!

So, I thought after my 3 year old was fully potty trained, life would be easier. WRONG!

Instead, now I worry about those nasty bathrooms in parks, restaurants, airports, and malls. Or what about the lack of bathrooms?

I sit in pretty bad traffic everyday with my commute and Alexis always picks the most perfect location to absolutely "HAVE TO GO NOW MOMMY!" moments. You know, like the moment you just merged onto the freeway after the metering lights, cut across 4 lanes into carpool, and then BAM! She has to go.

Or, when we just sat down at one of the old not so sure how you passed inspection restaurants but the food is oh so good so you go anyways and your kid has to go potty.

Well, those situations has happened more than enough times so I've determined the real reason why I have an SUV. And all parents should know this, so your kid can go potty in the trunk! Yes, the trunk of my car has now turned into a port-a-potty. Before you say gross, let me explain how this works.

What you will need:
1. Portable potty (which I don't recommend for the car) or Ikea's children's potty.
2. Portable potty liners with ties so you can seal it.
3. Wipes (us parents probably have 3 packages in the car anyways)
4. Tinted windows
5. Rubber cargo mats
6. Hand Sanitizer

Alexis currently is the perfect height for my trunk. After some trial and error, this has been the most practical and clean way to go about it.

1. Always have your potty pre-lined. You may not have time to get it ready when your child HAS to go. I put them in right after I toss out the old one.
2. Place the potty in the middle of the trunk and have it face out so when your child sits down, she's facing the door.
3. Place your child in the trunk and get them set up to go.
4. Once they sit down, determine how much privacy your child needs. If you need to, close the trunk. Stand outside the car but make sure your child can see you and you can see them. This is why you need to position the potty so they can see you and feel safe.
5. Once they are done, make you sure instruct them NOT to get up. You need to help them get up because sometimes the liner sticks to them and you risk spillage. GROSS
6. Help them get dressed and tie up the bag while your child is still in the trunk. This will keep them safe from running around the parking lot or where ever you pull over while you clean up.
7. Throw away bag if there is somewhere to dispose it and reline. If there is no where to dispose it, keep the tied up and triple sealed bag in the potty. This will happen. For the exact reason, I use the full size potty so I have somewhere to keep the waste in case of situations like this. The portable potties do not allow you to store this in emergencies and you're stuck with this bag. Don't litter!

Ikea's potty has been perfect. We used it in the house to train and now we moved it into the cars. If they are going in the trunk, you want stability and the full size Ikea potties do just that. Baby Bjorn makes a similar one but much more expensive.

If you don't have an SUV, I open both doors from the same side and place the potty in between. This creates a temporary privacy wall.

SAFETY TIP: When you get out of the car to use the potty, roll a window down. You don't want to get locked out of the car or lock your child in the car. Do this regardless of how smart you think your car is. Yes, I know most cars don't lock if the key is still in the car. But, if your key is low in battery which it happened to my husband once, the door can still accidentally lock. Luckily, he had no child with him.


I'm back!!! And so much to review

I had to take a break as the past couple of months have been hectic with planning Audrey's 1st birthday and work. However, I'm ready to get back to reviewing more items that I have discovered over the past couple of months.
Here are the ones to look forward to shortly:

1. Prepping for winter and how to keep those babies warm.
2. Sleep Sacks
3. Car seat update
4. Baby Food maker/prepping/storing
5. Rainy season hacks
6. Thought it was easier after they are potty training? Beware the nasty public bathrooms!
7. Softest kids clothes


Monday, June 8, 2015

Honest Formula

I recently switched my daughter from Enfamil Gentlease to Honest Formula. My daughter is mostly on breastmilk but I don't produce enough for her appetite. I supplement and the switch was relatively easy. My baby loves to eat so really I think she would take anything.

Here are some differences that I've noticed:

1. Packaging - It comes in tubs (no refills) and each tub is sealed. Unlike Enfamil, there isn't another bag inside the tub to transfer out. The tub has a pretty sturdy seal so I really like that. The tub also has a handy place to store the scoop instead of just stuffing it back in the tub. Basically, the packaging helps you keep it much cleaner.

2. Smell - Maybe because its organic but it does not have the funky formula smell. I feel its a lot closer to breastmilk like it is advertised. I know breastmilk smells nothing like the Enfamil formula that we use to have.

3. Texture/Consistency - The consistency of the milk once mixed with water is also a lot more like breastmilk. Its not so thick like Enfamil. However, it does foam up a lot which I'm not too fond of. I'm not sure if its the type of bottle we're using but there is a lot of foam as the baby is drinking it. Again, my daughter chugs it down so the difference hasn't affected her at all.

4. Price - Yes, more expensive. There are no coupons/checks that Honest sends you. But there is the bundles that help a bit and its shipped to you! I think the pricing is competitive to the other organic brands that Whole Foods carry for formula.

5. DHA - now, this is the annoying part but I understand. DHA is not in the formula. So, they have a separate DHA supplement to add into the to formula. Its pretty annoying since once open, the supplement needs to be refrigerated. And our refrigerator is down stairs while formula is upstairs. We feed BM downstairs (since the refrigerator is down stair so she drinks that during the day) and formula is fed only when she needs more (which is normally in the middle of the night or before bed). Luckily, you only add it in once a day but getting yourself to remember that, its kind of a pain. The reason behind the DHA being separate from the formula is to keep the DHA organic as well. If added, I guess it doesn't make the formula organic. And where and how they source the DHA make it necessary to be separate. It definitely is oily and constantly needs to be mixed.

I did get the free trial to make sure my baby would take it and she would digest it well. The can they sent me lasted about a week which was long enough for me to watch it go in and come out. If your baby is solely on formula, it make not be enough to see if your baby will take it well enough. We're definitely sticking to the organic formula and now I just can't get myself to even smell the Enfamil.

Monday, March 23, 2015

What nobody tells you about pregnancy

Everyone I've ever met has always only told me about the great things about pregnancy. I've heard things from: it's beautiful, I love my body, its amazing, blah blah blah.

What nobody told me were the negatives about pregnancy. Don't get me wrong, what our bodies can do IS amazing but knowing what you are going through before it happens can help you get through the difficult part of pregnancy during and after. Knowing that what you are experiencing is NORMAL, takes away a lot of the fear that a new mother already has. So, I'm going to put it out there. There may be more but this is what I experienced:

1. Labor is known to be difficult, but the days after labor are actually in my opinion WORSE. Yes, the pain of pushing a baby out after the epidural wears off is excruciating. This makes going to the restroom all the way down to sitting very difficult.

2. On top of the pain from pushing the baby out, breastfeeding is just as painful. But, get through it if you can because it is best for baby. On top of the nipple torture, your uterus contracts at the same time and that is just double the pain.

3. You can swell up a lot during and after. I didn't swell up during probably because I only slept on my left side but I did swell up a lot from the epidural and the IV after childbirth. Took a few days for that to go away.

4. Yes, you walk out of the hospital still about 6 to 7 months pregnant. No, there is not another baby inside.

5. Immense hair loss. Terrifying. But no, you will not go bald and yes, it should grow back. This happens 3 to 6 months after child birth.

6. Loose tummy skin and skin discoloration. That takes a bit of time to go away...like up to 9 months for me.

7. Thirst. Out of no where, you will be dying of thirst. And I mean out of no where. And if you don't get that water right away, yes, it feels like you might die.This is probably due to breastfeeding

8. Prenatals. They really should just re-label them as pre and post natal. Just so you are prepared. You need to keep taking them if you are breastfeeding.

9. Hormonal changes. Remember all those changes you went through to adjust to being pregnant. You get to go through the opposite after so that your hormones return to normal. Yay!....

10. Postpartum. Please read books on this as this is a serious subject no to be taken lightly. Get educated about it before it happens so you are prepared. Make sure you warn and educate your love ones around you as well so they can help you and understand what you will be going through.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Sleeping through the night routine

As a friend is set to have her first baby soon, I thought I would share how I got my 2 girls to sleep through the night around 5 to 7 weeks old without sleep training. I have read all the books and methods out there and I came up with 1 that worked best for our girls. Of course, every baby and family is different but this is what worked for us. Please remember that every baby will sleep through the night at their own pace if you allow it and I believe that is the healthier way to go. It is our job to assist them in doing so naturally.


Here are the steps that we follow religiously:


1. Start cluster feeding 3 hours prior to set bed time. We start bed time at 11pm because we would like the baby to sleep through to at least 6 am. Doesn't mean we keep her up the whole time, we will let her cat nap between 7 to 9 pm.


2. Right before the last feeding, change baby's diaper and swaddle.


3. Give baby the last bottle. No assisted burping and allow baby to digest and burp on their own while sitting up at an angle. During the last feeding, your baby should be dozed off and sleeping. If you pat your baby to burp, you may wake her up. Gas naturally rises so by keeping her propped up, she should burp on her own. Rubbing her back may help. Try to not rock our bounce your baby to sleep.


4. From day one, we put our babies in their own room in their own crib. This is your choice. We bring baby to her room in the dark (no night light on). DO NOT TURN ON THE LIGHTS IN THE ROOM.


5. When you baby wakes up in the middle of the night, make a bottle (we use formula at night so it keeps baby full longer). We use bottle instead of nursing because nursing takes too long and keeps baby out of the crib and sleep routine longer. During the first 4 to 5 weeks, we do change the diaper while the bottle is warming. DO NOT TALK TO BABY OR TURN LIGHTS ON. We keep a dim night light in the room and turn on the night light during the diaper change and feeding. Feed baby, allow time to digest (15 minutes or so), and put baby back down in crib asleep. Repeat as necessary.


6. In the morning, when your baby wakes, turn on lights or open blinds. Change diaper and feed. At this point, keep your baby up.


For naps during the day, we keep the blinds open. The key is to have your child's body understand the difference from night and day. Once you establish that, your child will start to sleep longer and longer stretches.


Tips:


1. Prepare everything prior to going to bed yourself. When the baby wakes in the middle of the night, you want to minimize the crying time. The longer they cry, the more awake they are. Once your baby starts making noises in bed, you should start prepping their bottle. I pre-measure the water in all bottles the night before.


2. Keep diapers ready on changing table.


3. Get a wrap that is easy to change diaper with at night.


4. Make sure the onesie that your baby is wearing is also easy and quick for diaper changes in the middle of the night.


5. Once baby gets about 5 to 6 weeks old, get 12 hours diapers and skip the night time diaper changes unless they go #2.


6. Sleeping through the night is about 8 hours. They will gradually increase that time on their own when they are ready. Most parents would be thankful for an 8 hour stretch so that is a good expectation to have.


7. An overly tired baby will not sleep as well at night. Make sure your baby sleeps enough during the day. A well stimulated baby will also sleep well so you have to find the balance between enough stimulation during day and naps.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Joovy Boob PPSU

The Joovy Boob wasn't around when my first was born so I used the Dr Browns and she loved it with little gas issues. However, the most common complaint is the amount of parts with Dr Browns. There are exactly 6 parts per bottle. The Joovy Boob has 5 parts. So, I don't think its that big of a difference in numbers but the Boob's parts are much easier to wash. This bottle is extremely expensive in my opinion but the quality of the parts speak for itself all the way down to the nipples.
Pros:
- the PPSU plastic is high grade. It will not change color, absorb odor, or change it's make up with constant heating
- the nipple is made of a much thicker material so constant washing does not deteriorate the quality. The Dr Brown nipples turned cloudy over time but the Boob ones have remained crystal clear which I love. Now, I know when it is really clean
- the added accessories are very useful. You can directly pump from your Medela pump into the bottle. This means less transferring and less chance of spills. There is also a bottle warmer sleeve that keeps the bottle warm for on the go. I absolutely love this feature! I'll warm up the milk before we head out and throw the bottle in my purse.
- no leak cap! The Dr Brown's we had had be stay upright otherwise it would leak everywhere. My biggest pet peeve. You had to add an extra part in just to prevent it from leaking. No one has time for that with a baby. With the Boob, I throw it in my purse and I don't have to worry about it and I'm ready to feed the baby whenever she starts screaming.
- 5 oz size instead of 4 oz. For newborns, I like the use the smaller bottles. Although my daughter only drink 3 oz at a time, the extra room is nice when we are on the go. I feel like with the quality of the bottles, I can use it longer before my daughter outgrows it. So, maybe justify the higher price?


I love the Joovy Boob so much that I've stopped using the Dr Brown's entirely. In fact, my daughter will no longer take the Dr Browns. The Joovy Boob, with its name, is known for a great transition between the real boob and the bottle Boob. I highly recommend this bottle. Right now, it's not available at Babies R Us but you can get it at Buy Buy Baby.