Kidding
Today was an errand day. J was a trooper in his Ergo in this heat. We don’t usually do errands together as I try to save those up for when my mom or sister can watch him. Both of them haven’t been around lately, so little man and I went out today. A few tips for errand running with a squirmy toddler: 1) Wear the child if possible. If he or she is even remotely carriable, it is way easier to peruse the aisles, pack the groceries, or make the detailed selections on fabric with a child strapped to you, versus scooting or toddling away from you. We live in our Ergo Baby Carrier, but once our Rockin’ Wrap arrives (thank you, Larissa!) with its beautiful horse head design, J will have two places to live while attached to me. J found the aisles of CVS particularly amusing and tried to lunge for the hair samples attached to the bottles of hair color in the shampoo aisle. Luckily he was attached to me! 2) Bring water or a snack. We brought homemade biscotti (whole wheat! (recipe to follow)) and a sippy cup with water. Naturally J only wanted the water once I took the cap off as he likes to drink out of “big boy cups” instead of his cup, but he did get a little hydration which was key in this heat. The biscotti was a great hit in the car when he realized he couldn’t rip apart the envelope he…
Read MoreThe world of sleep changed for SuperBoy as soon as he could crawl, sit up by himself, and (eeeek) stand up in his crib. So at 9 months we faced teething-related night waking, sitting-up-crying while-asleep, and many sleepless nights. A few thoughts on toddler night sleep problems & potential solutions. 1) Be forgiving. To yourself, for moments of frustration, and to your baby, for his inability to express what’s preventing sleep. Be realistic that no solution is a one-size fits all. Be realistic that your own child may respond differently to the same night parenting technique. Be realistic that anyone who says their child sleeps perfectly is probably deluding themselves or embarrassed to admit to normalcy. 2) Reasons for awakening. Try process of elimination: a) Habit? b) Hunger? c) Diaper? d) Fear/Noise? e) Poor sleep during the day (bad sleep begets bad sleep)? f) Stress/Changes at home? g) Sick/Teething? 3) Habit. Sleep training works, sleep awakening at night training works too, unintended though it may be. What time is bed time? What are your bed time rituals? If you don’t have consistency in how you get your child to sleep, it doesn’t make sense to expect him to maintain consistent sleep patterns. Bed time for the first few months was arbitrarily throughout the evening. He’d fall asleep from 8 to midnight, nurse, and then sleep from midnight to 3 or 4am, nurse, then sleep til 7 or 8am. I hated getting up multiple times so I’d stay up until midnight so…
Read MoreTo many parents of a newborn boy circumcision seems like the thing to do (aside from religiously motivated parents). Why? Oh, because . . . it’s more hygienic (not true), it’s more common among little boys (not necessarily true), everyone else did it in the family (is this ever a valid reason?). Up until the week prior to J’s birth, we were set on circumcising him. Not for religious reasons, but for most of the other reasons parents come up with. It’s easier to clean, we don’t want him made fun of in the locker room, etc. Our doula suggested that we do a little reading and thinking about the reasons against circumcision. We begrudgingly did so. To our surprise, we discovered a whole lot of facts out there that changed our mind. 1) Religious reasons. We are not Jewish or Muslim. The Catholic Church has no definitive stance against circumcision, and conversely it does not require it. So religious reasons were a non-factor for us. 2) Health benefits. The American Pediatric Association no longer recommends routine circs. Instead it states that there aren’t any significant benefits that make it worth doing. Health is not a factor in circumcising! Infections that may occur in that area of the body would be tended to like infections elsewhere. In the rare event someone needed to be circumcised later in life for health reasons, it is readily available at your local urology clinic. Yes, there was a recent study about reducing HIV infection…
Read MorePhoto credits: Emily Rumsey Photography The world of cloth diapering is overwhelming! So many options and brands. Diapers are kinda like jeans–what fits you perfectly might not fit your sister. For all three of our kids, my elder two pictured above at various stages, we (have) or (do) use prefolds, as stated. However, we’ve purchased many other, newer, more exciting, more new-agey options that I’ll discuss here. They’ve worked on different occasions, and to varying degrees of satisfaction. 1) Prefolds. Got a good look? That’s not your grandma’s diaper pin. It’s a Snappi. Love ’em. a) Pros: easy to wash, fits any shape/size/thigh/bum, and inexpensive. b) Cons: takes 8-10 seconds to put on, unlike a fitted. Not many cons in my mind. 2) Covers. We use Babeegreens wool covers. They’re easy, and the wool is waterproof when lanolized, which I re-do about every few weeks. Poopy on there? Rinse it and let it dry! The company is a small family owned outfit in North Carolina and they’re wonderful! Just what you need to cover up your prefold or fitted. Another popular product are the plastic Thirsties numbers. They are wipeable, non-leakable, plastic covers. A drawback to them is they can puddle a little and make your new clean diaper damp. 3) Fitted. Amazing lovely? Yes! Waterproof? No! These suckers do need a cover, which is their big drawback. Also, you need many many of them to get through two days of diapers. Let’s say, about 15 or 20. And that adds up price-wise…
Read MoreBabies teeth at different times, in different ways. We thought SuperBoy was teething at 3 months. In retrospect, he was probably just fatigued and letting us know about it. See post on incessant screaming here. {When Your Infant Screams and Screams and You Do Too (Inside)} Teething babies fuss mostly at night on account of the pain, but can been known to gnaw on anything available during the day, including but not limited to, the legs of chairs. 1) Chew. Cold. Comfort. Sophie the Giraffe is a great teething toy. So are the Natural Touch Teethers. I will place items into the fridge to cool them off. A washcloth with ice balled up in it, rinsed in cold water can be fun for him to suck on for a while. The Nuby Nibler filled with ice or frozen chunks of fruit works well too. Everything is short-lived, however, and does end up on the floor sooner or later. 2) Homeopathy. Homeopathy is a great method of working with one’s own body to deal with, in this instance, pain. It works differently for different people, and differently on the same person at different times. Basically, homeopathic remedies contain therapeutically active micro-doses of mineral, botanical, and biological substances. Two products have worked on SuperBoy’s gums: Hyland’s Teething Gel and Camilia Teething Relief. AND Amber teething necklaces really worked for him! 3) Medications. Infant Tylenol. We never give the fully permitted dosage for his weight and age. When homeopathy fails, and I can tell he’s not hungry, overly tired, or made…
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