Infant Neck Rash and Chapped Lips

 My daughter has been having severe chapped lips recently. It's been so bad that her lip has been bleeding. I called the doctors office and at first they were concerned with dehydration. Since she has been having so many wet diapers we knew that wasn't the case. The doctor told me it's probably due to her drool. She told me to put some Vaseline on her lips. It is safe to use on infants and it really worked. Since she is constantly putting things in her mouth I have to reapply it often, which she doesn't like, but it has stopped the bleeding. Another problem cause by her drool is a rash under her neck. Since she is drooling a lot it is hard to keep her neck dry. I have tried as hard as I can to clean all the rolls under her neck but it's impossible. She got a really bad rash under her neck and the doctor said it was due to the moisture being trapped there. She told me to keep it as dry as I can and when it the rash gets bad to put hydrocortisone cream on it twice a day. I did what she said and the rash was gone the next day. Since the rash disappeared so quickly I only had to use apply it 3 times.

Product Review - Deceptively Delicious

I first learned about Deceptively Delicious when I saw the author on Oprah. At the time I didn't have any children but I thought the book would be good since my husband hates eating healthy food. I was always trying to find new ways to get my husband to eat healthy food so I decided to buy the book.

 

Deceptively Delicious

Most of the recipes require you to puree vegetables but you can add some finely shredded vegetables in some recipes. I liked the concept of the book but you have to make sure you have the time to puree the vegetables ahead of time. If you wait until you are going to cook the recipe then it will take a long time to make the meal. Some of the recipes were very good, my husband loves the turkey meatball soup, but most of the recipes were rather bland and not that great. The point of the book is to get your family to eat vegetables and this book really does acocmplish that. My husband hates cauliflower but he didn't even taste it in the mash potatoes that I put it in. Since this book is $15 I wouldn't recommend buying it. I would recommend you get it from your local library and try the recipes out. If you do in fact think the book is worth $15 at that point you can buy it to have at home.

Tip of the Day

I am always trying to find great products that help busy mom's out. I came across Mom 4 Life on facebook. Mom 4 Life only carrys products 100% invented by mom's. They offer free shipping on all orders and they have some great products on their website. I purchased the Cover Me Strap and the Mini Moby Wrap from this site.

 

Mini Moby Wrap

  

Cover Me Strap

I absolutely LOVE my Cover Me strap. It has so many uses besides a nursing cover. I often attach it to my daughter's toy so she won't lose it. She thinks it's fun now to throw her toys and to pick them back up using the strap. I have also used this strap to cover my daughter when I am out and trying to put her to sleep. The mini Moby Wrap is so adorable I couldn't resist. I thought my daughter would really enjoy it when she got a little older. Their are a TON of other great products not just for mom and baby but also for dads. 

Cloth Diaper Cleaning/Care

When I first was interested in using cloth diapers I was a little overwhelmed on how to properly clean the diapers. I thought it would take a lot of work and time to get them clean but I was wrong. Cloth diapers need lots of room to agitate and lots of water to get clean. Only a very small amount of detergent is necessary. Use 2 tablespoons of detergent or for HE washers use less than 1 tablespoon. Fill your washer no more than half-full but run it as a full load.  It is EXTREMELY important that all of the detergent is rinsed out of the diapers. If the detergent isn't removed your diapers will retain odor, perform poorly, and in worst case scenarios irritate your baby's bottom. Look in your washer on the final rinse and see if there are any suds. If so you need to run the rinse cycle again. When your diapers come out of the washer, they should smell like water. If they smell unclean, then use a bit more detergent. If they smell like your detergent, use less detergent and rinse more. Choose a detergent with no fabric softener, no optical whiteners or brighteners, and no enzymes. Do not use chlorine bleach, there is one exception to this BumGenius products can be treated once per month with 1/4 cup of bleach in a full load of wash. You need to read the labels of detergents you are considering. The fewer the ingredients, the better!  Biodegradable surfactants should be the main ingredient and preferably the only ingredient.  I use Eco Nuts natural soap for my cloth diapers.

Cleaning Instructions for Cloth Diapers and Diaper Covers
1. Wash cold cycle - You don't need to use detergent as this cycle is only a presoak.
2. Wash hot cycle with detergent - For HE washers, you might want to run 2 short hot washes instead of 1 long
3. Wash with rinse cycle - Don't add any detergent
4. Dry in drier on medium-high or line-dry.

Tip of the Day

I am always looking for new recipes to cook for my family and when I subscribed to Mothering I found a good recipe resource. You can sign up to receive Peggy's Kitchen Newsletter, it's free you don't have to subscribe to the magazine to receive it. The newsletter comes every two weeks or so with six to seven recipes. A menu suggestion list is provided for each of the recipes. They also provide a grocery list so you can purchase everything you need for the meals. Another great feature is the green kitchen tip and a video demonstration from Cookus Interruptus. The Mothering website is also another great resource. They have a recipes tab with lots of great information. Vegetarians can easily find recipes using the Recipe Index on the Recipes tab.

Free Girl's Dress Pattern

I have decided to start using the sewing machine that I bought a couple of years ago. It's been sitting around collecting dust in my craft room and I finally decided to use it. I have been looking for some good easy patterns to begin with and I found this free dress pattern at Little Comet Tails. It comes with a sleeve add on pattern as well. The pattern is very simple and it is easy to follow. It only comes in a size 2T I believe but you can set the scale on your printer to make it slightly bigger or smaller. You can use a variety of different fabrics so I decided to start with a piece of fabric that I had lying around since I am just practicing. I haven't been able to finish the dress yet, I only have time to sew when my daughter is sleeping, but it's going well. I will post an update when I have finished my dress.

Making your own cloth diapers

I really love my cloth diapers and I would never switch back to disposables. I am using the Flip cloth diaper system during the day and the Thirsties AIO diapers at night. My daughter has been growing so fast that she has outgrown her diapers. Since the AIO are so expensive I decided to look into making my own cloth diapers. I am no expert at sewing but I decided to go ahead and give it a try. I found some great free cloth diaper patterns. Little Comet Tails has a good pattern for AIO, pocket, and fitted diapers. She also tells you which materials to buy and she has picture instructions. You can use snaps or velcro using this pattern. An added bonus is she also has a simple dress pattern on her blog. You can find a variety of cloth diaper patterns at Celtic Cloths. I think that the Little Comet Tails pattern is simpler so its easier to follow but Celtic Cloths has more free patterns available. I bought all of the fabrics I needed at Joann's except for the PUL. I could only find PUL on ebay. I am currently in the process of making my first AIO pocket cloth diaper and I will post an update once I am finished!

Looking for an eco-friendly lunchbox?

I was trying to find myself a good lunchbox, mine is falling apart, and I came across Yubo Lunchboxes.

 

Yubo Lunchboxes

 These lunchboxes are bpa free, antimicrobial, 100% recyclable, and dishwasher safe. These lunchboxes are great for kids. My daughter is only 6 months old but I use this lunchbox to carry her baby food and some snacks for myself. It fits nicely in my diaper bag and I don't have to worry about anything spilling. The front image, faceplate, is changeable and you can also customize them. You can use one of the standard images or you can upload any photo and make that your faceplate. A standard one is $21.95 but you can also order a deluxe version for $29.95. The deluxe version comes with custom containers and an ice pack that all fit perfectly in the lunchbox. No more ziploc baggies needed. Clean up is a breeze because you just take the lunchbox apart and place it in the dishwasher.

Product Review - Eco Nuts Organic Laundry Soap

Recently I came across a natural laundry soap, Eco Nuts, on Baby Half Off.

 

Eco Nuts 4 oz Organic Laundry Soap

I was very excited about this product when I read the description. It's a natural, organic, soap nut. It's fragrance free, hypoallergenic, biodegradable, and antimicrobial. What is a soap nut? They are completely sustainable dried fruit shells that come from the Sapindus mukorossi tree in Nepal, India and Indonesia. Eco Nuts contain saponin, a natural cleaner that works as a surfactant, breaking the surface tension of the water to penetrate the fibers of your clothing, lifting stains from the fabric and leaving dirt suspended in the water that is rinsed away. My husband and daughter have very sensitive skin so I am always looking for soap that won't irritate there skin. Since it's antimicrobial I thought it would be perfect for washing my cloth diapers. I found that the price was much cheaper through the Eco Nuts website. You can enroll in their laundry club, it's $13.56 for each 50 load box, and shipping is included! You can unsubscribe any time without a fee so I decided to start with the 3 month plan. The Eco Nuts were very simple to use. Just put 3-5 nuts in the bag provided and toss in with your laundry. I followed their instructions on cloth diaper care and my diapers were much fluffier. My daughter hasn't had any kind of reaction to the soap and her diapers always smell clean. The thing I love the most about these nuts is that once you have finished using the nut you can make liquid soap out of them and use for laundry again or as liquid soap. Nothing is wasted with this product so it is very good for the environment. I highly recommend this product.

Tip of the Day

My daughter gets tired of playing with the same toys over and over again but she has so many toys I don't want to purchase any new ones. I have gotten into the habit of setting aside some of her toys at the bottom of her toy bin, out of sight for her. When she loses interest in the toys she has I just take out the toys at the bottom of the toy bin. Since she hasn't played with them in a while she treats them as if they were new. I keep this rotation going to keep her interested in her toys. Another great thing you can do is hold a toy exchange party. You can exchange your child's toys with neighbors, friends, or family. That way your child can get new toys and you don't have to spend any additional money or collect more clutter in your house!

Baby Bottle Review - Dr. Brown's vs Playtex vs Medela

Before my daughter was born I bought the Playtex VentAire Wide Bottle because I read it was a good bottle for breastfeeding mothers to use to avoid nipple confusion. I also liked that the air flow design helped reduce spit up and helped with gas.

Playtex VentAire Wide Bottle

I tried using this bottle to feed my daughter but she didn't like it. It was very hard to grip since the bottle was large and the angle made it awkward to hold.  This bottle also didn't fit in my sterilizer or bottle warmer. Each bottle came with a lot of parts, 6 total which made cleaning the bottles a time consuming chore. Since my daughter didn't like this bottle I switched to the Medela bottles that came with my pump.

Medela 5-ounce Breatsmilk bottle

My daughter liked these bottles much better. They were very easy to use and since they were compatible with my breast pump it was easy to just put a nipple on the bottle that I had used to pump my milk. Each bottle only has four parts so it was very easy to clean and since it was a standard size it fit in my bottle warmer and sterilizer. This bottle did have some issues. First it didn't help with spit up or gas. Many times when my daughter would drink her milk the nipple would become flat and eventually slip into the bottle making it impossible to get milk out. I decided to look for a better bottle solution. I went to Buy Buy Baby and they recommended the Dr. Brown's bottles.

Dr. Brown's® 4-Ounce Baby Bottle

My daughter absolutely loves this bottle! She is able to get the milk out without any issues. I don't see her struggling with the nipple as she did with the Medela. It has also helped with her spit up and gas problems. She really is doing well with this bottle.  Since it's a standard size it fits my bottle warmer and sterilizer. The only problem I have with this bottle is the many parts it has, 6 total per bottle. It is very time consuming to clean these bottles and you can only use the cleaning brush provided to clean some of the smaller parts. Since my daughter seems to be doing really well with these bottles I don't mind the extra time spent.

Breastfeeding and the Mini Pill

As soon as my daughter was born my doctor was already talking about birth control options for me. She said it was best to wait at least one year, preferably two years, before I had another child. I had started on birth control many years before I got pregnant. I started having serious side affects, a blood clot scare, a couple of years after I was on the medication and I decided to stop taking it. So when the doctor suggested I get back on the pill I said no. When my daughter was four months old I thought I might be pregnant and I found out that it would be a very risky pregnancy and I would not be able to have a VBAC. When I found out I wasn't pregnant I decided to go ahead and research the Mini Pill. I found out that the Mini Pill is a progesterone only pill. While your breastfeeding your body naturally has high levels of progesterone. Their have also been studies that followed the children that were breastfed into adolescence and no side effects were present. This is why doctors recommend the Mini Pill for breastfeeding mothers. I decided to go ahead and start the medication. A couple of weeks later I noticed my daughter had tiny bumps on her butt. It wasn't a rash, they weren't red and they didn't seem to be bothering her. A couple of days later the bumps spread to her legs and I was really concerned. I called her pediatrician and I told them her symptoms. They informed me that they thought she was having an allergic reaction to the Mini Pill. I stopped taking the medication and within a couple of days all of the tiny bumps were gone. The pediatricians office also informed me that it's possible for your child to have a reaction if your on antibiotics.

Car Seat Safety

I recently bought a new car and I wasn't sure how to properly install the car seat. I had always thought it had been installed improperly in my previous car but I wasn't sure. I decided to make an appointment at my local fire station to have it checked out. I learned some great things that I wanted to share. First you should always read your car's instruction manual and see if there is a section on car seat installation. If you don't have your car manual I am sure you can google it. It was so easy to install the car seat after we read the manual. Second if your car has leather seats and you don't want to damage the leather you shouldn't use a towel. I found out that it actually affects how much the car seat will slide and is a hazard. Instead use the shelf liner sheet that has the grips on it. You can purcahse a roll at any 99 cent store.

 

Non Slip Shelf Liner

Thirdly the plastic harness that is suppose to go across the baby's body should be at arm pit level. I always put this part of the car seat across the top of her abdomen which is wrong. It can hurt her in case of an accident. Lastly is the car seat mirror. I bought one of these mirrors so I can see my daughter when I am driving. I never knew what a hazard they were. These mirrors are not tested for safety in car accidents. Most of the mirrors have hard backs and can fly off in an accident. Worst of all you usually point the mirror at your child's head, can you imagine that mirror flying towards your child's face at 60 mph? So you must never use a car seat mirror and if you know someone who has a mirror please let them know what a safety hazard it is!

When Mommy Gets Sick

I have been battling an ear infection for the last week and fortunately my daughter didn't get sick. I have been washing my hands constantly and I have been wearing a mask whenever I am near her. At first she didn't recognize me when I had it on but when she heard my voice she was all smiles. My wonderful husband has been taking over my motherly duties. He has been a regular Mr. Mom but my daughter seems to know the difference. She loves her dad but she is use to the way her mom does things. I never realized how much my been sick would impact all of us. I have been trying my hardest to get better, I have even missed 3 days of work, but I haven't been getting better fast enough. I am hoping that in a few days I will be back to normal and no one else in the house will get sick, fingers crossed.

Will My House Ever Be Clean Again?

Before my child was born I was a bit of a clean freak. Some would say I was anal about cleanliness. I would clean the entire house at least once a week and the kitchen would be cleaned everyday. Even one spec of dust would bother me. After my daughter was born I wasn't able to do any cleaning due to my c-section. By the time I felt well enough to clean, my house was a complete disaster and I didn't know where to begin. Since I worked full time the only free time I had left was weekends and that wasn't exactly open all the time. It seemed that every weekend would get booked up weeks in advance and I never got around to cleaning. Weeks turned into months and my house really needed to be cleaned thoroughly. I felt horrible when guests would come over to the house since it was in such shambles. I finally decided to get a housekeeper. I don't know why but I felt a little bothered by the idea. I mean I really needed the help and I just didn't have the time to do it myself but I couldn't help feeling like a failure. I had always pictured myself doing it all: working, cleaning, cooking, being a mother and wife. When I realized I couldn't possibly keep up with everything it bothered me. The more I thought about it the more I realized I couldn't do it all, not if I wanted to be a good wife, mother, and sane woman. I would much rather spend my weekends with my daughter and husband than stuck in my house cleaning all day. I decided that the best thing for my family would be to get the help I needed. I still am getting use to the idea of having someone come over to clean my house but it has lifted the stress I felt about the house off my shoulders. I am a much happier person now, it is the best gift that I have given to myself!