Tip of The Day

My husband bought the Playskool Lullaby Gloworm for our daughter when she was first born.

She absolutely has loved this toy since the first day we brought it home and she is now 6 months old. She loves the music, it helps soother her when she is cranky and puts her to sleep. She loves watching the glow worm's face light up. It has three settings: demo, light only, and music/light mode. I only wish their was a fourth setting that kept the music/lights playing for at least 10 minutes. You can take the control out and wash the toy in your washing machine. It's very durable, I have dropped it many times and my daughter is constantly eating it, and it still looks brand new. It's very reasonably priced $9.99 - $12.99 and it comes in both pink and blue. Some of my friends have the same toy and they all have had the same positive response from their children. The suggested age is birth to18 months but my friend's 2 year old still plays with this toy! It's a must have toy!

Product Review - Blush Your Topless Undershirt

I bought the Blush topless undershirt because based on the description it was exactly what I needed. It's a topless undershirt, think tube top, with lace trim.

It goes under your shirt right below your chest and is long enough to cover your mid section. It reaches the top of your butt. It cost $20 but I bought it at Baby Half Off for $10. I hated showing my stomach when I would pump or breastfeed so I really loved this idea. It 's also great when your pants are to low and you want to hide the little section of skin that is showing. The website says that this shirt also can be used when your pregnant to cover your growing belly. I ordered a medium because based on their sizing chart it fits sizes 6-14. I am a size 10 and the shirt fits me very snug. Their is no way this shirt would stretch enough to cover a pregnant women's belly. You could try a large but I still don't think it would stretch enough. It does fit snug enough that it keeps my loose pants up without a belt. Since their is no elastic at the top of the shirt after its been worn once it has stretched out. The top part of the shirt kept falling down when I tried wearing it on the second day. I am sure it will go back to normal after I wash it but I don't do laundry every day. Overall I like the shirt because its great for breastfeeding mothers but I wouldn't buy this shirt if I was pregnant or not breastfeeding.

Is your baby gaining enough weight?

As a mother of a preemie weight gain was a very important issue to me. If your breastfeeding sometimes its hard to tell if your child is getting enough to eat because you don't know how many ounces they have taken in. I found a great article on baby weight gain by a board-certified pediatrician and fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. This article covers topics such as
How much weight should a baby gain?, How often should a baby eat?, When should you worry about your baby’s weight?, What to do if your baby is gaining too much weight, and What to do if your baby is gaining too little weight. It's important to remember that most babies lose two to three ounces of weight in the first 24 hours. Your newborn is getting enough to eat if she has frequent bowel movements and is content for two to three hours after feeding. Your baby may be hungrier and need to eat more during growth spurts (usually around three, six and nine weeks of age). Babies typically double their birth weight by five months of age and triple their birth weight by 12 months of age. If your baby is not gaining enough, talk to your doctor about ways to increase your milk supply, such as drinking fenugreek tea, or about supplementing with formula.

Breastmilk Storage

You can find a guideline for breastmilk storage at Ameda.com.

Milk should not spoil before the times listed, but the longer milk is stored, the more nutritional value is lost. The living parts of a mother's milk kill bacteria, making it much hardier and longer-lasting.

The guidelines say that freshly pumped milk can be stored without cooling for 10 hours, if your room is 66°F to 72°F. If your room is warmer than this, the guidelines change. In a 79°F room, your milk is good for a shorter time — 4-6 hours. If your milk is kept at 66°F to 72°F for up to 10 hours, you can then put it in the fridge for up to eight days. After eight days in the fridge, the milk can still be frozen. Fresh milk that has been cooled can be added to frozen milk, as long as you add less milk than is already frozen.

Important Tips
* Any clean, sealed container can be used to store milk. But avoid thin bottle liners, which are not intended to be frozen and can split.

* Store your milk in amounts no larger than what your baby might take. This means less waste. It also should help make the milk faster to warm. If your baby wants more, more milk can be added.

* Write the date and time on your milk container with a sticky label or non-toxic marker. Add your baby's name if he is in daycare or in the hospital.

* You can combine milk pumped at different times. If you combine milk from different days, use the date of the oldest milk.

* If your milk is used within eight days, keep it in the fridge. Otherwise, plan to freeze it in the coldest part of the freezer. Avoid the door.

* You can add fresh milk to cooled milk. And you can add fresh milk to frozen milk if it's cooled first and is less than the amount frozen.

* If your baby takes some milk from a bottle and there is milk left, don't save it. His saliva mixes with the milk during feedings, and that affects storage recommendations.

* Your milk is not "homogenized" like the milk in the store. So it may separate into layers. This does not mean it's spoiled. If this happens, just gently swirl it to mix.

Craft Project - Recycling Greeting Cards

Christmas is now over and are you wondering what do I do with all these Christmas cards? It seems like a waste to just throw them away. A good craft is to let your kids cut out the pictures, or if they are to young you can cut them up, and make their own wonderful picture.

Materials
Construction Paper
Christmas Card or any other greeting card (Birthday, Valentine's, Baby Shower, Etc)
Glue
Scissors
Any other decoration you want to include (glitter, paint, crayons, cotton balls, pom pom, stickers, sand, craft foam)

Directions
1. Cut out the pieces of the card that you want to appear in your picture.
2. Glue the picture(s) to your construction paper to create a new picture.
3. (Optional) Decorate your scene with glitter, paint, cotton balls, pom pom, craft jewels, etc.
4.  Frame your picture by adding a white or black construction paper border.