Fisher Price Rock 'n Play Sleeper

We bought this item after a friend suggested it for portable places to sleep and keep the baby.
It was AWESOME.

Ben slept in it for the first 2 months of his life when we needed to put him to sleep in the living room, or split up to maximize parental sleep and when we traveled. He was super comfy in it because I really believe most infants don't like being flat on their backs. We had a pack and play that had an infant napping station that was shaped to cradle his body and this item mimicked that. So, when we traveled to my parents house, I had a safe comfy place to put him in without having to take down and pack up the pack and play. (Because of the napping station attachment it made the break down and putting back together of the pack and play way more complicated)
We also are short on space in our car as we have 2 kids now - so overnight trips require maximizing trunk space.

Sadly, he never liked to just sit in it when he was awake - but I think that's because he couldn't see over the sides and he was very alert from day one and always liked to be able to see EVERYTHING. In fact, we had to take him out of his infant car seat and put him a rear facing convertible after a month of him SCREAMING every time we put him in the car or used it as a stroller. As soon as we switched it (after a friends suggestion) he was a different kid because he could see out and that made him happy.

I have heard that some people put their babies in it the first few months for sitting while awake and just wish we had been able to do that as well.

As you can see from the picture above - we HAD to rig a mobile to be able to sit him in there awake and that usually only lasted 5 minutes max before he started yelling to get out.
(I think he's 2 weeks old in that picture - 3 at the most)

So, if you are low on space and need to travel or want somewhere to place the baby in a second room during the day - get this. It's the best $40 we spent and gave us VERY sound sleep for the first 2 - 3 months of his life:)

Teething Bling

I'm not gonna lie - this is another one of those baby products that I thought was dumb when I first heard about it and here is why. I thought,

"Why would you want to encourage your child to chew on your jewelry"

So, with my first kid - I didn't give it so much as a passing thought other than - wow, that's another useless item.

Then I had Ben - Ben likes to pull on my necklace ALL THE TIME. Katie NEVER did cause she was a bottle baby and just never really found my necklaces. I think Breastfeeding puts him in a position to want to hold on to something there. He also likes to chew on things - which Katie didn't do that much of either - so I thought - wait wasn't there a necklace made specially for kids like this that I could buy - so I looked it up and ordered one!

I ordered Teething Bling in their BEAUTIFUL Coral color and it just came in the mail today. Ben is sleeping, but I can't wait for him to wake up because I think he's gonna love it. They also make bangle bracelets which I admit, I thought was useless even after ordering the necklace - but my husband pointed out to me how much Ben grabs and chews on my hand and wrist - so again, clearly these moms are smarter than me and figured it out and are making money off of it. Kudos to them!

YAY Smart Mom jewelery for creating a safe teethable toy/fashion accessory for us both to enjoy! I will post a full review once he has gotten his gummy gum gums all over it!

P.s. something is wrong with blogspot at the moment and I can't flip my pictures - I will remedy that later:)

SWADDLING

O.k. this post is mostly for preggos or new parents but I really felt a need to write about our experience with Swaddling because it has changed our life.

Dramatic I know.

I don't think Katie liked being swaddled - although to be honest I didn't believe in it much back then and no one I knew really did it - so we didn't really try it aside from the first few days home with the receiving blankets like they did at the hospital.

Ben was another story. Swaddling is the only way he will sleep well. I am SO Happy that there are SO many products out there for swaddling and I figured I'd review some since we have tried a bunch.

1) Receiving blankets - they only work the first few days home because they are usually not big enough or tight enough and once your little one can move - forget it - they are useless.

2) SwaddleME by Summer -
these were awesome the first few months.
They come in light cotton fabrics AND heavier fleece fabrics for colder weather.
They have Velcro for closing and they are so smart, they actually put extra fabric near the velcro so that when you wash them, you can attach the fabric to the velcro so the velcro doesn't ruin other items in the wash! (I LOVED THIS FEATURE)
They also come in a crazy array of fun colors, prints, etc...
These worked for us until about 3 months and we literally could not leave home without one. We had to stop using them once Ben started trying to roll over in his sleep because he would wiggle himself out of it just enough that the part that wrapped his arms actually ended up by his face - which clearly is not good. So, sadly we had to retire them for awhile until he settled again.
They even have a hole in the back so that you can put them into your car seat or stroller - although I never figured out how to do this because Ben only needed to be swaddled when sleeping flat - I do know people use them in the car - so I'm sure that feature is handy as well.


3) Miracle Blanket -

This item was brought to my attention from some fellow moms, and although I have never used it - I think if I had known about it in the beginning, I would have just bought these because you don't have to replace them for bigger sizes and they eliminate the babies ability to get out of the swaddle and wake themselves up or get suffocated by moving around in the others ones too much. However, they do require a wrapping skill and I think in our situation with Ben, it would have been a little difficult some times to put him in one while he was dosing off...

4) Halo Sleepsack with swaddle

- someone mentioned this one to me and for the first week I loved it, then I found it to be the most annoying thing on the planet because for some reason it just didn't fit right. Ben was moving around more so it was a bit harder to get on and the sheer amount of velcro to close it makes so much noise, it inevitably woke him up if we had to adjust it - which we always had to do to make sure it was tight enough.

I did like the fact that for 20 something dollars you get a sleep sack AND Swaddle and that once you no longer need the swaddle part, that part is detachable and you can still use the sleep sack.
So, I will use the sleep sack part once he has broken the swaddle dependency.

5) The Woombie -

The people we are renting from left us some hand me downs and in that bag was the woombie. I thought it looked crazy but washed it anyway just in case and let me tell you I'm glad I did! Its a little awkward to put on, but Ben likes it the best!

Yes, it looks kind of like a straight jackety thing - but let me tell you these people are RIGHT on in terms of keeping baby happy. The shape and elasticity of the fabric means he has some wiggle room but he feels safe and secure and cant jerk himself awake. Which means he sleeps great - because he can move around to get comfy but his little arms and legs don't jut out since he's too young to have total control of his limbs. He wore it all last night and slept the best he has in days!!! Hes also napping in it now and is sleeping SO well! I love this thing
I wish I had had these from the beginning:)

The website has all kinds of super cool stuff including this AWESOME looking napping station thingy that would have been perfect the last few days with the heat wave as we could have brought him into our room without having to set up the pack and play or sleep on the couch - which is what I did for 2 days so he could stay in the AC in the pack and play. They also have these woombie with legs and I think we are going to NEED those in a month or so when we start to transition him out of the full swaddle. Genius - I swear.

Just goes to show you that even if you think something won't work or looks funny - TRY IT! All babies are different and there are a ton of products out there - not all of which are worth your money. If you can borrow some of these to try them on your little one before you invest - I suggest you do that. I will save all mine, so if you are interested - just tell me! But, I have to say - Woombie all the way!!!!

Sorry, I gotta run, he woke up and needs some cereal - but I just wanted to share some Swaddling reviews - because like I said, swaddling has saved our lives. I know we don't get that much sleep from him, but the sleep we do, we get thanks to swaddling!!!!

Happy Weekend!

P.s. I will eventually take pics of my actual child in these products - but things are a bit crazy at the moment with 2;)

Helpful Gifts for Infants and Toddlers

I know, I know... Clothes and toys - clothes and toys right? It's what people like to buy and I get it - I love buying that stuff too - but now that I have 2 years under my belt I can tell you that there are a few other gift ideas that would make moms and dads SUPER happy and also be great for their kids.

I know, personally I always felt bad when Katie didn't get to wear clothes that people had bought her before she grew out of them and I feel like it was a lot of wasted gifts when we didn't get to wearing them. I also know I hardly ever have to buy her clothes because her grandparents provide her wardrobe which is AWESOME - and I don't mind - but I know some people really like to pick out all their clothes for their kids themselves....

So - here are some ideas for fun gifts that will make everyone happy!

• Gift Certificates to Diapers.com
• Gift Certificates to local area activities/classes
• (Katie goes to a gym class now once a week and it's $40 a month - so if 2 people gave her $20 GC's or money with a note saying - for gym class - that would be a whole month we wouldn't have to pay for and she LOVES the gym so it's win, win)

• Tickets to local events/concerts
• Does the little kid in your life LOVE the wiggles? Or Elmo? Perhaps money or tickets for an Elmo Live or towards a pass to a park or tickets to an aquarium would be nice
• Even better - if you wanted to go with them - it could be a whole outing where everyone gets to do something fun
• Hand Me Downs - if you have clothes that no longer fit your kids - PASS THEM ALONG!! Save some sentimental items... but pass them along - if you are saving them for kids for later on, there is no guarantee the size/season will work - so pass them along to your friends and you should end up with a whole little personal network for sharing hand me downs!
• Books - my kids love books and the dollar stores have TONS OF REALLY GOOD ONES - so you can get an awesome gift for like, $5- Katie never tires of getting new books.
• Craft supplies - sometimes it's hard to keep up with little ones, so if you are crafty and the kid you are shopping for has a craft challenged parent - perhaps you can make a gift basket like this:
• Watercolor Paper, Watercolor Pencils and paint brushes - you could even draw a picture on the first page to give them an idea of what to do:)
• Stickers and sticker books - Katie LOVES STICKERS - she never gets sick of them - the dollar store has tons of them as well.
• Check with the mom before you get a character item. My friends daughter LOVES Dora - and has everything Dora under the sun - I'm sure she'd love it if people checked with her before they bought another Dora doll in case she already has it- or in case her daughter has outgrown it yet. We have the same issue with Thomas- I'm afraid she's gonna get sick of it and we have so many trains already I'd hate for someone to spend the money for nothing
• For newborns - you could make a gift basket of baby medicines... like Vapor Bath, Children's Tylenol, Mylicon, Diaper Rash Cream - they have these kids already assembled - but sometimes the items inside the kits are expired or recalled, so it's best to make your own kit by buying the items individually!
  

I hope this gave you some ideas for fun and different gifts... Post ideas that you have for stuff you've been given or that you have given to others:)
I'm not saying clothes and toys aren't fun and well received, I'm just saying that being a stay at home mom with one salary - I have realized it can be fun and helpful to think outside the box when it comes to gifts for new babies and toddlers.

Diaper Disappointment

We are a Luvs family. I discovered them when I got fed up with throwing away broken Pampers and Katie leaking through them after she moved up to size 1. They had a money back guarantee and I thought... sure let's try them - and FELL IN LOVE!
They never leaked, they were never broken, they didn't smell funny and they didn't give her rashes.

So, last weekend we bought a few cases during a Target deal where you got a GC if you bought 2 - we figured - of course we'll need nothing but diapers for the next few months, so let's stock up on some bigger sizes and get the GC. We saw that the package said NEW DESIGN - so we got kind of excited.... cause we're lame like that and it was monkeys which are a huge hit in this house.

So, Dave being awesome specifically picked out the new design cases and we stored them away.


Then I randomly checked the Luvs website and saw that people were totally trashing the new design.

Apparently it's not just the monkey they changed. (I never minded the Blues Clues they used to be - I mean they are meant to catch and withold poop and pee right?) Apparently the whole diaper is different and leaks now and smells funny and is just plain junk.

I'm talking the entire comment section on their website is people trashing the new design and saying how disappointed they are in them.

So, now I have to go out and scavenger hunt for the OLD LUVS with Blues Clues on them and hope that I find them. I also have to take 2 huge cases back to Target and swap them as well because I am not opening them up based on the sheer consistency of the reviews I have read.

Here is my thought on this... If it ain't broke - don't fix it... I know it's a small thing, but we really liked these diapers and they were cheaper than Pampers. I have heard good things about Target brand at a baby shower so I will try those... but I was happy to stick with Luvs until they ruined my diaper nirvana....

So.. be warned... and PLEASE TRUST ME. Don't even buy a costco sized case of diapers unless you have tried them first - I know a diaper should be a diaper but babies have weird reactions to things and there is nothing worse than opening up a $35 box of diapers to find that after 3, the baby has a diaper rash or they smell or they leak and you want to try a different kind. I always suggest trying different brands in small batches first - then stock up through Diapers.com or Costco :)

Happy Diapering!!!!!!