Starting Solids

The day has come and gone now!  My daughter has started feeding on solid foods.  I was hoping to wait until she was about five and a half months because she was getting to the point of “not completely satisfied” like she used to be just on her formula.  She was getting to the point that when she saw us eating she would get mad, so the other day I told my hubby that I don’t think we can wait.

She was definitely ready for starting solids.  She ate about a tablespoon of Rice Cereal with no problems and seemed to love it!  She took to her food as if she’s been eating like this from since she was born.  I was, for about a few weeks, putting a little bit of her formula on her spoon to see how she would take it.  She always gave me this look like “Hey, this is the same stuff from my bottle!”.  At first she spat out the formula and eventually started swallowing the formula, she was exercising her muscles to change the way she eats.  I do feel this helped her, I will never know if it did or didn’t but I like to think it helped with the introduction to the solids. 

I bought iron-fortified rice cereal to start to see how she would take the solids but my intent is to make all her food.  For me and my family we very rarely eat ready made food, we eat and cook at home pretty much all the time.  So with that in mind I wanted to make her her food as we do our own.  I googled homemade baby food and found some great and very easy recipes, for baby cereals as well as other foods.  I also purchased this book called Cooking for Baby by Lisa Barnes it has some great ideas and good tips for feeding as well as recipes!

The beginning stage foods are very simple to make as well as the later stage foods and not as time consuming as one would think.  My main concern about store bought baby food is that I don’t know what is in it compared to homemade food; I know exactly what’s going in and feel like there’s a bit more control with what she’s ingesting. 

I just started my daughter on solids the other day so I will be adding updates to the site.  So far all is well with her and she’s enjoying every mouthful.  Next up, I’ll be feeding her homemade Oatmeal cereal and I’m hopeful that she’ll enjoy it as much as the rice cereal.  The starting of her solid feeding has come just in time for Easter dinner, traditionally my family has a turkey dinner and one of the vegetables will be sweet potato.  I will be setting some aside for her to make sure they remain plain – no adding butter, sugar or whatever else can be added to them.  First veggie to come on the weekend! Looking forward to seeing how much she loves or hates it!

How was your first time with introducing solids to your little one? What was their first food? What’s your preference – homemade baby food or store bought baby food and why?  I look forward to hearing your comments and emails! Happy feeding!

Playing Strange

This is a new concept to me, I’ve never really been around too many babies before my daughter and if I was they were pre-strange or post and hanging around a toddler but toddlers are usually just shy at first.

I’m still learning to understand this and for my daughter I think is what sets her off is when other people rush to her, instead of taking their time.  I totally understand both perspectives my friends rush to her because they are always so excited to see her and my daughter gets freaked out because they are not familiar to her like how I am to her.  At the same time any time she leaves my arms to other people she starts screaming and crying like I’m leaving her with them. 

I have tried telling people to ease up when wanting to take her because of this strange phase but I know they are too excited! So my poor little girl just starts screaming and crying those big “alligator” tears.  I’m sometimes at a loss because I do want her to get used to being around people but I hate to see her so upset.

Is this just something that babies get over & grow out of over time? What did you do when your baby went thru the strange phase? I will be updating this post as time goes on and if things get better, which I’m told they should… 

Before I was a Mom

I got this E-mail forward in my inbox from a couple of friends and felt the need to share it with everyone and what better way than to add it to my blog! Happy Parenting to all Moms & Dads, take every moment and cherish them all as if they were to be your last.  Stay Bless

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`*.¸.*´
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ (¸.•´(¸¸.•¨¯`•

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom

Dry Skin… Update!

One of my previous posts I talked about my daughters dry skin and what the nurse from the Health Centre thought it could be eczema.  Just a quick recap of the post, the nurse suggested to use Vaseline or Glaxal Base cream.  I did try the Vaseline and thought I was having success with it,  for a few days her skin looked like it was clearing up and than the next day it made a turn for the worse and it seemed to have gotten worse!

I talked to my other half and he wanted me to try using cocoa butter, tried and no change.  I felt like if it didn’t start clearing up I would have to get to the doctor as my girl was starting to scratch her legs on the dry patches so I’m sure they were starting to irritate her.  I than talked to mom – yes mom knows best, well most of the time – and she had a lotion from Melaleuca called Renew.  She’s heard about some success stories with eczema and she uses the lotion and seems to make a difference.  I also thought at this point I really have nothing to loose. 

She’s been using the lotion for almost two (2) weeks now and every day I see a change for the better.  Her face and back is baby soft again and her belly, arms and legs are getting there.  I’m very grateful that my mom suggested this product and hopefully she continues to get better and I see no reason why it wouldn’t.  I also had a comment on my previous post and she mentioned that her children all grew out of it so I am hopeful and very positive that she very well will even if the lotion continues to work. 

What worked for you and your child(ren) with their dry skin or eczema if they had it? Did your child(ren) grow out of it like my other reader did?

Visitors & Guests

Been busy this little while entertaining one of my best friends from my Scuba Diving days; reminiscing about school, diving, and all the other things in between.  I love it when friends and family come for visits, lots of catching up and relaxing usually.

Things these days are a bit different, mainly having a baby around now will definitely change the way you entertain your guests.  My friend doesn’t have kids of her own but I’m happy that she’s very understanding with my daughter’s needs and me needing to attend to them.  I still had to make things clear with her that my daughter was my priority and she has a routine that she likes to stick to otherwise its like all hell can and usually will break loose. 

Trips to the malls and basically had to have a time limit, I always just watch for my daughter’s signs to let me know when enough is enough, and I’m sure like most children they will let you know.  Thankfully my friend respected the fact that we would have to cut the shopping short or if my girl needed to be fed or changed.  She fell asleep and kept getting disturbed/woken up with the loud music from some stores so I just hung out outside the store while my friend browsed.  Only because a happy and sleepy baby while out makes it for a better experience overall. 

My daughter tends to be happier at home with the familiar surroundings and although I do like to get her out for a change of scenery I feel its best to keep her where she’s happy more often and not cramped in her stroller or car seat, at least for too long.  My daughter is going on five (5) months and outings to the stores have gotten easier and easier with time and I’ve been getting better at paying attention to her signals. 

Overall, the visit was great and being at home mostly was more enjoyable for us all.  We all got to play with the baby, she was able to nap in her own bed and just to be around the place that is most familiar kept her happy.  I was also able to keep her daily routine because I just went on with my “every day life”, so to speak, and continued to listen to my baby’s signals.  Also, I found that staying at home for most days my friend and I were able to catch up more and do more in a sense like cook, watch Television and movies and so on.  I felt like the trip was more bonding time for us all. 

What works best when you have visitors and guests? Does your routine change and do you stick with it? Or just go with the flow of what’s planned out for your guests visit?

A Full Nights Sleep

My daughter has always been a good sleeper.  When she was just a newborn she would sleep three (3) to 4 hours at a time and wake up screaming because she was hungry.  All my friends tell me they all went through it and most didn’t get in a full nights sleep for months; one person was still doing the three (3) A.M. feedings into the toddler years.

Eventually, my little one just moved into sleeping from six (6) to 9 hours at night and with the occasional night of back to three (3) to 4 hours.  I don’t know if this had anything to do with the fact that we were co-sleeping with her or if she just loved her sleep.  Sometimes I do think that my daughter just loves her sleep because anytime that I try to wake her from her slumber she’ll ignore me, wake up and go back to sleep or will be very cranky.

We finally got to a point, at about two (2) months, where she would sleep every other day or so for on average 12 hours straight.  I thought we were making great and early head way to us finally getting in a full nights sleep as well.  Than a turn of events, possibly another growth spurt, and she was back to four (4) A.M. feedings.  One thing that did change, she used to need to be cuddled and rocked back to sleep before putting her back down.  I decided to lay her back down in her crib and go back to bed myself to try to allow her to self-sooth herself back to sleep.  Within about 15 minutes I heard nothing coming from the baby monitor and of course I had to go check on her.  Success! She was back to sleep.  So every night from than onward, we would put her down to self-sooth when she woke up for her morning feed. 

After a couple of weeks of the early morning call, I than decided to try and let her self-sooth herself again back to sleep without me intervening.  First night I had no success, her coos got louder to a cry so I knew she needed a feeding.  Second night was successful, she cooed for about 15 minutes or so and than quiet, went in to take a peak and she was sleeping as if she never woke.  The third night she needed the feeding, I thought my luck had run out.  I did continue to see if she would self-sooth every night, I was successful every other night or so.  By the time she was three (3) months, it seemed so out of the blue to me but she was sleeping all through the night.  No waking up just would sleep right through with no problems. 

About a week before she was four (4) months she did wake up for a few four (4) A.M. feedings.  After only a few days she was back to full nights.  I don’t know if our “work” with trying to get her to self-sooth has paid off or she just naturally changed her sleeping habits.  We will never really know but I like to think the work did pay off, it gives more of a sense of accomplishment as a parent in my humble opinion.

I am very happy that she is sleeping through the night and giving us more mommy/daddy time, I mean I don’t really know any parent that wouldn’t be happy about that.  I do feel like her schedule will change again when she comes to another growth spurt, but I can at least see some light to going back to full nights again.  Now just to get more sleep of my own…  I value my me-time and sometimes need to take advantage with a sleeping baby.

When did your little one(s) starting sleeping through the night? Did you do anything “special” to get to that point or just went with your little ones schedule? If so, what did you do?  Do you have any tips that may help other readers?

Dry Skin for babies

I’ve noticed over the past month, maybe, that my baby girl has a few dry patches on her skin.  They’ve showed up on her thighs, forearms, and belly.  Poor girl but they don’t seem to be bothering her, in other words she’s not scratching them, but, of course, I want to get rid of them in hopes to prevent further problems. 

I’ve tried bathing her every three (3) days instead of every two (2) days and there was no change.  Than I thought maybe it was the scented bath wash. 

I’ve used Aveeno in the past for myself when I was younger for a skin irritation and it worked for me so decided to try it for my daughter.  Found a bath and shampoo wash for babies that was unscented, this seemed to help a little bit but the dry patches were still there.  Next I switched to an unscented lotion, since the Aveeno wash helped a bit I decided to try their lotion.  It seemed to help but, again, only a bit. 

Was using lotion on her every day and always after a bath.  I never rubbed her dry just patted her down and than applied the lotion.  Like I said this did seem to help but not entirely. 

I had an appointment for her four (4) month immunization at the local Health Care Centre.  Like the previous appointment the nurse asked me questions about baby and checked her over.  Thought it would be a great time to get some questions of my own out, I mean who better to ask than the local health centre and nurses that deal with babies on a daily basis.  She did notice the dry patches and said that it is possible that it could be eczema.  Mentioned to talk to her doctor if it gets worse but also told me to try Vaseline brand lotion.  Really I had nothing to lose at this point and I’m thankful that the patches weren’t getting worse.

I had some unscented Vaseline lotion at home.  Since I had some of this Vaseline lotion at home I might as well try it, plus it was unscented.  Nothing like scented lotion to make a skin irritation worse or more irritated.  Have been using this Vaseline since and from the first day I’ve noticed improvement also every day since there has been more improvement.  Her skin is starting to feel baby soft again and I’m so happy the nurse suggested something as simple as Vaseline.  I really didn’t want to use a medicated lotion that would have steroids in it.  Not the ideal stuff to use for a baby in my humble opinion, but if it was necessary I would have. 

The nurse also mentioned that most lotions are “Glaxal” based and if the Vaseline didn’t work that I could purchase a pure Glaxal base to use on the patches.  So something to keep in mind but at least the Vaseline is working and her skin is becoming that baby bottom soft again!

What steps did you do to eliminate such a skin irritation? What lotion worked best for your little one?

Is Routine Always best?

I’ve been trying really hard to stick with some kind of routine and/or schedule and some days it seems impossible to stick too.  Most days I stay home but we do have those days where we need to get out of the house either for errands or just to get out.  This can throw a routine completely out the window at times.  Not only do we as parents have things to do, such as errands, housework or just a little bit of me time, our children have their own personal schedule too.  My daughters schedule changes from week-to-week or even day-to-day, everything seems to be mood dependant. 

Some days I can keep her in routine no matter what’s going on through out the day.  I do find though that she does things on her own terms, as do many other babies from what I hear from other parents. 

My usual routine would start when my daughter would wake up in the mornings usually around 8 A.M. I would do my best to keep her up and playing around for a couple of hours and I notice that she tires out by that time.  I try to keep her up for about two (2) hours at a time and I try to get her to nap for about 2 hours as well.  The nap times have a been a struggle, if she refuses to nap for long I try to keep her up an extra 15 to 30 minutes of play time.  Yes, keeping a baby up for that extra time can be and usually is a struggle but I try to tire her out in hopes that she will nap longer. 

So I think great, nap time equals a little bit of mommy-time.  She will fall asleep in her crib but only for 10 to 40 minutes at a time so I try to get her back to sleep for a little longer.  I've been trying to get her to nap for a couple hours at a time because than she’s more happy to play and for a little bit longer.  I’ve tried laying down with her in my bed and its been a success, I think its funny, though, how she’ll nap in my bed for a couple of hours and won’t in her own bed but will sleep throughout the night in her crib.  By the time night time comes she’s ready for bed in between six (6) and 8 P.M. no matter what kind of day she had. 

All-in-all it doesn’t seem to matter how much she naps in the day because she’s ready for bed consistently between six (6) and 8 P.M. like I mentioned earlier.  She also sleeps throughout the night no matter how much nap time she gets in the day.  So I’ve been finding that fighting a routine seems pointless for her most times.  I also don’t know if its just because she’s getting a bit older and setting her own routine or if my routines with her have been falling into place.  I guess I’ll never really know but I like to think that my hard work is paying off as I can get her to nap during the day and she sleeps successfully throughout the night. 
I still question myself if working on a routine is worth my efforts.  When she has a good day full of a couple long naps and great play times I feel like my efforts are worth it.  Of course, like everyone else we all have off days and seems like any efforts I have put in with her have gone out the window or didn’t play a part with patterns.   I guess time will tell how things will pan out, she is only four (4) months old and there’s lots of room for learning and growth for both her and me! I will continue with my efforts to keep her in some kind of routine but I feel like if I decide to just go with the flow and take everything as it comes it won’t hurt anything.  I guess time will tell… maybe a good mix between the two routine and to just go with the flow, as it seems there is some kind of routine falling into place at times

Do you try to keep a routine? If not, do you feel like just going with the flow is better or do you wish you and your little one were in a routine? What’s been your struggles with your routine? What do you do for nap time? do you struggle like I do? Let me know what worked for you and how you did it! I’m still working on moving my daughter into her room for nap time… suggestions are, of course, always welcome!