Posts from — August 2008

If you’ve been on the lookout for some good children’s vitamins, we’d like to give you some recommendations.  You know that we do our research before choosing a product and try to choose the best, or the best that we can afford.  With that in mind, I give you…our children’s daily supplements.

Multivitamin

Gabriel takes one Dr. Sears, Little Champions every morning.  We basically chose these because they were created by one of the most trusted pediatricians in the nation.  No worries about too much of this vitamin or too little of that.  Also, Little Champions does not contain any artificial colors, artificial flavors or sweeteners (like sugar, corn syrup and aspartame) as other brands do.  And they  contain the natural forms of vitamins rather than man-made.

Fish Oil

Fish oil is also very important in a child’s diet.  Among many other benefits, fish oil is known to have a great effect on your child’s brain and eye development, as well as his learning and behavior.  Just go to www.mercola.com and search for fish oil; you will find all the info you could want.

Unfortunately, fish are largely contaminated with mercury these days, so eating a lot of fish is not such a good idea.  However, there are many purified fish oil supplements on the market.  Our choice is Carlson: The Very Finest Fish Oil.  It is pure, potent, and a good deal for the money.

You’re probably wondering how in the world we get a three year old to drink fish oil!  Well, first of all, it’s lemon flavored, not fish flavored.  Even I couldn’t stomach fish flavored oil!!   Let me tell you about a few tricks that we use.  We usually put a little juice in a cup and mix in a teaspoon of oil.  Then, he drinks it up!  He’s not the suspicious type, so we mix it in front of him.  You might have to get more creative if your kids don’t want you putting things in their drinks.  I don’t like mixing this in a sippy cup because the oil gets into the valve and all the crevices of the lid.  It’s really hard to get clean after that.  So we mix it in a regular cup and just help him drink it. When he was younger, I mixed it in jelly and served it on a PBJ.  No problems with that method either. Another hit was making juice popsicles and mixing oil into the juice before pouring it into the molds.  We also mix half a teaspoon into our little guy’s yogurt, and he never has any problems with it.

Bonus: Prenatal Multivitamin

I would also like to recommend this prenatal, if you don’t already have a favorite.  It is food derived, rather than chemically and it also contains ginger, which helps with nausea.  I’ve never had any problems getting sick on it during those dreaded first few weeks of pregnancy; and I can swallow it without gagging too!  I do have morning sickness, but I don’t get nauseous from this vitamin.

I hope this helps you make an informed decision on vitamins for your kiddos!

We have a certain bath tub progression at our house for newbies. We start out with this tub from The First Years. It’s great for newborns because it comes with a soft sling that reminds me of a hammock. They can lay in it while they’re still tiny and it’s easy to keep them up out of the water when they still have their umbilical cord stump. One side of the tub is inclined and great for when they’re a little stronger and ready to move out of the hammock. After they can sit up, the other side of the tub is made to help support them in a seated position. We don’t use this tub much after our babies can sit. We move on to the best tub of all!

The Duck Bathtub! Both our guys have loved this tub! It’s a great move from the baby tub because it’s not too big and it’s soft. They have enough room to play and it even quacks!! It has a suction cup on the bottom of the tub and we just hang it up on the shower wall when we’re done.

When they out grow the Duck, we do the regular old bath tub. But, not without a bath mat! It suctions to the bottom of the tub and I hang it on the wall of the shower to dry when we’re done with it. It’s also machine washable and stays looking clean and nice for a long time.

So there you have it, our bathtub progression. We haven’t made it to the regular bathtub without the mat yet. But I’m sure we’re not too far away.

Making your own baby food saves money! So if you’re short on money, but not on time, then go for it! I made some large purchases in the beginning, but you may already have everything you need to get started.  Let me tell you how I did it.


I purchased this food processor, food steamer, baby food trays, and organic fruits and vegetables, and a baby food book.  If I did it all over again, I think I would probably buy this book as I wasn’t very impressed with the one I got.  And I might even try this cool kit.

It’s pretty painless to do.  I would just wash my fruits or veggies, cut them up into chunks, and throw them in the steamer.  Baby carrots don’t have to be cut at all, so they’re super easy.  The steamer I bought came with a divider bowl so you can steam two different things at once.  Most fruits and veggies steam in under twenty minutes, so after you’re done steaming, pop them into the food processor and give ‘em a whirl.  I saved a little of the steaming water to add into the food processor to get that really smooth and creamy texture.  After you get it right, then you can put it into the ice trays and freeze.  After the cubes were frozen solid, I liked to pop them into plastic baggies, or another container so I could freeze some more.  You can either plan ahead and get what you need out of the freezer to thaw, or soak the baggie in warm water to thaw.

Another trick I learned when I didn’t have time to make applesauce was to buy the big jar of unsweetened applesauce instead of the little baby jars. It’s much cheaper.  And when it comes to baby yogurt, mix up your own! The baby yogurt that is prepackaged is more expensive and it has added sugar in it.  I just buy a big container of plain organic yogurt and mix whatever pureed fruit I want in about equal parts.

So, go for it! Now you know how to do it, and it’s not that hard at all! But, if just can’t find the time to make your own baby food, then check out my previous posts about buying baby food here and here.

It seems the time has come to start weaning my little guy, Nathaniel.  Gabriel seemed ready when he turned one. He even started weaning himself at about 11 months and dropped some feedings on his own. After he dropped one, I would wait a week and drop another, and so on for about 4-5 weeks.

Nathaniel doesn’t seem as ready. He has started to nurse for shorter periods of time. He used to always nurse for ten minutes, and now it’s more like five, most of the time.  About a week ago, I stopped going in to him when he wakes in the middle of the night to nurse.  Johnny went instead and reassured him, and this transition was a fairly easy one for him.  He didn’t cry much, and now he’s not waking up anymore.  But he’s not refusing any of the other opportunities to nurse.

With Gabriel, distraction, or changing up the norm, helped a lot.  So this morning after Nathaniel’s first nap, instead of nursing him, I decided I would take him into the kitchen for a snack.  We have some new crackers, so I let him try those, and he didn’t protest at all.  I added some cheese and he was really happy.  I needed to run some errands, so after he was done, we left the house.  He seemed a little grumpier than usual and by the time we got home he was really grumpy.  I’m not sure if he was hungry or if he suddenly remembered he got tricked out of a nursing.

Dr. Sears has a great article on weaning, and his tips helped me with Gabriel too.  I won’t force the issue with Nathaniel.  If he’s not ready, he’s not ready.  I think he’s really close though. He really likes his first-thing-in-the-morning nursing.  It’s like his morning cup of coffee. It’s what starts his day out right.  I think I’ll cut out some of the less favorite nursings and go from there.

In case you’re in need of some really great journals, I’d like to recommend a few here.  I love to keep a pregnancy journal, and of course after that I like to keep a baby book.  After the baby book?  Well, I just found a really cool journal for after your done with the baby book!  Or, if you just want a blank journal, I can tell you where to find a really cool one.

OK, this is my absolute fave for a pregnancy journal. I’ve had this particular journal with each of my pregnancies and I really love it!  It tells you how your little baby is growing each and every day, starting from conception!!  It is just so amazing to see how at only a few days old so much is already going on!  It truly is a little baby in there, no matter what they call it!  Now, there isn’t a lot of room to write, so if you’re really wordy, I’m not sure what to do.  But you don’t need to miss out on this super journal if your pregnant!

Now my favorite baby book is the Humble Bumbles’ Baby Journal.  I have this journal for each of my two kids right now.  It is very colorful with all the pages I can think of that are important, like family tree, parents, extended family, bringing you home, and it lasts until age three.  The only thing I wish it had that it doesn’t is a sibling page, but I just changed one of the pages and made it into a sibling page the last time.  It also comes with a growth chart in the front and some cute little paper frames to go around your pictures.  There’s also an envelope for keepsakes and a small one for hospital bracelets and for the first hair cut.

Gabriel will be three in October, so I’m almost done with his baby journal.  So I just saw this journal at Mom4Life and had to try it out!  It is SO cool!  I don’t think he’s quite ready for doing the drawing in it yet, but I’m sure he will be before I know it.  It’s got favorite things, places for them to draw themselves, friends, family, pets, birthday, holidays, and a place for thought and drawings in the back.  I think it will be great when he’s ready for it.

If you’re just looking for a blank journal, then I highly recommend these. They are beautiful and very high quality.  The paper is acid-free, from a fully sustainable source, and archival quality.  There’s a ribbon style bookmark and a memento pouch in the back.  The journals also have closures to keep everything securely inside.  My journal is from the French Collection and the Fanfare line.  It has a fanfare style binding, which it describes in the back.

Any of these journals would make a great gift for others or yourself!

This weekend we had a house full of company over for our little guy, Nathaniel’s first birthday.  I don’t really get into those huge kind of birthday parties for kids with everyone you ever knew and a big meal.  I don’t like stress, and that kind of party preparation would totally stress me out.  So we had about 20 people, mainly adults, cake and ice cream, lemonade and water.  Simple and fun.

We have one of those really cool red plates.  You know, the ones that say “You are special today”, on them?  I bought it on eBay for our big guy, Gabriel’s first birthday.  I really like traditions, and this red plate is going to be one of our birthday traditions.  So, we always start out with the cupcake on the big red plate, sing, blow out the candles, and then we let the kiddo have the cupcake and keep the plate in a safe place.

When Gabriel turned one, he liked his cupcake, but he was not in love with it.  Grandma and Nanna ended up feeding it to him because he didn’t really want to do it.  Nathaniel?  Well, he really dug in.  He picked the cupcake up with one hand and licked it first.  Hmm, what’s this?  Then, once he got a real taste, you couldn’t take the thing away from him!  He looked super cute and had a smile on his face the entire time.  (Don’t tell him, but he was actually eating an apple muffin with butternut squash hidden in there.  The icing fooled him!)

He got lots of great presents and not too many.  I didn’t feel like we needed to get rid of all of our old toys to make room for the new stuff.  Just some great additions and some different things we didn’t already have. He got some money, which we will happily add to his savings account, and some great new books and clothes too.

Toward the end he seemed to be getting tired and was ready for all the hoopla to be over.   He got really clingy and only wanted me.  But all in all, he had a great time and I know the family and friends enjoyed it!  Thanks for everything, y’all!

P.S. I would also like to send a special thanks to our awesome neighbors Cory and Joanna for videoing and taking pictures when we couldn’t!  Thanks for the memories!

Maybe we should start here with pronunciation.  You say it like this \ˈtha-ˌlāt\, the “ph” is silent.  OK, so now that you can actually say the word, let’s discuss what it is. Phthalates are a chemical used in PVC plastics, solvents, and synthetic fragrances. Here’s a cheatsheet at Environmental Working Group to give you some of the basics.

I thought we’d talk about Phthalates since I mentioned last week in the BPA post.  This chemical is another serious concern for our little ones, especially boys, and pregnant mommies.  The above cheatsheet says that “Phthalates are endocrine disruptors linked to problems of the reproductive system, including decreased sperm motility and concentration in men and genital abnormalities in baby boys. (Oh, and did you know that average sperm counts have decreased significantly since the 1940’s?) More recently they’ve also been linked to asthma and allergies.”  YIKES!  We’ve got boys at this house, so let’s chew on some wooden toys!  Thank goodness congress passed the ban on phthalates recently!

Wanna know how to avoid phthalates??  Start by avoiding…

• Nail polish with DBP in it, (check out EWG’s Skin Deep to find some that are okay)
• microwaving your food in plastic
• Vinyl toys
• Paints (choose non-VOC paint)
• Fragrances, like perfumes, air fresheners, detergents, body wash….choose fragrance free whenever you can – and here is a safe air freshener
• Vinyl – that plastic-y smell on new shower curtains or rain coats
• Cosmetics
• Hair color

One fairly easy way to avoid phthalates is by checking all of your body products on Skin Deep.  I threw out almost everything I owned and started fresh with new brands and products.  I stopped coloring my hair, and I try to be as careful as I can.  I buy products that are paraben and phthalate free.  And here is an article you should read if your thinking of getting pregnant and would like to avoid these chemical toxins.  Since there are no labeling requirements, it’s really impossible to know which products are risky, so again, just use Skin Deep to help you out.  Concering teethers and bath toys, you can check the same Z Recomments list that I referenced in the BPA post.  And here is a wonderful cheatsheet from SafeMama on Paraben and Phthlate free baby products.

I hope I’m not overwhelming you with all of this chemical information.  I really like passing it on to those interested.  It’s very important to me to avoid being around harmful things.  I want our home to be as clean, safe, and toxin free as I can possibly make it.

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Trying to decide whether or not to vaccinate your baby or child?  I’ve put together a few things that can hopefully help you make an informed decision.  There are plenty of resources out there to give you the complete green light on this issue, so I’m not going to do that here.  We’ll proceed with caution…

If you don’t really want to vaccinate, Dr. Tenpenny won’t give you any reasons to do so. She has a very informative video, and she has also written this new book. In the video, she goes through each of the vaccines with very helpful information, such as the probability of contracting the illness, percentages of deaths in people who do contract it, what you can do to recover if the illness is contracted, etc.  She believes the risks associated with vaccines outweigh the benefits.  If you have already chosen not to vaccinate, or want to know more, Dr. Tenpenny answers some great questions about different concerns at Mothering Magazine.

Dr. Sears on the other hand, does feel that the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks.  He has come up with his own vaccine schedule that is much safer and is spread out over more time.  He has written The Vaccine Book to help you make an informed decision, giving you options for different approaches to vaccinating your child.  He references this article at CNN which is also helpful.

This is a very personal decision and I hope that this information can give you some more of the answers you’ve been looking for in considering whether or not to vaccinate.

So my wife brings home an ingenious invention that was to solve all the problems of washing our son’s hair and make it a snap. The Shampoo Rinse Cup seems like a good idea. It is a plastic container with flexible rubber on one side that can mold around your child’s forehead as you poor the water through his hair. It is supposed to shield water from your child’s face and eyes. Maybe it’s just because I have already perfected my own method using a simple cup, but I found the Shampoo Rinse Cup to be a just another patent-pending waste of money.

Like many children, my son simply cannot stand to get water in his eyes. I have to lean him back and keep his head tilted way back (like they do at the barber shop when they wash your hair) so the water always runs away from his face. In this position, gravity is working in your favor and there is no need for a “shield” to keep the water from running into the child’s face. So, like the picture shows, I assume the supposed benefit to this device is that you don’t have to lean them back to rinse their hair.

The problem is that the shield only works while you have it pressed against the forehead. As soon as you remove it, the water drips down his face. Of course, that throws everything into a panic. To make matters worse, the Shampoo Rinse Cup all but pours water directly into your child’s ear canals, which my son also hates. I found myself going back to a regular cup real quick just to spare my child so much trauma. In my opinion, the Shampoo Rinse Cup is a cool idea that doesn’t really work.

Yes, I said BPA.  Do you know what BPA is?  Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used to make plastic things like baby bottles, sippy cups, toys, water bottles, the lining in canned food, and all sorts of things.  Even very small amounts of BPA have been linked to cancers, impaired immune function, early onset of puberty, obesity, diabetes, and hyperactivity, and other problems.  OK, I’m thinking I don’t want anywhere near this stuff!  Canada has already banned it’s use!

I started reading about BPA about two years ago, before it became so widely known as a no-no.  I was heating up cow’s milk in Avent bottles for my toddler every morning.  I came across a few articles, freaked, and bought glass bottles.  Then, I also realized that the sippy cups he was using had BPA in them.  And then I realized some of our toys had it in them.  Yikes!  How could I get away from this stuff??

Now that BPA is more widely known, you can find “BPA free” stuff in many more places.  Z Recommends has a wonderful report on feeding products, bath toys, and teethers.  SafeMama has some awesome shopping cheat sheets with BPA free products.  There is one for bottles and sippy cups, and one for pacifiers and teethers.  You can also shop at The Soft Landing for BPA free products.

The places I mentioned above have helped me so much!  Anytime I need to purchase a new sippy, or teether, I can just check there before shopping.  I’ve also been able to look for products we already had and throw them out if they were not BPA free.

A few months ago I was feeding my baby his lunch out of the small plastic container that Gerber baby food comes in when I noticed a #7 inside the little triangle on the bottom.  I was like, great, here I am buying organic baby food that comes in a BPA container.  But some quick research revealed that #7 doesn’t always mean BPA.  I wish it was a little more clear cut, but in this case, it isn’t. Another place I wasn’t happy about finding BPA is in our big 5 gallon water bottles that we take each week to refill.  I cannot find an easy alternative here, so we’ll be installing an RO water filtration system in our home soon.

For now, I don’t think we can get completely away from BPA, but here are the steps you can take toward ridding it from your life:

• Avoid plastics with 3, 6, or7 in the recycle triangle
• Choose toys and books made with natural wood, paper, cloth, or metal
• Use glass, stainless steel, or ceramic in the kitchen for food storage and reheating
• Use glass or ceramic when reheating in the microwave
• Use wax paper or paper towels to cover food in the microwave
• Check product packages for “no phthalates” or “no bisphenol A (BPA)”

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