Toddler Sensory Bin Busy with Ice so Adults can Talk

Toddler Sensory Bin Busy with Ice so Adults can Talk, a photo by areyousureaboutthatblog on Flickr.

We were recently at an adult family birthday party with few other kids. It was getting late and nearly baby girls bed time. But you know how it goes... You start talking, get into a great conversation and you just can't leave NOW!?!? So I went into my mommy arsenal and invented a sensory bin on the spot to quiet my cranky girl - the secret ingredient: ICE.

We were all at the kitchen table, and baby girl was sitting at my feet. I asked our hostess for a few supplies and I got together this simple sensory bin. She was busy for 35 happy minutes!

Sensory bin assembly:
- a holding place for the ice cubes, a few of them crushed from the fridge dispenser.
- tools: a small 1/4 measuring spoon, a cork, a tablespoon, a small plastic cup and a flexible whisk.
- stay dry: finally a kitchen towel as her tray, and melting ice / water basin. We didn't want her soaked either!


At the end of the activity, baby girl was tired, and thoroughly washed her hands. I took her downstairs and rocked her to sleep, where I held her while we wrapped up our evening.

Ahhhhhhh...

Make Mistakes. Breathe, Reflect, and Laugh.Out.Loud.

Poem: A New Baby, As the Weeks Go By.

A poem, about my new baby. This poem was inspired by the song by the Laurie Berkner Band, "5 days old." In my poem version this is life with a new nursing baby week to week.

Week 1 things are slow you sleep a lot

Week 2 you have started to eat non stop

Week 3 I'm told it's the halfway point

Week 4 remind me what's the point?

Week 5 still constantly eating

Week 6 I wish I knew what you were getting in a feeding

Week 7 still constant nursing

Week 8 at least your sleeping more and I've stopped cursing

Week 9 you lost some weight a bump in the road

Week 10 I'll have to supplement and　

Week 11 you scream at the breast

Week 12 I'm getting more rest

Week 13 I have a nipple infection

Week 14 at least you get only my nutrition




By: Areyousureaboutthatblog author
Reproduction Not Allowed Without Permission

This is a photo of my baby girl nursing to sleepy and my young son just behind her.

My Infant is Constipated - this is NOT normal!

Constipation

So I went to Grandma for this one! Babies on formula need to drink a little extra water to help wit the constipation. When I talked to my pediatrician, he gave me a nice range of options. “There is western medicine that can help with constipation, and there are many natural remedies.” That is what you want from your pediatrician! Options. A range of them so you can pick what you want to do as a parent! You should know the variety of solutions available and fit the one that meets your lifestyle and is safe for baby!

If your baby has constipation review the following possible causes and solutions.

We breastfeed and formula fed our son. I only produced 1 ounces or so of breast milk but I was determined to breastfeed. So up until 5 months I breastfed first, and then I gave the formula bottle (before I discovered the SNS, supplemental nursing system). But our older baby son still had really bad constipation in the first few weeks.

The human body naturally processes waste. And when a bowl movement happens it shouldn’t be hard to do. Common Sense, right? Well the foods we eat – mom and baby, affect our stomachs ability to process food and then the waste by product, bowl movements.

Formula AND Breast Fed Baby

If you are breastfeeding and your baby is constipated, you should try adding more fiber to your diet. Yes, mom you! Since breast milk is processed in mom’s body, if mom eats more fiber, baby gets more fiber.

For Mom:
Eat more high fiber food, including:
· 3 servings of fruits and vegetables a day (A serving of fruit is 1 apple, or 1 banana, or 1 pear. Or you can have a ¼ grapefruit, mellow or cantelope.
· drink 8 8 ounce glasses of fluid a day (but not 8 glasses of soda, coffee or caffeine tea! This causes constipation too! As does milk.)

For Baby:
After each feeding I'd mix 2 ounces of baby water (store bought, but I just boiled our city tap water and let it cool in a pitcher. That was my baby water for the day) I'd add 1 teaspoon of light karo corn syrup. It helped tremendously!! But don't add too much syrup, that cause discomfort in those newly formed baby intestines too.

· Dill tea: in Europe, women give a light, not full strength, dill tea. It helps ease gassyness and passing gas, an constipation. This too helped. And through the years I've continued to rely on dill tea for gut/ intestinal issues. And I give chamomile tea to help us relax at night, coughs, colds and sniffles. 

Do your best ... As a new mom that's all we can ask of you. And ask other moms how they help there babies. Use caution with any advice you get.

The days are long, especially in the first year, but the years are short - and our babies grew up fast!

Baby Supplies... Part II... What Do You Really Need for Growing withBaby?

And more importantly change your habits around their (baby) needs. 

Along with making new habits for you, comes the basics of caring for a new person.

- Feed baby

- Clothe baby

- Change baby's diaper

- Let baby sleep, regularly.

When you walk into a chain baby supply store it can be overwhelming. Do I buy or register? If both, what do I buy? Do I need a diaper disposal system? Which Crib is best? What kind of Stroller do we need? What’s a travel system? Look at all these cute clothes!!! Bathing in a bath tub or a sink? (Is the sink thing a typo? Nope) Register for a college fund? Already!? And life insurance? UGH! 

Below I tried to outline the most common items that we did need and the some good questions to think about when you are shopping. This blog is called "are you sure about that..." So I my comments on what you don’t need and why. I've included my baby registry list. It's what we really needed for baby.

Saving Money

Oh yeah, and then there is saving money. I know that many, many, many people can buy the most expensive stroller, crib set and designer cloths for baby. But I am a practical mom, and I am going green (environmental stuff). So I don’t want to spend my hard earned cash on all baby stuff (which I won't need anymore within one-year). I just want the things I need, and then some of what I really want.... of course!

Still reading? Good. Just keep an open mind, we are on a journey right? Well, along the way on this trip you are going to hopefully hear some great ideas, and some you might think are strange. But stick with me, and you can decide which ones you like for your lifestyle. Deal? OK, keep reading.

A real practical easy to remember tip is you want things to “grow with baby.” Convertible, Stretchable, Changeable. Cloths, Strollers, chairs, cribs, you name it. Get the one that will covert and “grow with baby.”

Consider with any baby item you think you need what's Practical vs. the Trend: Really decide how important the item you want is. Will it "grow with baby?" Is it for YOU, just to say look at my baby? Or is it for baby to live better? Well if you really want to save money, these are the hard questions.


Cloth Diapers.

THESE are not your mom’s diapers! These are new, awesome, and not gross! I am a practical mom, not hard core green tho. We use cloth diapers at home (which is an insert into an "envelope" type water proof cover) with my older first son, then when we went out and about in the world we took disposable diapers. Now, the cloth diapers I mention in the next section can easily be taken on trips with baby, but we chose to integrate with disposable.

Here you need to plan how often you want to wash this extra load of laundry. No ou shouldn't wash diapers with your baby clothes. You can use a diaper service too. We choose every other day for laundry, so we needed about 26 diapers. I also choose a brand that grows with baby - not infant size - but elastic and button options to resize them.

 

It's been 8 years since my diaper days with older so and the cloth diaper market has grown. In 2005 you could only but diapers online or through mail order parent magazine ads. Now cloth diapers are in stores like Target and Baby giant retailers. Lots of colors too - not just white like in his baby days. 

As for longevity - there great. It's 2013 and baby girl is being potty trained with the same diapers. I cared for them cautiously, so they aren't stained or falling apart. I always soaked them in a 1:1 vinager water ratio in the diaper bin while waiting to be washed. An used a gentle laundry soap to limit wear on them.

Homemade Baby Food. 

Easier then you think. There is an easy, fast, and inexpensive way to feed your baby as they grow! 

I did buy baby food books and the best was "Mommy Made." She quickly review health benefits of homemade food and eating real fruits and veggies. And there the simplest baby food ideas. It's not even really a recipie. More of a habit to incorporate into your life.

Having a baby is fun, in between the “work.” So consider what you want, what you need, and what you are about to learn you need!

Registry.

Do register for “convenience” items or in things you want to splurge on. My husband told a friend this once: “You may not really need it, but it would be nice to have.” Like we had a baby bottle warmer in the nursery. Practical, not really. You can always run downstairs to warm the milk, but who wants to walk all the way to the kitchen at 2 a.m. on the 12th night in a row? I didn’t. This item was a hand me down that I didn’t even think I needed. Glad I had it and you will to!

· Do consider the “life span” of the product – will it last through more babies that you may want?

- consider Baby Supplies that Grow with Baby

We bought a high chair from 2 months (gentle reclined position) to converting into a seat for over 1 year olds. 

Our stroller converted from a 4 month old recline position to a seated position. I also recommend splurging a little for a "terrain" stroller. A large front wheel over 8 inches - little dinky wheels are a pain I maneuver especially as baby gets bigger and heavier.

Register for visa gift cards versus store specific so ou can order from websites and places YOU prefer. 

Make sure you read Part I of this post series... About what your baby really needs: YOU!!

The Days are long, the years are short. 

Baby Registry ... Do I need all this stuff?? Part I

Baby Supplies Made Easy - it's not what you think.

There's something about having a baby that no one has told you yet! I've come to realize that once the baby has arrived, what baby actually needs is this: YOU!

Baby needs you, more then anything else. Babies want to be held, and to smell you, to feel your warmth and hear your heartbeat. That human contact it priority number one! (Let's remember this wen feeling overwhelmed walking into those baby super store for registry application). 

After baby's born: it's ALL about adjusting to a New Relationship.

I think that having a baby is about building new habits. It's like a "new dating relationship." You have to get to know this new person. Get used to them. You're already hopefully thinking about the new person often, and wondering how they feel about you. 

Frankly a new baby relationship is sooooo much easier then dating! You don't have to worry about looking cute, all.the.time. Make-up? Ha, baby doesn't care about how you look. Are you feeling down, a little sad? And NOT in the mood to do anything? Baby is definitely cool with that too. You don't have to try to impress baby, cute outfits, new lipstick and smelling good will not make this relationship successful. 

What makes a new baby relationship successful? Re-read paragraph 2 and 3, and add "just the way you are" to the answer.

Lastly, I'd say now that you know "YOU, just the way you are" is all that baby needs, let's talk about how you can adjust to this "new baby relationship." 

Babies do have needs. Of course. Besides needing you, first, then try need to survive. Here's the part you expected that you need to do:

- Let baby sleep, regularly.

- Feed baby
- Dress baby
- Change baby's diaper

In order to meet babies needs you have to rethink your habits and your daily routine. Are you used to waking up, grabbing coffee, and getting dressed? Well you now to build a new morning routine. You'll probably have to wake up a little earlier to feed that new person. Change their diaper before you feed them, because baby will probably fall asleep after / during eating. Then, and only after baby's needs are met, can you do what you need to do. So I guess this is the part if the relationship that totally rocks your world. You don't have to look cute, but you do have to put this other persons needs first. 

Just try to Make the Best of It. This can be a confusing time. But its simply because you have a whole new person in your life.

I have a second post on next steps, including: cloth diapers, homemade baby food and a baby routine. I also wrote a post on baby resource books that are actually informative for a NEW perspective... not the what to expect one.

Make Mistakes. Breath, Reflect. and Laugh.Out.Loud 

How to Survive all the baby advice?

Is every women on earth required by law to give unsolicited advice? I think so…I think women live and breath to tell you to this or that, but don’t forget ot this, and please don’t that! UGH! So why write this book? Well, frankly – its practical advice that I have gathered from reading other books, by the droves. Most moms don’t have time to read. Or sleep. So here is a quick read, east guide to the who, why how and where you can find it if you need to read further.

Good luck, you will do great!

Now I'm not telling you to READ!! But that's what I did. I remember when I was 2 months pregnant, I still hadn’t told anyone at work or in my family, I went to a area book store with my husband to find a nice pregnancy guide. Then I came across the “mom section” with scores of books on parenting, newborns, breastfeeding, baby sign language (WHAT?!), more on pregnancy journaling, baby journaling, scrap books, and I had my first emotional breakdown. OH MY GOD! How hard can this possibly be? All these books on babies and parenting, (and here I am writing one more?)

Well, I gathered up a stack of 10 books, and sat on the floor in a corner and started reading. For those who are pregnant (B.C. – before children), I recommend this type of moment, where you are alone, and it’s quiet, and you can sit and read all day. . . for those mom’s who already have there babies in hand (A.D. – after domination, child takes over your life) I know you are giggling. Well stop you are scaring the new moms.

So amongst my stacks of books (they grew) I learned a lot! Really great practical advice, and some books, you know the one that’s really popular one with the month-to-month “what if” guides, scared my to death with all the “this could be wrong if” scenarios. DON’T READ THOSE BOOKS! You have enough of other real time mom stuff to handle!

After my trip to the store, I brought home 3 books. In the what to read section, I have given you my “short” shopping list that I recommend for all mom’s and dad’s (and all the great support people, family, friends, in our lives).

Make Mistakes. Breath, Reflect. and Laugh.Out.Loud