Products I love

Callum is fast approaching 4 months old and I have been meaning to make a post like this for awhile. All the things I "love" are just that - things *I* love. Some other parents may hate them. But I've found them to be extrremely valuable. None of these things were products I was compensated to review. Just items I purchased or received as gifts, and want to share with other parents.

1) JJ Cole Car Seat Cover. If you live in the tropics, disregard this one. If you live on the tundra in NY state like I do, then this is for you. This winter was (ok, is STILL) particularly brutal. Callum was born Tuedsay, December 10th. We drove to the hospital (with me screaming and cursing in pain, like something out of the movies) around 8:30am. At that time it was cold, but no snow on the roads and we hadn't had too much snow yet for the season. By that evening, I lay in my hospital bed with my tiny newborn, wondering what the heck I was supposed to do... while a blizzard raged outside the window. Talk about not getting many visitors (thank you to the warriors that visited us during this time. That is true love).

Anyway, I'm sidetracking. Point is - it has been a snow war since literally the day this baby was born. We have almost a record setting amount of snow this winter. And the temps have been SO brutal. Even now it's April (tomorrow) and we have a ton of snow on the ground and it's cold, ya'll. I could NOT have dragged this baby in and out as often as I did if it wasn't for this cover.

Source: Amazon.com

It's a "shower cap" style which just goes over the top of the car seat. It doesn't interfere with any straps or the operation of the carseat. This style is safest for that reason (MVA are the #1 cause of death in kids, so that's not something to ignore) It's basically like an old school bunting. I fold up a blanket or two over him, then zip this up over the baby/blanket bundle, and put the flap over his head. The cover is wind resistant too. No messing around with snow suits or heavy coats, which, you should not use anyway since those can also compress in an accident and cause the baby to go flying out of the seat. So, basically if you live somewhere ridiculous like me, get this for your baby.

2) Snuza alarm. Go ahead and make fun of me. That lady puts an alarm on her kid's diaper. But you know what? - that alarm goes off if my kid stops breathing. Which, is kind of a big deal. People spend all kinds of money on more minor "safety" things but then something that is huge to their life... they make fun of it. I cannot tell you the peace of mind this gives me. And yes, it works. We've tested it, not to mention all the "false" alarms. Which really aren't false because a false alarm would be if it just randomly went off. That has never happened. It's gone off when it's slipped off of him or over to the side, or when I take it off for a diaper chance and forget to put it back on. That's actually a true alarm - since it's not detecting movement (his breathing). SIDS scares the crap out of me. No this alarm does not prevent SIDS. But it helps add a little help to your SIDS prevention arsenal. I cannot sleep if the battery is dead or it's not on him. I couldn't live with myself if he died and if only I had not been too lazy to get outta bed and clip the alarm on him, we would have known. So on it goes. Till he starts middle school (lol I kid). They're expensive ($100) but I got mine on ebay for half that.

Source: Amazon.com

3) Bouncy Chair

We are putting him in it a little less now because he's liking his swing now and also spends time on a blanket, but he hung out all the time in it as a newborn. I got mine for $5 off someone on craigslist. No need to pay $50-60 for one. Seriously though, you cannot hold your baby forever and my kid didn't like the baby carrier we had at the time, plus I had trouble getting anything done with a 10lb blob strapped to the front of my chest anyway. He loves sitting back in the chair, and loves when the vibration is on. Get one. And get a used one because they're fine.

Source: ebay.com

4) FENUGREEK. I have complained so many times about my low supply of breastmilk. I won't get into it in this post. Let's just say, I took the classes, did the reading, thought I would BF till a year and it would be great. baby comes. he latches fine and besides the extremely sore nips the first week or 2, we had no issues. Except I could never satisfy him. And when I pump I get very little. Getting 2 oz when he was drinking 2 oz was okay. But now things have gone down to 1 oz... and he drinks 6. Fenugreek supplements have helped. Not a lot. When I was getting 2-3 oz pumped milk, I would get an extra 1 oz. Now that I only get 1 oz pumped milk, it gives me about 1/2 oz more. But when you have low supply/trouble pumping, you are very grateful for that half ounce. So if you struggle with milk supply, get some. And take like 9 pills a day. 

Source: newhealthguide.org

5) Lanolin. I used Medela in the hospital and Lansinoh at home. Medela is thinner and Lansinoh is thicker but they both work well. Lansinoh is cheapr and cheaper is good... because everything is overpriced with a baby. By 2 weeks I didn't need it anymore because somehow the nips adjust and go back to normal. But omg... the first few days especially... it was a god-send. Nipples should never bleed, crack, and scab. But they do. THEY DO. Sidenote: lanolin is made from the sebaceous glands of sheep, yummy.

Source: target.com

6) Colic Calm (a gripe water). This isn't just for colic. It's for general fussiness and crying and when they're a mess. It's expensive ($20) and inky black. Which is ridiculous when you have a baby who spits up and drools... because then then they leave black stains on clothes. But it helped me kid. Also - gas drops. Any kind. Maybe these products don't help. But they make you think they are... and that's half the bottle battle.

Source: coliccalm.com

7) Formula
It's a controversial topic. Most lactation consultants and breastfeeding nazi's tell you not to use that stuff if you're trying to breastfeed. But, they don't live in the real world with YOUR child. Because it actually SAVED my breastfeeding relationship and also helped me to actually start bonding with my child. The first night home from the hospital, Callum SCREAMED till 7am. He was on the boob pretty much constantly. I was overwhelmed, exhausted, scared, and wondering wtf was wrong with my kid and what the heck I had gotten myself into. Finally at 7am I remembered the ready-to-use formula sample bottles we had in the cupboard. The ones that earlier that day I had "poo-poohed" saying I wouldn't need them. I also had a sample can of formula but had no idea how to make a bottle of powered formula lol, so these bottles were easier. So I, crying, broke down and gave him one (Similac for Supplementation). He chugged it and fell right asleep. I was amazed. I was relieved. I felt like a weight had been lifted. After that I still breastfed for almost every feeding. But just knowing we had some was a great security blanket. I would usually give him a 2 oz bottle at his bedtime feeding, and have Eric give him one if i was ever out. Because when you only have 1 hour between the end of 1 feeding and the start of another... if you ever do leave the house, you're pretty much guaranteed that your baby will be hungry before you make it home. I still felt guilty since everyone said not to give formula and felt like I was "sneaking" it in, but did help a little with my mental state related to my breastfeeding anxiety.

Over time though, it allowed me to RELAX. I was such an emotional, anxious mess in the beginning over his feeding that it totally interfered with bonding. I can't remember how many times I stated "I hate breastfeeding." I would cry anytime the baby started crying to eat, because I DREADED having to nurse him. Having formula available let me know that he would always get enough to eat. That I could whip out a bottle if needed, and KNOW exactly how much he was eating too. Because when you nurse, you have no clue how much your baby just drank. If I was a leaky cow like some women are, I would have just given him all pumped breastmilk. But I am not a cow-woman. 

He was mostly BF for the first month. I had a manual pump and I finally got a double electric pump around a month old. Around that time his demands were increasing, and he was eating 3-4 oz. I was still only producing 2 oz of milk when I pumped. So then I started mixing bottles of 2 oz BM and 1-2 oz formula. Again, my kid would sca-ream for hours if he didn't get all the milk he wanted. Some people are okay with that, and say to still not supplement, but I personally couldn't stand a) hearing my kid scream, and b) knowing he was hungry. So I supplemented with formula and it was good for us. I still wish I made an overabundance of milk but since I don't, I'm so glad this is available. 

PS. He's been on Similac and if you sign up for Similac Strong Moms they'll send you $5 rebate checks in the mail, plus they often have $2 off coupons. So $7 off, makes it about the same as generic. Howeverthey recently raised the price of the kind he's on...so I'll probably be switching to generic (which he's had and was fine). And FYI... ALL store brands are made by the same company, Perrigo. So walmart, target, the drug stores, wegmans brand, etc... it's the exact same formula (www.storebrandformula.com) And ALL formula in the US has to meet the same nutritional standards by law... so different brands are not as different as you think.

Source: Similac.com

If it was not for formula in the beginning to help supplement, I totally would have given up on BFing altogether. I'm so glad I am still able to BF when I can. It really is a great bonding experience now - I love laying in bed with him as he nurses and dozes. It may not fill him up like "normal" breastfeeding should, but it's like a "snack" and he's so calm and relaxed...it's just the best. So if you are pregnant and planning to breastfeed... sign up with Similac and Enfamil to get some samples sent to you. it's just good peace of mind, I'm tellin ya!

3 months old

I find it so hard to find the time to actually make updates. Callum is not a difficult baby but a) he is always hungry and b) I've decided he definitely is a first child lol. He's used to attention. If he's not hungry ( which he always seems to be) then he has to be entertained. Well, that is unfair, because he will spend time just chillin' in his bouncy chair, looking around at things. But there are times when it feels like we cannot get anything done.

SLEEP/EATING!!
His sleep has been awful. He was doing 6-7 hours a night (up 1 time a night). ugh I wish. That was a magical time. Now it's 3-4 hours (up 2x a night) and last night he was up literally every 1-2 hours (up 5 times!).
 We switched his formula a couple weeks ago from Similac Sensitive to Similac Total Comfort due to painful gas issues... and I read that that formula can cause them not to go as long between feedings. The proteins are partially broken down so I hypothesize that it just takes less time to digest. I've tried giving him bottles of the old Similac Sensitive and breastmilk before bed and he's still waking up after 3-4 hours. I don't know what the deal is. He also was up to drinking about 6 oz a feeding, every 4 hours during the day. Dear God I miss those days. Now he barely makes it 2 hours half the time and it's so random. He has no schedule no matter how hard I try. He just wants to graze and sometimes he'll take 5 oz and then another feeding he'll be screaming his head off to eat... and then only drink an ounce. He is wasting so much milk!! Yesterday we laid in bed for 2.5 hours and he nursed on and off the entire time. Hello, brusied nipples. He just loves to eat.

 I really hope he's going through a "leap" right now (anyone have the Wonder Weeks app that I'm too cheap to pay for, and tell me if he's in a leap right now??) or a growth spurt, and it's not due to pain. He's probably just being a freaken milk monster and there's nothing I can do about it till we can finally start him on solids.

So many people (mostly women over 50) tell me to give him some rice cereal in his bottle before bed. But it's not recommended to age 4-6 months old now. Granted, millions of babies (myself included) got in like that for decades and are not maimed or dead from it. But I am nervous to do before then, what if it gives him lifelong gastrointestinal issues all because I couldn't suck up a few months of exhaustion? At his 2 month appt the pedi said 4 months when I asked (which is good since some now say 6 months). Of course there are also people that say giving cereal doesn't help them with waking up but I don't believe that. Again, millions of past mothers wouldn't say it did work, if it didn't. So we will be trying it  next month (although I think I will spoon feed it instead of a bottle because I fear aspiration). We need to do something because he is just so hungry all the time!!

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
At his 2 month appt (10 weeks old) he was 12 lb 10 oz (63rd percentile) and 23.75 inches long (52nd percentile). I weighed him yesterday and the scale said 14 lbs but he's probably a little less because he had clothes. And i have to weigh him by weighing myself alone, then holding him, then subtracting the difference. At least all the milk is helping him grow well lol. I officially packed up all him 3 month clothes. I almost cried because he had the most size 3 month clothes of anything.. It's hard because literally a couple days ago he was wearing them (albeit they were already small) and now I'm packing them up... I saved a couple outfits that I just could not bear to pack away yet. He's in 3-6 month and 6 month clothes, although the 6 month are a tad big. He's in size 2 diapers. His newest thing is SHOVING his hands into his mouth. It's not in hunger. he just does it all the time and also drools while doing it. he's also been scratching his face a lot more so I've been putting mitts on him again. So now he has spit drenched mitts on his hands. He has even gave himself irritated, red skin around his mouth a few times from rubbing his little fist against his skin so many times. It's crazy! I keep checking to see if he's teething but I don't see anything in there.

He apparently rolled over from tummy to back on Monday (12 weeks, 6 days old) but he hasn't done it since and Eric says he thinks his mom (who was over) "helped" him. I was at work so I didn't see so I'm not totally counting it yet. Callum HATES tummy time with a passion. I took a video of him freaking out over it. He just laying on his stomach with his face on the floor, freaking out like a turtle stuck on it's back, till we roll him over.

LINK TO VIDEO: Callum's tummy time tantrum

DRAMA:
At his 2 month appt he got a dTap shot, hep b shot #2, and the oral rotovirus vaccine. He also "should" have gotten Hib, Pcv (pneumococcol), and IPV (polio). I just felt like that was too many to give at once. The pedi we saw was not super supportive of it. Just saying there is a lot of misinformation online and that they don't normally do alternative schedules. Also quoted the CDC by saying that the timing the CDC developed is better for building immunity (even though there are NO published research studies supporting that statement) I looked back, and at my own 2 month appt, I got 2 shots (dtap and polio). I didn't get hib till i was 2 years old. That was all based on the schedule back them. So I call BS on that statement. It's just a way to increase vaccine compliance. Because statistically, the older a kid gets, the less and less likely a parent is to bring them back in for vaccinations. So then we were supposed to take him back 2 weeks later for the rest. But the day after the shots is when he started getting the painful gas, eating weird and sleeping weird. And the eating/sleeping has never returned to normal. So I was like eff it, I'm not taking him back to just mess his system up all over again.

 So I called and canceled the appt and I'm sure at his 4 month appt we'll get a lecture about how we've "messed up" the schedule now. He's supposed to get booster shots at that appt too. Idk what to do... I've researched some more alternative vax scedule friendly pedi practices. But I really don't want to change because besides this, I like the practice and it's so close. It's also hard to find a pediatrician that is open to it and considers how you feel, without passing judgement that you're some crazy anti-vax person (which I am not). Part of me just want to wait till he's a year old and then resume the schedule like normal, just 1 year later. I really do not like the thought of all those chemicals being put into his tiny body right now.. They give you these vaccine info sheets before giving the shots, with all these crazy possible side effects. But then effectively it's like why even tell me, if I'm pretty much forced to inject my baby? I just don't like it. I want him vaccinated, but I just really do not like the CDCs schedule, it's insane to me! I wouldn't want 6 shots at once in my big body, let alone his little one. So that's the drama.


He has lost SO MUCH hair. I literally lint rolled his bassinet yesterday because of all the hair in it. I hate it!

Some pictures:

 Yes, Callum FINALLY got to go outside and see the sun! He loved going on a walk and getting to look around, and the bumpy rhythem of the sidewalk was soothing to him. And his body was like "OMG what is this Vitamin D? It was 50 degrees on Tuesday afternoon and then by Wednesday we had the crazy blizzard (and snow day)so his time outside was short lived.

Tummy time, first time outside/going for a walk, 3 month picture.

me and Callum on 3/11/14 - 3 months, 1 day old.