bottles of breastmilk...a review

Since Cole was born 5 weeks early most of his feedings involve a bottle of pumped breast milk.  We have been trying to nurse more lately but to ensure he is getting enough milk each day we have been pretty attached to bottles.  When he first started bottle feeding I noticed he was spitting up and even vomiting at times after eating, almost like it was too much milk too fast for him and the minutes even hours of feedings became quite a mess.  So we tried tons of different bottles to try to reduce the spit up and found a few that helped and a ton that didn't help along the way.  So, when I was asked to try out The First Years Breastflow Bottles I jumped at the chance...   The starter set arrived and comes with two 5 oz. bottles with slow flow nipples, two 9 oz. bottles with medium flow nipples, 4 storage lids (LOVE), a container for formula or snacks, and a bottle brush.  We tried them out for a few days and Cole did great with them!  There was definitely less spit up and fussiness after feedings.  So excited to find a bottle that works!

Pros:  

• Mimics the feel of breastfeeding
• Baby Controls the Flow - this seems to be key to less spit up
• Dishwasher Safe

Cons:

• So many parts - any bottle with more than 2 parts is that much tougher to clean - means you have to dissemble and reassemble each feeding - can be time consuming.

'm still on the hunt for a 2 piece bottle that reduces spit up - any suggestions are welcome

The First Years Breastflow Bottles are available on Amazon.

(please note that while this is a sponsored post, the words and review are all my own)

My Newborn Must-Haves for Baby #2

With my first baby, I painfully poured over reviews to find the best stroller, bassinet, swaddle, and bath tub.  I bought everything under the sun from all the major retailers.  With my second baby I have really focused in on only a few things that you won’t find in any big box store…

1.     Dockatot – this is at the top of my list for a number of reasons.  My 1st reason being that sleeping through the night is not only good for everyone involved, it is imperative when you also have a toddler running around in the morning.  I know that this maternity leave will be way different from the first and having a baby that sleeps will make everything so much easier…I also love the mobility of the Dockatot from room to room, a must-have quality for baby gear!

2.     The Ollie Swaddle – I found out about this swaddle a little while after my first child turned 6 months and was no longer swaddling and I vowed that I would scoop this swaddle up for baby #2.  I love that it is made of moisture wicking fabric to reduce the risk of overheating.  The reviews tell all with this one – when it comes to babies sleeping for long stretches since birth or even though the night - parents swear by it.

3.     The Puj Tub – I realized pretty quickly that having a toddler and newborn wasn’t going to be easy and I am pretty determined to still spend as much time with my toddler as I can so we have decided to combine bath time by bathing my toddler in the tub and the newborn in the sink using the amazing Puj Tub.  Don’t be deceived by its looks – it is made from soft foam that cradles and comforts baby while allowing parents to stand (AMAZING!!!) during bath time.

4.     Nursing Necklace – after a few months of breastfeeding, babies will start to claw and pinch at your neck and your face making nursing a daunting task.  With Baby #2 I invested in some stylish nursing necklaces from The Vintage Honey Shop to give baby something to focus and grab onto while nursing and even babywearing (which I plan to do a lot of).

5.     A Nursing Cover/Carseat Cover/Shopping Cart Cover/Scarf from Covered Goods – I cannot wait to use this one!  The 4-in-1 versatility makes it an absolute must-have.  I dread nursing in public and hope that the Covered Goods cover with the 360 degree coverage will make this task a little easier as I know it will be something I won’t be able to avoid with an active toddler running around.

6.     Binxy Baby Shopping Cart Hammock –I thought I would just want to be home during those first few months after having a baby but it was easy to get cabin fever and sometimes you just need to get out of the house.  My favorite place to go other than for a walk in the stoller was a therapeutic trip to Target.  Since you should never prop the infant carseat up on the shopping cart and putting the carseat in the shopping cart then leaves no space for much needed purchases – the Binxy Baby Hammock cradles the baby (or the carseat) making shopping with a newborn no longer a stressful outing.

Simplify, simplify, simplify is my motto for Baby #2.  We don’t need a ton of different bassinets, strollers, and baby seats.  Just a few key items to make life with a newborn and a toddler a little bit easier…

...this post was originally written for The Vintage Honey Shop

A letter to my 1st child...

You made me a mom...that first minute when I held you, I knew my life would never be the same.  Everyday I still can't believe how much you have grown, how sweet you are, and how you seem to get cuter with every second.  I have watched you become best friends with your dad, laugh harder than I thought possible, and fall madly in love with books.  I have felt you hug me like you might never let go.  I have watched your face completely light up when I pick you up from school and it takes everything I have not to tear up each time you run so fast into my arms.  It makes the entire day...worth it.

Your little brother is going to be here in a few short months and while I worry about life with two children, changing 100 diapers a day, and when to move you out of the nursery...I worry most about you.  You are my heart, my everything, my sweet sweet boy.  I worry that for one millisecond you won't feel as loved as you do now, I worry that you will feel neglected, even for just a moment when the baby comes.  And my goodness if you do, I won't know how I will forgive myself.  

You deserve the world and your world is about to change...luckily you don't have any idea right now how much...and there are days I wish I could truly explain it to you.  But the thing is...I don't really know myself.

I promise to always hug you the minute I see you.  I promise to always make time for you, even on the busiest of days.  I promise to always read that extra book, sing that extra song, or take that extra time to just snuggle with you.  I promise to still be the best mom I can be to you, even though my heart and hands will be a little fuller.

I worry so much...some days I feel like you don't deserve this.  You don't deserve to have your life turned upside down so soon...you deserve more time as an only child.  Other times I think about what an amazing gift it will be to have a brother to look up to you, to build forts with, and to most importantly be your best friend.  

I truly hope that the good will outweigh the bad and our family growing by one more will bring with it more snuggles, more laughter, and more love.  I hope that you feel just as loved every second of the day as you do now and always know that you will always be my baby.

love, mom

the soother that soothes...

We have had the Sea Dreams soother in Mason's crib for about 10 months now and I can honestly say it is one of my all time favorite baby items (also on that list is the beloved Exersaucer which he has sadly grown out of).  It soothes him to sleep at bedtime, if he wakes up in the middle of the night he hits the button and the music and lights soothe him right back to sleep.  In the mornings when he wakes up he hits the button and goes back to sleep for another 20-30 minutes.  He uses the light some mornings to sit and read before we come in the room and other times we just catch him in the monitor watching the sea creature show on the soother screen.  He has started to associate the music with falling asleep and it has been our lives so much easier.

The other day we realized that we haven't heard him cry out in the morning for us to come get him in weeks.  He just sits or stands in his crib with the soother on until we come get him....we would never really even know he was up without a monitor.

Whether your child sleeps through the night or is up all night tossing and turning....this soother is a must-have.  It teaches baby to soothe without you needing to physically go in their room which equals more sleep for parents and more time for coffee in the morning before they wake up and the day really starts.  It also comes with a remote so you can turn on the soother from the door without even getting near the crib (genius!).  

bath time with baby...

Bath time (or Bath, Bath, Bath as we call it in our house) we realized early on was essential to creating a routine with Mason and signaling bedtime which ultimately led to sleeping through the night.  

Bath time starts out as a harrowing and daunting task with a newborn that can't even hold up their own head.  Thankfully we found an infant tub with a sling type apparatus that allowed Mason to just sort of lounge during his bath and made our lives so much easier.

The sling tub lasted for months and was amazing, when Mason started to grow out of it around 7 months old and also started to sit up we moved to the Munckin blow-up Duck tub which we had a love-hate relationship with.  We loved that it only took a few minutes to fill up and was padded on all sides but Mason could not keep his cool around this bright yellow thing.  He attacked the head, constantly kicked, and was always trying to catapult out of the back of it.  We were elbow deep in this thing just trying to keep him from injuring himself.  

Then, at around 11 months old, we graduated to the regular bath tub and it was an incredibly calming experience.  He was not as distracted as he was with the duck bath and just hung out, played with a few toys, and splashed a little here and there.  For the first time, bath time was not stressful for either of us...I just wished we put him in the regular bath sooner...

At now 14 months were are teaching him (daily) not to stand up while  in the big boy bathtub but with the addition of about a thousand toys we are managing...

My must-haves for bath time:

• 0-7 months or longer - Summer Infant Tub - this was AMAZING!
• Washcloth Mitt - one that you put your hand through - makes life so much easier!
• Johnson's Baby Bedtime Bubble Bath & Wash - great Lavendar scent helps baby fall fast asleep
• Honest Company Shampoo & Body Wash - love the smell and love that we can use it as a body wash and shampoo, never dried out Mason's skin and is great for adults too!
• Skiphop Bath Kneeler & Elbow Rest - some of the best money we ever spent.
• Oversized Bathmat - now that he is in the big boy bath helps him not to slip and slide all over the place
• Shampoo Rinser - any will do - we have this one from Munchkin
• Hooded Bath towel(s) - Love the oversized ones that will last for years
• Toys!!!  Mason loves this tugboat from Green Toys and of course the squirt toys like these
• Toy Catcher - I love this one from Munchkin that also works as a scoop!

8 things you can no longer do (easily) once you have a baby...

I would not change this life for anything, but sometimes I find myself dreaming of my life before having a baby...basically doing whatever I wanted, when I wanted to.  I look at expectant moms and I want to yell "sleep in! sleep in for as long as you can!" as they walk around completely clueless to the life they are about to leave behind...

Here is my list of a few things that you can no longer do (easily) once you have a baby that no one told me about:

1. You can no longer leave the house past baby's bedtime (for us this means 7:30pm).  After bedtime, we are home.  There are no dinner's out, movies, or trips to the bar on a whim - the exception being nights with a babysitter which you need to plan ahead for and of course pay for and with that, all spontaneaty is lost.
2. You are now stuck with only eating at kid friendly restaurants.  I try very hard not to be the parents dragging my child to non-kid friendly restaurants where he will inevitably have a complete meltdown.  We are now regulated to a few restaurants and our days of fine dining seem to have ended abruptly.
3. You will miss sleeping in, waking up whenever you feel like it, leisurely drinking coffee in the morning, and thinking about what you might do that day.  That is no longer possible, your days are now completely planned out and controlled, by a small child.  The words leisurely and sleeping are no longer in your vocabulary.
4. Napping during the day is a thing of the past.  You nap when they nap if you ever want to nap.  And you wake up when they wake up.
5. Showering when you want is now a thing of the past.  Showers are quickly taken in under 5 minutes either right after bedtime or before baby awakes in the morning.  Showers while they are awake are about 2 minutes long and include a heavy dose of guilt as well.
6. Tired is now a constant feeling and not something you only used to feel sometimes during the week before having a baby.  We walk around like zombies some days, barely talking to one another just going through the motions until we can fall asleep again.  Taking care of a baby, especially a mobile one, is completely and utterly exhausting.  And if your baby wakes up even once during the night, you mine as well not even go to work the next day - life is miserable.
7. Getting out of the house takes twice as long and you will always forget something.  I run around like a crazy person before leaving the house...grabbing everything in sight I think we might need.  A quick trip to the grocery store is now an hour long ordeal complete with a diaper blowout right as baby is strapped into the car seat. 
8. Being alone...something so simple that happened so often before a baby is now extremely hard to come by and revered upon as so special.  Me time used to be all the time before baby, now its something I have to plan for days in a advance to pull off successfully.

While my days are now monopolized by a one year old, being his Mom is by far better than any date night, nap, or shower...Again...I wouldn't change a thing...except maybe an extra hour of sleep each day.