whyohwhyohwhy did i wait so long to make baby food? THIS STUFF IS AWESOME. for her, i mean. but maybe also for me? could be, her applesauce is DAMN good.
i guess i was just lazy, that is the only conceivable reason i can see why people would actually buy baby food instead of making their own. since it isn't really that difficult and it is more inconvenient to go to the supermarket every time the baby needs food and Lord knows it is insanely cheaper to make it. i did want those little plastic lidded containers that the gerber baby foods come in and all things considered i'm glad i have them.
i made carrots and applesauce yesterday, butternut squash (hannah's favorite!) and turkey today. i'm planning on doing some broccoli and green beans later today, but all the ice cube trays are full right now. carrots i steamed into oblivion on the stove - i usually do mine to crsip-tender, about 8 minutes, but hers i did for 25 so they would be soft enough to puree up nicely. apples i peeled, cored, and sliced (just like for apple crisp), covered with plastic wrap and stuck in the microwave for 2 minutes per apple with about a teaspoon of water per apple. butternut squash i also did in the microwave for about 12 minutes under plastic wrap. the turkey was leftover from dinner the other night. then i just stuck them in the food processor until they were nicely pureed. the applesauce i did add about a teaspoon of lemon juice (for 3 apples) to keep them from discoloring, and the turkey needed a good bit of breastmilk to make a decent puree because it gets so dry in the refrigerator. then i just spooned the puree into ice cube trays, froze them, and then popped them out into little bags. i figure one cube is about what she eats for breakfast and about half of what she eats at night.
there's no extra crap in them, not even the water that gerber adds to thin out their puree. just plain old goodness. how awesome is that? i figure too, that if for some reason we don't get through the food i make for her - if she's decides she's allergic to something or refuses to eat something and i can't trick her into opening her mouth - it's just fruit and vegetable puree. i can add it to meatloaf, soup, smoothies, pasta sauce.
i am so wicked excited by this. it's kind of eyebrow-raising to see me. i'm on a bit of a tear. maybe because we will be making another big milk donation in the next day or so and i'm feeling like my freezer won't be full enough?
a friend told me that you're not supposed to freeze baby food in uncovered ice cube trays because the nutrients escape. it would be just my luck if this were true, especially since i don't believe it. how do they escape? do the vitamins evaporate? do they grow legs and walk away?
Showing posts with label green baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green baby. Show all posts
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
diaper sprayer tutorial
if you are going to use cloth diapers, you'll eventually want a diaper sprayer. once we started hannah on solids, her bowel movements got a bit firmer and i did not want to put that in my washer. swishing in the toilet got very old very quickly, so i built myself a diaper sprayer. it was insanely easy, and i am so ridiculously proud of myself. a friend had suggested i could make my own very inexpensively. it cost me about $25 to make; apparently you can buy them for about twice the price and i'm thinking the only difference is that those might look a little more streamlined.
this one is from pottypail.com. it retails for $34 plus $6 s&h and you still have to do some assembly/installation. mine was cheaper and required minimal additional effort.
i actually did not use jaimey's instructions, i just could not understand them. sorry jaimey! the general idea is about the same though (i think) and there is a great video tutorial here. first, shut off the water at the main valve behind the toilet, and flush the toilet once or twice to drain the tank. then disconnect the supply line from the tank and the water pipe. you will need a flexible supply line to install your diaper sprayer; you might have to look for a toilet in your home that has a flexible line. i put ours in the upstairs bathroom closest to hannah's room.
you will need two 3/8" barb adapters; one 3/8" x 3/8" x 3/8" tee barb connector; five 1/4" - 5/8" hose clamps; one kitchen sprayer assembly; and one ball valve. the ball valve should be either 1/4" or 3/8", depending on the size of the threaded end (MIP) of the barb adapters. i got 1/4" because the 3/8" valve looked bulkier. also, you may want to measure your toilet supply line to be sure that you don't need a 1/2" tee barb connector, but apparently only about 5% of homes in america have 1/2" connectors.
you will also need a hacksaw or a small hand saw, a couple monkey wrenches or a set of crescent wrenches, a screwdriver for the hose clamps (usually flathead), and some teflon tape. you might also want a hook to hang the sprayer on the wall; i just used a large cup hook that i bent a bit more open with a pair of pliers. i thought about taking pictures while i was making this, but i was so excited to get it done that i just did it.
using a hacksaw, cut the supply line in half. cut the fitting end off the kitchen sprayer assembly as close as possible to the fitting (you want as much tubing as possible), and then cut the tubing again about six inches down from the spray nozzle. you will end up with a spray nozzle with a short bit of tubing attached, and a long piece of tubing with nothing on either end.
slide a loosened hose clamp onto one of the supply line pieces, then work one end of the tee barb into the hose. do the same for the other side of the supply line and tighten the clamps with the screwdriver.
wrap the threaded ends of the barb adapters with teflon tape, then slide a loosened hose clamp onto the tubing attached to the spray nozzle. work the barb end of one adapter into the tubing, then tighten the clamp. do the same for one end of the rest of the tubing, then slide a hose clamp onto the other end, work it onto the third end of the tee barb, and tighten the clamp.
screw one end of the ball valve onto one of the threaded ends of the barb adapters in the sprayer tubing and tighten with the wrenches. you will need two wrenches, one to hold the tubing and one to tighten the valve. do the same to connect the other end of the ball valve to the sprayer tubing.
now your assembly is complete and you just need to reinstall your jury-rigged supply line back onto the water line and the toilet tank.
turn the water back on a little and open the valve, then spray the sprayer. you will probably need to play with the valve to see how much water pressure you need to spray your diapers.
the purpose of the ball valve is to prevent constant water pressue on the kitchen sprayer. the sprayer is just plastic and i did not want anything in the sprayer to fail and cause a flood. when the red lever is sticking out, the valve is closed; i just line up the lever with the tubing to open the valve and "turn on" the sprayer.
you can see i just screwed that mug hook into the wall to hold the sprayer. apparently this is also good for rinsing kiddos while they are taking a bath, though the water is not heated so i don't see why you'd want to spray your kids with freezing cold water. personally i think this will also be awesome for spraying down the tub/shower when i'm cleaning it.
all total this project took me about twenty minutes from start to finish.
i know it isn't a huge thing, building and installing this sprayer, but if you would like to come to my house and marvel at my handiwork you're more than welcome to!!
update: i used it for the first time last week and it works GREAT!! yay! also, i was thinking - this is a very easy thing to take with you if you move. just shut off the water to the toilet, take off the jury-rigged supply line/sprayer assembly, and reinstall a new (uncut) supply line. you could also easily install one in an apartment, just like you would your favorite showerhead.
cross-posted at éireann
this one is from pottypail.com. it retails for $34 plus $6 s&h and you still have to do some assembly/installation. mine was cheaper and required minimal additional effort.
i actually did not use jaimey's instructions, i just could not understand them. sorry jaimey! the general idea is about the same though (i think) and there is a great video tutorial here. first, shut off the water at the main valve behind the toilet, and flush the toilet once or twice to drain the tank. then disconnect the supply line from the tank and the water pipe. you will need a flexible supply line to install your diaper sprayer; you might have to look for a toilet in your home that has a flexible line. i put ours in the upstairs bathroom closest to hannah's room.
you will need two 3/8" barb adapters; one 3/8" x 3/8" x 3/8" tee barb connector; five 1/4" - 5/8" hose clamps; one kitchen sprayer assembly; and one ball valve. the ball valve should be either 1/4" or 3/8", depending on the size of the threaded end (MIP) of the barb adapters. i got 1/4" because the 3/8" valve looked bulkier. also, you may want to measure your toilet supply line to be sure that you don't need a 1/2" tee barb connector, but apparently only about 5% of homes in america have 1/2" connectors.
you will also need a hacksaw or a small hand saw, a couple monkey wrenches or a set of crescent wrenches, a screwdriver for the hose clamps (usually flathead), and some teflon tape. you might also want a hook to hang the sprayer on the wall; i just used a large cup hook that i bent a bit more open with a pair of pliers. i thought about taking pictures while i was making this, but i was so excited to get it done that i just did it.
using a hacksaw, cut the supply line in half. cut the fitting end off the kitchen sprayer assembly as close as possible to the fitting (you want as much tubing as possible), and then cut the tubing again about six inches down from the spray nozzle. you will end up with a spray nozzle with a short bit of tubing attached, and a long piece of tubing with nothing on either end.
slide a loosened hose clamp onto one of the supply line pieces, then work one end of the tee barb into the hose. do the same for the other side of the supply line and tighten the clamps with the screwdriver.
wrap the threaded ends of the barb adapters with teflon tape, then slide a loosened hose clamp onto the tubing attached to the spray nozzle. work the barb end of one adapter into the tubing, then tighten the clamp. do the same for one end of the rest of the tubing, then slide a hose clamp onto the other end, work it onto the third end of the tee barb, and tighten the clamp.
screw one end of the ball valve onto one of the threaded ends of the barb adapters in the sprayer tubing and tighten with the wrenches. you will need two wrenches, one to hold the tubing and one to tighten the valve. do the same to connect the other end of the ball valve to the sprayer tubing.
now your assembly is complete and you just need to reinstall your jury-rigged supply line back onto the water line and the toilet tank.
turn the water back on a little and open the valve, then spray the sprayer. you will probably need to play with the valve to see how much water pressure you need to spray your diapers.
the purpose of the ball valve is to prevent constant water pressue on the kitchen sprayer. the sprayer is just plastic and i did not want anything in the sprayer to fail and cause a flood. when the red lever is sticking out, the valve is closed; i just line up the lever with the tubing to open the valve and "turn on" the sprayer.
you can see i just screwed that mug hook into the wall to hold the sprayer. apparently this is also good for rinsing kiddos while they are taking a bath, though the water is not heated so i don't see why you'd want to spray your kids with freezing cold water. personally i think this will also be awesome for spraying down the tub/shower when i'm cleaning it.
all total this project took me about twenty minutes from start to finish.
i know it isn't a huge thing, building and installing this sprayer, but if you would like to come to my house and marvel at my handiwork you're more than welcome to!!
update: i used it for the first time last week and it works GREAT!! yay! also, i was thinking - this is a very easy thing to take with you if you move. just shut off the water to the toilet, take off the jury-rigged supply line/sprayer assembly, and reinstall a new (uncut) supply line. you could also easily install one in an apartment, just like you would your favorite showerhead.
cross-posted at éireann
Thursday, September 10, 2009
cloth diapers
love my baby in cloth diapers. L.O.V.E. them.
we actually don't use only the gdiapers that i raved about. (sarah also raved about them here.) i think maybe a lot of people using cloth do this, have multiple different diapers that they use. our multiples are handmade which thrills me to no end. add that to the thrill of having tk in cloth diapers and you just might see my head explode.
i had mentioned a long time back how my mother was sewing diapers for the upcoming baby; once she arrived we discovered that they did not work so well. they leaked all over the place, because even though they were plastic lined, once the flannel inside got wet there was no stopping the moisture from spreading out the legs. my poor mother. you have to give her credit though, this was her first foray into diaper-making and she handled this setback well: she went right back to the drawing board and got some different fabrics. she made some more, we tested them, tweaked them, perfected the design, tightened up the elastic (she seems to be afraid of elastic, but i think you can't be if you want the diapers to work), and lo, we have a fabulous diaper!
it's a pretty basic diaper design, but what you can't see are the pockets on the inside edges (front and back) to hold the soaker, so the soaker can just be changed out and the diaper itself reused if it's still dry. that was a little design tweak that she ripped off from the gdiapers and modified and i love it. we have a couple in this pretty peach and a couple in a beautiful mint green too.
this one was a gift from my friend jaimey. isn't it fun? her design is one-size, so the velcro waistband is very large so that it can expand as the kiddo grows. the top also snaps down so that the diaper can be elongated as the kiddo grows, too. isn't that clever?
when she sent them, hannah was kind of swimming in them, so we have not used them yet. also, with jaimey's diapers you can just lay the soaker into the middle, or you can slip it into a pocket in the back (in between the lining fabric and the outer waterproof fabric) for an all-in-one diaper. i'm telling you, CLEVER.
this one is also from jaimey and it is my absolute favorite of all the diapers we have. ohmygosh is that print not the. best. EVER. i just love it. and yes, she'll make you some too! you can find her diapers here.
my mother also slipped a pattern off the gdiapers that i have so we could make our own! she made one and sent it to me and it is absolutely adorable. i forgot to take a picture of it though. who knew one could get this worked up and excited over something the baby poops in?
also, i made wet bags! they were insanely simple so i don't know why i am so ridiculously excited about them, but i am. i made four for carrying around with us, with a drawstring closure on the top and cord stops to keep the wet diapers from leaking out. i also made two (waterproof) cloth liners for my diaper dekor diaper pail. we had specifically chosen this pail because it did NOT wrap the diapers individually like the diaper genie does. can you imagine having to undo each one of those before washing? no thank you. the refills for the diaper dekor are not insanely expensive - $14.99 for two, and one refill lasts about two months - but why pay for it when you don't have to? so i made two liners - one for the pail, and one to put on the pail when the other liner is in the wash. it's not like we have to do any extra laundry to wash the pail liner, so why buy them?
we actually don't use only the gdiapers that i raved about. (sarah also raved about them here.) i think maybe a lot of people using cloth do this, have multiple different diapers that they use. our multiples are handmade which thrills me to no end. add that to the thrill of having tk in cloth diapers and you just might see my head explode.
i had mentioned a long time back how my mother was sewing diapers for the upcoming baby; once she arrived we discovered that they did not work so well. they leaked all over the place, because even though they were plastic lined, once the flannel inside got wet there was no stopping the moisture from spreading out the legs. my poor mother. you have to give her credit though, this was her first foray into diaper-making and she handled this setback well: she went right back to the drawing board and got some different fabrics. she made some more, we tested them, tweaked them, perfected the design, tightened up the elastic (she seems to be afraid of elastic, but i think you can't be if you want the diapers to work), and lo, we have a fabulous diaper!
it's a pretty basic diaper design, but what you can't see are the pockets on the inside edges (front and back) to hold the soaker, so the soaker can just be changed out and the diaper itself reused if it's still dry. that was a little design tweak that she ripped off from the gdiapers and modified and i love it. we have a couple in this pretty peach and a couple in a beautiful mint green too.
this one was a gift from my friend jaimey. isn't it fun? her design is one-size, so the velcro waistband is very large so that it can expand as the kiddo grows. the top also snaps down so that the diaper can be elongated as the kiddo grows, too. isn't that clever?
when she sent them, hannah was kind of swimming in them, so we have not used them yet. also, with jaimey's diapers you can just lay the soaker into the middle, or you can slip it into a pocket in the back (in between the lining fabric and the outer waterproof fabric) for an all-in-one diaper. i'm telling you, CLEVER.
this one is also from jaimey and it is my absolute favorite of all the diapers we have. ohmygosh is that print not the. best. EVER. i just love it. and yes, she'll make you some too! you can find her diapers here.
my mother also slipped a pattern off the gdiapers that i have so we could make our own! she made one and sent it to me and it is absolutely adorable. i forgot to take a picture of it though. who knew one could get this worked up and excited over something the baby poops in?
also, i made wet bags! they were insanely simple so i don't know why i am so ridiculously excited about them, but i am. i made four for carrying around with us, with a drawstring closure on the top and cord stops to keep the wet diapers from leaking out. i also made two (waterproof) cloth liners for my diaper dekor diaper pail. we had specifically chosen this pail because it did NOT wrap the diapers individually like the diaper genie does. can you imagine having to undo each one of those before washing? no thank you. the refills for the diaper dekor are not insanely expensive - $14.99 for two, and one refill lasts about two months - but why pay for it when you don't have to? so i made two liners - one for the pail, and one to put on the pail when the other liner is in the wash. it's not like we have to do any extra laundry to wash the pail liner, so why buy them?
Friday, July 17, 2009
diaper update
much to my chagrin we are still not 100% into cloth diapers. we're getting a little closer every day though. i have a couple cloth diapers that my mother sewed that are a little big still, and a couple that need the elastic adjusted as they leak at the legs otherwise. and then i have my gdiapers. i mentioned before that i would report back on how i liked them once we started using them, so here you are.
i don't work for gdiapers and i'm not affiliated with them in any way. and i'm actually not using the ones i bought from them last month, either. the kiddo is only 12 pounds so doesn't fit the medium size i purchased. however i did find some in the small size on craigslist, which is what we have been using. and i love them.
LOVE. them. L.O.V.E. love them.
they do not leak. they are so cute and look like they are pretty comfy on tk. very easy to use and quite a clever system, with the polyester snap-in liner and the flushable pad. and those flushies? FABULOUS. i love flushing her poop away just like mine. no smelly diaper pail anymore! our diaper pail now holds only cloth stuff (wipes, changing pad liners, dirty diaper covers), which is how we intended it to be in the first place anyways. GREAT.
on the downside, those CUTE covers are not cheap. (SO lusting after these ones for tk, how ADORABLE are those?) i know cloth diapers in and of themselves are not cheap to begin with, but still. neither are those flushies. they work out to about 40c each, which is more than regular disposables, even the pennies-pricier nature babycare sposies that i prefer. so while i like the flushies and they are quite convenient, i think i'll save them for "special occasions," like when we go on vacation this winter and i won't have access to a washing machine when the diaper stash gets low. it's nice to be green and all, but i just can't afford to use gdiapers at that price, even with coupons.
fortunately i came up with a solution: cloth inserts instead of flushable ones. other cloth diaper brands do it all the time, so why couldn't i with these? i cut out three layers of terrycloth the same size as a flushie and stitched them all together. the terrycloth fits into the snap-in liner just the same as a flushie does, but i can wash and re-use these. three layers is nicely absorbent without becoming overly bulky.
then i discovered that gdiapers had just come out with washable cloth liners, just like me.
so that's where we are on the diapering issue. i don't have a ton of cloth liners, so we can only use them for about a day and a half before we have to switch to flushies or sposies. the cloth liners work great and i think are really the only way gdiapers could be cost effective as a cloth diaper. the flushies are great to use and all, a fabulous idea (the hybrid diaper - love it), but just don't fit into our budget on a regular basis.
i don't work for gdiapers and i'm not affiliated with them in any way. and i'm actually not using the ones i bought from them last month, either. the kiddo is only 12 pounds so doesn't fit the medium size i purchased. however i did find some in the small size on craigslist, which is what we have been using. and i love them.
LOVE. them. L.O.V.E. love them.
they do not leak. they are so cute and look like they are pretty comfy on tk. very easy to use and quite a clever system, with the polyester snap-in liner and the flushable pad. and those flushies? FABULOUS. i love flushing her poop away just like mine. no smelly diaper pail anymore! our diaper pail now holds only cloth stuff (wipes, changing pad liners, dirty diaper covers), which is how we intended it to be in the first place anyways. GREAT.
on the downside, those CUTE covers are not cheap. (SO lusting after these ones for tk, how ADORABLE are those?) i know cloth diapers in and of themselves are not cheap to begin with, but still. neither are those flushies. they work out to about 40c each, which is more than regular disposables, even the pennies-pricier nature babycare sposies that i prefer. so while i like the flushies and they are quite convenient, i think i'll save them for "special occasions," like when we go on vacation this winter and i won't have access to a washing machine when the diaper stash gets low. it's nice to be green and all, but i just can't afford to use gdiapers at that price, even with coupons.
fortunately i came up with a solution: cloth inserts instead of flushable ones. other cloth diaper brands do it all the time, so why couldn't i with these? i cut out three layers of terrycloth the same size as a flushie and stitched them all together. the terrycloth fits into the snap-in liner just the same as a flushie does, but i can wash and re-use these. three layers is nicely absorbent without becoming overly bulky.
then i discovered that gdiapers had just come out with washable cloth liners, just like me.
so that's where we are on the diapering issue. i don't have a ton of cloth liners, so we can only use them for about a day and a half before we have to switch to flushies or sposies. the cloth liners work great and i think are really the only way gdiapers could be cost effective as a cloth diaper. the flushies are great to use and all, a fabulous idea (the hybrid diaper - love it), but just don't fit into our budget on a regular basis.
Monday, June 22, 2009
gdiapers
if you're at all interested in cloth diapering, pop on over to my friend jaimey's blog and get in touch with her about gdiapers' everyday g's contest. i've never used gdiapers and i'm excited for the chance to try them out. i love that the liner is flushable and compostable as well - green and convenient.
update: if you have never tried gdiapers, now is the time! i ordered mine and am SO excited for them to come so i can start using them. i'll give a full report when we start, which will not be until kiddo hits 13 lbs. though, to fit into the medium size that we ordered. (she's already 11½ lbs. so it won't be long.) in the meantime, use coupon code g628Buquet to get $30 off a 6-pack of everyday g's. that's 44% savings! awesome!
speaking of green and convenient, we've been trying different brands and so far my favorite disposable diapers are made by nature babycare. we are still in 'sposies as we currently only have two cloth diapers that work without leaking. my mother is sewing up a storm down south and hopefully we'll be able to transition into cloth full-time when she comes up to visit in a couple weeks. in the meantime, the nature babycare are pretty nice as far as 'sposies go. much nicer than the huggies pure & natural that had previously held first place. according to the package and the website, the nature babycare are also compostable/degradable, so i feel [marginally] less guilty about throwing them out.
my problem with 'sposies is not just the impact on the environment but also just the sheer waste - i pay all this money for something the kiddo is just going to poop and pee in, and then i throw that money in the garbage with the poop. it just kills me. even more so when we have times like last night, when i took off her diaper for her bath and discovered that she had barely used it. a tiny bit of poop and pee. of course, i can't put that back on her, so in the trash it goes and i didn't even get my money's worth of poop- and pee-holding-capability. so, keep your fingers crossed that we can be in cloth as soon as possible, it will save my sanity.
update: if you have never tried gdiapers, now is the time! i ordered mine and am SO excited for them to come so i can start using them. i'll give a full report when we start, which will not be until kiddo hits 13 lbs. though, to fit into the medium size that we ordered. (she's already 11½ lbs. so it won't be long.) in the meantime, use coupon code g628Buquet to get $30 off a 6-pack of everyday g's. that's 44% savings! awesome!
speaking of green and convenient, we've been trying different brands and so far my favorite disposable diapers are made by nature babycare. we are still in 'sposies as we currently only have two cloth diapers that work without leaking. my mother is sewing up a storm down south and hopefully we'll be able to transition into cloth full-time when she comes up to visit in a couple weeks. in the meantime, the nature babycare are pretty nice as far as 'sposies go. much nicer than the huggies pure & natural that had previously held first place. according to the package and the website, the nature babycare are also compostable/degradable, so i feel [marginally] less guilty about throwing them out.
my problem with 'sposies is not just the impact on the environment but also just the sheer waste - i pay all this money for something the kiddo is just going to poop and pee in, and then i throw that money in the garbage with the poop. it just kills me. even more so when we have times like last night, when i took off her diaper for her bath and discovered that she had barely used it. a tiny bit of poop and pee. of course, i can't put that back on her, so in the trash it goes and i didn't even get my money's worth of poop- and pee-holding-capability. so, keep your fingers crossed that we can be in cloth as soon as possible, it will save my sanity.
Friday, May 29, 2009
can't think of anything at the moment.
hannah's baby shower cake made it onto cake wrecks! inordinately excited about this.
hannah's two-week appointment was yesterday and everything looks good. she has gained a pound over last week and a half an inch over her birth length. the nurse thinks so little because her conehead has disappeared and the extra length from that was probably counted in her 20" birth length; she was probably a little bit less. other than a bad case of diaper rash, she is perfectly healthy and happy.
and not only am i in love with my baby toiletries, but i got props on them from the doctor yesterday! she said specifically that my bum cream was great for her diaper rash, and mentioned that commercial baby wipes can sometimes aggravate diaper rash. i said that we were using cloth wipes instead, wet with either plain water or water with aloe vera gel, which she also heartily approved of. yay for me!
we're trying to start her on a good sleep schedule, but it's difficult. she's only three weeks old, after all. i'm not sure if it's too early to start but i figure we can at least try. i figure she needs to get used to sleeping in her crib, especially at night, and she needs to learn that nighttime is when we sleep and not when we are awake and needing to be cuddled and loved on. not that i don't want to cuddle and love on her, just that i want my sleep as well and the sooner she learns about sleeping at night, the easier life is going to be for mama and daddy and on her in the long run.
in other news, trying not to be too frustrated over brian's response to the baby. he gets very frustrated when she cries, especially when he can't stop it right away. he wants to cuddle her but only when she's quiet, and gets annoyed that "she just wants her mommy." i know he loves her - he's completely smitten - but i think he will like her a lot more when she can respond to him, when he can do something silly and make her smile at him.
hannah's two-week appointment was yesterday and everything looks good. she has gained a pound over last week and a half an inch over her birth length. the nurse thinks so little because her conehead has disappeared and the extra length from that was probably counted in her 20" birth length; she was probably a little bit less. other than a bad case of diaper rash, she is perfectly healthy and happy.
and not only am i in love with my baby toiletries, but i got props on them from the doctor yesterday! she said specifically that my bum cream was great for her diaper rash, and mentioned that commercial baby wipes can sometimes aggravate diaper rash. i said that we were using cloth wipes instead, wet with either plain water or water with aloe vera gel, which she also heartily approved of. yay for me!
we're trying to start her on a good sleep schedule, but it's difficult. she's only three weeks old, after all. i'm not sure if it's too early to start but i figure we can at least try. i figure she needs to get used to sleeping in her crib, especially at night, and she needs to learn that nighttime is when we sleep and not when we are awake and needing to be cuddled and loved on. not that i don't want to cuddle and love on her, just that i want my sleep as well and the sooner she learns about sleeping at night, the easier life is going to be for mama and daddy and on her in the long run.
in other news, trying not to be too frustrated over brian's response to the baby. he gets very frustrated when she cries, especially when he can't stop it right away. he wants to cuddle her but only when she's quiet, and gets annoyed that "she just wants her mommy." i know he loves her - he's completely smitten - but i think he will like her a lot more when she can respond to him, when he can do something silly and make her smile at him.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
sort of green baby (so far)
updat on how things sre going on the green baby front:
1. love love LOVE my baby toiletries, especially the bum cream. her poor little crack was getting so red and rashy and in thirteen years she will probably die of embarrassment that her mother mentioned her bottom on the internet. the bum cream came out just the way i wanted it, soft and creamy and hallelujah IT WORKS. she still has a bit of rash (something i am attributing more to the 'sposies than the cream, more on those in a moment) but the majority of it cleared up within a day. i also love the lotion, it is nice and light and not greasy or anything. her feet were a little flaky for some reason and the lotion is very nice on them. and she got her first bath the other day with mom's lavender soap and i am happy to say her skin is as sweet and soft as before. (the evils of soap is a myth perpetuated by cosmetics companies, imho.)
2. love love LOVE her cloth wipes. we have been using them with solution sometimes and just water sometimes, and both i love. sometimes i microwave them for 20-30 seconds so they are warm on her bottom. my mother made them out of an old flannel sheet she had, just cut out squares and serged the edges. they're like little soft washcloths and much more effective than store-bought wipes, maybe because they have a little more texture. the solution i put in a spray bottle for easy dispensing, i also got a mini spray bottle for the diaper bag. so convenient. the only thing with the solution is, i started leaving the calendula oil out of the recipe. i know the idea is that it makes the wipe a little slippery (and thus suposedly easier to use) but it doesn't seem to get on the wipes anyway and they seem to be fine without it. unless i could figure out how to keep it in solution with the water, i think it will stay out. normally one would use polysorbate 20, but i'd rather stay away from the synthetic stuff for the moment.
3. not completely discouraged by breastfeeding, it's getting better. i tried pumping yesterday for the first time and can i just say, GET A HANDS-FREE PUMP. i have a medela pump in style which i thought worked pretty awesome, granted i have only used it the once but DAYUM i got 4½ ounces out of it in the one sitting. maybe that is not awesome but it was to my uneducated mind. i was so proud to see that little bottle sitting there in my fridge. my, how my priorities have changed. but, HECK. how in the world are you supposed to change the settings et cetera if you are holding both bottles to your boobs? i only have so many hands, people. jaimey, i am taking your advice and cutting up an old bra.
4. cloth diapers. ohh, sigh. not loving them. i think it is more the style/pattern of the diaper than the fact that it is cloth. my mother has been making them and if we are going to continue to use this pattern it is going to need some major tweaking. more elastic in the legs and across the back, but especially in the legs. a bit wider in the crotch, to accomodate the "pad." and the ones she made with plastic liner just don't work... if any flannel gets wet outside the liner, the moisture just seeps all across the outside. the minky/pul ones she made work WAY better. or maybe we just have to find another pattern. i'm not ready to give up on cloth just yet, even though brian insists he "cannot" change her when she is wearing a cloth diaper. in the meantime we are using these new huggies pure & natural 'sposies. as far as 'sposies go i rather like them. they're just so soft. i don't want hannah to wear anything i wouldn't want to wear if i were a baby, and these are just so soft and gentle against her skin.
1. love love LOVE my baby toiletries, especially the bum cream. her poor little crack was getting so red and rashy and in thirteen years she will probably die of embarrassment that her mother mentioned her bottom on the internet. the bum cream came out just the way i wanted it, soft and creamy and hallelujah IT WORKS. she still has a bit of rash (something i am attributing more to the 'sposies than the cream, more on those in a moment) but the majority of it cleared up within a day. i also love the lotion, it is nice and light and not greasy or anything. her feet were a little flaky for some reason and the lotion is very nice on them. and she got her first bath the other day with mom's lavender soap and i am happy to say her skin is as sweet and soft as before. (the evils of soap is a myth perpetuated by cosmetics companies, imho.)
2. love love LOVE her cloth wipes. we have been using them with solution sometimes and just water sometimes, and both i love. sometimes i microwave them for 20-30 seconds so they are warm on her bottom. my mother made them out of an old flannel sheet she had, just cut out squares and serged the edges. they're like little soft washcloths and much more effective than store-bought wipes, maybe because they have a little more texture. the solution i put in a spray bottle for easy dispensing, i also got a mini spray bottle for the diaper bag. so convenient. the only thing with the solution is, i started leaving the calendula oil out of the recipe. i know the idea is that it makes the wipe a little slippery (and thus suposedly easier to use) but it doesn't seem to get on the wipes anyway and they seem to be fine without it. unless i could figure out how to keep it in solution with the water, i think it will stay out. normally one would use polysorbate 20, but i'd rather stay away from the synthetic stuff for the moment.
3. not completely discouraged by breastfeeding, it's getting better. i tried pumping yesterday for the first time and can i just say, GET A HANDS-FREE PUMP. i have a medela pump in style which i thought worked pretty awesome, granted i have only used it the once but DAYUM i got 4½ ounces out of it in the one sitting. maybe that is not awesome but it was to my uneducated mind. i was so proud to see that little bottle sitting there in my fridge. my, how my priorities have changed. but, HECK. how in the world are you supposed to change the settings et cetera if you are holding both bottles to your boobs? i only have so many hands, people. jaimey, i am taking your advice and cutting up an old bra.
4. cloth diapers. ohh, sigh. not loving them. i think it is more the style/pattern of the diaper than the fact that it is cloth. my mother has been making them and if we are going to continue to use this pattern it is going to need some major tweaking. more elastic in the legs and across the back, but especially in the legs. a bit wider in the crotch, to accomodate the "pad." and the ones she made with plastic liner just don't work... if any flannel gets wet outside the liner, the moisture just seeps all across the outside. the minky/pul ones she made work WAY better. or maybe we just have to find another pattern. i'm not ready to give up on cloth just yet, even though brian insists he "cannot" change her when she is wearing a cloth diaper. in the meantime we are using these new huggies pure & natural 'sposies. as far as 'sposies go i rather like them. they're just so soft. i don't want hannah to wear anything i wouldn't want to wear if i were a baby, and these are just so soft and gentle against her skin.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
breast vs. formula (my experience thus far)
only 8 days old and already life with hannah is an adventure. we had our two-day checkup on friday (15) afternoon and it turns out she is losing weight. we knew this already and that night began supplementing with a little bit of formula. i did not want my baby to be formula-fed but i wanted her admitted even less, which is what the pediatrician needed to do if her weight did not turn around fast.
i was kind of feeling discouraged and all about the whole breastfeeding thing anyways. i am not planning on giving up... just discouraged. i did not make it through 12 hours of HARD labor with no drugs just to complain about a couple sore nipples. besides we don't have the money to throw away on formula all the time. i am planning/hoping to breastfeed for a year or longer if i can. besides i did not have problems with engorgement when my milk came in thank the Lord, so how could i throw away THAT gift and decide to go to formula?
i honestly did not know what was wrong when i started feeding and it hurt. all the classes and books and websites say breastfeeding should not hurt, if it does you are doing something wrong. and it didn't hurt, at least not right away. but by thursday (14) when we went home from the hosptal it did. i told the lactation lady who came in to my room to help me before we left, and she helped but it still hurt. i didn't tell her though, i felt like it must be me if she was making the latch and standing over me making sure i was doing it right and it still hurt. now i think maybe she didn't know well enough what she was doing. then we went for our 2-day appointment with the doctor - usually that one is with a nurse practitioner so she can be sure you are feeding properly because pediatric doctors don't get a lot of training in breastfeeding but pediatric nurse practicioners do for some reason. that was when we found out hannah was SO down on weight, and the doctor recommended supplementing with a little formula. all babies lose some of their birth weight but hannah had lost a lot. 14 oz. in 4 days which was 12% of her birthweight and the doctors do not want to see more than 7% lost. they were ready to admit her if something did not turn around asap which is why the pediatrician suggested supplementation. i did not want to because i did not want her to get used to the (easy) bottle nipple and then not want to suck from mama, because boob sucking is harder than bottle sucking.
(aside: did you ever think i'd be discussing "boob sucking?" i never thought "boob" would become such a "normal" part of my vocabulary, personally.)
so brian went and got some formula. i had him get the liquid kind, smallest bottle he could, because i did not want to mix powders and i thought she might take it better than powder anyways. like how chocolate milk you buy in a refrigerated carton is WAY better than chocolate milk you make from powder. we had a coupon but still, i do not even want to know how much it cost. the liquid formula is more expensive than the powder so it must have been like gold.
we only gave her one ounce on friday night but she did not feed well when i tried later that night. THAT was discouraging, but i did not know then that formula keeps them fuller longer. i think it probably has more calories and less water. (because you can give a formula baby a teeny bit of water in the summer when it is so hot, but you can't a bf baby because they get all the fluids they need from breastmilk and can get an electrolyte imbalance.) it was nice that night to give my boobs a break - and then that night my milk came in. other than that she fed fine and when the nurse practitioner saw her on saturday (16) she had put on 3.5 oz. overnight. she said, otherwise how are things going? and i grabbed my boobs and said, sore, the usual, but otherwise fine. she said, would you like me to show you how to breastfeed her without it hurting AT ALL?
well heck, lady, when you put it like that... does the sun rise in the east?
she said usually babies have the reflex down okay but sometimes they don't know exactly what to do, and moms sure don't, so don't beat yourself up over it. i guess whatever she was doing was pulling on my nipple which caused the soreness and also the cracking/bleeding at the end. and she is not supposed to do that, but f she is not latched on properly sh will in order to get enough milk. i am still not quite sure what is different except in how i hold her back now, but i can feel she is not pulling on me and the cracking/bleeding is all healed on one side and almost all healed on the other. and let me tell you it is so nice to be able to feed your kid without dreading it. except that now i dread it at night because it means less sleep.
we gave her another ounce of formula sunday (17) night. she had another checkup with the pediatrician yesterday, and she had put on another 3 ounces! the doctor said if we only gave her 2 ounces formula and she gained 6.5 ounces in 3 days, that is DEFINITELY my milk (my milk had not yet come in when we first saw the pediatrician on friday) and good breastfeeding. i could sure tell when my milk came in. it is nice to know that for sure i have enough for her because she is putting on weight.
so now there is the rest of a 24-ounce bottle of similac in my fridge and can I tell you how tempting it is at 3 am? breastfed babies only sleep about 2-3 hours at a stretch because breastmilk is so easily digested and they are that hungry sooner. formula babies sleep 4+ hrs at a stretch i guess. and last night, like the night before and the night before that, I could NOT for the life of me get her to sleep in her pack & play. i personally was fine with her sleeping on my chest but brian did NOT want that because what if she rolled off, and i was sleeping HARD at that point so i would not necessarily wake up and notice. he had a point so i tried not to sleep with her on me but often i just dozed off, because when i'd put her in the pack & play (asleep) she would wake up and cry, LOUD. i finally got her to last night, yay me! brian stayed up with me to give me some moral support since it's not like he can feed her. but then about 230 am she was awake again and we heated up about 1/2 ounce of formula hoping it would be little enough to not affect her feeding and big enough to get her to sleep a little extra. we caved. i think she slept about 2 hours (in her crib! or maybe on brian?) and man did i need that. i'm such a better mommy when i have some slep under my belt.
i was kind of feeling discouraged and all about the whole breastfeeding thing anyways. i am not planning on giving up... just discouraged. i did not make it through 12 hours of HARD labor with no drugs just to complain about a couple sore nipples. besides we don't have the money to throw away on formula all the time. i am planning/hoping to breastfeed for a year or longer if i can. besides i did not have problems with engorgement when my milk came in thank the Lord, so how could i throw away THAT gift and decide to go to formula?
i honestly did not know what was wrong when i started feeding and it hurt. all the classes and books and websites say breastfeeding should not hurt, if it does you are doing something wrong. and it didn't hurt, at least not right away. but by thursday (14) when we went home from the hosptal it did. i told the lactation lady who came in to my room to help me before we left, and she helped but it still hurt. i didn't tell her though, i felt like it must be me if she was making the latch and standing over me making sure i was doing it right and it still hurt. now i think maybe she didn't know well enough what she was doing. then we went for our 2-day appointment with the doctor - usually that one is with a nurse practitioner so she can be sure you are feeding properly because pediatric doctors don't get a lot of training in breastfeeding but pediatric nurse practicioners do for some reason. that was when we found out hannah was SO down on weight, and the doctor recommended supplementing with a little formula. all babies lose some of their birth weight but hannah had lost a lot. 14 oz. in 4 days which was 12% of her birthweight and the doctors do not want to see more than 7% lost. they were ready to admit her if something did not turn around asap which is why the pediatrician suggested supplementation. i did not want to because i did not want her to get used to the (easy) bottle nipple and then not want to suck from mama, because boob sucking is harder than bottle sucking.
(aside: did you ever think i'd be discussing "boob sucking?" i never thought "boob" would become such a "normal" part of my vocabulary, personally.)
so brian went and got some formula. i had him get the liquid kind, smallest bottle he could, because i did not want to mix powders and i thought she might take it better than powder anyways. like how chocolate milk you buy in a refrigerated carton is WAY better than chocolate milk you make from powder. we had a coupon but still, i do not even want to know how much it cost. the liquid formula is more expensive than the powder so it must have been like gold.
we only gave her one ounce on friday night but she did not feed well when i tried later that night. THAT was discouraging, but i did not know then that formula keeps them fuller longer. i think it probably has more calories and less water. (because you can give a formula baby a teeny bit of water in the summer when it is so hot, but you can't a bf baby because they get all the fluids they need from breastmilk and can get an electrolyte imbalance.) it was nice that night to give my boobs a break - and then that night my milk came in. other than that she fed fine and when the nurse practitioner saw her on saturday (16) she had put on 3.5 oz. overnight. she said, otherwise how are things going? and i grabbed my boobs and said, sore, the usual, but otherwise fine. she said, would you like me to show you how to breastfeed her without it hurting AT ALL?
well heck, lady, when you put it like that... does the sun rise in the east?
she said usually babies have the reflex down okay but sometimes they don't know exactly what to do, and moms sure don't, so don't beat yourself up over it. i guess whatever she was doing was pulling on my nipple which caused the soreness and also the cracking/bleeding at the end. and she is not supposed to do that, but f she is not latched on properly sh will in order to get enough milk. i am still not quite sure what is different except in how i hold her back now, but i can feel she is not pulling on me and the cracking/bleeding is all healed on one side and almost all healed on the other. and let me tell you it is so nice to be able to feed your kid without dreading it. except that now i dread it at night because it means less sleep.
we gave her another ounce of formula sunday (17) night. she had another checkup with the pediatrician yesterday, and she had put on another 3 ounces! the doctor said if we only gave her 2 ounces formula and she gained 6.5 ounces in 3 days, that is DEFINITELY my milk (my milk had not yet come in when we first saw the pediatrician on friday) and good breastfeeding. i could sure tell when my milk came in. it is nice to know that for sure i have enough for her because she is putting on weight.
so now there is the rest of a 24-ounce bottle of similac in my fridge and can I tell you how tempting it is at 3 am? breastfed babies only sleep about 2-3 hours at a stretch because breastmilk is so easily digested and they are that hungry sooner. formula babies sleep 4+ hrs at a stretch i guess. and last night, like the night before and the night before that, I could NOT for the life of me get her to sleep in her pack & play. i personally was fine with her sleeping on my chest but brian did NOT want that because what if she rolled off, and i was sleeping HARD at that point so i would not necessarily wake up and notice. he had a point so i tried not to sleep with her on me but often i just dozed off, because when i'd put her in the pack & play (asleep) she would wake up and cry, LOUD. i finally got her to last night, yay me! brian stayed up with me to give me some moral support since it's not like he can feed her. but then about 230 am she was awake again and we heated up about 1/2 ounce of formula hoping it would be little enough to not affect her feeding and big enough to get her to sleep a little extra. we caved. i think she slept about 2 hours (in her crib! or maybe on brian?) and man did i need that. i'm such a better mommy when i have some slep under my belt.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
baby recipes
planning on making my own "toiletries" for the kiddo, brian thinks i am a bit nuts but is willing to let me. maybe because i've "proved" myself in the past by making my own stuff for my own use. he and i and lots of other people have used them and not died yet or had their faces melt off so i guess he figures our gal will be no different.
baby soap:
20 oz. olive oil
10 oz. coconut oil
10 oz. corn oil
2 oz. shea butter
10 oz. water
5.875 oz. NaOH
1 T. lavender eo
1 T. tee tree eo
1 oz. calendula oil
diaper cream:
1 oz. sweet almond oil
1 oz. shea butter
1 oz. calendula oil
½ oz. coconut oil
½ oz. beeswax
½ oz. zinc oxide
a few drops lavender eo
a few drops tea tree eo
bandicoot's ooh lotion:
20% olive oil (or maybe some sweet almond and/or shea and/or calendula subbed in?)
5% e-wax
5% stearic acid (possibly less for a thinner lotion?)
6% honey
1% citric acid
63% water
germaben ii
a few drops lavender eo
cloth wipe solution:
1 tsp. white vinegar or liquid soap (we'll see which works better)
1 T. calendula oil
a few drops lavender eo
a few drops tea tree eo
¼ c. aloe vera gel
½ c. water
germaben ii
baby powder:
4 oz. cornstarch
4 oz. arrowroot
1 oz. white kaolin clay
1 oz. powdered lavender buds
1 oz. powdered calendula petals
6-10 drops lavender eo
because it is so gentle and basic, the baby soap is also nice as a face soap. i might infuse the olive oil with lavender, yarrow, and slippery elm bark. likewise, remove the zinc oxide and the diaper cream becomes a very nice lip balm. baby powder is also nice for big girls as it is talc-free. and interestingly, the wipe solution (with vinegar, not soap) is very similar to a facial toner recipe i make and love; i am thinking i could maybe sub in citric acid for the vinegar, if i wanted to cut out the vinegar smell?
we are at: 33 weeks 3 days.
cross-posted at éireann
baby soap:
20 oz. olive oil
10 oz. coconut oil
10 oz. corn oil
2 oz. shea butter
10 oz. water
5.875 oz. NaOH
1 T. lavender eo
1 T. tee tree eo
1 oz. calendula oil
diaper cream:
1 oz. sweet almond oil
1 oz. shea butter
1 oz. calendula oil
½ oz. coconut oil
½ oz. beeswax
½ oz. zinc oxide
a few drops lavender eo
a few drops tea tree eo
bandicoot's ooh lotion:
20% olive oil (or maybe some sweet almond and/or shea and/or calendula subbed in?)
5% e-wax
5% stearic acid (possibly less for a thinner lotion?)
6% honey
1% citric acid
63% water
germaben ii
a few drops lavender eo
cloth wipe solution:
1 tsp. white vinegar or liquid soap (we'll see which works better)
1 T. calendula oil
a few drops lavender eo
a few drops tea tree eo
¼ c. aloe vera gel
½ c. water
germaben ii
baby powder:
4 oz. cornstarch
4 oz. arrowroot
1 oz. white kaolin clay
1 oz. powdered lavender buds
1 oz. powdered calendula petals
6-10 drops lavender eo
because it is so gentle and basic, the baby soap is also nice as a face soap. i might infuse the olive oil with lavender, yarrow, and slippery elm bark. likewise, remove the zinc oxide and the diaper cream becomes a very nice lip balm. baby powder is also nice for big girls as it is talc-free. and interestingly, the wipe solution (with vinegar, not soap) is very similar to a facial toner recipe i make and love; i am thinking i could maybe sub in citric acid for the vinegar, if i wanted to cut out the vinegar smell?
we are at: 33 weeks 3 days.
cross-posted at éireann
Thursday, March 5, 2009
huge stash and nowhere to put them. because i am still nesting.
we (i) really want to do cloth diapers on this kiddo. brian is very skeptical. i am getting a lot of support and encouragement in this (thanks, jaimey!) but i think he will not believe it until he sees it.
to save money, my mom has been sewing little diapers for i don't know how long. i know she made some at least two years ago, because she showed them to me with strict instructions NOT to tell anyone, lest they think she is nuts to be sewing for a baby that had no plans of existing at the time. once we got pregnant she ramped it up and has been sending them to me. she complains a little sometimes but i think secretly she likes experimenting with the different fabrics and construction techniques and being able to contribute to the kiddo. she even cut up an old sheet to make cloth wipes.
obviously this is not the entire stash. the entire stash is in a box in the closet that is not even close to containing everything, and yes it is driving me nuts that i can't put them away yet.
the green one and the elmo one (at the bottom) are the two that i attempted and while they are not awful, i think hers will get more use. i didn't put any elastic in mine so we shall see. they all take little liners in the crotch area, kind of like little maxipads to absorb the pee and poo. i have a huge bag of terrycloth "liners" similar to the one with elmo on it. the blue-gray stripey thing is one of the wipes she made, for which i am planning on making my own wipes solution. once i get a recipe down that i like i will post.
we are at: 30 weeks 3 days.
to save money, my mom has been sewing little diapers for i don't know how long. i know she made some at least two years ago, because she showed them to me with strict instructions NOT to tell anyone, lest they think she is nuts to be sewing for a baby that had no plans of existing at the time. once we got pregnant she ramped it up and has been sending them to me. she complains a little sometimes but i think secretly she likes experimenting with the different fabrics and construction techniques and being able to contribute to the kiddo. she even cut up an old sheet to make cloth wipes.
obviously this is not the entire stash. the entire stash is in a box in the closet that is not even close to containing everything, and yes it is driving me nuts that i can't put them away yet.
the green one and the elmo one (at the bottom) are the two that i attempted and while they are not awful, i think hers will get more use. i didn't put any elastic in mine so we shall see. they all take little liners in the crotch area, kind of like little maxipads to absorb the pee and poo. i have a huge bag of terrycloth "liners" similar to the one with elmo on it. the blue-gray stripey thing is one of the wipes she made, for which i am planning on making my own wipes solution. once i get a recipe down that i like i will post.
we are at: 30 weeks 3 days.
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