(Part 3) Top products from r/Mommit

I agree a lot with istara.. Bedtime for babies and young children needs to be between 6 and 8, most settling around 7pm. If the bedtime is too late, the baby will not get good sleep (big difference between a long sleep and good sleep) and will be up early early in the morning. Sleep begets sleep, as weird as it sounds. Goes for naps too- they need a lot of 'em! You'll think she's over-sleeping, but honestly... The more sleep, the less overtired, the happier the baby.

7 weeks, IMO, is a bit young to expect any kind of schedule. Babies that young change it up like every 2 days. Never to early to start a bedtime routine, but don't expect it to just put the baby out every night. However. Consistency is key- she will learn that this routine means relaxing time and eventually, in a few months, (hopefully) it'll work like a charm.

Most doctors agree that after 4 months it's perfectly fine to start sleep training. This does not have to mean the Cry It Out method at all. Don't be scared off. It just means that it's time to seriously start instilling some good sleep habits in your child. Make bed (either crib or family bed) a safe place and keep it for sleeping. Don't let her play in there, don't put her in there when you need a second to poop or whatever. Use a pack n play or a bouncer or something for that instead.

Do as much cuddle time as you want in the bedtime routine- but try to put her down when she's still partially awake, but very sleepy. She will better learn to self-soothe and to put herself back to sleep on her own when she wakes up in the night (and doesn't need something). Believe me from experience... That one's an important step. When my girl gets rocked to deep sleep, she still will wake up multiple times in the night and won't go back out unless hubs or I re-tucks her in. When I do bedtime and put her down with a kiss and awake, she sometimes fusses for 4-6 minutes before falling asleep, but then she sleeps like a log AND will just roll over and go back to sleep when she stirs between sleep cycles. I think had I started sleep training earlier, we could have avoided the fussing completely. It is phasing out though.

I recommend the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Not all of it is great advice, but a lot of it is and it also gives you some guidelines to follow regarding how much sleep is needed by age, biological sleep facts, and tips for getting into that awesome sleep groove with babies and children of any age.

As for our personal routine with my 10.5 month old:

Wake up between 6 and 6:30am.
First nap between 8 and 9am for 1 to 1.5 hours (unless a day like today when she did 30 minutes and Dad got her up and then she fussed ALL MORNING.)
Second nap right after lunch (between 11:30am and noon) for 2 to 2.5 hours.
Dinner between 5 and 5:30, bath if it's bath night (every other night), play time, bottle, books and songs, in crib between 6:30 and 7:30 (depending on how her naps were that day). I purposely do her bottle pretty early- sometimes right after dinner/bath- because I want to make it easier on myself when it's time to wean. I'm hoping that by the time she's 12 months, she'll be taking that last bottle in a sippie cup with dinner. My girl knows the routine... When it gets to the second book or "You are my Sunshine," she pulls her puppy up to her nose, lays her head down on my chest and sighs. Then I know she's ready to go into her bed. There's never usually a fight at all.

I know that was A LOT, but I hope it helps! Good luck!

I went to a local walk-in clinic after I got a couple of positive home pregnancy test results (I don't have a family doctor because they're so hard to find here), and then they referred me to a delivery practice. If you know you want to go with a midwife, you can look up practices in your area and contact them--you may have to get on a waiting list.

I'm almost 26 weeks along and some stuff that's really helped me so far, all on the advice from other women around me who are pregnant or have recently had babies:

• If you're not already, you'll probably be exhausted and/or nauseous soon. This will probably pass in a couple of months. My second trimester was awesome.
  
• Bella Bands are the best. They'll let you wear your pre-pregnancy jeans for a lot longer and they'll help you hold up your maternity pants if they're a little to big when you first start wearing them.
  
• Prenatal pilates and yoga are great for helping to stay in shape, curbing back pain and preparing for labor & delivery. I've been using Ana Garcia's pilates dvd and Shiva Rea's yoga dvd and they've both been a real lifesaver for me
  
• Pregnancy Day by Day is a great resource for keeping up with what's going on with the baby. It gives you lots of tips on what you should or shouldn't be doing based on where at with your pregnancy and also explains a lot of what you're going through.
  
• Your abdomen may itch like crazy when it starts stretching, and you'll just have to try different products to see what works for you. I finally came around to using a layer of Mama Bee's oil plus a thin layer of Glysomed hand cream in the morning, and then using the Mama Bee's Belly Balm at night before I went to bed.
  
  It's great that you've started on the prenatal vitamins and cutting out caffeine. Just try to eat as well as you can, exercise, and rest as much as you like. And I think the others are right--it won't be easy to tell your other half, but it's best to do it sooner than later so you can give him more time to deal with it. But definitely tell a couple of other people you're really close to, whether it's your best friend or parents or whatever. You'll want that support whether telling him goes well or not.
  

I'll probably get a lot of crap for this but I'm going to say it anyway: before two is better and 14 months is definitely not too early (but it does depend on the child). It sounds like your girl is ready to be potty trained, and if it doesn't work now, try again in a couple months.

Our daughter was potty trained by 18 months and probably could have been early but I was very busy. However, if I had known it wasn't going to be that bad i would have done it earlier.

Since she was a baby we've followed most of the things Tracy Hogg suggests in her book, including a lot from the potty training section.

We did a 3 day boot camp. All three days our girl was bottomless. The first day we didn't leave the house, not even outside. We watched her like a hawk and anytime it looked like she was ready we would scoop her up and put her on her potty. Reward when they go on the potty, even if most of it got on the floor. We had a potty song and dance we did every time too...this was for EVERYONE in the family!!! Each time my husband or I went it was a big deal and we would all sing the song and dance. I believe this was key!

The second day we took her outside right after she went once. We took the potty out with us too, just in case. The third day we went out twice.

After day two she was heading to the potty on her own and really hardly any accidents after that, even at daycare. Anytime we had to leave the house she would go potty right before walking out the door (or at least sit on it) and we would put her on the training potty in our hatch right when we got to our destination, even if there was a bathroom inside. This helped a lot, too. Most of her accidence happened during or right after a car ride and once we started doing this it solved the problem.

We also didn't use training undies and definitely no pull-ups. She would wear no undies most of the time (also key) and just soft pants. When she did wear undies they were regular and we let her pick them out. We started putting her in undies all the time about 6-8 weeks after the 3 day boot camp.

Oh, we also would watch the elmo potty video while she sat on the potty. At the time, she didn't watch elmo but still loved it! This was her only reward, other than the song and dance, for sitting on the potty. She doesn't watch much tv, so we would take our laptops into the bathroom and put on a short youtube video (just a couple minutes). Here's the elmo potty video.

Good Luck!

There is a lot of really great advice on here.
-give your kids choices
-have them help in shopping and preparation of meals
-giving them foods that they can dip into something else (a lot of kids love dipping their food)
-continuing to offer a variety of healthy foods.

I have the same problem. My three your old started doing this at the same age as your child, and it hasn't gotten any better. I definitely feel your pain. Something that has definitely helped me is the Deceptively Delicious cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld. While I don't like all of the recipes in there, it has definitely inspired me to create more ways to get fruits and veggies into my kids. Here is an idea for your mac 'n cheese lover. Buy baby food jars of carrots, or carrots mixed with tomatoe, and add the entire jar to your box of mac 'n cheese. My kids never noticed the difference! Also, you can puree spinach and get away with putting about a 1/2 a cup into the box brownie mix.

Good luck!

I got a lot of great tricks from The Baby Whisperer that helped with getting a good routine going for sleep/feeding etc... It helped us stay sane in the first several weeks at home. Also, for more general concepts of parenting infants and small children I was really inspired by Bringing up Bebe So far the parts about help encouraging sleeping through the night and a great outlook on introducing foods have been particularly useful . Both these books together have helped and continue to help us a lot with our daughter (our first and only child at the moment).

Thank you for your comments! You must be exhausted!
Sleep is actually my expertise and I hope to talk a lot about pediatric sleep in my blog.

Just to offer some suggestions, if your child is struggling with falling asleep there are a few options that you can try.

1. Have you ever considered a pediatric sleep specialist? They can help you identify why your little one is struggling to fall asleep at night. If you wanted, I would be more than happy to talk to you about your local options. There can be a TON of reasons as to why little ones do not fall asleep at night, and they are easily fixed with the help of a specialist.
   
2. As your kiddo gets older I would recommend an OK To Wake Clock. What we find is that children struggle with the concept of time. The OK to Wake light changes color to let them know that it's okay to get up and get Mommy in the morning. Here is a link: https://www.amazon.com/Mirari-Wake-Alarm-Clock-Night-Light/dp/B00EAHSBV4/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1551046787&sr=1-4&keywords=time+to+wake+up+clock+for+kids
   
   Hopefully these options can increase your sleep time!

Definitely ask her to be a bridesmaid after the shower!


Two of my favorite non-baby gifts.

One was this hospital gown to wear after labor and delivery when people were coming to visit. It snaps at the shoulders for breastfeeding and all, and snaps up the back so your butt isn't hanging out. And they're all adorable.


My other favorite gift was a 5 year, one sentence a day journal. I've been writing in it since the night of my shower and it's really wonderful to see back through the years. I've never been a journal-writer but this is so easy, and a wonderful keepsake to have for this time in my life.

You might consider trying a HALO SleepSack. That one is cotton and allows you to swaddle their arms in, or one can leave the arms out and just wrap the "wings" around his belly. For a lighter cover, you can consider a muslin sleep sack like this one. To be clear, I'm not advocating for HALO; I really like the Aden and Anais muslin sleep sack, and there are several other brands available via Amazon, Jet, Google, etc.
As for camping, it's the same as anywhere else (unless he's under 8lbs - if I recall that weight correctly). Dress him as you'd dress yourself. If you need an extra layer to stay warm, so does baby. I'm not sure that's what you were asking, though; did I address your concerns?

This is perfect! Thanks again.

Summer Infant Travel Bed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FBEN8X6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_SvIPCbKEPV6CF

I got a pair of high waisted underwear from Amazon. Totally worth it! I'm on my phone so I cannot figure out how to embed the following link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TVLPSTW/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_7z-SDbGTGPYZF

Wishing you a speedy recovery this month, mama!

I'm gonna shamelessly admit that I bought this book because the disconnect was getting pretty bad for us. It's helped me understand some things and change our relationship for the better. Of course, you have to talk about the stuff in the book. Hopefully your SO isn't so insecure about himself that the title of the book pisses him off lol

https://www.amazon.com/Hate-Your-Husband-After-Kids/dp/0316267104

I really love Alfie Kohn's book, "Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason".

It doesn't really offer too much in terms of specific examples of how to deal with scenarios, but it really keeps me grounded when dealing with my 2.5 year old son (who often seems to have a personal vendetta against me). This book keeps both my husband and me in check when we begin to feel like he's an inherently "bad" creature, as many parenting techniques seem to reinforce (ie "give an inch and they'll take a mile; kids will be bad if they know they can get away with it; if you don't punish them immediately you're reinforcing/allowing bad behavior"). The author emphasizes teaching empathy, teaching kids about the effects their behavior will have on OTHER people, not just on themselves; teaching kids to behave because it's the right thing to do, not out of fear of punishment or desire for reward. He's also not "harpy" - he admits that he's made mistakes, and that it's totally okay to "slip up" or make mistakes.

It also opened my eyes to how I was parented and the effects it had on me as an adolescent and adult. The book challenged me to think about how I want my son to feel and what kind of person I'd like him to grow into, and how traditional "conditional" parenting techniques may hinder my goals for him and our relationship.

I found this one at the library last November. Not about pilgrims/Indians/Turkey but about pie and whipped cream.

Thank You, Thanksgiving https://www.amazon.com/dp/0618274669/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_dt9KwbKBV0284

I really liked The Science of Parenting

Just got this book for my kids (9, 6 and 2) and really like it!

http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-You-Getting-Smart-Private/dp/0142410586

http://www.amazon.com/Womanly-Art-Breastfeeding-Diane-Wiessinger/dp/0345518446

This book was my breastfeeding bible. I read it before LO arrived and every day for the first 2 or so months, and continued to reference it up until we decided to wean at 15 months for birth control. It's from the La Leche League, and they are awesome. I didn't have any local meetings or anything, but this book never left one of my questions unanswered.

I like the Dr. Sears baby book. It covers birth until age 2.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0316198269/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

Mirari OK to Wake! Alarm Clock & Night-Light https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EAHSBV4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_p2YRDbFYAHM9F

Your post immediately reminded me of this: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Minutes-Peace-Jill-Murphy/dp/0698117875/ref=nodl_

That reminds me of this book.

The Redwall series.

Here you go!

Source: am an English teacher.

I had this thing for our road trip, my daughter didn't really like it though.

Summer Infant Travel Bed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FBEN8X6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_X8CKxbSWCPVW6

The Halo sleep sacks work for many babies, but they are not necessarily safe. If you look at the one star Amazon reviews, you can see that many parents have seen a dangerous condition of the sack bunching up near the face when baby tries to break out: http://www.amazon.com/SleepSack-Cotton-Swaddle-Cream-Small/dp/B003E6OBMA/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

This happened with our baby (luckily, while I was awake and I noticed right away) and we immediately discontinued use of the Halo.