The past month has been lived in 3-6 hour increments. Due to the fact that nursing did not come naturally for the Babram or the Mom, feeding times were especially stressful and time-consuming. This lead to nights turning into days turning into nights, fussy, gassy baby soothing and rocking, and little to nothing getting accomplished in the Smith home. Throughout these last four weeks, we have all grown and developed and learned. Yet we have only begun to find our groove. However, there have been a few life changing items that have proven themselves invaluable and worthy of Smith family endorsement. Here are a few:
The iPhone. This high tech gadget that, only a month ago, was a luxury possession, is now an absolute necessity. I do not go anywhere without it (even from room to room). This little guy has become my primary computer and my best friend. Due to the fact that nursing took up/takes up so much time and one is almost completely immobilized while doing it, I cannot imagine not having a palm sized computer to get things done and entertain myself during an otherwise completely useless 7 or so hours a day. I can check and send email, check facebook, keep track of feeding times, read books, listen to music, or even write blogs! I cannot give this wondrous little machine any higher praise.
The SwaddleMe. In the first few months of their lives, babies generally like to be swaddled. They show you how to do this with a blanket at the hospital and the nurse will make it look as easy as wrapping leftover pizza in tin foil. Then you will try it and the baby will bust out within the minute, leaving you wondering if they even want to be swaddled in the first place. Well, if you have seen the video of my son in my stomach at 8 months, you can kind of see how they seemingly attempt to bust out of that cozy place as well.
So really it's just needing to wrap them tight enough and secure enough to create that womb like experience for them where they can wiggle but not break free. Enter the SwaddleMe, a marvelous Velcro contraption where you just drop the baby in a pocket and strap their arms down to create the perfect, no mess swaddle. This thing has saved us incredible amounts of time we may have lost in swaddling and reswaddling with a blanket, arguing about how to swaddle correctly, and consoling the melt down that can happen when he breaks free. They also come in different weights, so if they already have enough layers of clotjing on, you don't have to undress them to put them in a warm blanket or vice versa. Muy fantastico. Almost every picture we have of Abram these past 4 weeks has captured him in his trusted SwaddleMes.
All cozy in a SwaddleMe
PlayTex Nursers bottles. If you are going to use a bottle and breastfeed, take it from the people who have a large bag full of about ten different kinds of bottles just sitting out in the garage: Playtex Nurser drop in bottles are the slowest flow, one of the cheapest, and the easiest to clean up. We used the Breastflow bottles for awhile, but they had too many parts to clean and were too expensive. Also take it from the people who are just now kind of getting the hang of nursing... Don't give the baby a bottle until you are positive they have caught on. If they haven't, you will have a lot of backtracking to do when they don't seem to want to nurse any more. Or maybe it's just my kid.
Playtex Pacifiers. Also not a good idea to use until they are nursing well. But when we he really wants to go to sleep, but he really wants to suck on something, a pacifier is like a magic wand. We like the Playtex kind that looks like he has a butterfly glued to his face because he seems to get the least amount of air while sucking.
Baby gas drops. These have changed our nights. He used to be inconsolable right after he ate and before he could go to sleep because of gas. He would lift up his legs and wail and we could tell he just needed to get something out. He also has a bit of a constipation problem. As in: doesn't go poop for 2-3 days at a time and when he does it's an absolute blow out. So that's part of the problem as well. BUT the gas drops have greatly reduced the fussiness after eating. So wonderful.
Fisher Price iSwing. This swing was loaned to us by my friend, Channing, whose son had colic when he was a few months old (he's a big 'ol 6 months now and doesn't need the swing anymore). But this has also changed our lives. Channing told me that it was a relatively pricey purchase, but that after seeing how it worked, she would have bought two. I'm with ya, Channing. If, for some reason, she needed it back right now I would be in the store buying one for Abram within the hour. It is amazing how the combination of the swing and the passie has allowed the 1:00 am feeding to finish up so much more smoothly and quietly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jesPr5hHSf4
Abram in motion in the swing of wonder.
So those are the main items that we just couldn't imagine living life without. I know every baby is different and some people may love Huggies and hate Pampers or never use a bottle or have a different brand of swing that they love or wear cashmere all of the time, but this is my kid and these are the items that I would absolutely do a commercial for if they asked me to. I'm sure we will have many more that will reveal themselves as he gets older. I'm just glad that which car is the safest and smartest to let him drive is many, many years away from making it on this list.
The iPhone. This high tech gadget that, only a month ago, was a luxury possession, is now an absolute necessity. I do not go anywhere without it (even from room to room). This little guy has become my primary computer and my best friend. Due to the fact that nursing took up/takes up so much time and one is almost completely immobilized while doing it, I cannot imagine not having a palm sized computer to get things done and entertain myself during an otherwise completely useless 7 or so hours a day. I can check and send email, check facebook, keep track of feeding times, read books, listen to music, or even write blogs! I cannot give this wondrous little machine any higher praise.
The SwaddleMe. In the first few months of their lives, babies generally like to be swaddled. They show you how to do this with a blanket at the hospital and the nurse will make it look as easy as wrapping leftover pizza in tin foil. Then you will try it and the baby will bust out within the minute, leaving you wondering if they even want to be swaddled in the first place. Well, if you have seen the video of my son in my stomach at 8 months, you can kind of see how they seemingly attempt to bust out of that cozy place as well.
So really it's just needing to wrap them tight enough and secure enough to create that womb like experience for them where they can wiggle but not break free. Enter the SwaddleMe, a marvelous Velcro contraption where you just drop the baby in a pocket and strap their arms down to create the perfect, no mess swaddle. This thing has saved us incredible amounts of time we may have lost in swaddling and reswaddling with a blanket, arguing about how to swaddle correctly, and consoling the melt down that can happen when he breaks free. They also come in different weights, so if they already have enough layers of clotjing on, you don't have to undress them to put them in a warm blanket or vice versa. Muy fantastico. Almost every picture we have of Abram these past 4 weeks has captured him in his trusted SwaddleMes.
All cozy in a SwaddleMePlayTex Nursers bottles. If you are going to use a bottle and breastfeed, take it from the people who have a large bag full of about ten different kinds of bottles just sitting out in the garage: Playtex Nurser drop in bottles are the slowest flow, one of the cheapest, and the easiest to clean up. We used the Breastflow bottles for awhile, but they had too many parts to clean and were too expensive. Also take it from the people who are just now kind of getting the hang of nursing... Don't give the baby a bottle until you are positive they have caught on. If they haven't, you will have a lot of backtracking to do when they don't seem to want to nurse any more. Or maybe it's just my kid.
Playtex Pacifiers. Also not a good idea to use until they are nursing well. But when we he really wants to go to sleep, but he really wants to suck on something, a pacifier is like a magic wand. We like the Playtex kind that looks like he has a butterfly glued to his face because he seems to get the least amount of air while sucking.
Baby gas drops. These have changed our nights. He used to be inconsolable right after he ate and before he could go to sleep because of gas. He would lift up his legs and wail and we could tell he just needed to get something out. He also has a bit of a constipation problem. As in: doesn't go poop for 2-3 days at a time and when he does it's an absolute blow out. So that's part of the problem as well. BUT the gas drops have greatly reduced the fussiness after eating. So wonderful.
Fisher Price iSwing. This swing was loaned to us by my friend, Channing, whose son had colic when he was a few months old (he's a big 'ol 6 months now and doesn't need the swing anymore). But this has also changed our lives. Channing told me that it was a relatively pricey purchase, but that after seeing how it worked, she would have bought two. I'm with ya, Channing. If, for some reason, she needed it back right now I would be in the store buying one for Abram within the hour. It is amazing how the combination of the swing and the passie has allowed the 1:00 am feeding to finish up so much more smoothly and quietly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jesPr5hHSf4
Abram in motion in the swing of wonder.Pampers Swaddlers diapers. These are the diapers that were given to us by the hospital when they sent us home. We did not have them in our house (although we had about 5 other kinds given to us by various people). But once we ran out, we tried the Huggies newborn ones and they were way too big on him. So from that point on, we've been getting the Pampers. We ran out yesterday and while Quinn was at the store getting more, I had to put the Huggies on him while he nursed. I ended up with pee all over my cashmere sweater. I do have a reason why I was wearing a cashmere sweater while nursing a one month old, but it's not really worth explaining, because it's not that good. Lesson learned, ok? About the Pampers and the cashmere.
So those are the main items that we just couldn't imagine living life without. I know every baby is different and some people may love Huggies and hate Pampers or never use a bottle or have a different brand of swing that they love or wear cashmere all of the time, but this is my kid and these are the items that I would absolutely do a commercial for if they asked me to. I'm sure we will have many more that will reveal themselves as he gets older. I'm just glad that which car is the safest and smartest to let him drive is many, many years away from making it on this list.
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