Why babies are like cats

Has anyone else noticed that babies are a lot like house cats?
Here are some similarities I have observed. Both my baby and my cat...

1. love playing with paper and magazines
2. love plastic bags
3. love cardboard boxes
4. sometimes give love bites
5. are fascinated by computer keyboards
6. cry/meow
7. love to sleep on mama
8. wake you up in the wee hours of the morning
9. want love on their terms: when you want to hold them they don't want to be held and when you are incredibly busy they decide they want to be on your lap
10. sleep a lot :)

Has anybody noticed any other similarities? I am currently dogless, but would be interested to hear if dog owners notice that their babies remind them of their dogs and vice versa...

Babyproofing for the lazy parent

Babyproofing the easy way

Instructions: Take all the cleaning products and possibly toxic items and put them on top of a very tall dresser.

I am hoping this will work until my son is tall enough to reach the top of the dresser; so I have about ten years. I will eventually get those cabinet lock thingamahoochies installed, but for now this is good enough.

Now if I can just find a way to prevent my son from slamming his fingers in all the drawers in the house, sticking his hands in the toilet, and trying to eat the cat's food.

The newborn sleep saga

Baby sleep involves a lot of trial and error. For the first four months of my son's life we tried absolutely everything to get him to sleep and the only things that consistently worked were:

1. walking while carrying him until he fell asleep (easiest while babywearing)
2. breastfeeding to sleep (breastfeeding lying down)

Babywearing: sleeping peacefully in a ring sling.

Even using these tactics it was pretty common for us to spend around 20-45 minutes trying to get my son to sleep, only to have him wake up bawling after a 20 minute cat nap. For the first month of his life it was actually a little bit easier to get him to sleep than it was later on when the colic/high-needs baby tendencies became really pronounced (more on the colic vs. high-needs babies concept in a later post).

Places my baby slept in the first four months:

Sleeping happily in the bouncer

1. bouncer that vibrated (swaddled and buckled in)
2. swing (swaddled and buckled in)
3. attached to mom or dad (via sling, wrap, or other carrier)
4. in bed co-sleeping with us
5. in a rocker right next to our bed

Places my baby never slept in the first four months:

1. his beautiful new crib (not once)
2. the pack n play right next to our bed
3. in his car seat (or if he did it was only after some serious screaming)

So here's what I learned about baby sleep through my epic endless sleepless nights:

1. It will get better... eventually. If it does not get better on its own by the time your baby is four or five months old try sleep training. I know every night seems like it lasts a lifetime, but in the grand scheme of things you are only going to have to deal with this for a few months.
2. Every baby is different: If you have a baby that sleeps well be thankful and try not to brag about it to the rest of us. If you have a baby who has trouble sleeping try thinking of sleep as a war, every night is a battle and sometimes you lose the battle, but you will eventually win the war, after all how many eighteen year olds still need their parents to rock them to sleep?
3. Teamwork: if you have a partner share parenting duties at night. In our household my husband took the late night shift and I took the early morning shift. This way at least you can guarantee that you each get some uninterrupted sleep.

Bottom line: Even newborns that have the most horrific sleep schedules known to man (e.g. my son) can turn into good sleepers. After some sleep training when he was four months old my son started sleeping for 7-8 hours at a time before waking up, and napping longer during the day. Although we have rough nights when he is sick or teething I have to say he is now a much better sleeper than his mama!

Flip video camera - the perfect gift for new parents

Before my son was born we bought a Flip video camera and it is by far the best purchase we made in preparation for our baby's arrival.

If you have family who live far away and really want to see how your baby grows up then this item is the best thing you can buy. Better yet put it on your baby registry and get the parents/grandparents to buy it for you since they are going to benefit from it once you post your videos online on Picasa or Vimeo.

Compared to the old video camera I remember my family using in the 1980s which weighed twenty pounds, required tapes and made videos which were really difficult to view on the TV, new video cameras are heavenly. Of course lots of phones and digital cameras come with some video functionality, but if you want a separate video camera the Flip is an obvious choice.

Reasons why I love it:

1. tiny: just a little bigger than my phone, fits in any pocket or purse without taking up space
2. easy to use: it only takes about two seconds to turn this on and start recording
3. easy uploading: the USB connection allows you to easily connect to a computer and upload
4. great video quality: we own the HD version of the camera and it the video is very high resolution
5. storage space: we own the mino HD with 4GB and 60 minutes of video time and this is plenty

Boys are everywhere in 2009/2010. Is this a statistical fluke or a conspiracy?

Many of my friends are either currently pregnant or had a baby last year. And they almost all seem to be having boys! There were a few adorable girls born among my circle of friends but it seems like the boys way outnumber the girls, so my question is... Is this a random fluke that is just occurring in my circle of friends and acquaintances, or is this a conspiracy cooked up to prevent women from taking over the world?

At my last count of people who are either currently pregnant or recently had a baby these are the stats:
Boys: 14
Girls:   4

What was even weirder was that the childbirth class I went to right before our son was born had about 20 couples, only 2 of whom were having girls. The breastfeeding support group I went to right after my son was born was also heavily skewed toward boys, with maybe 9 boys and 3 girls on most occasions that I was there.

Am I just living in a boy-bubble?
Am I just noticing boys more now that I have a son?
Or are boys really conspiring to take over the world?

Teething? grab a spatula

My baby does have a couple "teething ring" type products. But his favorite teething object is a regular rubber spatula from my kitchen. This has become his spatula and he loves to chomp on it. So before you go buy something for your baby to chew on try rummaging around the kitchen. When he was younger he also loved chewing on wash cloths or burp cloths (wet or dry). Of course before the first teeth come in it is fine and dandy and even cute to chew on mom and dad's fingers and hands, but that is a habit you want to end after the sharp teeth arrive.

We do have a couple of official teething rings, like this Nuby teether, and a Munchkin teething ring. But I think they were a waste of money.

Someone wise once told me that babies love kitchen things. Tupperware or plastic containers with soft rubber edges also work really well for teething. My baby also loves empty plastic bottles or plastic drinking cups. Of course a lot of kitchen objects are just downright dangerous for babies. What other kitchen things can double as toys?

Baby playmats - protection for baby's head and mama's bottom

During the learning to sit, crawl, stand, and walk phases there are lots of falls and banged heads. But we were able to minimize the damage by putting a big blue playmat over the area of our hardwood floor where our son usually plays. We found these play mats at ToysRUs, but we later noticed that Costco carried some similar interlocking flooring meant for garages that was even cheaper. Amazon.com also sells lots of versions of these playmats, many in prettier colors or designs.

ToyRUs play mat

As a bonus my husband and I both think that these floor pads are super comfortable for parents who spend a lot of time sitting on the floor with infants. They also work really well as exercise mats as they are more cushiony than most yoga mats. As you can see our baby likes practicing his yoga on these mats too!

Yoga baby practicing downward dog pose on his play mat

Babywearing - a lifesaver for parents with newborns

If I had to pick a single thing that made my life easier during my son's newborn phase it would be owning a good baby carrier and using it all the time: babywearing

If you have ever tried to do basic things (i.e. talk on the phone) while holding a newborn then you understand how babies can turn even the most simple tasks into juggling acts. While babywearing even relatively advanced tasks such as eating a meal, typing emails, and going to the bathroom can be performed with ease. Babywearing is often the fastest way to get newborns to fall asleep; they love being held tight against you and walked around. Once asleep you can either keep them in the carrier or very carefully take them out and lie them down somewhere else.

If you are going shopping and have a baby who hates being in the carseat or stroller then toss that baby into a carrier and shop while he peacefully sleeps. I can not tell you how many times I have been out on errands and women (generally older women) would come up to me and tell me how wonderful it was that I was wearing my baby and how they wish that they had carriers like that when they had their children.

Seven months old and still loving the ring sling

Here is a list of the baby carriers I have used:

• Moby wrap - great for newborns although it takes a day or two or practicing to figure out how to use it. One of my best friends and mommy mentors recommended this and it was a life saver!
• Sweet Pea Ring Sling - unfortunately I did not buy this until my son was around 3 months old but I think it would have been excellent for him as a newborn. However, it was not a favorite with my husband - too girlie for him to wear.
• Balboa - Dr Sears Sling - this was probably my least favorite of our carriers, but we used it a lot because we bought it before we discovered the ring sling or the Ergo. It was good for getting our baby to sleep for naps/night time.
• Ergo baby carrier - after our son was about 4 months old this became the primary carrier we used, it is very very comfortable when carrying older/heavier babies and my husband likes wearing it! In fact we have one photo of him wearing it that I think the Ergo people should include in their catalog. 

Ergo action shot, hood over sleeping baby's head.

If you have a baby that is "colicky" or "high needs" (more on this topic later) then I would make the argument that a good baby carrier is worth its weight in gold. For a long time the only way my son would nap for more than twenty minutes at a time was if he was in a baby carrier and attached to one of his parents. Even if you have your run of the mill non-colicky baby I think most babies are happier being carried especially as newborns so a baby carrier can make for a happier baby which makes for a happier mom and a happier family.

Here is the formula: happy baby = happy mom = happy family!


Websites with great information on babywearing options:

• TheBabyWearer.com
• AskDrSears.com - babywearing
• Better Babywearing blog
• BabyCenter - Babywearing group

Co-sleeping: the fears and the reality

It was apparent from our very first night in the hospital with my son that he was only really comfortable sleeping in bed with mama. For the first four months of his life we went through a whole slew of approaches to sleep (more on this in a later post), but the only way I could guarantee he would fall asleep (and stay asleep) was if he was lying in bed next to me and breastfeeding until he fell asleep.

I resisted co-sleeping for a couple weeks after he was born. The reasons why I was reluctant are mostly what I consider the common fears new mamas have about co-sleeping:

Fears

1. fear of rolling over onto baby
2. fear of baby falling off bed
3. fear of smothering baby with blankets
4. fear of SIDS

All I can say in hindsight is that these fears were basically a result of my inexperience with newborns. Here is my response to these fears after co-sleeping with my newborn for a few months:

Reality

1. As a new mother you have a heightened awareness of what your baby is doing, even when both of you are asleep. This phenomenon is hard to understand until it happens to you. There was no chance I was going to roll over onto the baby (although dads don't always have the same sense of where the baby is in bed, so sometimes this can pose a problem). If anything it was sometimes harder for me to sleep because of new mother anxiety and because every little sound or move my son made would wake me up at first.
2. Newborns do not roll. They can wriggle a little bit (what my husband and I called the B.P.S. "baby propulsion system") but this does not get them very far. Most newborns sleep swaddled and most mamas wake up as soon as baby starts making sounds or moving so there is very little chance they could launch themselves off a bed (of course with older babies this changes). Of course the obvious preventative measure is just to put baby in the middle of the bed.
3. I used to worry my baby would not be able to breathe if the blankets got pushed up against his face, this never happened. By far the bigger problem is that if the blankets get over the baby the baby might get overheated and then wake up and wake you up. Some people go so far as to remove all blankets and pillows from the bed, I took a halfway approach and just pushed the blankets down to my waist.
   
4. the fear of SIDS is harder to explain away since people really do not know what causes SIDS. All I can say is that I felt much better with my son right next to me where I knew I would wake up immediately if he was in distress than I would have felt if he were in another room. Proponents of co-sleeping like Dr. Sears suggest that the risk of SIDS actually goes down with co-sleeping, see this explanation. Check out the AskDrSears.com website for some great advice on co-sleeping and how to do it safely.

A lesson that I learned quickly: newborn babies are well equipped with alarm systems, if they are uncomfortable or in distress they let you know loudly. When I talked to nurses and my pediatrician about co-sleeping they all said that as long as I took basic safety precautions (don't put baby near edge of bed, etc.) it was fine to co-sleep and that in their experience most mothers (especially those who were breastfeeding) did co-sleep at some point.

There is so much more to say about co-sleeping, for example how it really improved both baby and mama's sleep, and when and why we decided to stop co-sleeping - the topic of future blog posts.


So that is my two cents. Any other mamas want to chime in with their perspective on co-sleeping? Please leave a comment.

Baby Apps: Baby ESP (Eat, Sleep, Poop)

So if you are going to spend $ on an app for your mobile phone to track what your baby is doing Baby ESP gives you a lot of bang for your buck at $3.99. And if you are frugal or tentative then try the trial version for free. I used it on my Android phone for about three months and if you are either generally obsessive about your baby, very forgetful, or trying to track your routine then this is the app for you.


What Baby ESP looks like on your phone.


It is easy to use and although I was really only using it to track my son's sleep and nap schedule it has a lot more features. For the truly detail oriented parent you can track nursing times (how long on each side), bottles (how many ounces, how long baby took to drink), diapers (wet and poopy), sleep (naps, night time sleep), medicine your baby is taking, etc. You can also add custom reminders or custom events. For a while I was tracking how long my baby was crying before he fell asleep and seeing the number of minutes crying go down every day was very comforting.


All of your information can be exported to spreadsheets and email and you can see weekly or monthly averages amongst other features. I am sure there are even more functions, but these are just the few that I discovered.


So if like me you were/are actually writing things down the old-fashioned way with a paper and pencil and would like to ditch that early 20th century technology, Baby ESP is for you.


As a bonus using this app consistently was one way that I was able to track just how miserable my son's sleep schedule was until he was four months old and how much his sleep improved (increase in length of time asleep and decrease in length of time before falling asleep) after we did some sleep training when he was four months old - the topic for a future post on sleep training Ferber style.


Anyone else know of other good baby apps or have some feedback on Baby ESP? If so please leave comments...