Which side???

Now that I'm back in the land of the nursing moms I've found that at 2am it's difficult for me to remember which side I nursed last. I have tried to use the safety pin method, but again at 2 in the morning, the last thing I want to do once DS is finished is to have to fumble with a pin. I had several injuries to prove that I'm not so coordinated on a lack of sleep. So this time around I dug out of my jewelery box a stretchy bracelet that a friend gave me years ago. Now I simply switch wrists with the bracelet and voila! I know exactly where we need to pick up at 4:30am!

Baby Bins Work!

Beginning in Baby's room BINS are your friends! There are so many cute options now for storage bins. In our son’s room we have several baskets with cute gingham liners that totally match the “theme” of the room. I put these on the shelf in his changing table to keep diapers, lotion, anti-bac gel, diaper rash cream, etc. in. It keeps things organized without having to be overly picky AND it looks good too. You can find these at Target or Wal-Mart for much cheaper than a baby stuff store. Think small rather than large when going for toy storage. This is a lesson I learned as a nanny. Just because you have a MILLION toys you will NOT play with half of them if they are buried in BIG toy boxes. This is a mistake most people fall into. Get a big toy box and just toss all the toys in there. It does not look organized, and your child honestly will be completely overwhelmed by the mass and come whining to you that they are bored. Again, use small bins or baskets with a few toys in them that can be easily organized (even labeled) and make clean up easy. I also keep the bottom drawers of my son’s dresser reserved for toys now that he can get into them at will. One of the best things you can do for organizing the toys that WILL pile up despite our best intentions, is to rotate toys. Get some medium sized storage tubs and pack away MOST of the toys, every 3 months or so you can get those tubs out and it's just like Christmas again as you swap the toys. It gives your child a chance to see something "new" and exciting even if it's not. :-)

Conquering the Cup

I have read in different articles that one of the problems with the modern "sippy" cup is that it doesn't really teach your child to sip from a cup. Instead, the leak proof features on most of them simply cause the little ones to drink the same as if it was a bottle. I'm all for teaching the wee ones to become independent from "baby stuff" early on. It bothers me to see 3 or 4 year olds walking around with a passi or a bottle tightly clinched in their teeth. But I can also understand the frustration of parents when they don't want to fight that particular battle. Still the earlier the better, and I've got a great idea for teaching the babies to drink from a regular cup without the big mess. Of course you'll always have the occasional "oops" along the way, but who doesn't spill their drink now and then? My son, now 15 months, gets his daily drinks in spill proof sippy cups because I'm NOT willing to mop the floor after every meal. He has started learning that there's a perfect "spot" for his cup on the side of his high chair tray, but he's not always 100% accurate when it comes to setting it up. SO my solution to teach him to sip AND to keep a less sticky floor is to let him sip from a cup in the tub! He thinks this is great fun, and for him it is! I love to watch him experiment with the cup too. Most of it does NOT end up in his mouth at this point, but he is getting it. Right now our lad is only drinking water in the tub, but once he kind of gets the hang of it better I'll add actual beverages to make it more exciting. That way if he dumps juice or milk all down his face and tummy, it'll be supper easy to rinse him off and have a good time. It's working for us, maybe it'll work for you too!

Dishwasher helper

Dishwashers are pretty much the most wonderful invention ever! However when you have a baby everything you use in life shrinks. You're now living in munchkin land, and where in the world are you going to put those tiny bottle nipples, sippy cup valves, and lids, and tiny spoons?? It nearly seems like you'll have to go back to washing everything by hand, but not so! Munchkin has this great product that I've used since my baby was born! It's a basket that fits in the top rack of your dishwasher, and it holds all kinds of great stuff!! There are two compartments, one skinny one on top that will hold nipples and such, and then a larger one on bottom for whatever other random stuff needs to go in there. PLUS there is a dohicky on the side for straws once your lil one gets into those as well! Great! I love this thing! It has to be one of my favorite kido gadgets, cause it makes clean up so much easier!

Thank You, Please

With the holiday season looming in front of us I've been thinking about how we help our kids learn to be thankful. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, even over Christmas, believe it or not! Yet as I think about the "season" and all the stuff that comes with it, I've noticed that to find a thankful child is a novelty. Of course, part of that may be that it's about as novel to find a thankful adult as well. So how do we do it? My oldest child is not yet 2 so the concept of gratitude is difficult at that age. However, we have started training him to be thankful because I believe that it's a virtue that is extremely important. This past summer a great friend of ours taught our son to sign "thank-you." He added it to his repertoire of signs and he thought it was a great game as all things are when you're one. But now we ask him to say thank you when he is given something. It could be food he asked for, or help he needed with something. It's just a little way that we are helping our child learn the art of thankfulness. Now he can say "teek-oo" but he still signs it, and I think it's pretty cute too! Plus the added bonus is that it reminds ME to practice thankfulness as well! So what are some ideas you have for teaching your kids to be thankful?

Baby Hankies

Kids and snotty noses just go together. One thing I've learned is that when you're wiping kido snot you go through a LOT of tissue! In our household we're trying to cut back on waste as much as possible. So when my baby boy woke up with a cold this week rather than bust out the box of Kleenex, I went to the closet where there's a HUGE pile of baby washcloths and voila! a hanky for the little nose. I'm sure most of you have those baby cloths lying around by the zillions because they make such cute shower gifts. :-) However we only normally use just a few a week, so it's great to come up with more uses for them. They are soft and gentle on tiny noses too. My son doesn't complain about the cloths nearly as much as he would about tissue. So next time you're battling the snot monsters in your home, just grab a wash cloth, they work great!

Baby Safety in the Kitchen

We all know that we need to "baby proof" our homes from dangers to our little ones. Sometimes however certain common sense things slip our minds. From time to time I hope to post some tips on keeping your kids safe through every day things you do. It becomes obvious to we 'seasoned' look-out-for-danger mommies when we are in the presence of people who don't have to be as "aware" all the time. It's okay to tell extended family, friends or sitters how to keep your child safe as well.
These tips are for you chefs in the kitchen. If you have a stove with knobs on the front, like us, you NEED to get the safety covers for them. Our toddler, not yet 2, can reach the knobs and thinks that if mommy can "play" with them, he too should be allowed. Our range is gas, so this could be a HUGE safety issue for the whole family should he turn it "on" but not light it. The covers are a small investment for peace of mind.
Next, when you are cooking on the stove top, please remember to keep the handles of pots and pans turned in toward the center of the stove. This is a great tip to use even if you don't have babies. It's too easy for the handle to get bumped and the scalding contents of the pan splattered everywhere. I know you don't even want to imagine what would happen if your little one grabbed and pulled on a pan handle. Easy solution, ALWAYS keep them turned in.
Finally, keep your dishwasher "locked." Our son likes to "help" with dishes and his very own "job" is to close the door when I've finished loading or unloading dishes. However, he has also learned to open the door by himself as well. The last thing I want him to be exploring when mommy isn't watching is the sharp knives and utensils that may be in there waiting to be washed. He's not strong enough to open the latch on the washer so if we keep it locked there's no worries.
Kitchen time with tykes can be sooo much fun! Don't ban your babies from the kitchen, let them be a part of those experiences with you, just use your common sense to keep everyone safe!