When should tummy time stop?

For some reason, once Enoch was able to roll and crawl, I just assumed that he didn't need tummy time anymore.  And let's be honest, at some point the pediatrician stopped asking about it and keeping him down on his tummy became challenging - the boy just wanted to move.  So, if you would have asked me a few months ago, I would have guessed that at 6-9 months, once children have reached those two critical milestones, they should be done with tummy time.

This is my Sweet Girl working hard this week
during her daily tummy time

However, I recently stumbled upon this piece of advice from Melissa & Doug and was very surprised that older children should still be having tummy time!  Apparently it's a good way to continue strengthening their core muscles, which are quite important for most (if not all) of life's activities.  Who knew?!?!!  So now, if you were to ask me that same question, I'd answer that even teens should probably be having some tummy time every once in awhile... maybe even old married women like myself.  ;)  

Check out the original article to get a few good tips for engaging older children while on their tummies: 

5 Tummy Time Tips (from Melissa & Doug, 8.7.13)

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5 Tips for Pumping & Freezing Extra Breastmilk Everyday

Last week, I wrote up Four Reasons why I Pump and Freeze Extra Breastmilk Everyday.  Today, I wanted to share a few tips on how I do this.

1. Rise early or sleep late.  I've found that the easiest way to pump extra milk is to either wake up earlier than my baby (even if just 30 min earlier) to pump or to go to bed a bit later than my baby and pump right before bed.  Some women do both.  If you have less milk than you'd like, I'd recommend doing both because more demand will produce more overall supply.  If you do it this way, your body will think your baby is actually nursing one or two extra times per day (which can also delay your ovulation cycle from starting up again).
2. Be consistent.  Help your body learn that you do want 4 or 5 extra ounces everyday by consistently pumping at roughly the same time everyday.  This sets the demand, and your body will regulate the supply.  
3. Growth spurts are your friend.  Babies have growth spurts fairly often, where all they want to do is eat, eat, eat.  So, in turn, your body meets that high demand with an abundance of milk.  Within a few days though, baby's appetite usually returns to a lower state, leaving your body with way too much milk.  This, my friends, is the perfect time to begin your pumping routine.  Since you already have too much milk, pumping can also help you avoid getting plugged ducts (or other not so fun issues) by emptying your breasts before bed. 
4. Get sleep.  Being rested does affect your milk production!  I honestly don't recommend beginning to stock your freezer (at least not by waking early or going to bed late) until you're getting plenty of rest.  The timing here will look different for every mama and baby.  What has worked best for me is to begin when my baby drops that last night time feeding (or after a growth spurt once baby is sleeping through the night).  
5. Get a good pump.   Otherwise you will hate every second of it.  I have a Medela double breast pump (pump in style), which I love.  It takes me 5-7 minutes to pump 4-5 oz every morning.  (I only use one pump and only express milk from one breast, since that's still how I'm feeding Karis - one side per feeding).   Getting a "hands-free" bustier can also make pumping more doable.  

*And just for a little laugh, I'll tell a quick funny..  There have been a few times where Enoch has seen my pump milk (like when we traveled to AR), but I was pretty sure that he didn't even really notice what was going on.. until last week.  The clever little fellow picked up one my pump shields (the part that goes over your breast) and swiftly brought it to his chest saying, "Enoch pump."  Haha!!  I wasn't sure whether to be proud, embarrassed, or horrified... so I settled on just laughing about it and telling him that pumping was only for mommies.  ;)

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Cheap, Stackable Drinking Glasses

In our teensy kitchen space is a premium!  Our old drinking glasses just weren't cutting it because we could only fit 8-10 in our cupboard space, and we were always running out when the dishwasher was full.  :(  But, as you can probably tell from the title of my post, I've stumbled upon a solution!

Recently, I discovered that one of my girlfriends was using mason jars for drinking glasses.  I have to admit that the idea didn't just win me over instantly.  Eventually though, I realized the potential mason jars might have for our small space - because they stack!   And of course, it just so happened that earlier in the year I had bought some glass mason jars second hand, expecting to have so many tomatoes that I could can some salsa.  They had been sitting in our garage for months gathering dust though since apparently our little family devours fresh, homegrown tomatoes.  ;)  So you can only imagine how excited I was for all of these pieces to come together and build such a beautiful puzzle!

However, I was pretty sure that Hugh would shoot the idea down (don't ask me why I thought this..  I also thought he might not like the name "Karis", but he actually loved it... maybe I underestimate him??), but when I ran it by him, he was more than excited.  Something about efficient stacking and industrial engineers..  So we ran them through the dishwasher, gave the old glasses away, and happily stacked up our re-purposed mason jars.

And do you know how many we can fit in our cupboards now?  24!  Easily.  And I'm pretty sure I paid maybe $10 for all of them.

Talk about cheap, space-saving, and even kind of rustic/cute!

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Tips for: Homemade Laundry Detergent

We've been making our own laundry detergent for almost 2 years now, and I love it!  It saves us money, cleans our clothes well, and is one less thing for me to be continually buying at the supermarket!  In the past 2 years, I've only had to make 3 batches of detergent (I just made the 3rd, so it seems to last for quite a long time, though that may be changing as I add another baby to the mix soon!).

The first batch of detergent I made was a liquid, and I followed the Duggars' recipe.  It worked well, but I didn't like having to store 10 gallons of liquid detergent.  So the past 2 batches I've made have been a powder detergent.  It's much easier to store and even a bit easier to measure, if you ask me.  The recipe for powder detergent that I've settled on (for the most part) is from the How Does She? blog.  Below is my slightly revised recipe (because I'm soo bad at following recipes fully!).

See the note if you plan to use the detergent on baby clothes and/or cloth diapers.  I've had good success with the revised recipe on both of those delicate items, but Enoch doesn't have super sensitive skin, so I'm not sure if it'd work well for babies who do or not.  And I'll admit that it's probably not as good for cloth diapers as Charlie's soap or Rockin' Green soap, but it has worked well for us and gets out the stink (I wash once on cold, regular and then again on hot, super wash for each diaper load.)

finished product

Ingredients:

• 1 (4 lb 12 oz) box Borax (Found in the detergent aisle)
• 1 (3 lb 7 oz) box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (Found in the detergent aisle)
• 1 (3 lb) container OxiClean (Found in the detergent aisle)
• 3 (15 oz total) bars Fels Naptha (Found in the detergent aisle)  
• 1 (4 lb) box Baking Soda (Found in the cooking aisle or detergent aisle)
• 1 (55 oz) bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener (Found in the detergent aisle)
• 5 gallon bucket with lid (empty & clean; can use aluminum foil for lid)
• Large paint stirring stick or spatula (for stirring)

Directions:

• Grate up the Fels Naptha soap bars until it's in little pieces, like couscous.  (I use my food processor and shred it like cheese, then process it with the chopping accessory.)
• Layer all ingredients into 5 gallon bucket (doing thirds worked well for me).***
• Stir between each layer and then again when you have it all in the bucket.
• Store in a cool, dry place.  
• Use 1-3 Tbsp per load of laundry.  (I typically use 2-3 T, which happens to correspond well to the fabric softener's measuring cap.)

baby/diaper detergent set aside
-I store it in my empty OxiClean containers-

Notes:

***If you plan to use this soap for babies or cloth diapers, leave out the fabric softener until all of the other ingredients are combined.  Then remove about 1/2 of the detergent into a separate container to set aside as your baby/diaper detergent.  After that, you can pretty easily add in as much of the fabric softener as you'd like to into your 5 gallon bucket.  I usually use 1/2 bottle of fabric softener for the remaining 1/2 of the recipe that needs it.

If you've never tried to make your own laundry detergent, I'd recommend giving it a go!  It only takes about 20 minutes from beginning to end, and this recipe lasts such a long time!   {And did I mention that it'll stretch your laundry dollars?!?!}

Happy Washing!

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Tips for: How To Find a Good OB or Midwife...

This is an important topic to me and one that we just waded through ourselves, so I thought I'd write about it just a bit on here.  I should definitely qualify this post though by saying that we have become only moderately educated about childbirth (through a Bradley Method class and our own experiences).. we are certainly not professionals!   As a result of really looking into birth and all of its complexities and options, we have decided to pursue natural, un-medicated childbirth because we feel like it is the safest route and has the best chance of leading to healthy mama + healthy baby (which is our #1 goal).  No matter what kind of birth you're hoping for though, I hope this post helps you select a good care-provider for you.

Finding the right doctor or midwife is very important!  Just like you don't buy the first pair of shoes you pick up in the shoe store without noting size, style, and comfort, you don't want to just "go with" the first care provider you meet (or the one closest to your doorstep or the one all of your friends rave about).. You first need to decide what you're looking for (no chaco sandals in the winter time for this girl!) and then you want to determine which care providers in your area best meet your needs.

Here are some questions that I recently asked our care providers:  

• Walk me through a typical, natural birth with you as the care-provider…
• How much of the actual labor & delivery do you attend?
• What are the chances that you will be there for my labor/delivery?
• How often do you like to check dilation?
• Do you recommend routine 3rd trimester ultrasounds?  Why?
• Is eating/drinking allowed during labor?
• Will I have the ability to labor in different positions, with birth ball, and freedom to walk?
• Is intermittent monitoring okay?  How many minutes per hour (and how does it change as labor progresses)?
• Is a heplock okay instead of an IV?
• What are delivery positions are you comfortable with? (squatting, side lying, hands and knees, etc.)
• Do you or the nurses do perineal massage? 
• What would cause you to use an episiotomy?
• How do you handle decels in baby's heart rate and how do you tell the difference between true  fetal distress and normal decels?  
• How do you handle a cord around the baby's neck?  
• Are you willing to delay cord clamping?
• What is your process for placenta delivery?
• What is your process for clamping the uterus down after placenta is delivered?  Are you okay with avoiding pitocin, unless medically necessary?
• What is your policy on induction?  When and how would you induce?
• What is your policy on premature rupture of membranes (before labor begins) and how long would I have to deliver the baby before you suggested a C-section assuming no signs of infection were present?
• After my water breaks, how much time do I have to deliver and am I limited to bed?
• Does the hospital provide labor tubs in room?  Can I labor AND deliver in the water?
• Does the hospital provide in-room care for newborns?  If not, when will baby need to go to the nursery and for how long?
• Does the hospital provide family centered c-sections (daddy keeps baby skin to skin until mom is in recovery, nursing asap, private transition)?
• Where is the closest NICU?
• What is the hospital’s C-section rate?  What about yours?
• Do you encourage VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarean)?

It would be wise for you and your husband to discuss these questions together and decide which ones are important for you both. You might even add to the list of questions as you think through other important issues based on your personal history, your current medical conditions, and your knowledge of the doctor/midwife/hospital you're looking into.  There are certainly many other issues to be considered than the ones I brought up here.  You should also think through the type of answer you're looking for on each question as well as possible follow-up questions before interviewing your care provider.

Remember, it's unlikely that you'll find any one person (whether doc or midwife) who will perfectly fit all of your needs/desires to a "T"... that's why it's important to decide which of these issues are most important to you and why.  Having an ultimate goal is helpful in this... our ultimate goal (again) is to choose the best option for a healthy mama + a healthy baby.  That's #1 for us.

Hope this helps!  If you have any questions about what types of answers we were looking for on any of these questions, feel free to comment below or email me, and I'll try to get back with you ASAP.   I'd also love to hear some of your own concerns/questions you asked/will ask your care provider!

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Tips for: When to buy organic

This question stumped me for the longest time, especially knowing that pesticides are becoming more prevalent and potent in produce.  Thankfully, around a year or two ago, one of my sweet friends shared a tip with me that has helped me make wise decisions about which produce to buy organic and which to buy "regular" (aka: cheap).   Some of you may already know about this tip, but I thought I'd share it anyway, in case there are some out there reading who don't yet...

So, without further ado, meet the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen!  These two lists are put out each year by the Environmental Working Group after they've tested to see which produce contains the most and the least chemical residue.

Source: Environmental Working Group
(from: http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/2012-shoppers-guide-to-pesticides-the-dirty-dozen-clean-15)

Here's how it works: any produce you see on the Dirty Dozen List should be bought organic because they have the highest amounts of residual pesticides and other nasty chemicals.  Any produce you see on the Clean Fifteen List can be bought regular (non-organic) because they have the lowest residual chemicals.

When I was first introduced to these lists, I have to admit that even though I was excited to be informed, I was slightly overwhelmed... I mean, I regularly buy things on the dirty dozen list, like weekly!  And let's just be honest, not every grocer carries organic grapes (and if they did, I probably couldn't afford them anyway!)..  So, to get past my overwhelmed state, I decided to set a few simple goals, and that's what I'd recommend for you to do as well if you're interested in using these lists to your advantage.  :)

Last year, my goal was to buy only organic apples (they're one of the dirty dozen that I do buy every week without fail because they're a staple in this house).  And about halfway through the year, I added potatoes to my "only buy organic" list.  Those two were pretty easy for me because our local WalMart carries 3-4 lb bags of organic apples and potatoes.

This year, I've been working on adding spinach to my organic list as well as substituting grapefruits and kiwis for peaches/nectarines when possible (this will be harder in the summer when all of those peaches and nectarines come into season).   I'm also hoping to have some type of small garden this year (just trying to figure out where in my yard and what kind of containers), and if that happens, I hope to grow cucumbers and bell peppers, two of our other staples on the dirty dozen list.  :)

Now I realize that it's possible that some of you are ready to jump into the deep end and stick to these lists fully... if so, you can click the link below the picture to find a free pdf that you can print to carry in your purse, in case you don't want to memorize the lists (which is harder than I first thought!).  If you really want to go hard core on these lists (and if you're on a budget like we are), you might consider making the clean fifteen your list of weekly staples and buying one organic from the dirty dozen list per week (or month) as a special treat.  :)

HAPPY SHOPPING AND/OR GARDENING!!

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Tips for: traveling (by car) with a little one

Here are a few tips that we've discovered to make traveling (by car) with a little one less burdensome.

Our king suite w/ divider for Enoch's pack n play

• Try to drive around their sleep schedule when possible (meaning, plan to drive your long stretches when they should be sleeping)
• Pack a few "favorite" toys and save the best ones for the inevitable meltdown that happens when you aren't able to stop (keep them where you can grab them easily and pass them back).
• Book your hotel strategically.  For us, this means looking for a king suite that has a divider between the bed & living area (see photo) so that we can set up Enoch's pack and play in the living area without him being able to see us (he really does best at falling asleep when he can't see anyone and it's darkish).  Depending on how you've trained your little one to fall asleep though, your preferred hotel arrangements might differ from ours.  I've found TripAdvisor to be a fairly reliable tool for finding just the right hotel (at the right price).  
• Bring plenty of healthy snacks because let's just be honest, eating on the road is less than healthy... (We really like fruit cups and/or apples & oranges because they travel well... bananas, not so much...  And Cheerios are always a good staple to have with you as well because they're not too messy for the carseat.)
• Remember that your little one is more important than your schedule.  Stopping to work through a meltdown (or two... or three...) is okay, even if it makes you late (I have to remind myself of this whenever I end up making more stops than expected with Enoch!).  

Any tips that you want to share about traveling (by car) with your little ones?

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Tips for: parents

Steve McCoy gave some great, practical tips for parents in his post "Advice for Parenting Young Kids" last week.  I especially appreciated his commentary under each tip.  Check it out for yourself and see which ones you can add to your parenting suitcase.   I feel like the one I'm working on now most with Enoch is first time obedience.  And two of the ones that I am adding to my suitcase for later use are the five minute rule and pre-event preparation/conversation.  Don't get me wrong though, picking is hard because there are many other good ones to choose from!!


ht: Justin Taylor

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