Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Mom Versus Baby

Diaper Changing a baby once they can crawl is very challenging. Keeping them out of harm's way when changing them above the ground is a challenge. You need two hands to hold them still, change the messy diaper without making a mess, put on a diaper, and keep them from falling over. Here's the solution. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O5_oAgw_xc

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

How To Diaper Change A Rebellious Baby

Blossom Babies is a Diaper Changing System for Infants and toddlers who are always “on the go” once they discover how to move, squirm, roll-over, crawl and walk. Their world expands with their new skills and they are eager to be in motion and do not like the discomfort of being pressed in their own feces while their diaper is being changed. The child’s efforts to break free by twisting and rolling can result in the child falling off the table or platform, further resulting in serious injury. Even if the child is lying on the floor, the twisting and rolling can result in the child falling off the table or platform, further resulting in serious injury. Even if the child is lying on the floor, the twisting and rolling can result in feces spreading over the child, the child’s clothes, the changing pad, walls, and even the parent. I encourage you to share your similar stories. http://youtu.be/8O5_oAgw_xc

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Hyperactive Toddlers

If you have a toddler or know of any toddlers that are super hyper, or wild there may be something you can do about it. If you notice that the toddler doesn't consistently respond to their own name, don't always give eye contact and hardly sit still you may want to try an experiment. First, ask yourself if the toddler is sleeping enough during the night and/or day. If they are, are they sleeping with Wi-Fi turned off in your home. Do you have wireless internet? Where is the wireless internet plugged in? Is it in the child's room? Is it turned off while they are napping or sleeping at night? Do you have a wireless alarm system? Is it turned on while your baby is sleeping? If you answered yes to any of these above questions, take the test. Look for a difference in behavior when it isn't turned on. Now if you live in a building or condo where the wireless internet is provided for the entire building than you may not have a choice and that could be affecting the behavior of your child. If you think this article is newsworthy to someone you know, please pass it on. Best regards, Zee

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Bottled or Homemade Baby Food?

It is a dilemma. First, do I buy baby food for half a year once my infant can eat solids at 6 months? Before I invest in anything that will take up a great amount of time or money I liked to weigh the pros and cons. Bottled baby food will save me a lot of time in buying all of the ingredients and preparing natural food. However, baby food is so bland it might create a picky eater later on that can cause even more time dealing with a fussy child that won't eat their food. The cost of bottled food might seem cheaper at first glance but when you prepare baby food from scratch you usually freeze an average of three to four more portions to be served on different days. Prepared baby food is healthier because bottled baby food has to be heated to such a high temperature to be able to increase the shelf life of the food. It makes me wonder what vitamins if any the baby is consuming from the bottle of food. And if you choose a bottled food, what brand? Earthbound has the most natural ingredients after comparing the bottles. I can't believe Beech-nut is even allowed to sell their product in supermarkets. Did you know they have sugar as an ingredient in a lot of their flavors. My Pediatrician warned me not to give our baby fruit juice in the first year because their is sugar in it. I wonder if she knew about the ingredients in Beech-nut products. I guess that is their way of increasing the shelf life too. The taste of bottled baby food is terrible. It almost never tastes like the food it is pureed from with the exception of fruit flavors. The vegetables are awful in taste and scent. No wonder many infants have a hard time transitioning from breast milk to solids. With the right tools, preparing baby food from scratch is pretty easy. There are great books with recipes for different stages of the baby's first year. One can even download recipes online for free. My electric hand blender has been great for pureeing foods. The baby bullet hasn't been so helpful. The biggest piece broke after my toddler accidently dropped it from two feet in the air. Plus, it didn't seem to be able to puree all steamed vegetables. My plugin steamer has been essential in this process as well. Best of luck regardless of the avenue you take. I still buy earthbound fruit puree for my toddler to mix in plain Wholemilk yogurt. It is way healthier and tastier for her than buying sugared fruit yogurt.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Cracking a boiled egg shouldn't be this hard

I thought I mastered the art of boiling an egg once I had learnt that once the water is boiled drop the eggs in and cook for 9 minutes. The yolk was perfectly solid but still yellow in color. I seem to cook eggs on a regular basis and every blue moon or so I notice the batch of eggs are extremely hard to de-shell (not even sure that is the proper term). Why does this happen? It's not an organic versus conventional thing because it has happened with both kinds. It isn't a brown or white shell thing because that has happened with both as well. Is it the small egg versus the large egg? I never tested that theory out. I don't know. All I know that some batches that I buy are extremely hard to de-shell. So much of the white part of the egg won't detach from the shell. And in those circumstances the egg cracks in so many little pieces that i just just all of it in the garbage because it is too much work to save. Once in a while I have a breakthrough (excuse the pun) and slowly save a lot of the egg but can't seem to remove that transparent lining that makes the egg taste not so grand. Is this an egg past their expiry? Is their a procedure with boiling eggs that I am not familiar with? My large boiled eggs became rather small and disfigured once I de-shelled. If you know of any tips, please pass on. Share your story.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Breast Feeding is Better for your Baby

If you are pregnant or you are thinking of becoming pregnant this article is for you. Giving your baby breast milk is essential. It's economical, aids in building your baby's immune systems and development. An argument given by many for bottle feeding are factors like working, breast feeding is painful, or tradition 'their mom bottle fed them.' I completely empathize with working moms but breast feeding during maternity leave for six weeks to three months is better than no breast feeding at all. And if you are lucky enough to work in Canada the leave is one year. However, for those less fortunate provisions might have to be made. Taking breaks at work for breast pumping is an option. If you are like most and share a cubicle that can be difficult. You could use a conference room or if you might have to resort to a restroom. With a pump it should only take five minutes to get 150 cc's. That is an inconvenience and time consuming but over the long run you would save more time and money. Breast fed babies have stronger teeth and therefore fewer cavities, and because their immune system is strong they are less susceptible to allergies and other illnesses. That is less time taken off work nursing your child back to good health, less medical and prescription expenses. I breast fed my child for a year and she never had colic, an ear infection or even caught a cold. She was in great health and slept full nights by seven weeks with the help of reading the "baby wise" book. Mothers have told me that they stopped breast feeding because their nipples were too sore. That pain only lasts for a week as the skin on your nipple thickens. Those are the few negative aspects to breast feeding. Let me tell you the benefits of nursing a baby. Breast feeding is free and is always available to the baby. I am sure moms and dads have rushed to stores all hours of the night purchasing formula as most containers only have a weeks supply in it. To hear a crying baby who is hungry and there is nothing available to give them is tormenting. There is a lot of preparation and washing of bottles involved in feeding a baby formula. Now let's discuss the cost. A formula fed baby cost about 30 dollars a week and the quality of the formula doesn't compare to breast milk. Most formulas contain soy milk as an ingredient. Soy is one of the biggest allergen. Is that really the first substance you want to give a defenseless newborn? Breast feeding also improves the health of the mother. Mothers who breast lose their pregnancy weight faster because their ovaries are pushing back down to their normal position pre-pregnancy every time you nurse. Lastly, nursing moms have less chance of suffering from osteoporosis. The benefits of breast feeding are endless. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions. Also, if you are a parent please participate in my four question survey. http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22EF3MW6G99 Best regards, Zaida