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It has been a long, cold winter here in St. Louis this year and I doubt it is going to be over any time soon. I’m not a big fan of the cold as it is (I know weird given that I grew up in Canada!!) but when you add a restless toddler into the mix it can make it feel like these cold winter days drag on forever. There are only so many inside activities I have up my sleeve.
Luckily Maya is pretty easily entertained. She plays well by herself so I can get a few things done around the house. And since her favorite activities include coloring, reading and playing with her her dollhouse it has made it fairly simple to keep her entertained. Although, I think we are both ready for the warm weather to get here so we can head outside again.
Yesterday was a stay home all day kind of day. We partook in our usual activities of coloring rainbows, jumping on the bed and playing with Maya’s my little ponies. After nap time Maya decided it would be fun to get out all of the scarves and winter hats and have a little dress up session. She had so much fun. Sometimes the most simple things become the most fun.
And this is my new favorite photo 
There is a new study out by the Archives of Disease in Childhood which indicates that moms aren’t getting enough information regarding proper preparation for bottles of formula. Many mothers are getting information from sources such as family members and friends instead of from healthcare professionals and child care experts. This results in a lot of bottle feeding misinformation and mistakes.
Proper bottle preparation can make a huge difference. With incorrect bottle preparation you run the risk of causing unnecessary gassiness, upset stomachs or even injuring your baby. There are several common mistakes that are made when parents and child care providers prepare bottles of formula. Many of these mistakes are the result of misinformation and are easy to fix.
Common Mistake #1:
Heating a bottle of formula in the microwave. Using the microwave is dangerous in that it can result in pockets of very hot spots in the bottle that could cause injury.
Fix:
You should always heat a baby bottle slowly in a pot of warm water, under a tap of running warm water, or in a specially designed electric bottle warmer.
Common Mistake #2:
Making the bottle with hot tap water instead of using cold water and then heating the bottle afterwards. Hot tap water is more likely to contain lead.
Fix:
Always choose cold water and let it run for a minute or two before filling the bottle to allow the water that has been sitting in the pipes to run out first (water that has been sitting in the pipes is more likely to contain lead as well).
Common Mistake #3:
Opening a new can of formula straight from the shelf without rinsing off the top.
Fix:
Always wash off the top of the formula can before opening it to get rid of the dirt, dust and bacteria so it doesn’t get into the formula itself.
Common Mistake #4:
Adding extra water to the bottle, which, can dilute the baby’s sodium levels and lead to seizures.
Fix:
Always fill the bottle with the correct amount of water. Fill the bottle with water first and then add the formula. The directions on the side of the can of formula will let you know how much water to add.
Common Mistake #5:
Not sterilizing the bottles before use and periodically during the life of the bottle.
Fix:
Always sterilize new bottles before the first use and sterilize them periodically throughout the life of the bottle (if not after every use).
As an expectant or new parent you will be flooded with tips, suggestions and advice. It is hard to weed through all the advice and know what is advice you can use and what advice contains misinformation or old information and should be avoided. If you are ever unsure about something don’t be afraid to ask your child’s pediatrician or another healthcare professional. It is always better to ask, even if you feel like it is a stupid question, than to do the wrong thing that could result in discomfort or even injury to your child.
What sort of tips and advice did you get about bottle feeding that ended up being completely wrong?
All it takes is one trip to your local discount retailer or baby store to see that baby feeding is big business. Aisles and aisles are filled with the gear and equipment necessary to feed a baby. Everything from breast pumps to breastfeeding support pillows to bottles to formula. It can be, understandably, very overwhelming for a new mom to stand in these aisles and try to figure out what she needs and what will best meet her baby feeding needs.
Depending on whether you plan on breastfeeding or bottle feeding will, of course, impact the baby feeding gear you will need. For example, if you will be exclusively breastfeeding you will not need formula and won’t need as many bottles. However, if you are exclusively bottle feeding you can skip the breast pump and will need to make sure you are adequately stocked up on bottles and formula. Here is a quick break down of what you’ll need.
If you plan on breastfeeding you will need:
- A breastfeeding support pillow
. I’ve professed my love of the Boppy pillow in the past, but any breastfeeding support pillow will do the trick.
- A breast Pump. The type you get will depend on your needs. If you will be returning to work and will be doing a lot of pumping than you’ll want an high quality electric pump. However, if you will be staying home and don’t plan on doing much pumping than a manual pump may be enough for you.
- A couple of good nursing bras
and shirts.
- A tube of lanolin to help relieve the chapping and discomfort of your nipples during early breastfeeding.
- Breast pads
. These help protect your bra and clothing from any leaking that may happen.
- A good supply of bottles
- Some cleaning supplies for the bottles, such as a bottle brush and a basket for your dishwasher to help keep all the little pieces of the bottle from getting lost.
- A handful of burp clothes.
If you plan on bottle feeding you will need:
- A supply of formula to get you started. You may find your baby doesn’t take to all formulas and you may need to change the brand you use, so I don’t recommend buying too much before you figure out which brand your baby takes to.
- A large supply of bottles
- A breastfeeding support pillow may be useful for a bottle feeding mom as well, but probably won’t be a necessity for you.
- Plenty of bottle nipples. You may want to get a couple of varieties and figure out which type your baby likes best.
- A handful of burping clothes.
- Cleaning supplies for the bottles including a bottle brush and a basket for your dishwasher to keep all the little bottle pieces together.
- A bottle sterilizer
- A couple of insulated baby bottle carry bag
- A portable bottle warmer
Be sure to talk to your friends and family members with small children to figure out what they found they needed and what they determined they could live without. As I mentioned above, you may find that your baby develops a preference for a specific bottle type, or nipple type or brand of formula, so it is best to just buy a few of these things and when you determine what your baby likes best you can stock up on that type or brand.
I breastfed my daughter and she never did take to a bottle so I didn’t end up using any of the bottle supplies I purchased. You won’t know for sure what you need for your baby feeding situation until you get into it, however, there are basic supplies that pretty much everyone needs so you can be sure to have that stuff on hand for when the baby comes home and then pick up the rest as you go and as you need it.
What baby feeding gear did you find most helpful and most necessary? Did it change depending on if you were breastfeeding or bottle feeding?
When I first found out I was pregnant I immediately started dreaming about a girl baby. I somehow just knew that the little person inside of me was a little girl. It turned out I was right Those vivid pregnancy dreams of my little girl always involved lots of bows and pigtails and ponytails and beautiful wavy hair. When Maya finally made her appearance into this world she came out bald. Which was fine with me because I love me a bald little baby head. However, she stayed bald, very bald, for a very long time. She spent the first year and a half of her life with hair too short for even a little tiny bow.
It seemed like her hair would never start growing. It just stayed really, really short. I’m not a big fan of those headband thingys so there wasn’t much we could do hair accessory wise. She wore a lot of hats.
Even when all decked out in a very girl outfit (think pink frilly dress) people would refer to her as a boy. They took one look at her complete lack of hair and assumed she was a boy.
Then one day, when she was about a year and a half I looked at her hair and realized there may just be enough there for a little bow. Sure enough, there was. I was finally able to get one of those little, velcro bows in her hair. It didn’t stay in long, but it felt like we were finally making some head way with this whole hair thing.
Slowly but surely her hair has been growing.
And this fall the most amazing thing happened. Her hair was long enough for a ponytail, albeit a very tiny ponytail
And even tiny little pigtails!
My little girl still doesn’t really have that much hair considering she is almost 2 and a half. I pretend not to notice those little girls in our swim class with hair half way down their backs. Her ponytails are slowly getting a little longer and fuller. She wears little bows and clippys almost every day now to keep the hair out of her eyes.
One of these days she’ll have crazy amounts of hair just like her mom and I’ll look back at these pictures and hardly remember what it was like when she had no hair. For now we’ll just keep correcting people when they call her a boy or think she is only a year old because she’s tiny and doesn’t have much hair.
The world of mommy bloggers is full of heartwarming, heart wrenching and heart breaking stories. Reading through the blogs of my fellow members of this amazing community to which I belong I often find myself laughing and crying for people I don’t even really know. I find myself smiling at the faces of adorable children whom I’ll probably never meet. I find myself learning new things every day from these amazing fellow bloggers. Occasionally I stumble upon a story that just simply breaks my heart. That is what happened a few weeks ago when I first heard about Cora from a friend on Twitter. I read Cora’s story and cried for this tiny little person who was taken from this world and the arms of her parents far too soon. I cried for her parents as they suffered through this unimaginable loss. All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around Cora’s mom and cry with her.
Cora died at 5 days old from Congential Heart Disease (CHD) in the arms of her mom while she was breastfeeding. Her parents brought her home from the hospital thinking she was in perfect health. The doctors and nurses told them she was in perfect health and there was no indication that anything was wrong with her. Congential Heart Disease is a type of heart defect that affects approximate 1 in 100 babies. Cora’s parents didn’t know she had CHD. It wasn’t detected during the routine ultrasounds during her pregnancy and since she appeared to be in perfect health there was no reason for additional testing after her birth. There is one test that could have been done that may have saved Cora’s life and that is a pulse oximetry test. A pulse oximetry test is a non-invasive screening test that measures the oxygen saturation in the blood stream. Pulse oximetry tests on newborns are not standard procedure at most hospitals and so one was not done on Cora. One simple test.
During CHD awareness week Cora’s mom is encouraging everyone to become educated on congenital heart disease, spread the word about pulse oximetry tests so that more infants are tested before leaving the hospital and to spread the word about her precious little Cora. So let’s help Cora’s mom in her crusade to save the lives of babies. Visit The Children’s Heart Foundation and find out more about this silent killer and what you can do to help ensure that no baby goes home before being tested for CHD.
Kristine, you are a true inspiration and I’m happy to do what I can to spread the word on Cora’s story and help you in your fight to save the lives of babies born with CHD.