Teething - which teeth first?

Thank you to Karen Joy for her article on teething out of order.

The peanut is nearing her 6 month birthday and celebrating with some teething. However, she is not starting with the middle teeth the way all the literature says she will. Perhaps she wants to be more like our cats, because the corners of her mouth are where the action is.

Thank you to Karen Joy for doing the research and finding out that cutting teeth in an unusual order is not cause for concern.

Her own bed while sharing ours

As I read about the advantages and risks of bed sharing with a new baby, I kept thinking "Why can't someone just invent something that protects the baby and her space while she's in the bed?"

The Snuggle Nest does just that.

We tried having Peanut in a cradle by the bed, but I couldn't see her or touch her without sitting up. I had to get out of bed and reach into the cradle to get her for feedings. I would wake up panicky because she wasn't with me, even though she was only a couple feet away. So we bought a Snuggle Nest. Now I see her the second I open my eyes. I can sleep with my hand on her stomach, ready to soothe and massage her if she stirs in the night. She falls asleep looking at me, and she can hear and smell me as she sleeps. There is a womb-like white noise option to help her fall asleep, which also helps this overtired mother clear her mind.

During the day, we put the Snuggle Nest in her cradle. That way she naps in her familiar bed, but there is the added safety of the cradle railings. This assumes that she sleeps in the cradle and not on me, which is only true half the time.

We both sleep a lot better since we got the Snuggle Nest. I just don't know what we will do when she outgrows it (which is any day now!).

Baby toys

When I was pregnant, I imagined the peanut playing with hand-crafted toys made of natural materials by women in 3rd world countries who would use their profits to empower themselves and help improve the lot of women in their patriarchal society. All would be natural, organic, fair-trade, environmentally friendly and socially conscious. I seemed to think that by buying baby toys, I would save the world.



Now I am sitting here as my daughter plays with mass-produced, plastic toys on her Fisher-Price playmat. Why? Because it makes her happy. And when she is happy, I get a moment to myself. And when baby is happy and I get some "me time." I am very happy.

Maybe I'll save the world tomorrow...

Cloth diapers - genius for her bum

When I was expecting the peanut, I was suddenly faced with lots of decisions that I felt totally unqualified to make. With the prenatal hormones, each decision also seemed vastly more important than it really was. One decision was what to do about diapers.

It was only after the peanut was born that it occurred to me that choosing to use diapers at all was a decision. I read about the diaper-free movement and found it very interesting, but diapers were the right choice for me.

But what kind? Cloth or disposable? This was the decision as I saw it. I try to be environmentally conscious, so I wanted to choose cloth. But was that a lot more effort/money/etc.? And did all of the extra energy use of the extra laundry undo the environmental benefits of not making trash?

I learned that cloth was not more money. In fact, it is less. And if I reuse the peanut's diapers on a future child, it's massive savings. At this point, I was pretty much sold. When green and cheap overlap, there you'll find me.

I was still worried it would be a bother. I did not like the idea of fancy folding and twisting. I did not like the idea of safety pins near squirmy babies. And then I found out how archaic my image of cloth diapers was.

I discovered Wildflower Diapers, and they saved me a lot of researching by sharing their own. I now felt ready to look into making a purchase. [I later discovered www.diaperco.com, which also has good information for beginners.]

I wanted to get a lot of diapers without spending too much, so I bought the Bummis Cloth Diapering Kit. In retrospect, that was not the right move for me. I hated folding the flat diapers and trying to get them to stay in the diaper cover while putting it on the peanut. It was more work than a disposable, and I didn't like doing it.

I had registered for some BumGenius One Size Organic All-In-One diapers, and I received a couple as I was getting fed up with the flat diapers. The All-In-One is amazing! It's...well...genius!! It is just as easy as a disposable, but it's cloth. You put it on with snaps and then take it off when it's dirty. No insert, no folding, no effort. I was in love.



And did I mention it is one size? I am set for diapers until the peanut is 35 pounds!

I ordered a package deal on Thanks Mama . The package deal came with free BumGenius babylegs, which are very cute. They are the warmth of pants, but they don't cover the cute diapers and they don't have to be removed to change the diaper.



Which reminds me of a real perk of going with cloth: They are cute!! BumGenius doesn't do patterns, but they do pretty colors which can be coordinated with peanut's outfit. And when you spend your day changing diapers and being spit-up on, those pretty colors can make all the difference.

Cry it out?

The other day, my little peanut was crying her eyes out. She was long overdue for a nap, but I could not get her to sleep. I checked her diaper (dry), I burped her (I got one, but she still screamed), I sang to her, bounced her, offered to nurse her and massaged her tummy in case of gas. And then I did it all over again. After 45 minutes, she was still crying and I was ready to join her. I realized that I could not help her. All I was doing was letting myself unravel. And if I unraveled completely, what good would I be to her?
So I checked once again for any obvious causes of discomfort, and then walked away from the cradle. I couldn't stand to hear her cry, so I went into the bathroom, closed the door and took a much-needed shower. When I came out, I was refreshed, ready to face the screams with calmed nerves. Only there were no screams. My peanut was fast asleep.
Do I regret the 45 minutes I spent trying in vain to calm her? No. I want her to grow up knowing that I will always try to help her. But it is important that I learn now that sometimes I won't be able to help. As she grows up, and her problems become more complex, it will more often be the case that I won't be able to help her. I won't be able to make other kids want to be her friend; I won't be able to make her crush like her back; I won't be able (or willing) to buy her every toy and outfit that strikes her fancy; I won't be able to make her good at everything she wants or needs to do. I can always offer love and support, but there will be many, many things that she will have to overcome on her own. And sometimes, she will have to cry it out. So when she is 13, crying over a callous boy, a cruel "friend" or a mean mother who won't buy her the latest gadget that "everyone else has," I think I'll go have a long, hot shower. Maybe when I come out, she'll be sleeping.