Pea Pod Travel Bed

This is great travel item to have for baby and it’s big enough to use when he’s a toddler too.  We have used our Pea Pod on several vacations and when visiting family and friends.  We decided to spend a little more and get the Pea Pod plus–it’s bigger and comes with a sleeping bag.  When you’re traveling to different hotels you never know what you’re going to get when it comes to cribs.  It was nice to know that we could put our baby in his own clean bed.  It folds up nicely and can easily be carried in the storage bag it comes with.  We used this as one of our baby checked items instead of a Pack ‘N Play.

Easy to use—it pops up into shape.  It comes with a small hand pump for the inflatable air mattress.

We have used the sleeping bag on it’s own as well.  It’s great to have when baby needs to nap when visiting family and friends.  We also placed the sleeping bag on the floor during a long plane ride and bundled baby in it–he had a great sleep.

Protect baby from loud noise- ear muffs

Peltor Kid(TM) ear muffs– If you’re going to be attending a loud function with baby these are a great investment.  We used these at a noisy fair, on the air plane and even at some family functions that had loud music playing.  They can be adjusted and seem comfortable.

Give The Euro A Chance

The Euro baby tub that is.  This tub was difficult to use when baby was a newborn up until 4 months old.  We needed two people to bath baby and it was still awkward holding baby because it’s so deep.  However, because it’s deep babies body from neck down is submerged and he doesn’t get cold.  It also helps baby when he has gas!

On Becoming Babywise- Gary Ezzo

This is a great book that I’m currently reading.  I wish I had started reading it before baby was born!  Now I know not everyone agrees with the approaches used to manage baby in this book–but I have to say it has given me hope that it is possible to have some kind of schedule with baby.  Before this book I was bombarded with the following phrases–feed on demand, pick baby up as soon as he cries so that you can gain his trust, let your baby dictate when he wants to eat, sleep or play….

On Becoming Babywise goes in depth on how parents can set sleep times, feeding times and wake times in order to get baby into a routine that has them sleeping through the night.  The book does emphasize that parents have to assess the situation and ultimately make the final call rather than be a slave to the clock or baby.

Finally, some advice on how to manage your child instead of baby being in control.  After all isn’t that parenting?

Carrying Baby Hasn’t Been Easier

I have discovered baby wraps and carriers.  I’m all for anything that helps me carry baby around comfortably and safely when were out and about.  They even come in handy around the house. I started with a soft wrap–the Moby Wrap.  At first I was overwhelmed by all the fabric!  It seems like it goes on forever.  But after a few tries I was able to master the Cradle Hold that works great with newborns.  Baby enjoyed being carried in this hold and often fell asleep.  The instruction booklet is easy to follow with step by step photos and you can find videos on the Moby Wrap site.

My latest purchase is a BABYBJÖRN Carrier.  After some research I decided to go with the  Synergy model.  This model seems to combine the benefits of the Air Carrier -the lightweight airy fabric, with the lumbar support of the Active Carrier.  I’ve taken baby on a few strolls with it and one long trip.  Baby seemed comfortable during the longer walk and despite it being a warm day both baby and mommy managed to stay dry.

Sleep Sacks– how did we sleep well without them?

Sleep sacks are perfect for newborns and up.  They keep baby warm and are safe.  using a blanket is unsafe and they end up kicking them off once they’re a few weeks old.  the sleep sack zips down so that it’s easy to remove and the zipper top stays away from babies face.  I love the Halo sleep sacks.  They come in several different styles and sizes start at newborn and go all the way up to 5T.  We have micro fleece and cotton sleep sacks for our little one.  I hear you can even find something similar for adults!

There Really Is An App For Everything

Total Baby is an app I have been using since baby was born.  It sure beats entering information on the paper forms they give you at the hospital.  Could you imagine they expected us to manually keep track of babies BM and feedings on a faded paper chart using a pen!  Thank gosh my tech husband came to the rescue with this app.  I use it on my iPod touch and it can also be used on iPhone.  It keeps track of feedings (really useful if your breastfeeding), bowl movements (if you’re a parent you know how important this is!), sleeping, baths, activities like crawling, tummy time–really important for baby to get this during the first few months in order to build his neck muscles, sun exposure etc..  It also includes a diary, Milestones, keeps track of doctor visits, babies growth, vaccines and allergies.

How did new parents live without this?

Baby Scratching His Face

Baby has been scratching his face lately.  My heart just sank when I woke up to feed him at 2 a.m. and see a large cut with fresh blood.  We tried the baby mittens but he manages to wiggle them off.  Solution–  for the past few nights we have used socks instead of the mittens and they seem to be working wonderfully.  He can’t take them off and he doesn’t seem to mind them as long as you make sure he’s fast asleep before putting them on.

Launching Project Baby

On February 1, 2010 my life went from managing several projects within the fast paced environment of a daily newspaper to raising a baby.  Of course this isn’t anything unusual or rare and may seem down right boring to anyone other than me, but it has certainly changed my life and I thought I would blog about it here.  Perhaps some of my blogs may even be useful to others– baby products that I have discovered and like or dislike, observations I make in baby land, parenting tips (not that I’m an expert but it’s amazing what you can learn from trail & error), and other stuff.  Welcome to Project Baby.