Random MomBlog

Rubber bands are great (as long as they’re nowhere near a child’s mouth!!!).

We used rubber bands for early child-proofing to keep Karston out of cabinets, and they worked well. Of course, now he puts the rubber bands back on if you leave them loose, but he also no longer tries to get into everything. The rubber bands worked until he learned what not to do. Now that he’s older, he knows his toys and they’re more fun anyway.

I’m using a rubber band on my wrist to keep track of which side is next for breastfeeding. I’m faster on the setup when I don’t have to think, test, or remember which side Cale gets. Very handy, especially at night! I sometimes wear a pretty stretchy bracelet during the day, but at night the lowly rubber band is much more comfortable for sleep.

Baby, Child, Tips, Toddler

We started using size 3 diapers last year on April 27th, and we’ve gone through thousands. (Really! At least 3,000. Mind boggling!) I thought Karston might wear size 3 until he potty trained! After all, size 3 diapers run from 16 to 28 pounds; he gains weight so slowly that I could imagine him being 3 years old and under 28 pounds. But he won’t be wearing size 3 next year after all.

Of the several kinds we tried, we were happiest with Pampers Cruisers. Although we had two bags of Pampers that didn’t have enough filling in the front (we had some night-time diaper leaks until we started checking how high the front filling went for night changes), overall the Pampers were the ones that didn’t have overnight problems.

Speaking of diaper leaks, that’s how I knew it was time to look at size 4 diapers! I read online that an increase in diaper leaks means that it’s time to consider the next size. We had two weeks of frequent nighttime diaper leaks, so I bought a pack of size 4 because if it worked, it was an easy solution … and it turns out that size 4 diapers start at 22 pounds! Karston finally crossed that mark, so it really is time to move up to the next size. In fact, we started some diaper sizes two pounds early. However, we’re still going to finish that case of size 3 over the next many days while wearing size 4 at night.

So it’s the end of a 20-month era, winding down for size 3 diapers and the calendar year.

Baby

Now that I have some experience, here’s the report on sippy cups.

You do not want the Nuby valve-free sippy cups while breastfeeding! To open the silicone valve, the child bites the valve. Yeah, I don’t think I need to say more. After some chewing on the valve, it’s no longer drip-free. I discovered this all over my lap while driving out.

You do not want any sippy with a snap-on lid (ours is also Nuby). You want a lid that screws down so the lid doesn’t pop off when the child drops it.

Speaking of dropping, you want a sippy valve that’s hard to install because you do not want the valve falling out when the cup is dropped. It’s a bonus if the valve’s easy to replace (you can buy more).

What we like best are the Circo sippy cups from Target that are never in stock around here. For night-time drinking, Karston prefers the Circo sippy with two handles (the model for younger children). Second place, at least if you already have Avent bottles, is an Avent bottle with the Avent Non-Spill Soft Spout. Karston likes the soft spout better than the hard one, and that seems fair to me. You’ll also want the handles to go with the spouts. The Avent dome lid should help if it wants to leak during travel. One nice feature of the Avent spouts is that you can separate the valve into two parts to clean it out. (I finally learned why people buy pulp-free orange juice, a product I thought had no redeeming features: it’s so that you don’t have to clean pulp out of the sippy valve!)

We’ll try the Nalgene sippy bottle soon.

After 12 to 18 months, sippy cups are a convenience to prevent messes; Karston can drink from a cup, and sometimes prefers that. On the other hand, he also pours what’s in a cup other places, too. (He only gets water in a cup.)

Baby, Toddler

I didn’t think Karston would learn that Mr. Wood was trouble until he was teenager or older. He woke up crying twice last night (yawn), so we changed his diaper to avoid a diaper leak since that’s what crying usually means now. Both times I noticed that Mr. Wood had visited him recently, so he was pointing up (high chance of a leak) instead of down (only overflow leaks). So I think Karston knows Mr. Wood causes diaper leaks, and he knows he’s too old for malfunctions like that, so he let us know.

Toddler

You know you need new rear shock absorbers when … after a short trip on a country road, your toddler is gripping the sides of his car seat with that crazy grin he gets on wild rides.

Funny, Personal, Toddler

It’s a pretty day this afternoon, and we won’t have many more pretty days before we have to push through several months of unmitigated winter. So we ate lunch outside on the deck! Lunch was a bit late, which makes me gassy. Today it made me really gassy. But you know, I was outside, so I decided to be comfortable. After three impressively loud farts in a row, my 16-month-old toddler with very few words in his repertoire looked at me and said Oh wow. Needless to say, we cracked up! Yeah, he’s probably right.

Toddler

A study on sleep/wake patterns of breast-fed infants in the first 2 years of life indicates Karston should sleep less than his non-breast-fed counterparts and not sleep through the night. Oh well! I think he already knows that, and I’m the one coming to grips with it. I would daydream about the time I get to sleep on my own schedule again, but I’m too close to zombie to daydream. Still, some day I am sure I will be allowed to have a regular sleep schedule of my own. And I think all those times when I thought we were “almost there” were cases of wishful thinking. Come on, I’ve been thinking Karston was close to sleeping through the night without us since he was six months old, and here he is about to pass sixteen months of age without a full week of full sleep. I just need to accept that I have a happy, healthy child who doesn’t need as much sleep as I’d like. The important phrase is “happy, healthy child,” and I’ll just deal with the rest. Now if he would give up what he did way too early Wednesday morning (cry from 1:30 AM to 5:30 AM), that would be great!

Baby, Child, Toddler

I think the end is in sight for baby food from jars. Karston is much more interested in what we’re eating, and so far he hasn’t refused any food when he’s in the mood to eat. So some day soon, no more baby food jars. That’s nice (much better than when he would barf back anything not from a jar!), but I’ve still got a ton of small jars that might be headed for the recycling bin. Still, reduce and reuse are key components to recycling, so I’ve been looking for other ideas. Here goes!

You can use them to hold beads or buttons. I store the jars upside down for this, so I can see what’s in the jar through the clear bottom instead of the opaque lid. I arrange them by color. You can also store screws or other small parts with similar groups that fit in one jar, and arrange by size. eHow.com has a page on this type of Baby Food Jar Organizer.

My friend Cheryl is good at decoupage (tissue paper and glue on a clear stratum for a nifty stained glass effect), and I think she could make cool votive holders with tea light candles. Turns out that’s not a new idea either, because eHow.com also has a page on How to Use Baby Food Jars for Decorative Votive Candles.

While there, I noticed that eHow.com has a page on How to Use Baby Food Jars to Make Gifts, and another on How to Make Gel Air Freshener that you could put in clean, empty baby food jars.

Next I turned to Google to dredge up ideas. I turned up a list of uses for Excess Baby Food Jars, and some entries under Crafts from Recycled Stuff. And finally there’s Eileen’s Favorite Camp Crafts and Other Fun Things from Baby Food Jars. That covers a whole bunch of uses for these baby food jars. I think my favorite (after convincing my crafty friends to take them! that even worked for the first several months) is to donate the jars to a local school or a Girl Scout troop for their arts and crafts!

Update 11/24/2006: And (duh) there’s always using them as jars in the kitchen! I stored leftover chocolate chips in one recently.

Baby, Child, Crafts, Recycle, Tips, Toddler