Britax versus Recaro versus EvenFlo Symphony

We bought a Britax marathon for one car and a Recaro Signo for our other car. The Recaro was a lot cheaper than the Britax. The quality is outstanding for the price. I think I paid $160 for the Recaro and $229 for the Britax.

At first, my husband liked the Recaro better. It is super plush. I have read reviews that the black and tan version can get hot in summer. I live in a hot city over summer and didn't own it during summer, so I can't comment if it is really hot.

Both the Britax and the Recaro are super sturdy.

Now, my husband likes the Britax a little better. He says it is easier to get the baby in it as the recaro is so plush that it is kinda hard to get the baby in. It isn't that hard though.

Whichever carseat you get, make sure you research it and know its quality. We had to get a bigger one since our son is very big for his age. His dad is big and tall, so that also helped us decide.

Oh, we also got an EvenFlo Symphony. It was a super good deal. It is our least favorite out of the three. It is safe, but I just don't like it. It is sturdy, but I don't like the latch. It also vibrates a little, but I think that has to do with the way my husband insalled it.

Similar ones to the three that we own:
Britax Marathon:
http://www.amazon.com/Britax-Marathon-Convertible-Seat-Herringbone/dp/B0018Q3UMU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1268672473&sr=8-2

Albeebaby and diapers.com usually have good prices on Britax.

Recaro Signo:
http://www.amazon.com/Recaro-Signo-Convertible-Midnight-Desert/dp/B0021AFQQU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1268672540&sr=1-5

This one seems like it went up in price. It is nice, but I am not sure I would pay that much for it when the Britax is cheaper.

Evenflo Symphony:
I think this is similar to the one we have.
http://www.amazon.com/Evenflo-Symphony-Convertible-Seat-SureLATCH/dp/B001H0GGLY/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1268672659&sr=1-2-fkmr0

Cheap Christmas Stocking

I decided to save money and buy 3 stockings at the Dollar Tree. I got them for $1 each. I got them embroidered for about $7.50 each. I shopped around and found a cheaper place for embroidery. If you know of someone who does this, ask them. Embroidering isn't usually expensive. I called a few places to find the cheapest place that had the fastest turnaround.

Here is my final product (above)
Mom, Dad, and my son's name

Breastfeeding while sick

I have food poisoning for the 2nd time this year. Last time I had it was about 5 months ago, I didn't know if I should continue breastfeeding.

Here is a good website on what you should do if you find yourself sick and wonder if breastfeeding is safe for your baby.

http://www.kellymom.com/health/illness/mom-illness.html

I've mentioned this website before as it is the best website for nursing moms. This link above talks specifically about being sick and breastfeeding.

I'm sick again, but I'm still breastfeeding. I'm really dehydrated, but I'm trying to make it to my goal of one year of breastfeeding.

It is really hard to take care of your baby while sick, but add to that still trying to feed your baby while YOU are sick...definitely ask for help!

Milestones by Month!

http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bdevelopment/0,,42cn,00.html

A good website that shows milestones by month.

Take everything with a grain of salt...

My son met some milestones on the last day of that month. He did some items slightly earlier (like smiling). He likes to wait until the last minute...

He just laughed one day with me feeding him. (didn't see it on this list, but I think it is a 3 or 4 month milestone). We played peak a boo with him one time and he laughed too. So, you really do have to work at some of these milestones...Laughing is so cool!!!!

We practice waving and clapping, but my pedi said that is a 12month milestone. But you do need to practice things with them...Some of my friends have children that waved at 9months or earlier, so as mentioned some children 'get it' before others. ;)

My son took forever to sit unassisted - think it was around 7months.

My son wanted to pull up on everything, but I really needed to have things for him to pull up on (furniture, stable items, etc). If he didn't have something, he might have taken longer to do this milestone.

Spend time with your child and ensure they are meeting their milestones! If you have concerns, talk to your pediatrician. I know all of them usually have a list when you visit (is your child sitting, is your child pulling up, is your child focusing on you, etc). Talk to your dr if you have concerns, that is what we pay them for!

I know my son was horrible at keeping his head up (45 degrees - he took forever to do that). Of course, when I told my dr, he did it for her no problem. My son is stubborn! :) You should spend time with your baby and do tummy time. I'll find a link to some tummy time ideas on another post.

Milestone information - motor skills

http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/mm_windows_graph.pdf


The above link shows child milestones for motor skills (sitting, standing, crawling, walking).

Also related to milestones (when to count it)
http://www.who.int/childgrowth/mgrs/en/fnb_motor_37_45.pdf


It's good to know what milestone your child should be hitting. There is a big range on some items such as crawling and walking. He couldn't sit unassisted forever, but still fell within the range. You should be careful to compare your child with another child. Each child is different, but it is good to see the milestone information.

A child at my son's daycare (a girl) was crawling perfectly at 5 months and walking well at 8 or 9 months. My son didn't army crawl until 8.5 months and started full-blown crawling at 9.5 months. Each child is different and in talking to moms with taller/chunkier kids it may take longer. Instead of comparing your child, just look at the chart and understand that there is a big range for motor skills. Some children don't crawl, but go straight to walking.

Breastfeeding issues!

I had the worse time at breastfeeding, but I stuck it out. Sometimes I think I was not in my right mind and maybe I should have quit...

My advice:

1). Do it, if you can.
2). If it stresses you out, stop
3). It gets easier. For me, it took awhile but at 3months, I felt like it was easier.
4). It's a learning process for mom and baby. Babies don't just have this instinct naturally, although you think they would. It takes time for them to learn. They do get faster at drinking the milk, but at first you will have to wake them a lot (more on that in another post).

I was stubborn, since I paid a lot of money for a breast pump, etc. I wanted to make it work.

Here I am at 10m6d and I'm still breastfeeding. I had to supplement from the start.

What works:
1) Feed on demand.
2) Feed every 2-3 hrs at first. It takes awhile for your supply to establish. Breasts work by supply/demand.
3) Drink a ton of water.
4) Eat good stuff.
5) Oatmeal
6) One beer right after BFing session - slam it. It helps increase supply...I'm not advocating getting drunk. ;)
7). Take blessed thistle and fenugreek at the same time (get the right amount by talking to your obgyn and/or a lactation consultant.
8). Get a lactation consultant. After talking to a ton of women on breastfeeding, most needed 'help'.
9) Reach out to other moms who have breastfed. I could never BF in public as my son is easily distracted. Some things won't work for you, but talking to people will help!

Even now, at 10m I still have to feed him every 3-4hrs usually. Babies have to eat a lot since they have a small stomach.

We had to supplement from the beginning and all the above items didn't work for me (100%). I had to take a drug to stimulate my brain to make more. It only helped slightly. Reglan is what I took and it didn't help me much. It can cause depression in some, so talk to a dr when taking this.

I frequent 'breastfeeding' forum on the bump.com. I talk to a lot of moms about breastfeeding and baby items. It's important to have someone to talk to - I know if I didn't ask people on a forum (A LOT), I would be clueless. This is where I get some/most of my breastfeeding advice. ;)

I'm passionate about breastfeeding, so look for more posts regarding the topic. I don't think formula is poison at all and I've had to supplement from the start. Some days I supplement ZERO oz, but sometimes he gets 6oz a day of formula.

Breastfeeding is the hardest thing that I've ever done, period. My original goal was 6-9 months, before I knew what I was getting into (had the baby). I'm so proud that I've surpassed my original goal! I hope to make it to 1 year - if all continues well.

Breastfeeding resource!

I had so many problems with breastfeeding, but most of my issues were around supply. (more on that in another post).

Here is a great breastfeeding website. If you are BFing, you need to visit this site quite often. It tells you what kinds of medications you can/cannot take.

It also has where to find a lactation consultant. I think mine isn't on here, so if you live in Austin let me know if you need a resource.

http://www.kellymom.com/

Baby food organization

You don't need something like this to organize your baby food, but it helps me to keep things in sight especially when my husband needed to grab something quickly.

I remember saying that earth's best didn't make prunes, but they do in some markets. I saw some when traveling to New Hampshire.

Music player we loved!

It's hard sometimes to come up with words to songs...we used this player from BIRTH and our son smiles when he hears certain songs since he has heard them for 10plus months.

If you don't get one like this, get something that stimulates your baby through music.

We had an activity gym, but it only played a few songs 'itsy bitsy spider', etc. That was fine, but we needed more variety of songs...

I am terrible at coming up with songs and constantly chatting with my baby (which you need to do - they need you to talk 'all the time'). This helps me sing songs that he likes. I am so bad with remembering the words to songs, but now I can sing all the songs on here. (since I've done it since birth).

His favorites on here were: 'abc song' and 'the teddy bears have their picnic'. Why is it important to have a favorite - because if you know what song they like you can calm them down when they are having a fit. It helps!

Shopping Links-name jewelry!

Two sites for customized name/initial jewelry and photo charms.

https://www.planetjill.com/

http://www.lisaleonardonline.com/custom-necklaces/laundry-line-necklace.html

We got the H1N1 shot.

Well, DS did, but I did not. I'm still not sure that I will as I'm pretty healthy and because I'm still breastfeeding. I am nervous about me taking it and DS already getting the shot.
He got the first round last week.
I feel a little better about it all especially since I now know some people who are getting H1N1.
I still don't want him to get H1N1, but I feel slightly better that he is 'somewhat' protected.
His drs office wanted to give him the seasonal flu vaccine too, but I declined it (at least for 2 wks or a month). They said 'well it may not be here for him when you want it'. I did want to space them out a little bit, but I'm sure it is fine if people didn't.

Vax advice for swine flu and regular flu...

I am not a proponent of Dr. Sears necessarily (more info on that in future posts...), but I think he has some great advice on spacing out the doses of the 4 flu shots your child may need (if they are under 3 years old).

http://www.askdrsears.com/thevaccinebook/

I like the info here because it talks about nursing mothers (which I am...). I was confused if I could take the FluMist vaccine and asked some on public forums. There was a lot of confusion out there, so this article addresses nursing mothers (sometimes people forget about us and just talk about healthy women or pregnant women).

Toys for 3-8month olds...

Toy for 3-8 month olds...or beyond

Here is a picture of a few toys that my child likes playing with.

The links he started playing with between 1m and 2.5 when hanging from an activity gym. He still picks these up though. He would reach out for them. Then around 3 months he would hold them in his hand and bring them closer to his mouth.

Teething ring - He likes to have a ring to look at and bite. His favorite isn't shown here though.

Little birds that he can hold in his tiny hands and round balls that make various noises. He started using these around 6 or 7 months and still uses these today. We have some of the balls in the car too.

The contraption on the right is one of his favorites (or was for a long time). He played with that around 4-7months. I can't remember the exact time frame might have been around 5 months. I would not have bought something that looked like this but my sister gave it to me and he has one at daycare that is similar. He loved it for so long.

The frog was hanging from his activity gym - not his favorite, but we still use it to distract him or some of the other items that hung from his activity gym.

He liked his teething keys around 4-7months. He didn't always hold them in his hand, but did like to look at them. He started the teething process around 3.5-4 months, but didn't get his first tooth until 7 months (or just over). The drool lasts forever...

I'm posting this 'toy post' because some items I would have not thought to buy. But all babies are different and show interest in different items. I have bought a ton of toys that he just doesn't find interest in. Others may like those toys, but they didn't work from my child. I try to go to target or other stores and give him something to play with while I shop to see if he will like it - before I end up buying it. I will say that standard items that really help with development are small items like the balls, birds and links -I'm sure most babies would love. As they get older, their interests take over in what they want to play with. Right now at almost 9 months, my son leaves his toys and crawls to the wires in my computer. I bought a toy (on extreme clearance) that was supposed to help promote crawling....not so much. He crawled when he wanted to and he doesn't crawl while trying to chase that toy. You have to experiment with toys and always take other people's handmedowns. (as long as they are safe and in tact).

Starting finger foods

We started practicing with finger foods right before 8 months - not sure of the exact time. DS grabs the spoon a lot of the times when getting purees.

We give him small pieces of avocado, bannana, organic puffs, and small pieces of chicken (pea-sized).

He makes a mess, but I think they need to do this to develop. He likes picking up food, but drops about half of what I give him. Our dogs love that!

Here is some info on introducing finger foods:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_finger-foods_105.bc

A link to sample baby schedules (sleeping, naps and milk/formula)

Always ask your pediatrician, when it doubt on how much sleep your child needs and how much food they need. Drs get paid to service us as new moms and they are there to answer your questions. My pedi gave me a sample menu for 7-8 month olds, but also it had on there when to start solids and how much to give my little one.

The following is just a guideline for sleep, nap, and feeding schedules based on a child's age. I think these are schedules submitted by real moms, not drs (so keep that in mind). I know my son is off the charts on what he eats sometimes, but he is also a big boy (80-90% in height and weight). Take that into account when thinking about how much to feed your little one. Not all babies fit in a perfect chart...you need to read on here about how to tell if your baby is getting enough formula/milk based on wet/dirty diapers. My lactation consultant was also able to help me with knowing how much milk my little one needed based on his size at the time. I will say that I fed my baby (and still do) on demand, not really a 'schedule'.

As stated in a different post, formula-fed babies need to eat more ounces most likely less frequently, since breastmilk digests quicker (but usually you need less breast milk but more frequently) That is a mouthful....but basically the link below states guidelines and breaks it down for formula-fed babies or breastmilk babies.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_sample-baby-sleep-feeding-and-play-schedules-for-your-childs_3657536.bc

Keeping trying foods even if they don't seem to like them...

If your child doesn't like rice cereal or oatmeal at first, keep trying it with them. It takes a lot of practice at the beginning and they just need that time to learn how to swallow food.

Sometimes if my child didn't like something I tried it again...

My son never really liked peaches and still doesn't but it doesn't hurt to try a food more than once.

We still give cereal. We mix prunes with cereal or other fruits for breakfast.

Don't forget your camera when you begin solids...

I took pictures of our son around the first time he got vegetables (sweet potatoes).

Don't forget the camera to capture those great moments!

Making baby food!

Yes, I have made some of my own baby food. I am not making 100% of what he eats since it is easier to just buy jars. It is hard with working full time. When I come home from work, it usually is breastfeeding my son and trying to throw some food together for dinner.

I have made the following items: (not many)

*Acorn Squash - microwave for several minutes after poking holes in it.
*Butternut Squash - same as above
*Carrots - baby carrots microwaved in steam bags from ziploc, then pureed in food processor. I use a kidco food processor, but any small one would work fine. I did make carrots, but I've heard that carrots contain a lot of nitrates and you shouldn't puree them. I would do more research before doing this. We used organic carrots, but I think the issue still exists (oops). I'm not sure how the jar carrots get around this...
*Avocado - one of the first food I did after banana (didn't freeze well for me)
*Banana -just pureed in food processor (didn't freeze well for me)
*Zucchini and yellow squash - I did not remove the skin - just steamed in bags and pureed. I love the color. I got the idea from the site below. My son loved this one. One of his favorites...
*Peaches - just pureed after cutting, did not steam.

I bought the squash and zucchini at the farmers market in some cases. The squash was cheaper than at the grocery store. Pickle mom (link below) says apples are cheaper by the jar and not homemade. As stated in a previous post, we use Earth's best baby jars.

All items were frozen using kidco freezer trays. I have two. After they are frozen, I take them out and put in bags for daycare (just big freezer bags).

This is also my favorite site for recipes. I admit that I only make easy stuff, but you can make some baby food even if you work a lot like me. I like saving money and doing baby food at home when I have time.

http://picklemomskitchen.blogspot.com/

I also don't use formula in my recipes, but I know pickle mom does and talks about how to do that. We just use water.

A good article about Swine Flu (H1N1)

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/01/parents.h1n1.flu.guide.gupta/index.html?iref=newssearch



http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/public/vaccination_qa_pub.htm

I'm still unsure if I will get the H1N1 vaccine or if my son will. I'm still breastfeeding and I'm really concerned that this vaccine hasn't been tested much.

Shopping Links!

I will update all the time when I find great website for shopping for baby.

Etsy has great stores that have cute homemade baby clothes.

We use diapers.com ($10 discount for first time customers usually) for fast delivery of diapers. We mainly buy diapers at CostCo now, but we weren't members when our baby was born.

I love babyearth.com and they are so close to where I live.

I buy a lot of stuff on amazon.com because I find they have usually the best prices on things.

Definitely do research and try to find good deals on craigslist. Baby items can be so expensive. We got a jumperoo on craigslist and I wish I hadn't paid full price for his exersaucer. They don't use these items for months on end, so if you can get hand me downs definitely try that route.

We got a lot of hand me down clothes and I still don't buy a lot of clothes. We buy clothes at Ross, Marshall, Target and consignment stores.

I love babysteals.com - every day at 9am MST they have a new deal of the day.

Under 'my links' is 'A Few of My Favorite Things' - a website that has a lot of good ideas on designing and finding unique items online.

Bottles

You need to figure out which bottles your baby would like. We registered for Avent and Dr. Browns. In the end, we switched to Dr. Browns and stayed with them. We started around 4 wks or so with them and wish we had switched sooner (it might have been 6wks). Our son preferred Dr. Browns. We were originally intimated by the number of parts that they have and when people online mentioned the many parts needed for Dr. Browns. In the end, they are really easy to clean and are not a pain at all as far as parts.

Many people like Dr. Browns and some like Born Free. I will say to get the BPA-free ones. I did use some that had BPA, but most of mine were the BPA-free ones. Glass bottles are always safe from BPA, but if you plan to have your child in daycare you may not want to invest in so many glass bottles as many daycares can't use glass bottles. We have been to two daycares and both said 'no' to glass. Plus one disadvantage to glass is that they are heavier for a baby to carry when the baby wants to hold his/her own bottle.

You also have to buy nipples that flow faster -after a few months. We had to move to level 2 around 3 months I think and level 3 around 5 months. We mainly breastfeed, but do supplement. Some people don't change the nipples, but if you find your baby is struggling you might want to get faster flowing nipples. You definitely need level 1 or newborn slow flowing nipples at first - when you have a newborn.

I love, love, love the ready made formula bottles that you just add a nipple & ring. The hospital gave us a bunch of nipples and they are really for one-time use, but we usually cleaned them and reused them. I see at Babies R Us that they sell the ready made formula bottles, but I can never find the nipples and rings that go with them. They are so great for late night feedings when you don't want to make a bottle or for when you are on the go.

We did (and still do) breastfeed, but our son was so fussy to breastfeed in public, so ready made formula came in very handy. As he got older, noises distracted him easily so breastfeeding in quiet locations worked best for us.

Starting Solids

When your child is ready for solids, there are a lot of things to consider.

How do you introduce new foods? What about food allergies? Which kind of baby food to buy? Should you make your own? When do you introduce solids?



Introducing Solids:

Talk to your pediatrician before introducing any solids. Some friends/acquaintances of mine started rice cereal early (and some have reasons to do this - reflux, etc). Be careful in doing this because it can cause allergies - 'they' don't know, but 'they' think introducing solids too early can cause allergies. They in this case are drs who advise to wait until 6 months to introduce solids. My dr said never to give a baby rice cereal in a bottle. I didn't know this before I bought bottles that were y or x cut (for letting solids pass through). Each dr is different and some as I stated above are told to do this due to reflux or other issues. I'll be honest and say it was tempting to start solids sooner because I've heard stories from moms that said rice cereal helped a baby sleep through the night sooner. This isn't true. All babies STTN (sleep through the night) at various points. Some babies can do this sooner (more on this on another post) and some won't do it forever. Breast fed babies wake up sometimes more a night because breastmilk digests more quickly than formula. My almost 8 month old is still not STTN. Some babies weeks old can STTN and every baby is different. I was given rice cereal early and I came out fine - you will hear people say that and that could be true, but maybe it isn't the best thing to do. My mom gave it to me since I was always hungry and formula alone didn't fill me up. I was a huge baby.

This website is awesome at knowing when to start solids and how to introduce solids:

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

It also has some homemade baby food recipes.

We started a few days before our son turned 5 months. Your pediatrician must give you the green light and your baby should have good head control. We started with rice cereal once a day for several weeks. We started veggies right before 6 months. We followed the rule to introduce a new veggie and to wait a few days to see if your baby is allergic to the food. The website above explains how to do this. Make sure your husband/partner/SO knows this. My husband decided to buy jars of baby food and thought it would be fun to get one jar of each food. I had to explain to him that ideally you want several jars of one item to introduce over the course of several days. It was my fault since I didn't tell him this (assumed he knew it) before he went to buy groceries.



Jars:

We buy earth's best and make some of our own baby food (another post for this subject). My husband did buy Gerber organic a few times because they make prunes and I never saw that earth's best had prunes and we were told to use prunes to avoid constipation. Our child is almost 8 months and hasn't had prunes yet, but we have prunes if he needs them. You need to do some research and figure out what is good for you and your child as far as baby food. Baby food can get expensive and babies eat purees for months. For example, our son eats at least 3 jars a day - sometimes more. Earth's best are cheapest at Target, not online (at the current time). They are about .78 cents each or around that price. Buying jars of baby food can be very expensive, so we decided to make some of our own food (like I said more on that later).



What to start first:

Each pediatrican is different. Mine recommended veggies, meats and then fruits. We didn't really follow that advice. We did stage 1 jars or veggies and fruits and then when he was 6months we moved to stage 2 purees and introduced some meat purees. Once you have done the 3-4 day allergy test, you can keep feeding your child that item mixed with anything else. For example, if you introduce sweet potatoes (our first veggie) and your child is eating it with no problems, you can introduce chicken w/sweet potatoes and then check for a reaction to chicken. Some pediatricians recommend veggies/fruits and then meats at 8 months or so. Ask your pedi for a sheet on what to introduce and also a sample menu for a 7/8 month old (if they have something like that). A sample menu might say 'give 3 meals plus X amount of formula or breastmilk'. It might have more detail on what those 3 meals should be (meat, veggie or fruit). At 7.5 months we do about 3 meals a day with usually a fruit for breakfast (sometimes mixed with rice cereal or oatmeal - both introduced around 5 months), a veggie or meat puree for lunch and the opposite for dinner. Sometimes he gets 4 jars a day or more depending on if he is hungry. We have not intoduced snacks, but I will put more information (another post on snacks). You will find that once you introduce solids you may have to give your child less formula/breastmilk. They should still have a substaintial amount of breastmilk/formula. (probably more than 24 oz a day, but check w/your dr).



What are some items they SHOULD NOT eat:

Our pedi said we could introduce egg earlier, but we have not yet since we know babies can really be allergic to eggs. They used to say to introduce egg after 1 year, but I think things have changed (again check with your pedi and if you have a family history of allergies your child may be more prone to allergies). You should never give honey to a child under 1. You should never give whole milk to a child under 1 (I believe). I think you can introduce dairy, but in the form of yogurt (but always check with your pedi). You should not give a baby plain water until a certain time period and even then only very little (1 oz or so). Ask you pediatrician. The reason they can't have water is because they could have an imbalance in their system as we would if we drank too much water. This is why some babies have died from watered down formula. We were told we could give a small amount of water after 4 or 5months -again like 1 oz. Always ask your pediatrician when you are in doubt. Don't trust anyone on the internet to tell you the right answer with regards to food/water safety (or anything really) for your child. Sometimes we feel silly to call, but that is what we pay drs for, so don't feel stupid - just call them. We also have some friends who are pediatric nurses, so we trust their judgement.

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting! I wanted to start this blog to share my experiences as a mom with other new moms. Some of my experiences are probably unimportant to some, but I hope some will find this blog useful.
About me:
I'm a 30 something woman who has one child, a boy. I am an opinionated person, but I like to think my opinions are real and honest. I work outside the home. I admire stay at home moms, but it is something I'm not cut out for.
I try to do things on a budget, but I do love shopping.
My advice comes from my down-to-earth nature. I appreciate comments and a healthy debate. I'm a self-proclaimed know-it-all, but I have a lot of learning to do as I experience being a new mom. I don't do everything the right way (as I sit here and type with a sleeping almost 8 month old on my chest).
This blog will focus on life 'after baby', but I may have some pre-baby insight or pregnancy related posts as well.
I will try to link to other blogs/websites that are new-mom related or informational. Oh, I would love to hear from experienced moms too!
Thanks again for visiting- I hope you stay awhile!
Grape Mama