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.