Formula Feeding

I breastfeed my DS mainly. I supplement a little.

If you are breastfeeding, the amounts will be different. If you pump, you won't get as much as the baby gets (more on this later on a breastfeeding post).

This was taken from a formula handout, but always talk to your pediatrician if you have concerns. Your baby should be having plenty of wet and dirty diapers plus growing about an ounce a day (1/2 to 2/3 to 1 oz is normal). If you baby is gaining more than that, that is fine too.

Similac Formula recall

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20017390-10391704.html

Quite a few of the Similac brand formulas have been recalled because of some possible beetle parts. In this article, the lot numbers and phone number are included.

I think ready to feed bottles are ok.

GrapeMama has another baby!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile...I was busy being pregnant and even then I kept it very quiet.
Baby Girl was born in late August 2010. We are so happy to have another child.

I'll be posting more info on newborn stuff because of this. How much formula to give, breastfeeding on demand, what I have learned while trying to breastfeed #2, etc.

I'll try to keep up this blog more while on maternity leave.

I'll reference her as baby S or as DD - dear daughter.

Baby book / photo books

I decided to do a scrapbook as my baby book. I'll post some pics when I am done with it. I am a few weeks away from being done with it (at least for the first year).

I found this baby memory book on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41725334

I like the fact that the above seller has pages that list out info you should capture (teeth info, milestones, first words, etc).

Also, if you want to make a photobook, here is some info...
http://mypublisher.com/

I made a photobook for my wedding for my mom, MIL, grandmother and my husband's grandmother. If I remember correctly, I used My Publisher.

Right now, My Publisher has 50% off of $100 or more OR $25 off of $50 or more (with this code - SPRING2550 - expires 3/31/2010).

Walmart has similar sized books for $22 I think and My publisher is $29. Both are for only 20 pages. We may do this in our addition to the scrapbook that I am making. I was given a scrapbook at one of my baby showers. One of my hobbies is scrapbooking, although I am not too great at it.

More info on what I put in my baby book/scrapbook for baby in another post...

Felt Playhouse

I came across this and I think it is so cute. They can do boy or girl themed houses.

http://ticoandlupe.blogspot.com/2010/03/fundraising-fun-felt-playhouses.html

Taking professional pictures...

We planned to do 4, 6, 9 and 12m. We missed his 12m pictures.

I wish we had done 3m instead of 4m.

There are many places to go and maybe try a few. We went to Sears due to cost. Even only going this amount gets expensive. Plus, they try to sell you packages and really YOU want pictures, but your family doesn't need a picture of your little one every 2 months. :) I know my father-in-law loved pictures, but really he was overloaded with pictures. (plus he got ones in between for the holidays...)

Sears was ok. The people there are mainly teens, but they are usually good at getting smiles.

My friend was always strong and got the $7.99 package at sears (or 9.99), but she could only pick one pose. I was NEVER that strong. These places are strong in their sales appeal. :) I usually went during the week as Sears has discounts during the week. I usually got a collage each time so I didn't have to stick to one pose. The collages are $29.99 I think and I got buy one get one free (due to the sears club that I joined). I really liked the collages and then stuck to one pose for the other package. This was more than enough pictures.

I haven't tried JcPenney but I know they are similar to Sears. I know my friend goes to Picture People, but they are more pricey than sears since they usually sell you the pics with the frames. I was told to try Portrait Innovations, but I haven't tried them.

Oh, at Sears, they usually try to upsell additional pictures when I pick them up (the pics are never ready the same day - at least at the sears that I go to). It is hard to resist the upsell, but usually I do.

Sippy Cup Issue Resolved!

I gave my son a sippy cup maybe around 4m to get him to practice with it. That didn't work well. He sometimes would drink from it, but he didn't seem to like it.

My sister gave me quite a few sippy cups to try and my son didn't like any of them.

I even bought some expensive klean kanteen ones and he didn't like these either.

I talked to some moms and I got this as a recommendation. (Nuby soft spout)
http://www.amazon.com/Gripper-Cup-Soft-Silicone-Spout/dp/B0001NE9F8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1268772246&sr=8-4

Oh, I went to daycare one day and he was drinking from one of these. It surprised me since I figured he was drinking from someone else's cup. I asked the daycare workers and they said that it was an extra one and that my son LOVED that kind. Gee, thanks for telling me sooner!! I went and bought some that very day.

My son was over a year and wasn't getting the sippy cup and we wanted to transition from bottles. The day I introduced the Nuby, he took right to it. He is 99% on these now. We had to give him a bottle the other day as he didn't want to suck on his sippy cups (most likely due to an ear infection).

I am not sure if it was because he was breastfeed for 11.5months and the nuby is soft like a bottle/breast, but he liked these. I will say that this one may not be for all kids. They do have handle ones, but we used the ones without the handle (but little one was over a year).

My point is...try different brands and don't invest in one brand until you know that your child will like that sippy cup. My little one always tossed his and that is very normal, but make sure they eventually drink out of one or the other. My little one didn't like hard spout ones, but I think when he gets older he would be able to use those. Some kids GET the straw sippys easily, but my little one doesn't get the sucking action needed for straw use.

Oh, if the baby books says 'you need to have baby on sippy cups at 1year', etc, THROW THEM out (see my post regarding parenting styles and baby books...) EVERY child is different...some kids walk at 9m and some at 12m and some later...same thing with the sippy cup/bottle transition. There is nothing that says your baby MUST be off a bottle at 12m. It is good to aim for that, but don't stress. We were over a year before the transition happened. The soft spout on the nuby is similar to a bottle.

I have also heard that the take and toss cups work well and some kids. I haven't used those personally. I would have concerns that those would leak if my little one threw the cup on the ground (which he does several times daily).

Good luck with the sippy cup transition!