Great Online Baby Sign Language Dictionary

This website has a great baby sign language dictionary (www.babysignlanguage.com) when you need to look up a word quickly!

For everyday signing, we use the Baby Signing Time videos available on Amazon

I love this baby food and nutrition book

When Charlotte started solids, I checked out a bunch of books from the library to get ideas for types of food to feed at different ages and for recipes. One of the books I checked out was Happy Baby: The Organic Guide to Baby's First 24 Months. One of the authors is Dr. Sears, the author of a bunch of parenting and baby sleep books.



I ended up tagging so many pages in this book, that I bought a copy for myself.

I found the following pages very helpful:

On page 73, there's a chart that shows approximately how often babies need to eat when breastfed.

On page 75, there's a chart that shows approximately how much weight baby might gain.

On page 83, you can find some guidelines for breast milk storage.

On page 99, there's a chart that shows approximately how often and how much babies need to eat when formula fed.

On pages 160 and 162, there are sample eating schedules for a 7 month old and a 10 month old. I found these very helpful.

On page 176, the book discusses nitrates in homemade baby food and how long to cook different types of food.

Since Charlotte just turned one, pages 187 through 229 were particularly useful since there was a chart showing about how much protein, carbs, fat, vitamins, iron and calcium a one year old should receive and from which foods. The book also goes into detail in these pages about why each nutrient is important for baby's growth.

Chart of Solid Foods

I found this chart that is pretty good for solid food ideas to introduce to baby at what age. Scroll down on the page past the ads to see the chart.

http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/baby-food-chart.html

How'd she get over there?

Baby is now 10.5 months old and can crawl about quite well in any direction except forward. I'm up late reading about all of the un things I could sew for her and turn on he monitor to check on her. She's fast asleep in the corner. The black triangle towards the right is her hair.

When baby sleeps, sometimes I function on fear. Fear that she'll wake up after only 30 minutes of sleep and not go back down, fear that a stuck poop is going to wake her up meaning changing her and the end of the nap. Right now, I'm feeling the SIDS fear. The bumper that I made for her is still attached to the crib so that her little limbs don't get caught in between the rails and wake her up. If she should turn her head, which I've often seen her do while sleeping, will she wake up, or will se be stuck there and be at risk for SIDS? Yesterday, the foot of he lullaby dog hanging on the crib was grazing her forehead which solicited a cry from her. Hopefully, a face plant into the bumper wil do the same. I'll just keep watching my little princess and the pea...

Teething and Feeding

Baby's top teeth have popped out and are super sharp. She doesn't bite me, but her upper left tooth is rubbing on my right nipple as if it were slowly slicing it off. I have changed from cradle hold to football hold on that side and it seems to have helped. my friend suggested that I retrain her to latch differently. We'll see how that goes. :)

Foods I Avoid While I Breastfeed

I found this list (below) of foods to avoid on babyzone while breastfeeding. I don't avoid all of them, but avoiding some have helped my baby with her gas and constipation issues.

Caffeine
I try to drink after nursing so it's out of my system before next nursing

Chocolate
Same strategy as caffeine

Citrus fruits
When I eat cuties, she gets gassy, but when I drink orange juice, she seems to be ok

Broccoli/Cauliflower
I avoid broccoli, it gives her gas

Alcohol
Don't have time to drink

Spicy foods
I don't eat much spicy food, but the few times I ate it, didn't seem to bother her

Garlic
When I eat, doesn't seem to bother her

Peanuts
I haven't had peanuts since September of 2009, very afraid of food allergies for her

Wheat
When I eat, she doesn't seem to be bothered; she's been eating wheat puffs since she was 6 MO (9 MO now) and is fine

Dairy products
I can eat all dairy except for milk, makes her gassy; we tried giving her yogurt, but she
got a little rashy on the torso

Corn
I can eat, doesn't give her problems.

Shellfish
I haven't tried shellfish, afraid of allergies

Eggs
I can eat eggs, doesn't bother her; we haven't tried giving her egg yolk yet, maybe at 1 YO

Soy
I'm Asian, I eat soy, doesn't bother her; haven't tried giving her soy yet, but tofu is on the list

Fish
I can eat fish, doesn't bother her; I avoid fish with mercury, other bad stuff, etc.

Peppermint
I haven't tried, according to babyzone, it reduces milk supply

Parsley
Same as Peppermint


The babyzone website from which I got this list is here. They call out all of the reasons to avoid the items on this list.

Take Fish Oil to get Rid of Baby Eczema

We went to the doctor's on Mother's Day to have baby's cold checked out. We left with some advice about her eczema. The doctor on call suggested that I eat more fish oil to reduce eczema inflammation in baby. I had already been taking two 1000mg tablets (Kirkland brand). She recommended that I take one more thousand mg a day. I've been taking 3000mg per day and baby's skin is just PERFECT now!