toys – Humbled by the Honor

Rethinking the Baby Gear

If you read my baby registry blog post, you may have noticed a lack of typical baby gear. A few years ago I came across a blog by an OT mama who was sharing about infant development and how baby gear can affect that. My youngest at the time had some muscle tightness and head shape issues that we had worked through with our chiropractor. I could instantly see though, how the gear he used and where he spent his time, affected him. I was shocked that nowhere else had I encountered such important information! He was out of the baby gear stage, but I decided that I would do things differently with the next baby.

Because of the issues we had with Colin, I decided to go ahead and get rid of some of our gear and look for alternatives. I got rid of our Rock N Play, swing, doorway jumper, jumperoo, and a few other things. On the plus side, this helped me clear out some bulky things taking up space in my attic. On the other hand, I sure hoped our next baby would be ok with this new plan!

We’ve worked hard at keeping Annette on flat surfaces and being conscious of where and how she spends her time. She is currently eight months old and I’m really happy with her development. She never had any head shape issues, did really well on her tummy, and is crawling and standing up already. You can read a day-in-the-life post I did here, detailing how it was all going. (will post that tomorrow)

If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, go check out CanDoKiddo.com. Read her blog posts and books, take her email courses, follow her Facebook page, and so on! The great thing about Rachel from CanDoKiddo is that she’s a mom too so she’s very understanding of the need to use baby gear. She has a balanced approach to things and doesn’t even tell you to get rid of your gear, but to limit baby’s time in it. I highly suggest checking out some of her posts on the topic though for more info.

Baby Gear

This is what we decided to use and really liked for baby:

DockATot – I loved this for helping baby sleep on her back from about 0-5 months. Worth the price tag for sure because she slept so well!
bouncy seat – This is just a safe place to put baby. We limited her time here.
Tiny Love Rocker Napper – I have one that lays completely flat, apparently not all of them do? This was our downstairs daytime napping place. I would also bring it in the kitchen and put her in this while I cooked or did dishes.
Solly Baby Wrap – Sooo much better than other wraps because the fabric is lightweight and it folds up small!
infant car seat – This stays in the car. I use a wrap to carry baby while inside places.
Ikea baby gym – We love this! It is still out at 8 months for diaper changes and sitting up play. She can even pull herself up to standing and it doesn’t tip over.
soft blanket on the floor – Pottery Barn crib quilts are nice and thick. I did use a Boppy pillow a few times to help with tummy time play too.
Babyhawk mei tai – We graduate to this from the Solly Wrap.
Ergo baby carrier – I use this after the Babyhawk, once baby has good head control. It usually stays in the van and is used in stores, church, etc.
walker (no wheels, its just kind of a baby stander-upper) – Limited time in this, it kinda replaces the bouncy seat as a quick place to put baby as she gets bigger.
Pack N Play – We co-sleep at night, but naps are in the Pack N Play so that she doesn’t roll off my bed.
Floppy Seat – Once baby can sit up well this is great, we keep it in the van.
Ikea Antilop high chair – My favorite high chair. We prop towels around baby at first because she’s so tiny, even though she does sit up well.

Notes: This might look like a lot, but it is literally everything that Annette has spent time in for her first year. I don’t even have all of this gear out at once either. The top row all gets put away by about 6-7 months (stored in the attic for future babies). The car seat, baby carriers, and the Floppy seat all stay in the van. The bottom row doesn’t get used until about 6 months on. We do own a double stroller, but with it being winter here, I’ve only put Annette in it once for a short walk. She didn’t like it and I ended up carrying her anyway.

Not pictured: mama’s arms, big sisters’ arms, and lots of time spent interacting with siblings! 🙂

My No Nonsense Yet Very Thorough Baby Registry

I enjoy looking at Baby Registries, shopping for all things baby, reading reviews of baby products, and making my own lists of baby things I love. As a mom of seven, I’ve used lots of baby gear over the years. For most of that time, we lived in a very small two bedroom house. While I love baby gear, I have had to be selective about what I choose. In addition, I have no tolerance for low quality, redundant, or potentially toxic things. My choices reflect hours of research into current recommendations, reading real parent reviews, and much care in finding the most non-toxic products available. I am not working with a large budget, so if something is pricey its because it has proven its value. I tend to choose high quality, functional items that will serve our family for many years.

Of course you may make different choices than I have, but that’s the beauty of reading things like this. Every situation is different. Hopefully I can help you be informed and make the best choices possible for your family and precious little ones. Let’s get started!

Breastfeeding:

Bravado Bodysilk Seamless nursing bra, 4-5 in various colors – my all time favorite nursing bra
2 sleep bras – mine are from Motherhood Maternity
4+ Undercover Mama nursing tanks in several colors – I wear these all the time, instantly turns anything into a nursing top.
lots of washable nursing pads with PUL backing – much more comfy than disposable
nursing clothes – I have a few tops and dresses from Latched Mama and Momzelle.
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding book
Gia nursing pillow – worked much better than Boppy for me
Earth Mama Angel Baby nipple butter – softer than lanolin, works amazingly well
nursing cover with boning across the top – need to be able to see baby in the beginning days
Covered Goods nursing cover – better all around coverage, I use this all the time.
a couple of nursing necklaces – keeps baby from getting distracted or pinching mom! Try MommyNecklaces.com or PaxOrganicsforBaby.com
SmartyPants prenatal vitamins – tastes great, contains methylfolate, keep taking these even after baby is born
Tip: Get some OsoCozy prefolds and sew a strip of cute flannel down the middle. You will have super absorbent, super cute burp cloths!

Starting Solid Foods:

Ikea Antilop highchair – love the price point, also love that it doesn’t have potentially toxic padding with nooks and crannies that catch all kinds of crumbs
mesh feeder – great for teething babies or beginners to solid foods
ChooMee pouch toppers – protect baby’s gums from hard plastic pouches, also allows baby to hold the pouch himself because it won’t spill out, love these!
BEABA first stage silicone spoons – others were too small, too big, too bumpy, these are just right
Olababy silicone spoons – great first spoon for baby to hold
Ikea Fabler kid size silverware – great price, we have an entire drawer full
RePlay divided plates – just deep enough that you can serve applesauce, yogurt, etc in the sections. Also, the deep sides help babies who are learning to feed themselves. Made of recycled non-toxic plastic.

Sleeping:

4-8 aden + anais muslin swaddling blankets – multi-purpose must have! The Aden ones from Target are cheaper but smaller and rougher. Splurge for the nicer ones if you can.
aden + anais dream blanket – thicker than the swaddles, I love the cotton as opposed to most synthetic polyester blankets that aren’t breathable. Works in a toddler bed also.
aden + anais sleep sack – comes in a thin and a thicker, warmer style too.
flat place for baby to sleep – We are using a DockATot with Annette. So far she seems to sleep well in it and it keeps her close to me, but away from blankets and pillows in our bed. An Arm’s Reach Cosleeper or a crib pushed up next to the bed are other options we’ve used in the past.
Pack N Play – for naps downstairs (bedrooms are upstairs), traveling, a safe place to play, etc
Dream On Me pack n play mattress – so much more comfy than the standard pack n play bottom. One of my kiddos slept in a pack n play for several years on this mattress
2-3 American Baby Company organic sheet, pack n play size – soft, great quality
American Baby Company waterproof mattress pad, pack n play size – soft, great quality
video baby monitor – We didn’t need this in our tiny house but I use one now.
white noise machine
Twilight Turtle – My kids love these; we own at least four of them.
nightlight or clip on reading light – for night time nursing and diaper changes

Diapering:

Seventh Generation wipes
a few packages of Huggies or Seventh Generation Newborn and size 1 – for the first weeks, overnight, and when out and about
Cloth diapers – Some of our favorites are Blueberry Newborn Simplex, Green Mountain Diapers prefolds and workhorse fitteds, and then BumGenius one size pockets with snaps once baby is bigger.
kitchen trash can with flip top lid and 2 pail liners – for cloth diapers
diaper bag – my current one is Vera Bradley
diaper rash cream – look for a cloth diaper safe one if you’re using cloth, Grandma El’s is working well for us.
wet bag – for soiled diapers or wet clothes, etc

Bathing:

Earth Mama Angel Baby shampoo and body wash
Skip Hop Dunks bath toy – Skip the toxic rubber ducky and go with these BPA free, Phthalate free, PVC free dunks. They are great for pouring water over baby when washing hair and rinsing.
baby bathtub – we have The First Years brand
one pack of baby washcloths – nice for getting tiny baby wrinkles clean. I skip the baby towel and use a regular one.

Health and Safety:

Baby ComfyNose nasal aspirator – yep, gross, but it works amazingly well
Exergen temporal artery thermometer – so easy to use
Cleanwell natural hand sanitizer spray – keep in the diaper bag and use often
baby scale – We usually have a rough start with nursing so I like being able to see that baby is gaining weight well.
baby hairbrush and comb
tiny nail clippers
outlet covers
amber or hazelwood necklace – these are adorable and we’ve seen some good results with these, especially the hazelwood for Annette.

Gear:

Babyhawk Mei Tai
Solly Baby Wrap – lightweight wrap, so nice for the newborn days
Ergo
Floppy Seat shopping cart cover- possibly my most used piece of baby gear. This one is padded and covers the whole seat, also works on restaurant highchairs. Keep it in the car!
bouncy seat – limit use of this in favor of floor time though
infant car seat
stroller – loved my Graco single stroller, we use a Graco sit n stand type double now
dresser/ changing table, changing pad and 2-3 covers – our current set-up is a dresser/ changing table combo. We’ve also done without a changing table in the past and just stored baby’s clothes and diapers in a few available drawers in my dresser.
rocking chair or glider
exercise ball – some of my kids hated rocking but my bouncing on the ball while holding them was soothing
Note: I don’t recommend a Rock N Play, swing, jumperoo, doorway jumper, or exersaucer based on OT recommendations for infant development. Also, they’re expensive and huge.

Clothing:

Zutano fleece booties – these actually stay on! Check your sizing, baby won’t need them in the summer, but for colder weather these are fabulous.
Robeez leather shoes – soft soled is best for baby’s foot development, we use these once baby is mobile
Baby Bling headbands for a girl – super soft stretchy bands that don’t annoy baby
Note: We use lots of footed long sleeve jammies, soft cotton dresses or one piece outfits, a sunhat or bonnet in the summer, a package of onesies… I don’t recommend registering for clothing as people will buy it for you anyway and you will quickly have too much.

Toys:

Ikea Leka baby gym – fabulous price compared to other baby gyms. I LOVE that this one isn’t overwhelming with lights and music and too many patterns. Skip Hop also makes an adorable wooded theme play gym that is nice and calm.
Jellycat stuffed animal – these are the softest most adorable stuffed animals. I choose just one for each of my babies. 🙂
Pottery Barn cotton crib quilt – I love having one of these to lay on the floor for baby. I go ahead and buy the matching crib sheet and pillowcase too so that once baby is in a toddler bed they will have a nice set.
Begin With a Blanket by Rachel Coley – written by a mama OT, best collection anywhere of unique ways to play with your baby and ensure their healthy development – I’m a huge fan of this book and her blog candokiddo.com
Soothies pacifier – the only pacifier we use. The shape of the nipple (wider at the base) helps baby to suck with lips flanged out, in a way that mimics breastfeeding. Other pacifiers allow baby to suck with lips closed down, not helpful when you are both trying to learn to breastfeed.
Wubbanub – trust me on this one! When baby spits out her paci, this little stuffed animal keeps it from flying across the room or bouncing on the floor.
books – lots of board books, Indestructibles books, Usborne books, cloth books, any and all books!
Oball – so great for babies to grasp, lightweight, stuff it with scraps of fabric for baby to pull out
a few wooden toys – Haba Kringelring, Haba Rattling Max, Haba triangles
RePlay links – safe plastic, use for play or to connect toys to the car seat or stroller
Wee Gallery black and white cards
Lamaze Freddie the Firefly – a favorite!
Winkel by Manhattan Toys – this is a favorite easy to grasp toy
Comotomo teether – perfect lightweight size for baby to grasp

Questions about anything you see (or don’t see) listed? Feel free to comment! If I think of anything else we love I will come back and add it. What are some of your favorite baby registry items?

Shopping List by Orchard Toys

Colin just got this fun little game for his third birthday. Shopping List by Orchard Toys, found on Amazon. Players take turns choosing a face down card, if it matches their shopping list they get to put it in their cart. If not, it gets returned face down for another player to find (similar to Memory). Colin is so excited when he finds a food on his list, its hilarious! “Yay! Carrots!!!”

We did go ahead and buy the fruits and veggies booster pack. It comes with two carts and shopping lists and the needed groceries. The backs of the cards match the others, so the pieces fit right in as far as playing the game. I have a couple of very picky eaters – getting them shopping for fruits and veggies is a good thing, even if it is pretend! This allows six people to play (four people can play the original game without this booster pack).

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Game pieces are all super sturdy; I can see this being a hit for quite some time here! We’re having fun with this and just wanted to share it with you all! Do you have a favorite game? Do tell! 🙂

DIY Light Table

There are several versions of this floating around Pinterest, but here is how I made our simple diy light table.

I used a clear box (one with a mostly flat lid), foil, white tissue paper, white Christmas lights, scissors, and tape.

Cover the inside of the box with foil, shiny side up. Cover the lid with two layers of white tissue paper. Add Christmas lights and play!

Search Pinterest for “light table play” and you will find all kinds of unique and fun ideas! We picked up some gel window clings and some translucent beads at Hobby Lobby. Colin is getting some animal x-rays for his birthday soon. There really are all kinds of amazing ways to play with a light table!

This blog has lots of amazing ideas for light table play too!

Gift Giving

Lets talk about how I keep track of gift giving for my kids’ birthdays and Christmas. We have birthdays spread out all across the year. Add in Easter, Christmas, all the special holidays, and we are always celebrating something! We try to keep gifts to a minimum for reasons of space and not overspending, but I do enjoy shopping for my kids and selecting just the right things. How do I keep track of it all?

1) Amazon wishlists – I keep a separate running wishlist on Amazon for each person in our household. When I hear a child mention something he or she is interested in, I add it to the Amazon list in their name. When Grandma asks for gift ideas I can quickly reference the child’s list and make some suggestions. I also take a look at the lists every now and then and check for price drops. Occasionally I am able to snag something special at a lower price. Putting things on the wishlist also gives me time to knock them off the list if the child decides she is no longer interested in that item or I realize it’s something we should really do without.

2) Storage – I have medium size plastic boxes in storage with each child’s name on them. Whenever I make a purchase I immediately put it into the box for that child. This helps me easily see what I have. I also keep a running list on my phone so that I can check my purchases without going into the storage room. I keep track of what each gift costs so that I can stay within budget. The larger box in the photo contains items for giving others outside of our family whenever the need arises – new baby gifts, birthday gifts, etc. Sometimes I will put a sticky note with a name on a gift if it is for my niece or nephews.

3) Smart Shopping – I will often buy things ahead of time when I see them on sale, an Amazon price drop, or if I need to purchase a certain amount to get free shipping I will go ahead and get something I know one of the kids wants and stash it away. In March I was ordering an astronaut costume for Isaac’s birthday and saw this adorable dinosaur cape but I didn’t have any more money left to spend for him. They only had a few in stock and we needed more boy dress up stuff and it was adorable so I went ahead and bought it for Colin’s birthday (which is in October, yes I am that crazy). Other times I will maximize my spending and make a large order. For example, hosting an Usborne party, the more you buy at once the more free books you get. Buying ahead like this saves money, but thats also why I need to keep track carefully of what I already have.

4) Minimizing – At Christmas we have been giving each child three gifts (reminiscent of the three gifts mentioned in the Bible that the wise men gave Jesus). We also do stockings and we celebrate the twelve days after Christmas with fun outings as a family, special desserts, and so on. The three gifts are not always toys. We gift books, new pajamas, religious items, etc. Grandparents also spoil the kids with plenty of gifts and toys. Last year it all seemed like too much so we may cut it down even more. Siblings draw names and have one sister or brother to shop and wrap up a gift for. (Last year I assigned names and secretly gave the children each the sibling that I felt they needed to work on loving the most!)

5) Streamline – For holidays aside from birthdays where the children are all getting gifts I make them fairly similar. For Easter they all got a nice coloring book, the girls got flip flops, and the boys got small toy boats. Last Christmas each child got some books, a Playmobil toy, and the icon of their patron saint. Their gifts are not always exactly the same but it helps me to think in categories like that and get each child one toy, one book, and so on.

When a birthday rolls around all I have to do is check the list of things I have, show Grandparents the Amazon wishlist, and then pull out my box of stored gifts and wrap them up. Phew! That seems like a lot while I am trying to explain it, but it works for me! Any other gift giving tips or tricks you would like to add?

Wooden Trains

One of our favorite gifts to get at Christmas and birthdays is a cool new piece for our wooden train set. Just adding a bridge or a stoplight makes the whole set seem new and fun all over again. I love having plenty of pieces because all the kids enjoy playing together when we get out trains. The older girls are great at making complicated track designs for the little boys to play with.

The trains and track (except for the train station and the parking garage) all fit in two under the bed plastic boxes. Most of our pieces are Brio and we find them to be high quality. Melissa and Doug track pieces work well also. The parking garage is Brio and is super sturdy. Colin and Isaac got it once as a combined Christmas gift. It connects to the train track also.