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Baby Rabies

pregnancy & parenting

  • Start Here
    • About Baby Rabies
    • Baby Registry Top Picks
    • Favorite Pregnancy Apps
  • The Book
  • Pregnancy
    • Birth Stories
    • Perinatal Mood Disorders
  • Parenthood
    • Babies
    • Toddlers
    • School Age Kids
    • Parenting LOLZ
  • Photography
    • Photography

      6 Stunning Photos You Would Never Guess Were…

      February 11, 2019

      Photography

      Simple Tips For Editing Snow Photos On Your…

      December 13, 2018

      Photography

      I Wrote A Photography eBook And This Is…

      December 6, 2018

      Photography

      Creative Lighting Ideas To Help You Take Great…

      November 27, 2018

      Photography

      Learn How To Take And Edit Photos On…

      November 19, 2018

  • Reviews
    • Reviews

      The Answer To Last Minute Holiday Gifting For…

      December 19, 2018

      Reviews

      I Was Never A Barbie Girl Until Now

      October 1, 2018

      Reviews

      Finally! Jeans For My Jean-Averse Kids!

      August 22, 2018

      Reviews

      If Your Kid Loves Dump Trucks & Garbage…

      August 13, 2018

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      Nobody Tell My Kids ABC Mouse Is Part…

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teething

My Baby Is A Real Baby Now
Babies

My Baby Is A Real Baby Now

by Jill May 18, 2017
written by Jill

Is it because I’ve been through this enough now that I can sense these shifts? I can look at him and just feel and know that he’s grown. Not just that he’s bigger, and boy is he bigger- filling out 12 month outfits that finally let me buy both his and Lowell’s clothes from the same section so ALL THE MATCHING will be happening.

I can tell that he recognizes new things. I can see when he understands something for the first time.

I think with each baby I’m more and more acutely aware of the passing of time. Like the day I looked at Wallace and knew he was no longer a newborn, now I look at him and know he’s… what would I call it? A real baby? He’s always been a baby, obviously, but now he’s babbling and rolling over and teething.

He’s really the best age… before we get to the next best age. None of this makes sense but also probably makes total sense to a lot of you.

He says “momma” now, I swear. It’s not often. It’s usually after he’s tried a lot of other ways to get my attention and then the sound slips out of his mouth, so of course I react then because he said momma! So I guess that’s how it will come to be that only the 4th baby says momma before dada.

And what’s funny is by the time you have a 4th baby, you really would rather them learn to say dada first and then only say dada because, honestly, the sooner they can learn that dada is equally capable of getting them a snack without them having to walk past him to come find you in a bathroom upstairs, well, really the better for everyone.

No hope for this momma’s boy, I guess.

All that growing the first few months is super important, but it’s so boring. Nobody gets excited about their head circumference blowing up in a week. They do all the important growing while they are sleeping, and that’s no fun.

But now? Now the growing happens in daylight hours. The rolling, the voice discovery as he lets out his first velociraptor screeches, the moments I rub my fingers on his gums in the morning to find fragments of razor sharp teeth that have shown themselves at last.

Goodness, I really like when my babies turn into real babies. I like when all that growing is entertaining, and all that feeding them all day and all night rewards me with cheeks on cheeks and rolls on rolls.

As annoying as it is for other people to tell me to “cherish this time” I think I will consciously try to cherish this time, while also giving myself permission to get annoyed at how little I get done while cherishing it.

None of this makes sense, but it probably makes a lot of sense to a lot of you.

May 18, 2017 0 comment
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Preparing For A Teething Baby
Babies

Preparing For A Teething Baby

by Jill December 6, 2016
written by Jill

Okay, sure, the baby isn’t even here yet. Obviously, teething is a ways off, but NESTING!

Wellements Baby recently sent me their Baby Tooth Oil, and they are sponsoring this post all about how I handle teething babies, so let’s talk teething, shall we?

Preparing For A Teething Baby | BabyRabies.com

To start, I’ll say that my experience with 3 teething babies up to this point has been varied. My oldest teethed, mostly, like a champ. We would just look in his mouth and be like, “Oh wow! So you have 3 new teeth now?” It could be that everything paled in comparison to colic with him, or that he had and still has a very high pain tolerance.

Our daughter was a bit different, though, and Lowell – 3rd baby- was fussy about teeth, too.

One thing they all had in common is they all had a mouth full of teeth by the time they were a year old. So that’s a lot of teething in a very short window. And then there were the 2-year-old molars a few months later, which are EVIL.

So I’ve come up with some go-to solutions over the years.

I loved getting this tiny donkey lovey wet, ringing him out, throwing him in a large plastic zip bag, and freezing him. The babies would chew on his ears, then is arms and legs, finally his face. Sure, they’d get wet along the way, but they were already covered in drool, so a change of clothes was bound to happen.

Preparing For A Teething Baby | BabyRabies.com

They don’t sell the donkey anymore, but these puppies look like they’d be just as good. 

We are not lacking for teething toys, and as much as I hated to fall victim to an overpriced “dog chew toy,” I will say that darn Sophie The Giraffe is actually legit, and made it through all 3 kids. Lowell also loved this natural rubber rabbit teether, but we lost him. Sad face. I should order another.

Preparing For A Teething Baby | BabyRabies.com

We’ve had luck with these mesh teethers, too, putting anything from frozen breastmilk cubes to watermelon in them. They do get pretty gross after a while, though. I end up tossing them vs. saving them for the next baby.

Preparing For A Teething Baby | BabyRabies.com

So what about medicine? We’ve used infant acetaminophen before, but only very sparingly. If you’re not up to speed on how easily it can cause liver damage and failure, it’s definitely worth your time to look into it more. In general, we’re really cautious about what we give the babies for pain management, and traditional teething tablets always gave us pause because of belladonna being an ingredient.

Preparing For A Teething Baby | BabyRabies.com

Now, I’m looking forward to giving Wellments Baby Tooth Oil a try. There are only five ingredients- olive oil, clove bud, stevia, spearmint, and vitamin E. Plus, it’s free of preservatives, dyes, chemicals, and additives. No belladonna, and also no benzocaine, which is in a lot of teething gels.

Preparing For A Teething Baby | BabyRabies.com

Using Wellements Baby Tooth Oil is as easy as rubbing a couple drops on baby’s gums every 1-2 hours, and it’s safe to use from 4 months old.

Preparing For A Teething Baby | BabyRabies.com

“Wellements is a company with a simple piece of advice: Check the ingredients. If you see artificial or chemical ingredients, the product isn’t worth the risk, especially on the tiniest customers.”

You can get Wellements Baby Tooth Oil (and their other products, like their Organic Gripe Water) on Amazon and at Wellements.com 

Tell me, what are your teething secret weapons?

December 6, 2016 4 comments
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School Age DaysThe Story

I Didn’t Know Tooth Fairies Visit 4 Year Olds

by Jill March 12, 2013
written by Jill

The thing about growing up is you don’t realize it’s happening. You only realize it’s happened. Like when your FOUR YEAR OLD loses his first tooth.

The first day of Spring Break started off as well as I could have hoped. I woke up to a clean house (a rarity), and felt generous enough to sacrifice a piece of that by letting the kids play Playdoh while I worked on laundry.

I figured it would be a great day to document some small, ordinary moments. I haven’t done that in a while. So I got my camera out and set it on the bar after I snapped a couple pics of them playing nicely.

Minutes after I took that picture, Kendall said, “Hey mom… look… at my tooth.” I turned to see him with his hand in his mouth. I assumed he was pretending a piece of Playdoh was a loose tooth… or something. I don’t know what I thought was going on, but I DID NOT think his real tooth was falling out.

“You’re so silly,” I joked, then turned back around.

“Mom… mom… look… look,” he said, and then thrust his hand out. In it was not a colorful piece of Playdoh, but something small and white.

Wait… we don’t have any white Playdoh… I slowly walked over to him, my head cocked to the side, squinty eyes.

“Kendall, where did you get that?” I stupidly asked, fully in denial.

“From my mouth,” he replied after giving me a totally deserved are-you-serious look. I looked up, and then I saw the black shadow where a tooth once was. I had no idea how to react so, naturally, I said, “Wait… let me get my camera!”

“Smile! Show me your teeth!” I nervously commanded with cheer. He struggled…

Then my string of questions set in.

“What happened? Did you hit your mouth? Does it hurt? Has it been loose for a long time?”

I’ll be totally honest. The horror that was bubbling up inside me was showing on my face. I just wasn’t prepared for this. I had no idea if it’s even normal for 4 year olds to lose teeth. Was he sick? Had we failed dental hygiene for preschoolers? I quickly inspected his tooth for any signs of decay that would make it fall out.

It was then that I realized how much I fail… just absolutely fail in the Keep Calm department when others are struggling. Here I was freaking out because I wasn’t ready for this, and poor Kendall knew even less about what was happening.

“Mom,” he said through tears, “can we put it back in? Can we go to the doctor and have him fix it?”

“Oh! Oh, honey. Oh, it’s okay! This is okay! This is normal. This is supposed to happen! You have another tooth… a grown-up tooth because you’re getting SO grown up! It will grow in it’s place,” I said in that high-pitched voice that’s my default when I panic.

Oh SURE it’s “normal” mom. YOU’RE TOTALLY ACTING LIKE THIS IS COMPLETELY NORMAL RIGHT NOW.  <<What I’m sure he was thinking on some level.

****

Note to self: Have the period talk with Leyna and prepare yourself WAY BEFORE you think all that will go down. Horrified, caught off guard faces that you physically can’t hide will ruin SO MANY LIVES when that happens.

****

“But mom, why do I have to lose my tooth? I don’t want a new one.”

And thus started the conversation we are still having- the whys and the hows and the whens.

I had to scramble to come up with what the Tooth Fairy in our house would do last night. Scott and I settled on a letter, a new toothbrush and toothpaste (needed anyway), and 4 gold $1 coins for the first tooth. We figured we’d do $2 for every tooth after this. We really have no idea what we’re doing, but the plan sounded okay at 10 p.m. last night.

Hat tip to the Facebook commenter who mentioned the ass-saving idea to put in a clause about how the tooth fairy can be a day or two late sometimes.

This morning, instead of excitedly running to our room, holding his loot up with joy, he muttered, “Mom, the tooth fairy didn’t bring me a new tooth.”

When I explained that’s not what the tooth fairy does, and that it would just have to grow in, and that takes time- he looked at me very suspicious of the whole tooth fairy thing. I mean, just what the hell IS her job, then, if not to bring you a tooth to replace the one she’s taking?

He eventually warmed up to the goodies, and I think he’s getting more comfortable with the extra space in his mouth. My biggest regret though all of this is simply not preparing myself for this. And not in the “I don’t have a cute tooth fairy pillow for him!” sense, but in the sense that, as a parent, I just wasn’t even in that space yet.

He’s FOUR. He’ll be 5 in May, but still, he’s FOUR. He’s in preschool. I thought loose teeth were a kindergarten and beyond thing, not a preschool thing.

After some internet hysterics on my part, a lot of people chimed in to tell me that it’s totally normal to lose teeth this early, especially if he got them all early, too. He did. I swear, he started teething out of the womb, had quite a few by 6 months, and all but his 2 year old molars in by his 1st birthday. The tooth he lost, bottom right, was actually the first tooth he got in. So all that makes me feel a little better.

Upon further interrogation, he revealed the tooth came out after he tried to take a Playdoh lid off the canister with his mouth. Something, I’ll confess, he saw me do minutes before.

Did I know it was loose? No. I guess looking back there were maybe a few small signs, but that kid always has his hands in his mouth, and his pain tolerance is so high. He never tells us when little things like that are bothering him.

So, lesson learned. Growing up happens. It’s happening right now.  It’s happening whether we want it to or not, whether we’re prepared or not. Sooner or later (or so much sooner than you ever thought) it happens.  Now, go talk to your 3 and 4 year olds about how TOTALLY NORMAL it will be when their teeth start falling out.

March 12, 2013 24 comments
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The StoryToddlers

Toddleritis

by Jill July 3, 2012
written by Jill

Leyna wakes early from her nap. Again.

Screaming.

I go in to soothe her and try to put her back down. She throws her pacifier at my face and grunts. Points down to the floor.

“DOWN!” she demands.

We battle. I rock, she rolls… right off of my lap and onto the floor. I try to pick her up. She, of course, turns to jelly. Classic toddler self defense.

She yanks on the handle of her door. “Wa!” she yells.

I give in and take her to get some water.

She spits the water out all over herself and blows raspberries. “NO,” she insists.

“What’s wrong with her?” asks Scott. I shrug.

“Does she have a fever? Runny poop?” He’s concerned.

“No. Her last fever was 3 days ago. I mean, her last diaper wasn’t pretty, but it doesn’t seem like her tummy’s upset. Just like she ate a lot of fruit,” I say.

“Is it teeth? It’s got to be teeth,” he reasons.

“Ehh… maybe. I stuck my finger in there to try to feel for some, but she was pretty vicious. I didn’t want her to bite me,” I reply while giving Leyna the side eye.

She’s now whining, pulling on my shorts. “Maaaaa, mamamamamama! Ehhhhh!” I pick her up. She throws herself backwards, sits back up and pounds on my chest.

“Leyna, you don’t HIT mommy,” I say as calmly as possible while pulling her hands down.

EPIC SAD FACE

She’s crying, inconsolable now.

Until she sees a cracker.

“She’s hungry!” Scott exclaims, like he’s just discovered the meaning of life.

I make her a plate of crackers and cheese with a few sliced grapes while balancing her on my hip. I sit her at the table, present the plate with an enthusiastic, “MMMMMmmmm! Snacks!”

She throws it to the ground. “Up!” she yells, holding her hands up to me.

This scene plays out, over and over, for the rest of the day. Scott and I take turns trying to come up with excuses, reasons, illnesses.

“I don’t think there’s anything really wrong with her,” I finally admit out loud, “other than her just being a toddler.”

“They don’t have a medicine for that,” Scott chimes in, defeated.

“Nope. But we would be the FIRST in line for the toddlerhood vaccination if they did.”

Leyna is 18 months old and has an extreme case of Toddleritis

July 3, 2012 32 comments
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ReviewsToddlers

My Favorite Part of Being a New Mom: Laughing When I Should Be Crying

by Jill May 1, 2012
written by Jill


Somedays I don’t feel much like a “new mom”. I mean, I’ve been in this race for 4 years now, and I’m on round 2 of toddlerhood. But other days? I feel as green as a fresh spring blade of grass, navigating my way through the mound of crap dirt piled on top of me, wondering if I’ll ever get a chance to breathe.

And there are times I think I’ll feel “new” at this forever. Do parents ever actually figure this out, or do they just keep faking it until it at least looks like they’re making it?

So yeah, I guess I’m a new mom. Just reading that term probably conjures up feelings for a lot of you if you are, too. Being a new mom can be terrifying and confusing. AND EXHAUSTING. It can also be exciting and hilarious and unexpected. I think that’s what I love most about the new mom thing: all those unexpected parts, the ones nobody’s written about in any of the parenting books you’ve read. The ones that you can’t prepare yourself for, and that leave you laughing so hard you cry.

Like when your 3 year old shouts, “Look at that butt slime!” from the inside of a public bathroom stall as he points to an unidentified substance on the wall. Or when your 15 month old throws the most EPIC tantrum in the middle of grocery store because you won’t let her French kiss the lobster tank, and it’s so over the top that it’s comical.

Wait… did I just say tantrums and potty humor are my favorite part of motherhood?? 

You have to laugh or you’ll cry and drink yourself silly, folks. Run with it.

I do hate when annoyances like teething get in the way, though. It’s hard to laugh at your baby when she’s actually tantruming because she’s in pain.

We just returned home from a visit with family, which happened to line up with Leyna cutting 4 molars at once. Aren’t you so jealous YOU didn’t get to be in our car for 13 hours? It was as pleasant as it sounds.

Luckily, I agreed to this review of Baby Orajel Naturals Tablets before we left and had a bottle with me.

 New! Baby Orajel Naturals Tablets is the first and only homeopathic offering from the #1 teething brand, Baby Orajel. Using Chamomilla as one of its key ingredients, Baby Orajel Naturals Tablets are belladonna-free, benzocaine-free, dye-free, alcohol-free and paraben-free.

We were able to get her to calm down a bit after we gave her a few tablets (and shooshed and soothed and snuggled her… and then took her for a car ride), and we finally got her to sleep after a day of toddler terror.

Poor babe. I hate giving her medicine, but I know that, for me, sometimes it’s the only thing that helps, and I’m happy I have a natural option to help soothe her pain.

Now, I wouldn’t say teething is my favorite part of being a new mom by a long shot, but the sweet snuggles after she feels better aren’t bad.

What about you? What was/is your favorite part of being a new mom?

Tell me about it in the comments below for a chance to win $100 to Target! You could maybe use just a tiny bit of that to pick up some new Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets (available nationwide early 2012) if you need them, and then ALL THE REST IS BELONG TO YOU FOR SHINY TARGET THINGS!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a)       Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b)       Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c)       Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d)       For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/1 – 5/21/2012.

Be sure to visit the Baby Orajel page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Orajel® is a registered trademark of Church & Dwight.

May 1, 2012 205 comments
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BabiesStuff

The Hyland’s Teething Tablet Recall Means I Owe My Husband an Apology

by Jill October 24, 2010
written by Jill

Scott, my husband, works for the FDA. He’s always been a bit  (sometimes a lot) paranoid. His OCD tendencies are a running joke around here. Friends are tentative to invite us over for dinner for fear he won’t think the meat is cooked to temp or he might spy some cross contamination. I often have to reel him back to reality, reminding him that germs aren’t always a bad thing, and that he, in fact, survived many of the things he tries so hard to prevent Kendall from coming into contact with.

Pregnancy is always an especially trying time because, in his effort to protect his unborn child, he becomes even more obsessed with the things I put in my body. It drives me nuts, mainly because I hate to be told what to do. I know his intentions are good, and I try to look at it from his side, but I’m not a crack whore. It’s not like I’m huffing paint.

I can’t blame the guy, though. It’s his JOB. You can’t see what he sees and know what he knows and not react this way. I get that. And I’ll admit my natural instinct to challenge authority causes me to balk at his suggestions more than I should. (Though there really are sometimes that he’s completely lost it, and I need to straight up tell him that if he asks me one more time if I washed the grapes before I ate them I’m going to cut off his balls… or I just neglect to tell him about how Kendall licked the bottom of some other kid’s shoes at the Chick Fil A playground.)

Well, in case you haven’t heard, The FDA has issued a Consumer Safety Alert for Hyland’s Teething Tablets, stating,

Hyland’s Teething Tablets are manufactured to contain a small amount of belladonna, a substance that can cause serious harm at larger doses. For such a product, it is important that the amount of belladonna be carefully controlled. FDA laboratory analysis, however, has found that Hyland’s Teething Tablets contain inconsistent amounts of belladonna. In addition, the FDA has received reports of serious adverse events in children taking this product that are consistent with belladonna toxicity. The FDA has also received reports of children who consumed more tablets than recommended, because the containers do not have child resistant caps.

Back when Kendall was beginning to teeth, and consequently become possessed, I was desperate for any sort of relief. These tablets got rave reviews across all the mommy message boards and from anyone I asked face to face. My pediatrician even said they were worth a shot. Scott, however, was not convinced. He didn’t like that they were a homeopathic, not as tightly regulated substance. “How bad could they be?!” I argued. Why oh why couldn’t he just chill and let me give the kid the damn magic tablets? EVERYONE else was doing it, it seemed. I was convinced he was overly paranoid once again. Hell, at least I wasn’t seriously considering the “whiskey on the gums” advice everyone over the age of 40 was telling me.

Well, he was right, and that sucks. That sucks because that means kids got sick off this stuff. And as much as I hate to eat crow, I apologized to Scott tonight. He wasn’t surprised to hear about the recall and advisory (he doesn’t hear about all of this stuff before it’s public since he’s on the food end of things), and, unlike how I may have reacted, he wasn’t “I told you so” at all about it. I know, though, that he’s storing this little win in his back pocket. The next time I want to give one of the kids some wonder-drug, I just know he’s going to remind me of the teething tablet debacle… and maybe he’ll be right… and maybe I’ll not put up such a big fight.

Hyland’s Teething Tablets have issued a voluntary recall. Check here for more info.

October 24, 2010 25 comments
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BabiesThe Story

Would you consider board books an appetizer?

by Jill February 13, 2009
written by Jill

Is there some sort of vitamin or mineral missing from my son’s diet that causes him to want to eat every. single. paper product in sight?  Is this some form of Pica I’m unaware of?  Should I be supplementing his diet with fiber….tree pulp??  Maybe I missed the tree pulp section on WholesomeBabyFood.com.  I get the wanting to put things in his mouth out of curiosity.  I get wanting to bite on things to relieve teething pain.  I do not get him biting off chunks of board books and corners of junk mail daily in an all out attempt to chew and digest it.  I feed the kid – well.  Mangoes, squash, edamame, yogurt…it’s not a boring or bland diet.  Perhaps that’s what he’s craving, though.  Maybe his mouth waters at the thought of taking a big juicy bite out of a tasty Sandra Boynton book.  Snugglepuppy is thisclose to becoming unreadable.

A trip to the local mega evil mart today led us down the toy aisle.  I saw him glance over at one of the elentybillion types of creepy Elmo, and a big smile spread across his face.  I picked it up and pressed his tummy.  “Hug Elmo!”  it said (at really quite an alarming volume).  Kendall reached out for it while making this sort of noise of joy that sounds like he’s coughing up a hairball (but I assure you there is no hairball to come, it’s just his happy noise, oddly enough), his eyes got bigger and bigger.  For a second, it was adorable to see him light up that way.  I was even thinking to myself, “Damn.  He loves the thing.  I could get it and call it a Valentine’s gift, I guess.  I wonder if there is a volume control.”  As his sausage fingers drew near, I anticipated he would try to pet Elmo or squeeze him, or even draw him close and give him a kiss.  No.  The kid reached straight for the paper tag on Elmo’s hand that said “Squeeze my belly!” and tried to rip it off and shove it in his mouth.  “Well,” I thought, “that settles that.  I’m not paying $18 for a paper tag attached to a borderline annoying licensed character.”  He cried as I put Elmo back on the shelf, but stopped when I gave him the box of Mum Mums to chew on.

Kendall is 9 months, 1 week and 4 days old

February 13, 2009 30 comments
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She’s Crafty! DIY Crib Rail Guard Tutorial
Crafty!

She’s Crafty! DIY Crib Rail Guard Tutorial

by Jill February 10, 2009
written by Jill

Greetings! I posted this tutorial 2.5 years ago, and it’s still one of my most popular posts. If you’re visiting today, chances are you’re coming from Pinterest, so hi Pinners! You can find me on Pinterest here. If you make one of these and post a picture, please let me know so I can pin it or re-pin it. I’d love to see it. 

The pictures in the tutorial below are for the first crib rail guard I made for my son. I made another last year for my daughter, along with everything else I made for her nursery:

Now, onto the tutorial…

Not only do I make people, but I also make things that keep those people from turning their gorgeous convertible crib that I once envisioned gracing children’s rooms and guest rooms for decades to come (HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHA!!  My ignorance and naivety…oooh!  It’s so funny!) into chomped up little bits suitable for sturdy beaver dams.

After discovering several dozen notches scratched into the top of Kendall’s crib a while back, I began looking for things to not only prevent him from ingesting polyurethane and other lovely chemicals, but also to preserve what is left of the once beautiful crib.  I found the stick on plastic and rubber guards, but those, I felt, would make the crib look worse and leave behind a sticky residue.  Then I saw a few cloth teething guards listed on sites like Etsy.  I was contemplating shelling out the $30 for one of my own and realized that they looked incredibly easy to make.  After a lot of digging around on Google, I never really turned up a tutorial that showed me exactly what I wanted to make, so I winged it.  That says a lot considering I just got a sewing machine for Christmas and have only ever made a couple nursing covers, thanks to this blog.

So, without further rambling, I present to you my haphazard tutorial on how to whip up one of these puppies.  However, let me state for the record that I am no sewing expert!!  My stitches aren’t straight and I wasted a ton of fabric because I got the measurements wrong the first time around, but here’s the final product.

 

It’s actually three separate pieces, so I’m only going to spell out how to do one.  I’m sure you all can figure the rest out from there, based on your own crib measurements.

Materials: (this is enough to make all three pieces)
3 yards of fabric (I chose three contrasting fabrics)
1 yard of single face quilted fabric

1. Measure the length of the side of the crib you are making the cover for from inside corner to inside corner.  Add 2 inches to this measurement for your length.  I decided to make mine 9 inches wide, but I have a pretty fat crib rail.  If you’d like to customize your own width, just take your tape measure and wrap it around the crib rail until it tightly touches underneath, then add 2 inches to this measurement.  So, for example, I cut my fabric to 53″ x 11″ for the front guard.

Now, I did have to do some additional math since I decided to make that front guard out of three pieces of fabric instead of just one.  If you’d like to do something similar, just make sure that you account for the seams when you cut the fabric and add an extra half inch where each piece will meet.  ( I really hope all this is making sense.  Damn.   I knew I should have written this before the glass and a half of wine.)

2.  Cut your quilted fabric to the exact width you want your final measurement to be.  Since you only have a yard of this, you are going to have to sew together two pieces for the long guard.  Again, make sure  you account for seams when you cut the two pieces.  My final quilted piece ended up being exactly 51″ x 9″.

3. Lay your decorative fabric strip face down, fold up the sides half an inch and press with an iron, starting with the long sides first, followed by short sides.

4. Center the quilted fabric, right side up on top of the decorative fabric.  Then fold the decorative fabric half an inch over the quilted fabric, press and pin.

 

5. Make your ties.  For the long guard, I made bows that tied the guard together at 5 spots (either end around the corner posts and three down the middle).  Each bow needs two long strips of fabric, one on each side of the guard matched up.  I cut the corner ties (4) 3″ x 20″ and the middle ones (6) 3″ x 10″.  Then I folded each in half lengthwise, pressed them, stitched down the long side and one short side, and turned right side out. (This was, by far, the biggest PITA.  Grosgrain ribbon would probably work well and be easier, but it’s much more expensive than a yard of fabric.)

6. Place your ties for the bows.  Since all cribs are different, I’m not going to bother with telling you exactly where I placed my ties for the bows.  I just took the raw guard and placed it over the crib, then marked with some pins where I wanted each bow to tie so that it would be centered between the crib rails.

7. Lay your raw gaurd piece back face down and place each tie where you marked, making sure it’s up all the way underneath the edge of the folded seam over the quilted fabric.

 

8. Straight stitch around the entire guard at the edge of the folded seam closest to the exposed quited fabric.  Then fold the ties back and stitch again all the way around, this time closest to the outer edge.  I also reinforced each tie by back-stitching over each one.

9. Place over your crib rail, double knot it and tie it up.  Note- these ties are long, but I made them that way so that I could double knot them and, on the corners, double wrap them around the posts.  If the length makes you leery, you could certainly shorten them.

10. Repeat the same steps with adjusted measurements for the other two gaurds.  Here’s another look.

 

Hope that makes sense!  Again, I’m by no means saying this is the best way to do this, just what I figured out on my own.  If you are a sewing goddess, feel free to chime in with tweaks and tips!  I do think it turned out pretty cute.  Kendall likes to chew on it.

Kendall is 9 months and 1 week old

February 10, 2009 166 comments
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Cloth DiapersThe Story

The boy was born to eat

by Jill December 4, 2008
written by Jill

As if you couldn’t tell from pictures, he relishes meal time, and while his love for the boob still remains, he’s slowly growing accustomed to the joys of solid foods that are not produced by my super calorie burning mammary glands (seriously, I will be in the market for a personal trainer and gym membership when this kid weans, which is almost enough incentive to be one of *those* moms that breastfeeds her 8 year old… almost).

So I’m sure you all can gather that being nearly seven months old for his first Thanksgiving was PERFECT timing.  Not only had he been practicing eating solids for a good three weeks, but he also had 4 teeth to help with the gnashing.  (As I type this he has 5 and is working on his 6th…Oh Lord, will there ever be a break from this teething nightmare?!)  And he can thank his grandparents for feeding him the “good stuff”, like cinnamon rolls and bacon, and convincing me to leave behind my so very thoughtfully planned out all organic and homemade baby food diet for him, at least for the week we were visiting.  That’s right folks… I said HOMEMADE baby food!  I am SO that mom that I swore I would never be.  From a post dated July 21, 2007

Prior to the Rabies, I always associated slings with hippie parents – not that that’s a bad thing. I just always thought you had to be the type of mom who made her own organic baby food from the organic vegetables she grew in her own garden to wear one, and I have no time or desire for that shit. However, I found some adorable Hotslings in very stylish patterns, and I like the idea of baby as accessory (wonder how many people I pissed off with that statement).

Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!  I have to admit, though, that the Moby with Kendall’s chubby head and arms peaking out did make quite the fashion statement.  And it turns out I do have the time and desire to make my own baby food.  It’s ridiculously easy to do and it is so much cheaper than those jars.  I’ve found wholesomebabyfood.com to be an excellent resource and I’ve picked up a lot of great tips from the book The Super Baby Food Diet (Although I don’t know that it warrants buying it full price.  I found mine for $3 at our consignment store.)

We started out with simple mashed avocado and some breastmilk, or baby guacamole, and then advanced to smashed bananas, pureed sweet potatoes, peas, applesauce, carrots, and pears, and we’ve been adding Earth’s Best oatmeal cereal and plain organic yogurt on occasion.  The guac and bananas are the easiest since there is no real prep. involved.  Just remove from the peel and smoosh.  Now that he’s okay with the thicker consistency I don’t even bother diluting it  with breastmilk.  I may add just the tiniest bit of water if need be.

My method of making the food is to steam the veggies, then puree in the food processor, fill ice cube trays, freeze over night, then store on freezer bags.   I defrost a couple cubes at a time when I need them.  Easy peasy.

Why, you may ask, did we wait until six months? Mainly, it boiled down to these reasons:

1.  I dealt with a colicky baby for the first 10-12 weeks of his life and was happy with the peace that came with the digestive tract truce thereafter.  I wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to go screwing around with his gut.

2.   Breastmilk did the boy good.  He was in the 92nd percentile for weight at his 6 month appointment and never had so much as a spoonful of cereal.

3.  Breastfeeding was working for him and me.  It was easy.  Why rush the mess and hassle of purees and spoons and bibs and dishes when you don’t need to?  Not to mention the poop!

4.  Seriously.  The poop.  Breastmilk poops are damn near close to pleasant.  Nary a smell to them, very easy to clean up, wash right off the old diapers.  Now that we are onto solids, I have a lovely transition period known as peanutbutter poop to look forward to.  Nothing a little flushable liner won’t fix, but still, not nearly as delightful as curdled breastmilk poops.

(Note for cloth diaper followers – this really hasn’t been that bad to deal with.  I mean, okay, it’s a little gross sometimes, but I deal.  It’s a short phase.  We put a flushable liner in each diaper.  He only poops like once every other day, so if it’s not soiled with poop, we just throw it in with the wash.  You can reuse a liner a couple times.  When he does poop, I can just peel the liner off and flush it and the peanutbutter poop right down the toilet.  Supposedly, this gets better once the poop gets more solid.  Then it just rolls right off the diaper into the toilet, no liner required.  At least, this is what I hear.)

Now, I so wish I could sit here and tell all of you that starting solids was the magical thing that made my baby sleep through the night.  I mean, that’s what everyone tells you from the beginning, isn’t it?  “Oh, he’s not sleeping through the night yet?  He needs cereal.  Feed him solids and he’ll sleep for you.”  Really?  REALLY?!!!  LIARS LIARS PANTS. ON. FIRE.  Not ONLY is he not sleeping through the night (yeah… that last post… that one where he slept for 7 hours… total, utter, complete fluke, nature’s way of screwing with my head, punishing me for God knows what, never happened again), but he has gone from waking 2 times a night to every 2 to 3 hours!  Who knows why.  Could be the sixth tooth he’s working on.  Could be a growth spurt.  Could be some sort of rebellion or clingyness.  I don’t freaking know because, once again, I can’t find the damn Baby Manual that SURELY must have shot out of my vagina sometime between the baby and the placenta.

Kendall is 7 months old… and awake… again

December 4, 2008 6 comments
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BabiesThe Story

Mom abuse

by Jill October 30, 2008
written by Jill

My kid beats me up. He bangs on my chest with his fists when he eats, he pinches me, scratches me, pulls my hair, my earrings, my nipple in his mouth as he rubbernecks to find whatever noise is distracting him. His favorite way of telling me he’s hungry is to grab both sides of my face, pinch my cheeks with his razor sharp fingernails (I really must learn an effective way of cutting those) and try to chomp down on my nose. I don’t know what he thinks this is going to accomplish. Well, if it’s that the attack on my head leads to me quickly flopping out a boob, then I guess he’s got me trained well.

I take it like a champ 99% of the time, although I tend to take the rubbernecking out on Scott since he’s almost always the cause of it. I don’t know how many times I need to tell him to please shut the fuck up when Kendall is nursing. We can resume normal conversation in approximately 7 minutes if he will just let him focus on me, my boob, eating. If Scott is in the room when Kendall is nursing, Scott merely has to clear his throat and Kendall begins winding his head around the room looking for him, all the while my nipple is still firmly clamped between those jaws and stretching out like some piece of taffy. Once he locates him, he smiles (but still manages to maintain a firm grip on my nipple, which is now hanging out of the side of his mouth) and then, like he just remembered what he was supposed to be doing, ravenously resumes eating.

As painful as that all may sound, it’s really not that bad now that I’m used to it. What I’m not used to is being BIT. Yeah… it happened. Kendall bit me for the first time this morning while nursing. After the “mother” side of my brain overrode the “get this predator off of you!” side of my brain and prevented me from throwing him across the room, I quickly unlocked his latch, looked at him with what I can only imagine to be a look of complete surprise mixed with a healthy dose of terror, and firmly said, “NO. NO BITING MOMMY. NO.” He looked contemplative for the briefest of moments then smiled and giggled at me. “No, no. No, no, no, no, no. This is NOT funny.” Another giggle. “Crap…”

The kid only has two bottom teeth so far, so no real damage was done… at least, there was no blood. But those top teeth are so very dangerously close to the surface! Once there is some counter pressure… ugh… what am I going to do?! I guess I just have to hope he doesn’t like the taste of blood mixed in with his milk. Or is this like when I first started breastfeeding and it hurt SO BAD and I was missing chunks of flesh from my nipple? Am I going to start building up callouses where he bites me? Will I just have to deal with the carnage for two months until all nerve endings in my nipples are completely shot?

Kendall will be 6 months old in 3 days.

October 30, 2008 6 comments
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