Most parents are finally settling into a routine after finishing up the newborn phase. The sleepless nights are, hopefully, becoming a distant memory and you have an idea of when your kid is going to sleep/eat/poop next. And then 4 months hits. They call it the 4 month sleep regression. There are many theories but the most popular one is teething. My son did have a sort of sleep regression around that time but it only lasted a few nights and that was it, back to sleeping 8-10 hours a night. My son has been a great teether but I have heard stories about teethers being up every hour, every night until their first tooth pops through. I put together some tips to help avoid that scenario and get a good nights rest! And maybe even a nap or two during the day!

1. Teething toys - they have plenty of teething toys you can put in the fridge. I don’t recommend the freezer as they’re too rough on baby’s tender gums. Try and get toys that have round nubs on them. If you’re just trying to get the tooth to FINALLY BREAK THROUGH go with something a little rougher.

2. Frozen Washclothes - Wet have a washcloth and throw it in a ziplock bag. Place in freezer until frozen. Hand to screaming baby. Baby will hold onto non-wet portion of cloth and chew on the frozen part. Everyone is happy. I would keep a few of these ready to go in the freezer.

3. Teething Tablets - Hyland’s Teething tablets (click for my review) are amazing. Baby can take 2 at a time. They are all natural and disolve in the mouth. Rub onto gums and in about 10 minutes your terror of a baby should be peacefully sleeping. During the day, and even before bedtime, these were a livesaver to us during the worst of it. If you can’t find them at Target or Walmart try CVS/Walgreens/Rite Aid. If that fails spend the little extra at overpriced Babies R us. They’re worth the money.

4. Oragel - I should probably start by saying I only used this once. And for my son it’s just didn’t do much. I used the q-tip type dispensors. I don’t know if I was too paranoid and didn’t get enough on there or if just didn’t last long enough but I know friends who swear by Oragel. Just a little on their gums and they’re set to go! Works instantly.

5. Mesh Feeders - This is only for babies who can hold things well and are on solids. You can put ice cubes, frozen fruit, even frozen veggies in there for baby to chew on. The mesh will only let fine pieces slip through so baby can’t choke. Do not leave unsupervised with a mesh feeder. Bananas are impossible to get out and frozen apples are the best.

My son is teething like a champ. Tooth #3 (top middle right) popped through on Saturday morning and tooth #4 (top middle left) popped through this morning! That means my son, at 6.5 months old, already has 4 teeth. FOUR TEETH! I called the dentist to find out when a baby’s first dentist appointment should be back when he was 5 months old & the first tooth came through. They told me to call back at 8 months - if he had more teeth they would bring him in early or more than likely he wouldn’t have his top teeth yet & it could wait until a year. Well obviously my son was an early teether and will continue to pop more through.

On the UPSIDE to all this (not that new teeth don’t excite me, it’s just sad at the same time) he has been a champ through getting these 2 teeth. The first one we had 2 fussy days which weren’t even bad and the second tooth I had no idea was ready to pop through. Let alone so soon. I figured another 2 weeks, we’d have a fussy day or two and get the 2nd tooth. Oh well! Glad they’re both through though, less to stress about!

And my bestie brought up a theory her pedi mentioned about crawling. My son has not even got up on his knees yet. I don’t think he will be an early crawler and honestly I just don’t see him crawling until after 8 months. He doesn’t even seem interested in it. If he can’t reach a toy he just someone rolls to it - smart little boy. Anyway, her pedi said he’s probably not interested in crawling because he’s been too busy with teeth and can’t multitask, he doesn’t have his sights set on being mobile until his teeth are in. After he was done teething his first two teeth he learned to sit up on his own for a little bit. So it makes complete sense!

Guess they can’t multitask very well before they’re toddlers

Landon’s first Halloween is coming up in just a few short months so I decided to go ahead and pick out a Halloween costume for him! I’ve been counting down the days since I found out I was pregnant for this holiday. I even looked at them last October wondering if I should buy one! Since I ended up not buying last year I checked out Costume Supercenter for infant Halloween costumes this year and they have a great selection!

I found qute a few Halloween costumes I wanted to get for Landon but I decided on the Buzzy Bumblebee Costume. It’s gender neutral so I can use it for any future babies and my gosh the antennas on it are adorable! Since it’s not an expensive costume ($25.99) I didn’t expect much quality wise. He’s going to wear it for one day and that’s it but I was very surprised at how sturdy it feels. No need to spend a ridiculous amount on baby’s first Halloween costume - save that for the kid years when they pick their own costume!

(Landon loving his costume!)

It zips up the front and the hat portion is attached to the body so I don’t have to worry about losing any part of the costume. The fabric might be a little scratchy but since it’ll more than likely be cold out I’ll be bundling him up with at least socks and a long sleeve onesie underneath. The hat part will keep his head warm as well. He didn’t seem to mind the antennas either! There are no feet on this costume but that is ok as my son won’t be walking by then and he’ll be in socks & probably a pair of cute shoes. I also received size 12-18 months & it does run a little small but I have no doubt come Halloween he will still fit this (he is currently about 18lbs)

My only concern is the crotch has no snaps so no easy diaper changes in this! Luckily this will be more for visiting the grandparents, taking pictures and then changing so hopefully he won’t need a diaper change in the middle of all that!

If you’re looking for an affordable, good quality costume check out Costume Supercenter’s Halloween costumes! Make sure to order soon as October is coming up fast!

Disclosure: I was provided with a product for the purpose of this review. No monetary compensation was received for this post and the views expressed here are my own.

I’ve been practicing sitting up with Landon this week. He’s kinda lazy about the whole thing though. But he’s going through a phase where he doesn’t want to lay down and play but yet can’t sit up more than a few minutes to play. Not the easiest phase to be honest. Plus I am always worried about him falling over and smacking his face. Which he did. Today. So of course I’m even more paranoid!

He sat up alone for the first time a few weeks ago so I must say he has made massive improvements. The books say to open their legs up a bit for balance and lay their hands like a tripod between his legs to get them used to it. Well my son doesn’t want anything to do with that. He wants to sit up straight not lean forward. So I either sit next to him and he keeps one hand on my leg for balance (that’s the only support he has) or I put the boppy pillow around him. I don’t really like using the boppy pillow for that purpose but it does make me feel a bit better about him falling over since it cushions him.

Any tips? This mama is paranoid!

I had a csection with Landon and I know afterwards I googled like crazy from my iphone while stuck in bed with recovery tips. It was not as painful as I thought but it wasn’t a walk in the park either. There are a few things that make my life as a new mama and recovering from major surgery easier.

Make sure you take your meds and on time! You might feel great but if you wait until you’re in pain you’re going to be dying by the time it actually kicks in! I never took anything stronger than 600mg Ibprofen but if I waited too long between doses I was in agony! Drink lots of fluids too! The last thing you want is to be dehydrated while not getting any sleep.

I also set up my nightstand with things so at night I could just lean over to get things instead of getting up. I put water, pain meds, magazine, snacks, gauze pads for over my scar area, lanolin, breast pads for leakage and the remote controls for the tv/dvd player. Best thing I did to be honest. I didn’t have to wake my husband up to help and the only thing I had to get up for was the bathroom. The baby was right next to me in the pack and play bassinet so I could just lean over and my husband would get up for feeds sometimes too.

The last thing I did was walk during the day. Sounds opposite but you want to prevent blood clots & get your body moving. I’m not saying run a marathon but at least walk around the house a few times a day. You’ll thank me for it later.

If you have a scheduled csection or you just had an emergency csection good luck! You will feel better in no time and that bundle of joy will be worth every ounce of pain you went through!

Thought this would be fun! What do you carry in your diaper bag & how old is your baby/toddler?

Landon is 6 months old & I always carry:

- 2 bottles with formula to go in them and sometimes solid foods
- 1 extra onesie and 1 extra outfit
- Sweatshirt
- 2 receiving blankets?
- Bib if we are carrying solid foods
- At least 1 baby toy I can attach to his stroller/car seat
- Hand sanitizer
- Diapers & wipes
- Plastic baggies for dirty diapers

Whew that’s a LOT of stuff to carry around. Luckily I keep the onesie/extra outfit as spares just for the diaper bag. I picked my least favorite outfits to put in there. It will be nice to knock off formula & bottles from the list  in 6 months!

I really wanted the Precious Planet jumperoo Fisher Price has but when I went to Babies R Us to buy it they has discontinued it and sold all of the leftover stock already. What was left was 2 Baby Einstein brand jumperoos, 2 Evenflow brand saucers and a Fisher Price jumperoo. I wasn’t really kean on the style Ocean Wonders FP has but since it was better than the Baby Einstein ones & I knew I didn’t want a saucer type activity gym I settled on it. The style is bright royal blue with all the colors of the rainbow to accent it. It weighs in at about 20lbs but it’s not something you really move or take with you places so I am fine with the weight.

There are so many features on this jumperoo it’s hard to know where to begin. It has 3 height settings and at 6 months old we’ll be switching to the next setting soon. It was really easy for me to setup and the fabric part where the baby sits is removable and washable which is important because if you happen to put your child in this too soon after they’ve eaten it’s probably going to get thrown up on. Just warning you!

(Landon at 3 months old in his jumperoo, just something to look at for now)

For the activities themselves you have 5 stations for baby to play at. The main station has the music and lights and the on/off switch. The music has 2 volume levels and you can set the music to play the whole time or to be activated when baby jumps. Before my son knew how to use the jumperoo I kept it on constant music but now it’s on the movement activated option. The main station has a few toys baby can grab and spin, a clamshell that opens and has a light as the pearl, and a hanging octopus. Next up is a purple seahorse teether - my son loves it. The next station is a rattle that rolls and has small beads & a crab inside. After that is the second “big” station that has a bar that babies can move the items around on plus a mirror baby can see themselves in. The last station is a circle they can turn to see other pictures. There are also 2 hanging fishes for baby to look or try and grab at.

(Landon at 6 months old really into his jumperoo, I keep the pillow there to avoid annoying the neighbors below us)

I would say my son’s 2 favorite stations are the music/lights and the rattle. He is just learning now he can turn himself to other stations while sitting in it so I’m sure he’ll be all over the place in it shortly. He has stayed in it up to a half hour. I don’t keep him in it longer than that but that’s the mama in me. Tip: if your baby is too short put pillows underneath their feet!

After buying this jumperoo I am glad I did. I do see the original one I wanted and still wish I could have gotten that one but my son really adores this one and that’s more important.

*EDIT 8/21/10: 2 NIGHTS AGO MY SON CHOKED ON THE SEAHORSE TEETHER. HE WAS ABLE TO STICK IT SO FAR IN HIS THROAT HE TURNED BLUE. I WAS SITTING RIGHT THERE & SMACKED HIM ON HIS BACK TO GET HIM BREATHING AGAIN. I CALLED FISHER PRICE & AM RETURNING THIS TO THEM FOR A FULL REFUND. HE IS OK, I AM OK BUT IT SCARED ME HALF TO DEATH. I’M NOT SURE IF I GOT A DEFECTIVE SEAHORSE OR WHAT. JUST PLEASE BE CAREFUL! AND NEVER LEAVE YOUR BABY UNSUPERVISED IN ANY BABY TOY!*

I recently emailed the company Ingrid & Isabel about my defective black Bella Band. The stitching on the bottom had come undone and was unwearable  but since I didn’t have the reciept I could not return it to Target. I got a response back rather quickly offering to send out a new band and they would include a return UPS slip to send in the defective band.

The new band came really fast along with a handwritten (was very surprised and pleased with that!) note and the UPS slip to send back the defective one. I will admit it took me a few weeks to get the old band back in the mail because we were moving apartments (again) and I couldn’t remember where I put it. I got an email a few weeks after popping it in the mail that they had received it.

I am post pregnancy and my jeans fit but they sometimes hurt if the button presses on my tummy in the wrong spot so I do wear the Bella Bands sometimes. The new band has not had any problems whatsoever and the stitching has held up perfectly through a handful of washings already. I do believe I just happen to get a bad band the first time around. I will be buying more bands when we (hopefully) get pregnant again in 2011. They have wonderful customer service and products and I will not hesitate to buy from them again.

Yay! Landon is now holding his bottle on his own. Feeding time goes a bit slower but it’s ok because I’m so proud of him feeding himself. He still has us hold it because he can be really lazy about it but for the most part he just wants to do it! So I guess that answers my question of when will my baby hold his own bottle. 6 months!

I have one of the most stressful jobs. I sometimes feel like I’m choosing my job over my son. I will stay at work late to get things done, go in early, or work from home after he goes to bed. My husband says I shouldn’t feel guilty because I’m providing a great life for him and he’s with him so it’s not like he’s in daycare but when I see the huge smile on his face I just wish I could see it more often.

I don’t go out on the weekends without him and I use it as our catch up time to reconnect as mama and son. I don’t know if I could work from home because with him around I wouldn’t get work done but I do wish I could work a part time, less stressful job. It is very hard to balance work and mommy mode, even 6 months later I’m still lost on how to do it. And with wanting #2 in 2011 it’s going to get even more busy. And on that note he’s awake from him nap and it’s time for his last feed before bath, storytime & bed!