johncsnider

Thanks for sticking around through my wipes series where I shared making DIY Disposable Baby Wipes and DIY Cloth Baby Wipes . Now what about store bought wipes? Today I share some information and have a giveaway for a 3 month supply of super natural WaterWipes. Store Bought Baby Wipes I have bought a lot of baby wipes over the past 6.5 years. I love the disposable wipes for trips, disposable diapers, quick face washes on the go. I tried to use cloth for these purposes but sometimes a girl needs balance and convenience. You've probably seen these babies with bad chemical rashes from baby wipes. Plain water works great for baby wipes, it is all I have used for baby #3 with our cloth wipes.  It is easy to pick out wipes, just read the ingredients like you would a food label: if you cannot pronounce it or it isn't natural, don't get it. After all, our skin is our largest organ and everything that goes on our skin is absorbed into the bloodstream. Example: Huggies Soft Skin Wip...

Now that you all know how I made disposable baby wipes that were extra gentle on my baby's skin and chemical free, here is how my baby wipe journey continued. I HATED DISPOSABLE WIPES! Mainly because I had to have a second trash can next to my cloth diaper pail and I just don't like clutter and extra STUFF in my life. While pregnant with baby #2, I knew that I would be washing my own cloth diapers so I made my own cloth wipes. I had never sewed before but my aunt gave me my grandmother's 70 year old sewing machine. I had it serviced and the man at the sewing machine repair shop showed me how to thread the string and sew a straight stitch forward and backwards (that's all the machine does). That 5 minute tutorial (and a few YouTube videos) was all I needed to sew a quilt, a bedroom garland banner, a sleep sack, and these cloth wipes as my nesting projects. These wipes are very easy! Next week I will be giving away a 3 month supply of all natural baby wipes so check back...

Here's the start of a series about baby wipes (homemade, cloth, and bought) from when I used to make my own disposable baby wipes with baby #1. BUT I also use disposable wipes in my purse for the out-and-about diaper changes, playground hand/face washes, and for the babysitter. At the end of this series I will be giving away a 3 month supply of all natural baby wipes so check back! DIY Homemade Disposable Baby Wipes A reaction from the chemicals  in mainstream baby wipes. photo: http://waterwipes.com/2014/02/14/ what-nasty-chemicals-are-hidden-in-baby-wipes/ Sometimes you want more natural wipes than the mainstream brands. Maybe you're baby has a reaction to mainstream wipes or you are a natural minded person. Purchased natural wipes are great (and keep checking back for that 3 month supply giveaway that is coming up), but can be 3-4 times the cost of store brand wipes. So for those of you who have a tight wallet or are obsessed with DIY projects, here is how to make your own...

Tip 1: Baby carrots are already cleaned and cut. Tip 2: Make an extra bag of each meal for yourself. Whether it is in anticipation of a new baby or just needing some time off of cooking, here is how I just stocked my freezer with freezer meals with the help of friends (because I was way to shy to do this alone). What are Freezer Meals? Freezer Meals are meals that have already been prepped and are sitting in your freezer ready to be eaten. They could be raw ingredients ready to be dumped in a pot or slow cooker or they can be completely cooked and just require a reheating. Step 1: Get Friends I was way too intimidated to do freezer cooking by myself. In fact it seemed like all the planning that was required would take more time than making the meals and I don't have a lot of time.  I asked a group of friends and found that several friends were also in need of this type of meal help. Plus it is the winter and we are all bored of our own cooking. Step 2: Decide on some standards We h...

My placenta went home with me for baby #2 and baby #3 to encapsulate my placenta (a.k.a. "happy pills"). I started running really low with baby #3's happy pills and a friend suggested that I make a tincture that I could use if I ran out of pills and also for hormone balancing during menopause ( 1-3 capsules full in 8 oz. grain alcohol) . Jennifer Leigh Mayer , a Placenta Alchemist with Mama Moon NYC and Brooklyn Placenta Services has shared her recipe for making your own placenta tincture.  Thanks Jennifer for this great placenta tincture tutorial! DIY Placenta Tincture DIY tinctures are a wonderful remedy for mothers to use during the postpartum period. Many mothers use the tincture during times of transition such as teething, weaning, change in caregiver or even travel. They are easeful to prepare, all you need is 7-10 drops of tincture in a bit of water. The effect is a gently uplifting emotional support. This step-by-step guide will teach you everything you need to...

Like many parenting and health topics, circumcision is a very personal decision. Once it is done it will affect your boy for the rest of his life. Kenyan boy taking part in is circumcision ceremony. image: BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7536892.stm This is a non-judgemental page. Researching circumcision is entertaining! It is traditionally a religious or cultural decision where the historical reasoning is conflicting. Some circumcised to increase sexual pleasure (now known as a myth) while others circumcised to decrease sexual pleasure and decrease masturbation. The world is very polarized on this topic. Even within Kenya where I witnessed the circumcision ceremony of teenaged boys, the decision is tribal. Some tribes do it and some don't. In the United States, the rate of circumcision changes based on where you live. The west coast has low instances while the east coast has high instances of circumcision. My town is very divided. Most of the moms that I know chose not to c...

I am sharing a great video from Stanford on how to get almost 2x the milk from pumping for premature babies and moms immediately returning to work outside the home. Of course only nursing (no bottles) is the best way to have a good supply of breastmilk as the baby can eat on demand and his or her suction is the best type for draining and stimulating more milk. Pumping is not as great at getting milk out. New moms who try to pump when their babies are very small find that little or no milk comes out. These moms should try to keep the baby on the breast as much as possible. If the baby is premature or she is already returning to work outside the home, here is a great "hands-on" method to use your hands and pump simultaneously to maximize output. If output does not increase a Lactation Consultant should be privately hired (pediatricians and OBGYNs are not specialized in milk production). http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/MaxProduction.html

GIVEAWAY ALERT! You, my readers, have given me so much support!  So much so that I am going to the next level and I am thanking you for it. I set up a Facebook Page and if you LIKE it by December 20th , I will enter you to win a FREE brand new double breast-pump: The First Years Breastflow Memory Pump valued at $179.99 . Do you just want to support me and don't need a pump? No problem. You can pass on the pump or have it shipped anywhere: a friend, a relative or a women's shelter. I had the opportunity to try this pump and it turned the head of every woman in the pumping room. The entire ensemble is incredibly light weight which was great for lugging around all day at the conference that I was at. The handle allowed for me to easily pump one handed. It's battery is  rechargeable and was able to hold enough charge for me to go all day without plugging in although I had the light-weight plug in my bag just in case. It makes a great travel pump. The First Years® Breast...

I don't judge. You made your own decision based on their own knowledge or were forced to make through adoption or your own health. If you are still pregnant or struggling with breastfeeding, please read everything and don't be shy to ask for help. You want the best nutrition for your baby because what you feed your baby will affect them and their longterm IQ . What happens if you eat cake for dinner versus a well balanced meal? Babies get their first exposure to taste and nutrition while in the womb. They eat what their mom eats. Their nutritional habits continue to form by your food choices now that the baby is born. Think how you want your child to eat when they are three years old and what steps do you have to make in order to make that happen? It is overwhelming to stand in the infant formula aisle. How do you know which infant formula to buy? What is the difference between ingredients? Why are there such price differences? Is generic really the same as non-generic? Can yo...

As parents we all want to see our children reach their highest potential. We know that we cannot protect them from every danger, toxin, and heartache. We all want to make the decisions that will have the best long term outcome on our children. Some moms and dads have known the secret to a higher I.Q. for thousands of years. Yet it comes as a news-breaker in papers such as the NYTimes when JAMA Pediatrics, a major mainstream medical journal, publishes a study about it. The World Health Organization recommends doing this for at least 2 years. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends doing it for at least 1 year.  Breastfeeding 1+ years WILL increase your child's I.Q. (for those who have already chosen the formula path, have adopted, or have serious medical issues I am in the process of writing a post on how to pick the healthiest formula so check back and don't feel left out!) Below is the latest study including the results and conclusion (the important part). ...

Dear friends and family, I had [am about to have] a baby!  Yay!  I have no clue how my baby will act from day to day.  Maybe I had a caesarian and cannot even get out of bed alone. Maybe my baby is an innately easy baby that lets me rest or get things done while he/she sleeps. Maybe my baby is super fussy and only naps while having skin contact with me, nursing, and marching up and down the stairs at the same time. We all have different experiences so please help me on my journey and don't judge me. It used to be that "it takes a whole village to raise a child" and then we all moved away from our families and started working outside the home. In India family takes care of the older kids and home chores for three weeks after the baby is born. I don't live in India and I don't have a village of relatives helping.  I don't live in Europe where spouses get paternity leave.  Some women need help after the first baby and some don't need it until their third. Her...

Today at our community pool I saw a new mom with baby #2 and she was in Survival Mode and didn't know it.  I went "missing" for quite a while after baby #3 was born.  To outsiders at the preschool I was completely on top of it being early or just in time for drop offs and pick ups with kids that seemed happy.  On the inside, I was in Survival Mode. Survival Mode is when it takes every ounce of being just to keep the family boat afloat. When you are in "go" mode from the moment you semi-wake until the moment you hope to sleep. This is often brought on by bed rest, morning sickness, pregnancy fatigue, post-partum recuperation, or a fussy baby.   REMEMBER THAT THIS IS JUST A PHASE AND ALL PHASES PASS.   Here is what Survival Mode looks like for me: At least one kid awake and hanging on me from 5am - 10pm. An infant that doesn't nap unless sucking on me and rocking at the same time. (This only lasted the first four months until I was able to "aid...

This is the real world, not Hollywood, but here goes my first video!  Here I am demonstrating how to cloth diaper using prefolds.  This is my very easy way of diapering where I only do one load of laundry per week!  Enjoy and don't forget to check out why I cloth diapered baby #3 and the details of cloth diapering the easy way with prefolds . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uk975ujPXQ&feature=player_embedded

Baby #3 was born while I still had 3 kids aged 4 and under at home. I had to shave down daily tasks to a "survival" level yet I continued to cloth diaper my baby because I had discovered a great system . It is so easy that I had to share it with you. Here's a video of the diapers in action. Disposable Diapers Do you ever think about disposable diapers? They are made in a factory with a ton of chemicals and plastics then transported to your local store. What a carbon footprint! Oh wait, after they are used, they sit in a landfill for 450 years according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency . Yeah, yeah disposable diapers are not going to cause the human race to cease but it hardly feels like it helps our environment. I have heard arguments that cloth diapering is worse than disposable diapers because water is used to wash them.  Maybe if you wash daily but I wash weekly and there is no way that one load of wash comes anywhere near the environmental impact of makin...