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TOP 10 ITEMS YOU NEED WHEN PREPARING FOR NEW BABY By: Britt I dream of inventing something baby related. First time parents are the best marketing audience ever. You can convince a nervous pregnant woman to buy anything to try and prepare and control a situation that is so far beyond your control. Don’t get me started on Sophie Le Giraffe. $24.99 for a teething toy. Knock it off. That giraffe thinks she is fancy and I don’t like it.  “You NEED to get your baby this!” Says the overly excited Mom at brunch. No. You could spend half that on a less ridiculously overpriced teething ring and give the other half to foster care programs. Did you know those babies are born with nothing at all? Not even a competent human to hold them. “Your baby will LOVE this teething toy.” Said someone in a flowered dress at a baby shower. Your baby would also be happy as a pig in shit to play with a red solo cup. “It’s such an adorable thing for them to suck on.” Said your Nana. That's what she said. Do things have to be adorable to suck and jab around in your mouth? Cause it could be setting false expectations for when they grow up one day and find out what a penis looks like. I wanted to toss my two cents in on what new parents REALLY need when preparing for baby.My list is a little different than you would find on the Babies R Us Website. Because truth be told, some of the most important things you will need can not be purchased.
Write down 3 people you could talk to on the phone that wouldn’t be freaked out when you starting hard crying into the phone. Doesn’t matter if it’s a spouse, friend, teacher, neighbor, who ever it is for you! Just know that at some point you will need some help. You will need loving words and reassurance. Don’t worry, it happens to us all. Ugly crying in your car uncontrollably is practically a rite of passage into motherhood. DOn't worry about it. Let it all out. Then regroup. 2. Amazon prime wipes deliveryI clean my leather couch with baby wipes. I wash my floor with baby wipes. I scrub my kids with baby wipes. I wipe food off my cabinets when my friends aren’t looking with baby wipes. Just keep ‘em coming… It ends up being the cheapest way to purchase them. They are discounted because you sign up for a monthly delivery. You will need them. Poop everywhere. 3. Blue tooth noise cancelling headphones.OMG my family gives me life. I would never want to noise cancel them out. Okay sure. Wait 3 years and then talk to me. 4. At home hobbies.Your kids will get sick. Snow will lock you inside. Kids need to nap. At some point or another you will feel like you are being held hostage at your own home. Think about ways to make your life fun at your own home. Could you work out at home? Do you have some books you can read? Art area. Meditation station. Punching bag. You will spend more time at your house then you did before. Holding down the fort. Make sure that doesn’t mean you don’t still get to learn, do, grow, listen to, extinguish anger, or whatever else refills your cup. 5. A best friend who is NOT your spouse.“Getting married to my BEST friend” says all my Facebook friends. Hmm.. that’s all well and good. But my husband isn’t my best friend. He is my life partner, my #1, my protector, my love, my home. I get emotional just thinking of things to list in that sentence. I love that guy. Yet he is not my best friend. Because if he was my best friend, who would I call to say, “I’m going to fucking kill him.” to? My sister. That’s my best friend. Cause I fell in love i’m suppose to just abandon the person I shared bunk beds with in the 90s? No thank you.  6. A cold mist humidifier Have that on deck somewhere in your bathroom closet. One night your baby will be sick. You will be thankful for any type of help you can give to your sick baby. Too little for cold meds. Waiting for a virus to pass. Any type of congestion relief will make for a happier tiny human. 7. KnowledgeYou are about to bring a human into the world. Do you want to do a good job? If answer is “no” Please take your hand and slap yourself in the face. If answer is “yes”. Then learn about stuff that will make you a better parent. Know CPR. Read about your childbirth options. You are going to be in some crazy situations once you become a parents and guess what? You are always in charge now. So remember, there is no reason to go crazy and read every book about babies. But get interested in topics that can help you be a better parent. There is just so much information available and you wouldn’t even have to leave your couch. Mine as well check it out. Lastly, know that things like postpartum depression exist. Sometimes I wonder if we don’t talk about that to pregnant women because we don’t want to scare them. You don’t want the glowing pregnant Mom to have to perseverate on the idea that this baby could show up and that might mess with your hormones so much that you just hold him and cry all day. I get that. I don’t want to worry anyone. Most of them will experience nothing close to that. Yet everyone should also be aware that postpartum is a physical,psychological, and emotional healing process for a woman who has just given birth. It affects everyone differently. Just know that there are so many great resources to help you with anything in the transition into motherhood. Sometimes I like think about all the ladies i'd never met before hugging me in this dingy basement conference room of the hospital as I cried into my sleeping 10lbs two day old baby. Breast feeding support group? How far outside my comfort zone. Yet, what a small beautiful moment of strangers being exactly what I needed. Someone else who understood. That was all I needed. I couldn’t breastfeed him. It was NOT working. Which I NOW know is a huge trigger for postpartum depression. It doesn’t matter if intellectually knew that this wasn’t a huge deal. He would take formula. He would be fine. This weird emotional postpartum Mom side of me left me empty with the feeling that I couldn’t feed my kid and it was supposed to be the most natural part of motherhood. Good news, it passes. Things continue to change and heal. But the secret to it all is learning how to ask for help. Reaching out to someone. It speeds up the process of putting yourself back together. 8. Journal Write things down. Put the journal next to your bed. Write down funny things your kids said to you that day. Write down their height or weight. Don’t write for two weeks. Write every night. Don’t put pressure on yourself. One sentence. Just write stuff down. I promise future you will look back at it and smile. We live in this 24/7 media crazed tech world and then on top of that being a parent, makes a lot of information fall by the wayside in years down the road. 9. Maxi Pads You will pee your pants during postpartum time. It happened to a friend of mine… 10. Love Your love and attention will develop your child faster than any play mat with 17 zoo animals on it can. Your words, songs, and facial expressions will be the main tool in your baby learning to develop and thrive. The amount of words you say to your baby and sing to your baby will have a direct correlation with how easily they develop language. Your smell will soothe them.  Did you know that if you hold a baby on your chest and breathe really slowly, they will match your breath? You just hold them against your chest and take long slow deep breaths. If they wiggle, just keep breathing slower, longer, deeper. Be patient and you will see the baby match your breath. Do you see? Buy some diapers. Get some blankets. But in the end.. You are exactly what your baby needs. Goodluck! Somebody's MOTHER.  Britt is a Beach Bum. Mom. Wife. Sister. Friend. Coach. Bikram Yoga Teacher. Special Needs advocate. Library Enthusiast. Positive Thinker. Mom Blogger. You can read more on her blog You're Somebody's MOTHER. If you have a shorter attention span check her out on Instagram: @somebody_mother.
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Beginning September 19, 2016, Turning Pointe Dance Studio in Falmouth will offer Baby & Me Yoga as well as Little Yogi classes. Yoga is a great way for baby and child to bond and connect with their parents while promoting the health of both the parent and child. Sign up today!   We think that all our Cape Cod Moms are so fabulous that we are going to offer 2 more giveaways for the month of October! That's right, that means currently we have 3 active giveaways going on for all our fabulous Cape Cod Moms!!!!
This newest one will have 2 winners courtesy of Turning Pointe Dance Studio But pay careful attention because you have to enter separately for each one! The two Giveaways are............. ~ a 9 week session to Itsy Bitsy Yoga at Turning Pointe Dance Studio in Falmouth. ~ a 9 week session to Mommy & Me Conditioning at Turning Pointe Dance Studio in Falmouth. * Both these giveaways apply to new clients only. Here's How To Enter! 1. Please answer the following question by posting a comment for each entry. To win the 9 week session of Itsy Bitsy Yoga: What do you do to encourage physical activity with your child and as a family? - 1 ENTRY To win the 9 week session of Mommy & Me Conditioning: What kind of healthy physical or mental activity do you do for YOURSELF? - 1 ENTRY 2. Refer a friend to Cape Cod Mommies but make sure they message or post on our board that you referred them or you won't be entered to win! - 1 ENTRY per friend you refer who tells us you referred them! *Only New Members after 10/7/2011 apply GOOD LUCK! ______________________________________________________________________________ Contest Rules Please email info@ccmommies.com if you need help with any part of the posting. 2. No purchase necessary. 3. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. 4. Eligibility is limited to 1 prize per household. 5. All prizes must be claimed within thirty (30) days unless otherwise stipulated during the contest 6. Winners may be required to pick up prizes during business hours. 7. Failure to claim prizes within allotted time may result in forfeiture of prize(s). 8. Prizes not redeemable for cash or their merchandise. 9. Winners consent to the use of their name/picture/likeness without compensation for advertising or publicity purposes. 10. Cape Cod Mommies Coordinator and Sponsor employee's are not eligible. 11. Sponsors accept no responsibility or liability in connection with any injuries, losses or damages arising from the prize(s) awarded in this contest. 12. Additional restrictions may apply depending upon prizes being awarded, or contest sponsor rules. 13. All federal, state and/or local laws and regulations apply. 14. All Decisions are final. Please note: Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST October 20, 2011. One winner will be randomly selected by random.org. The winner will be notified via email, Facebook or a blog post on Cape Cod Mommies, so please make sure your email address is correct. The contest winner will have 48 hours to respond, if no response is received, then another winner will be selected. Contest Sponsored by: Turning Pointe Dance Studio in Falmouth, MA As I posted earlier this week, we have moved Ella into her own crib to sleep. She is clearly showing signs of independence, and Mommy and Daddy need their space! In any case, Night 2 statistics are as follows: Down at 7:00; crying and yelling at 7:25 so I continued nursing and she went down again at 7:50; backyard neighbor started playing piccolo between 8-10pm off-and-on and my poor child had several random outcries but self-soothed; 2 minutes of loud fussing at 9:45 but then back to sleep until 2:40am when I nursed and rocked; down again until 5:00am when I nursed and rocked; Ella was up with a smile at 7:30am :-) I don't know how to count the 8-10pm area, so I will say she slept 12 hours with four wakings, during two of which she was fed.
Night 3 statistics: Down at 8:15pm; 2 minutes of crying at 8:50pm but self-soothed; 12:00am nursed and rocked; 5:00am nursed and rocked; 6:30am up with a smile :-) Total: 10 hours sleep, three wakings, two of which were feedings. Night 4 statistics so far: Down at 8:40pm, one peep at 12:25am...  Turning Pointe Dance Studio in Falmouth is now offering Itsy Bitsy Yoga with Whitney Marshall for ages 3 weeks thru 3 years! The fall session begins September 20 and there are many classes to choose from! ITSY BITSY YOGA™ Itsy Bitsy Yoga is a fun and gentle developmentally-centered program for young children and their parents. Itsy Bitsy Yoga® was developed by Helen Garabedian, Certified Yoga Teacher and Infant Developmental Movement Educator and Author of two best-selling books. Itsy Bitsy Yoga® offers parents and caregivers three class options depending on their child's age and developmental stage. There are Itsy Bitsy Yoga® classes for babies, tots, and tykes. Babies as young as 3 weeks and children as old as 4 years can enjoy the structured one-on-one interaction the classes provide.Collectively you can enjoy over 125 Itsy Bitsy Yoga® poses, rhymes and activities that provide developmentally nutritious interaction between parent and child. This nurturing program gives parents and caregivers the tools and support they need to bond with, and comfort their little ones as they grow into their bodies and explore their surroundings. ITSY BITSY YOGA™ For Babies Tuesdays 4:15-5:00 Fridays 11:00-11:45 Saturdays 10:15-11:00 Ages: 3 weeks-10 months with a parent or caregiver Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Babies is a supportive, fun-loving class that contain dozens of unique yoga postures designed to encourage your baby's development. Each class is filled with calming, nurturing ways to enhance bonding and help baby sleep longer, digest better and grow stronger. During class, babies enjoy yoga while on their backs, tummies, or held in loving arms. For parents, this class is a special opportunity to meet other moms and dads, get support, and learn about baby's emerging personality. Most of the yoga we do in Itsy Bitsy Yoga is for baby, but you will also learn breathing and relaxation techniques as you practice a bit of yoga yourself. No yoga experience required. ITSY BITSY YOGA™ For Tots Tuesdays 5:15-6:00 Fridays 10:00-10:45 Saturdays 11:15-12:00 Ages: 10-24 months with a parent or caregiver Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Tots is a supportive, fun-loving, and active yoga class. As Tots' mobility increases and they naturally become busier, classes offer tot-centric poses that encourage and support their physical explorations, as well as their creative spirit. Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Tots continues to build and nurture the parent/child bond. During class, crawlers and walkers playfully practice yoga postures while they are standing, sitting up, walking, and jumping. Tots become more confident in their moving bodies as they practice yoga in and out of class. No yoga experience is required. ITSY BITYOGA™ For Tykes Tuesdays 3:15-4:00 Ages: 2-4 years old with a parent or caregiver Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Tykes combines unique, toddler-friendly yoga poses with songs, stories, and games to create an enriching parent/child activity. Each class is personalized around Tyke's curiosities as they learn yoga through social interaction, repetition, and play and help Tykes and their caregivers discover and enhance their physical and social development. In Itsy Bitsy Yoga, Tykes also learn how to relieve frustration, improve motor skills, and increase attention span by actively following directions. Help your Tyke build the foundation for a healthy and fit lifestyle while having fun! No yoga experience is required. Whitney Marshall Trained Itsy Bitsy Yoga Facilitator for Babies, Tots and Tykes Whitney is a trained Itsy Bitsy Yoga Facilitator for Babies, Tots and Tykes. Whitney fell in love with yoga when she began practicing over 5 years ago. Her love for yoga grew stronger when she began taking her daughter Delaney. The birth of her daughter deepened her yoga experience and inspired her to teach other parents. Itsy Bitsy Yoga has combined her love for yoga and her love for children. In addition to teaching yoga, Whitney works as the Marketing Manager at Millennium Partners Sports Club Management, the corporate headquarters of The Sports Club/LA and Reebok Sports Club/NY. Whitney holds a Bachelor Degree of Science in Education from Florida State University where she studied Sport Management. Whitney strives to be a roll model for her daughter and encourages a healthy and active lifestyle for children of all ages.      This was one of the things I was most confused about when I became a mom. On one hand, you want your child's toys to be clean and disinfected. On the other hand, you don't want to use harmful chemicals and cleaners on the toys that will be going right into your baby's mouth!
Did you know, according to some experts, that plain old white distilled vinegar is effective in killings bacteria and germs? Apparently white distilled vinegar has been a household cleaner for many generations. Some of the other many uses of vinegar are toilet bowl cleaning, refridgerator cleaning, window cleaning, garbage disposal deodorizer and much more! It looks like you can throw out all of your other cleaners and use vinegar for almost everything! For baby toys, I usually mix one part vinegar and one part hot soapy water. Check out the Heinz Vinegar website for cleaning ideas with vinegar. http://http://www.heinzvinegar.com/tips/kitchen-tips Also, VinegarTips, 1001 ways to use vinegar http://http://www.vinegartips.com/Scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7 Happy Cleaning! We are in the midst of summer fun and with that comes responsibility for making sure our precious little ones remain safe. It isn't a surprise that this season is also nick named "ER" season. More emergencies happen in these short 3 months then any other time of the year. Most of these emergencies are preventable with the proper precautions! As the saying goes, "Children drown without a sound" couldn't be more haunting and more true. It only takes a few inches of water and few seconds for a child to drown. We as parents can prevent this unfortunate event with a few short safety rules known as the "ABC'S of Pool Safety". This fabulous article is often provided in many First Aid classes, and so as it is the season for swimming... I would like to share them with you.
A- Adult Supervision
Taking the proper precautions to ensure your child's safety is one of the most important steps you can take this summer. If ever you can't find your child, first place you should look is the body of water. Hopefully no one you know will have to encounter such a tragedy as a drowning, but by following these easy steps you can be sure your child will be safe this summer. Heather Hi Moms-
I thought I'd share with you an important article I found written by Dennis Thompson with Health Day regarding babyproofing medicine cabinets. Here is an excerpt from the article- "Medications tend to be more accessible to children than other toxic substances in the home, poison control experts said. And, parents tend to place too much faith in child-resistant caps and other safeguards. "Normally what occurs when someone is taking medicine on a chronic basis, they'll leave it out," said Jay L. Schauben, a pharmacist and director of the Florida Poison Information Center in Jacksonville, Fla. "Any pills left out are within the grasp and reach of a child. Some of the medicine can look like candy. Some of the cough syrups are flavored and taste good. You can sort of see how that would be a disaster waiting to happen." The medications children overdose on most often are the over-the-counter drugs ubiquitous to American households, said Edward Krenzelok, a pharmacist and director of the Pittsburgh Poison Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Nearly 10 percent of all poisonings in children 5 years old or younger involve common analgesics, according to the annual data report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers. "The most common medication anyone's going to have around the home is a non-prescription pain reliever," Krenzelok said. Ointments and creams, cough and cold remedies, vitamins, antihistamines and products for gastrointestinal distress cause another 21.5 percent of pediatric poisonings. Part of the problem, the experts agree, is that people tend to not treat over-the-counter medications as something that could cause harm in young children. "They figure if they didn't need a prescription or got it from a pharmacist, it must be safe," Schauben said. "They are more apt to leave it out or have a lot more leeway leaving it on the counter." This can lead to a child overdosing because, for instance, the child comes across medication and figures it's a treat. "A 3-year-old may see two really pretty tablets on a counter and think they are candy, like M&Ms or Skittles," Krenzelok said. Younger children also can be inadvertently poisoned by medications within their reach simply because little kids tend to put things in their mouths. "They're sampling their environment," Krenzelok said. "They have a lot of hand-to-mouth activity. They constantly put things in their mouths. If you put a pen down and a 16-month-old wanders over, what are they going to do? They're going to put the pen in their mouth." To protect children, all medications -- prescription and over-the-counter -- should be kept in a locked cabinet, out of the reach of kids, Schauben said. Avoid keeping any medications on counters or nightstands, even if the drugs are in child-resistant containers." Click the link below to see the full article. http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=635101 I don't know about you, but when I go out to public places, especially the grocery store with my son it seems as if people like to gravitate towards us. Lately, it seems as if it happens in slow motion like a scene out of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" or the Zombie Apocalypse. The only difference is that the zombies are not after me, no they are after MY baby! They want to touch him, pet him, stroke him, kiss him, play with him. It's as if they crave the innocent life force deep within my child's soul.
I have tried several tricks: wearing him in a carrier, keeping him in the carseat with a blanket over him, etc. Nothing works. I researched a few ways to discourage the touching though: "She's irresistible, isn't she? I know it's hard to not touch, but I would rather you say 'Hi' without handling her." "My baby's a little shy. Would you mind backing off a bit?" "Feel free to look, but I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't touch." "UH-OH! You should really go see a doctor, he's SUPER contagious right now. But only from direct contact. Since people aren't supposed to touch other people's babies, no one should be at risk." Start "petting", stroking, or touching their socks, arms, mouth, head etc and then when they look shocked: "OH! Should I have asked first?" and use sanitizer on your hands. I have heard stories from my friends of people reaching in thru a car window at the gas station to touch the baby, reaching thru a playpen gate to touch not only the baby but his toys and swing. Yes, we are very proud of our little ones and we appreciate the compliments that they are adorable, cute, beautiful, and handsome. We know! We made them and we did a darn good job! However, our babies are still new to this world and are not always ready for the bombardment of germs and other micro critters that live on people. Even if someone touches the baby's foot, that foot is later going to go right into their mouth, making the germs' job ten times easier at invading the new environment. Sometimes I can even hear the little germs yell with glee as they slide on inside to take up a new residence. Now for those of you who think well germs are no big deal, what about the fact that this is a random person walking up to your child and touching them? When was the last time you walked up to a random person and started stroking their head? I haven't done that ever and I would be probably screaming for help if someone did that to me in the grocery store. The primary culprits tend to be the elder population. I understand it probably makes them feel younger and gives them hope. After all that is what babies symbolize to many: HOPE! Hope for the future, hope for the innocence to last, hope for dreams to come true, etc. I think as we get older we learn so much more about the world and how it works and we long for the days of our youth when we were innocent. Our biggest worry then was if we didn't get a popsicle after dinner or if we didn't get a story before bedtime. We didn't know of evil in the world, that didn't exist, except in stories where the good guy always won! I try to remind myself that these people are getting a little more joy in their day because they got to see my son's radiant smile, but please don't touch or at least ask so I can politely tell you that I appreciate your interest but no. Who knows maybe when I am older, I will see an infant in the store and want to touch him or her, but I won't because it is not polite, but I will make silly faces in the hopes of getting the baby to smile back at me so I can recapture a simpler time ;) ~Amy |
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