Five Baby Faves
Candace here! Man, it's been quite a week. My little Odessa decided to go on a nursing strike. She would arch her back and scream whenever I tried to nurse her, which forced me to start pumping and feeding her a bottle, in which she gladly took. I didn't know what I had done wrong! Did I eat something wrong? Yeah, maybe. Is she getting a tooth, earache, or fever? Nope! I took her to our pediatrician just to rule that out. So I did some praying, researching, and talked to some amazing "Mommy Friends" and it came down to that she just wanted to drink from her bottle or suck on her paci. Most would say she's weaning herself, but she's only 4 1/2 months old. She's never had anything besides breastmilk and I knew deep down that she was not weaning herself. This behavior had been going on for a couple of weeks but just escalated this last weekend. She'd suck on her paci and down a bottle no problem, but offer her to nurse and "No, Ma'am! Get that out of my face, Mom!" Truth be told, I took it pretty personal. She was in fact rejecting me. But from what I researched, I'm not the only mama that's gone through this. Many times breastfed babies that get started on a pacifier and bottle will favor these over the breast because they're easier to get what they want. So to solve this little problem, I threw out the pacifiers and she will not be getting a bottle until I know for sure we're back on track with nursing. So needless to say, we've been camped out at our house nursing. That's about it. Sounds fun, huh? At least Sheridan gets to go get spoiled by Gramma and Papa while Odessa goes through nursing bootcamp! Well in honor of Odessa, I thought I'd share some of my favorite things that I use with my baby girls. These are just a few of my tried and true faves that I couldn't live without and others that I just think are cute!
1. I'm a big believer in swaddling. Both of my girls are great sleepers and I chalk it up to swaddling until they are actively wanting to roll over while they sleep. My new favorite swaddle is a beautiful swaddle blanket that I got from Baby Wire by Live Wire Country Couture. It's muslin and it's huge! They come in the cutest colors with a bucking horse print on them. You can find them on Etsy and on their website and enter the code COOPEDUP to save 10% on your purchase!
2. Just as much as I love my swaddle, I love my white noise maker. With the dogs barking, tractors driving by and the rest of the ruckus that happens around here, this little gadget helps keep my babies sleeping. The only downfall is that when the power goes out and the white noise goes off, Sheridan is wide awake. I know I should probably wean her off of it sometime, but man, I love how well she sleeps with it! You can find the one that I have here.
3. When I found out that I was pregnant with Odessa I knew that I was going to need a "beefed up" diaper bag with having two little ones who need a lot of things. I actually found this bag by reading a review from another blogging mama at The Little Things We Do. I too, believe that this bag is awesome! It carries a ton of items and I can take out the inner "baby bag" when I just want pull out the essentials such as diapers, creams, and wipes. The bag I used before was just a bottomless pit that I could never find anything in. So, this one definitely helps keep me somewhat organized. I got the brown Madeline and my friend, Meg, got the red Madeline and both colors are beautiful! If you're looking for a diaper bag that is so chic you can use after the kiddos are grown, this is it! Find it here.
4. Odessa hasn't quite transitioned to the crib or pack-n-play just yet. So, since day one she's slept in the Fischer Price Rock-n-Play. I used this same bassinet for Sheridan and my both of my baby girls have slept like a dream in it. I always recommend this bed to my mommy friends. It's easy to pack around the house and it tucks a baby in to where they feel so cozy and secure. I've put Odessa in a pack-n-play in our room for a couple of nights but she just doesn't sleep as sound, so until I can get her to sleep longer in the pack-n-play or she wants to start sitting up in the Rock-n-Play, I won't fix it if it ain't broke. You can find this bassinet here.
5. I totally have to throw this in because I have bald babies who always get mistaken for boys unless they're wearing a head bow and even then some folks till can't tell that they're girls! I mean "come on, man, they're wearing pink and a bow!" So these are my new favorites again from BabyWire by LiveWire Country Couture. They're cute and are very comfy on your babies head. You can find them at www.livewirestyle.com. Aren't these models adorable?
So, I'm curious, have any other mommies out there had their little bull-headed babies go on a "nursing strike?" What did you do? Also, what are your must-have baby items?
Keep on keeping on,
Candace