Baby Manicures

For those of you that know me.. No, I'm not painting Adelaine's nails!  In a few years maybe.. ;)

When I say baby manicures I'm talking about the most annoying and difficult part of baby grooming.. keeping baby nails short!  It honestly seems like I have to give Adelaine a baby manicure every other day and she still scratches her face once in a while!  After 3 months, I have a pretty good system and luckily I have not cut her yet!

Some parents like baby nail clippers with a guard, but I prefer baby nail scissors.  

The nail scissors I use are called Piyo Piyo.  They're tiny, sharp, and slightly curved to fit the nail.

Directions

(1) When Adelaine is sleeping I put her into her Boppy and sit behind her to get the easiest angle.

(2) I hold one finger at a time firmly in my hand (but not tight enough to make her flinch) and slip the tips of the scissors around half her nail.  You don't need to open up the scissors all the way, just enough to clip half of the nail.

(3) Snip half of the nail, then move the scissors a little bit further and snip the other half.

(4) Run your finger around the end of the nail to feel for sharp edges.

(5) If necessary, clip the corners of the nail as well.

(6) After all of the nails are clipped, file each nail for a couple of seconds to minimize sharp edges.  I like Ms. Manicure mini nail files because they make it easy to maneuver little nails.

I bought my Piyo Piyo scissors on Amazon, and I buy Ms. Manicure nail files at either Target or Ulta.

Boppy v. My Breast Friend

I registered for both, got both, loved one for breastfeeding, but ended up not being able to use either.  Did that make sense?

Boppy

I found it awkward to use the Boppy for breastfeeding.  Lainey would lay kind of awkwardly on the Boppy, so I think we ended up using it once for breastfeeding.  However, from birth to now 3 mo. that has been Adelaine's favorite "chair".  She sits in it every day, several times a day.  She takes cat naps in it (with me watching of course!), watches me pump, and "talks" to me in it.  It's like her little baby recliner!

My Breast Friend

Gosh I loved this breastfeeding pillow.. SO MUCH.  It was supportive on my back, it kept the pressure off of my c-section scar, Adelaine would lay nicely on it, and it has a nice little pocket on the front that I would keep a cloth diaper in.  LOVED IT!

Unfortunately, my little girl has really bad reflux.. really bad.. so she can't eat lying down.  So, I sadly retired My Breast Friend very early, but I would recommend it to all breastfeeding mothers and I hope that I will be able to use it with future kiddies.

Conclusion

Despite my bad fortune I would suggest registering for both.  My Breast Friend is an amazing breastfeeding pillow, but the Boppy is the most versatile (and looks super cute in pics).

Sadly, Adelaine is now fed sitting up with my arm and sometimes a throw pillow supporting her head.  It hurts my arm and I wish we could use either of the special pillows, but oh well!

Love Como Tomo Bottles!

Love Como Tomo!

You know you're a mom when you get excited about bottles..

Before Adelaine was born we went to a breastfeeding class so I could learn how to breastfeed and Keith could.. learn how to help me.  Anyways, at this class the teacher suggested not using a bottle at all for the first 6 weeks, but also suggested getting a bottle with a wide base and soft nipple just in case we needed it.  She said that a wide lipped bottle would minimize nipple confusion.  The bottle she recommended were Como Tomo bottles!

I have tried feeding Adelaine with 4 different bottles and I will explain why I love Como Tomo bottles the most.

(1) They only have 4, difficult to lose, parts.

(2) They're super easy to clean.

(3) The nipples are soft and did help minimize nipple confusion while Adelaine was in the NICU @ 1 week old.

(4) The nipples are "short" and don't choke her.

(5) My Simple Lines 1 oz. milk cubes fit right into the larger bottle.  I can put anywhere from 2 to 6 oz. of frozen milk right into the bottle.  I usually put them in the bottle the night before and put the bottle in the fridge for the next day.

(6) It's lightweight so **hopefully** Lainey will be able to hold it on her own in the near future.  :)

(7) The cap acts as a stopper for the nipple.  So, with the cap on you can turn the bottle upside down without it leaking.  Amazing.

(8) It looks like a BOOB!

You can buy Como Tomo bottles and nipples on Amazon.com and Target.com.  If you have a Target debit or credit card then it's cheapest to buy it on Target.com because you save 5% and get free shipping.  The links are displayed below:

Amazon

Target


The other bottles I have tried are: Born Free glass bottles, Avent plastic classic bottles, and Medela classic bottles.

Here is a brief description on why I'm not a fan of the aforementioned bottles:

Born Free Glass Bottles

(1) There are so many parts!  For me that means.. lots of parts to wash and lots of parts to lose!  I've only used them once because it was such a pain to wash!

(2) The nipple is super long, so it choked my little girl.  Not fun.

(3) They're heavy.

Did I mention there are a lot of parts??

Avent Plastic Bottles

I can't complain too much about these because I got 6 of them for FREE (different coupons sent to different family members), but the reasons why I'm not a huge fan are:

(1) 5 small parts, and the little rings are super easy to lose.  I think I've lost 2?!

(2) They feel really cheaply made.. Like REALLY cheap.  I wouldn't be surprised if one were to crack on me.

(3) The nipples are hard.  Lainey drank out of it, but wasn't a huge fan.

Soo.. Since i'm not using my free Avent bottles as bottles, I bought the pump adapter and the storage parts for $8 (with store and manufacturer's coupons) and turned them into storage bottles.

Medela Bottles

Does anyone really use these as their primary bottles??  They suck so bad..

(1) You need to remove the nipple from baby's mouth every few seconds because the nipple closes up from the suctioning.

(2) The cover doesn't touch the top of the nipple so if the bottle it turned upside down with the cap on it will leak all over.

I use it sometimes to give Adelaine her medicine because it's too easy to just pop that nipple on my little 1 or 2 oz. container that already has milk in it.