Swaddling

So, as some of you may know, I have been blessed with pretty much the easiest baby ever.  BUT we still swaddled her for about 6 weeks in order to maximize sleep time!

The first few nights in the hospital we just swaddled her in receiving blankets and that worked pretty well.  She was super sleepy, so we usually had to wake her up every few hours to eat.

When we were discharged Adelaine's pediatrician told us we could go 4 hours at night between feedings, so I wrapped her in her Miracle blanket and over the course of the next 4 weeks we got 4 (sometimes 4.5 because we hit snooze..) hours of sleep 90% of the time.  The other 10% of the time she would wake up after 3 hours.. but I'm not complaining!

We used 2 different types of "special" swaddling blankets - Summer Infant and Miracle Blanket.

Summer Infant 

This one was super easy to put on.  Literally it was swaddling for dummies.. velcro.  LOVED that!  BUT Adelaine's strong little arms could break free after about 2 arm raises.  Lucky for us, when she startles she doesn't wake up, but if I had a baby who startled easily and woke up easily I would NOT go with this blanket.

Miracle Blanket

We had 2 of these blankets and used one every night for those first 6 weeks.  It was AMAZING!  I think she broke free maybe.. once?  After the doctor said we could let her sleep as long as she wanted I was getting 6 - 8 hours of sleep.  Yes, 6 - 8 hours of sleep from a 1 month old baby.  I partially attribute this to the Miracle Blanket.

The only cons with this blanket are.. (1) they're on the expensive side ($25 - $30) and (2) it's a must that you watch a video on how to use it because it is confusing at first (youtube it).

One of the best $45 investments ever.

For the best selection and the best price, buy directly from the Miracle Blanket website.

Miracle Blanket Website

You can also buy them on Amazon, or at Buy Buy Baby.

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.

First Post!

For those of you who do not know me personally, I am a 26 year old mother of a beautiful baby named Adelaine (AKA Lainey or Delainey).  She is the absolute love of my life and I truly love being her mother.

Gushing aside, I have decided to create this blog to share my favorite ..and not so favorite.. baby products, as well as bits of advice for everything from couponing to things that have worked for me as a new mother.

I went to school for business and law, so I am definitely not professing to be a child expert.  I'd just like to share some of the things that have worked for me.  Hope you enjoy!