Monday, April 23, 2012

Milk and Cookies


Some are offended by the breast. I'm more offended by the Oreo in a kid's hand. He or she looks too small to be eating an Oreo.

How to Prepare for a Pediatrician Visit

I remember feeling overwhelmed with all the questions and paper work the doctor's office had for me. I started to log their questions for me. The next time I was able to answer them easier.


Here's some of their questions for me:

How many stools does he have a day? 
For some that's easy. Your kid may be regular. For others it's more of a challenge. Each day is different. I had kids on the regular side. They never had problems with constipation. They did however have problems with diarrhea. What I'd recommend for a child that isn't regular, count their stools everyday for a week. Then round it out. Example: If every other day they had four stools, then I would say they have two stools a day.

How many hours do they sleep at night and at nap time?
This to can vary. Again I was lucky to have kids that were pretty consistent. The first couple times I was asked this, I was thinking, Gee wiz hold on for 5 minutes, while I count, attend to my kid and finish filling out the paper work you give me EVERY TIME. So I would count the hours. Again if this is done ahead of time, it's much smoother. You can round for this to.

How much milk do they drink in a day?
When they are babies and breastfeed like mine did, that's a hard question to answer! If the are bottle fed by someone else, some of the time you can get good counts from that. Otherwise you have to guess. Let them know you are guessing because you breastfeed. I kept a record for a few days prior to the visit. For my bigger babies, each well feeding was considered an 8 oz bottle in my book and each short feeding was a 4 oz bottle. I'd count the oz up and had my number. That didn't include all the milk that my youngest spit up! I told them that as well. He was a spitter! 

It's important to have a list of questions or topics for the doctor as well:
I found if I didn't do this I would forget things I wanted to ask or talk about. Everyone's list is different. Below were some of my questions.

How do I go about weaning?
Everyone will answer this differently, but it's important to get your child's pediatricians feedback. The boy's doctor said to start taking one feeding away each week. Then in the end take it all away. 

What do I do about a spitty baby? 
Their doctor said to feed my youngest little bits at a time. That certainly helped, but was hard to do.

Other things I asked about: 
  • Potty training (day and night). More about night then day. They don't worry until the kid is around age 7 for night time accidents.
  • Both my kids had diarrhea issues in their late toddler years. We came to the conclusion that they have something called toddler diarrhea.
  • Behavior in my oldest. He tends to be hyper sometimes. He does well in school, so it doesn't concern me, but it concerns my husband AKA Daddy.
  • My oldest had problems being low on weight. We have a history of tall bean pole in both our families. I asked if we should keep him on whole milk longer? He agreed to keep him on it an extra 1/2 year to year. 
  • How to get them to blow their noses? He pretended that they were fire breathing dragons and had to blow out fire with their nose. It actually worked. They still are not experts.
  • How to up my milk supply when I needed to. Fenugreek, malt powder, Mother's Milk tea, other Mommy tea's and drinking more water all help.
  • Follow up visits. When will they need to see your baby/kid next?
  • I had questions about my youngest son's bowed feet. He told me to let them be, or put hard soled shoes on the wrong feet.
  • I had questions about my oldest son's tongue. He was born with a cyst under it. We just had to wait that out as well.
  • I had questions about my oldest son's walk. He limped when he started out walking. That was another thing we had to wait out.
That was pretty much my list at different times. Some of my issues may, or may not apply to you. The important thing is, is write your topics or questions down prior to the appointment! Otherwise you may forget.

Monday, April 16, 2012

I Like Animals! Me gustan los animales! Review

I'm pleased to review a a DVD called I Like Animals! Me gustan los animals! from Boca Beth.


My kids really got into watching it. I was expecting something dry and it's not! It's full of songs, dancing and fun. My 6 year old read the words that went along with the songs and my 3 year old danced. Beth Butler also known as Boca Beth makes learning Spanish fun!

I love how the songs are sung in both Spanish and English.

She sent along a coloring book that my 6 year old already colored in.



I think this set is most certainly striking their interest in Spanish!

What Makes Boca Beth Different:
  • Their products are in both English and Spanish making them truly bilingual. 
  • It is taught using Total Physical Response. This is done by using song, visuals, words to read along with the music, instruments, a coloring book and the puppet named Boca Beth.
  • The program has been created by a teacher and translated by native Spanish-speaking early childhood experts. Its taught in 50 states, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and 15 countries around the world!  
  • The packaging is green! The paper is 100% reycled and the ink is vegetable based.
  • No second language experience is required to use Boca Beth products. The latest research says you do not need to be a native speaker in order to introduce a second language to little children.



 
It is said on their website, "Experts agree that the earlier you start  introducing the better it is for your young child. Birth to five are the best years to get started!"
 
 You can find Boca Beth on her website, YouTube, Facebook and on Twitter. I really like Boca Beth's YouTube channel! They have videos that are in Spanish and English. The videos can be watched for free!

Want to buy the  I Like Animals! Me gustan los animals! ? is just $16.99. I think the prices are really pretty good on Boca Beth! The DVD has 100 words and 15 phrases from around the house in both English and Spanish.


Disclaimer: The opinions on this post are my personal take on the products. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I am not compensated to provide my opinion except for receiving the products themselves to test out. If you have questions about this post please contact me at: alissa4illustrationAThotmailDOTcom

BPA Free

Is it important to you to be BPA free? I try, but I'm not perfect. I got new sippy cups for my youngest because many people were talking about being BPA free. I actually could see the difference in the plastic from my oldest child's cups to the newer sippy cups I bought my youngest. It wasn't from wear.

Many companies that are selling BPA free things. I think for growing bodies it's important to go as natural and organic as possible.

I ran across a website that sells a lot of organic products. Many would be very handy for newbie eaters/drinkers.

A glass straw:

I never though of straws being unsafe. Plastic ones are not safe.

Many containers like this:
 Different shapes, different sizes - Great for fist eaters!

A wide selection of bags:
I liked this one the best!

They have all kinds of other things! The company is Lavish and Lime. My Wee View is giving away a $50 GC to their store!