Saving Sleep (part 2) - Mommy's sleep issues

In my last update on sleep we were fixing Caden's night time waking, well after 9 months of interrupted sleep. I was still waking up multiple times a night even after Caden was sleeping through the night at 9 months. Here we are at almost 15 months and I needed to find a solution.

I recently started reading about the word of essential oils and found a little online business called Full Moon Mothering, http://www.full-moon-mothering.com  , She sells amber for Mama & Baby and essential oil blends. I started out just following her on Instagram and reading her posts about Lullaby Oil. This blend seemed to have a cult following so I thought I might as well give it a try.

At the same time this oil arrived I also discovered Trader Joe's Well Rested Herbal Tea. I had been cautious about herbal teas since Caden was still nursing but he just weaned last week so I decided to combine the tea and Lullaby oil before bed time and see what happened.

Well Rested Herbal Tea ingredients include Chamomile flowers, Lemon Grass, Spearmint Leaves, Tilia Flowers, Peppermint Leaves, Passionflower Leaves, Blackberry Leaves, Oranges Blossoms, Hawthorn Berries and Rosebuds. And it is quiet tasty!


Low and behold! I have slept through the night for a little over a week now, I haven't done that since before Caden was born! I feel like I have found the magic combination! Hopefully, maybe, once I get my circadian rhythm back on track I won't need either of them for a good night's sleep but for now I can deal with drinking some tea and rolling some oil on my feet before bed.

Colgate Optic White - Influenster VoxBox

I was sent a Colgate Optic White Toothbrush + Built-in Whitening Pen complimentary for testing purpose from Influenster and here is what I found.

First of all I try to be as natural as possible but when I received this box I was ecstatic. As a former smoker my teeth aren't really too pretty and I've always wanted to get them whitened. So I was all for testing this product.

In my box was the toothbrush with whitening pen and tooth paste. It claims "Whiter teeth in 2 days*" (note the elusive asterisk). It's supposed to be an easy to apply and you don't have to time it or rinse it off. I found it difficult to get an even coat that wasn't streaky. And I didn't like the feeling it left on my teeth. I felt like I needed to brush my teeth again right away.

 Please excuse the gnarliness.
I ended up testing the product for a whole week trying to get a better result....

Before

After

I don't really recommend this product as I don't really see any improvement at all. The toothbrush is definitely awesome at cleaning but I don't think it whitens as well as it suggests. After testing this product I am looking into natural ways for whitening teeth. My next experiment is oil pulling. Stay tuned for a blog about that.

The great sippy cup search

Before Caden was born I had never even given sippy cups a thought. So when he came old enough to try one out I stood in the cup aisle... Yes there is a aisle of sippy cups... In aw of the choices. Our first one was the Red one on the right, an OXO product. I love OXO brand so I figured it should be good. Well it didn't work out because Caden couldn't figure out to tip it. The handled green one didn't help.

My next thought was to try a straw cup because he wouldn't have to tip it. The first one we tried, which I don't have the name or a picture of because it was in my purse that was stolen a while back... That's another story. But it was nice, he liked it. He seemed to drink plenty of water from it. Well since it had gotten stolen I went to get a new one and Target stopped carrying it... Of course!

So we got a pack of 2 of the tall playtex straw cups.... It is very difficult to get anything to come out of this one but he would take sips here and there when he was eating but never any other time. He had to be real thirsty. 

I felt like he should be drinking more water so I started on a mission. I got the short green playtex one with the handles next. It didn't have a valve so I figured it'd be easier to drink from. It was but it would leak and the water would work its way out of the straw while sitting...

Next! 

Let's go back to OXO! I found on amazon that they had a straw cup... The first one leaked out the edge of the top so I contacted the company and they sent me a replacement, still leaked somewhere so I gave up on OXO cups, I still love their plates, bowls, utensils, etc.

For Christmas I got him the elf cup, it was super hard to drink out of. So then I decided to try Tommee Tippee sippy cups. They work but Caden still, at 13 months doesn't like to tip his cup and they're just so big. I like them but well probably store them for later. 

Finally, and hopefully the last cup I'll buy for a while! We went to Walmart. I loath Walmart. Again another story. But we had gift cards. There I found in the sippy cup area a Bubba straw cup! Caden always tries to get a hold of Levi's Bubba Coffee cup. So I thought, heck let's give it a try.

And wouldn't you know it, he loves it! I fill it up and he walks around drinking it until it's empty!  

  

Caden's Christmas Tree - No Sew Felt Tree

So I didn't want to NOT have a Christmas tree and in our tiny condo I didn't have anywhere to put it out of reach of Caden. So I search the internet for a solution. Naturally I went to pinterests. A friend mentioned the idea of a felt tree. So that's what searched and I found this post about a toddler tree.  So I used this as a base idea.

I did it 'no sew' style. I used Craft Tacky glue and felt.

I got some felt stickers and let Caden stick some on.

I got a cheap little roll of garland at Target and a plastic star for the top but we haven't figured out how to attach it yet. So far Caden loves it! And so do I! We'll probably use this as our main tree for a couple years then it will become his bed room tree once he's old enough to not knock over or grab at a real tree and ornaments.

Saving Sleep - Our sleep solution story

Caden started life out as a pretty darn good sleeper. We had some rough times at the beginning with getting him to sleep on his back, in his pack n play, or transitioning him out of being swaddled. But overall compared to what I've read and heard from people, he was a "good sleeper" At 6 weeks he slept "through the night" for a few months.

Then... he, my mom and I took a trip. Caden's first big trip, we flew to Raleigh, North Carolina. We all shared a hotel room and here's where I "broke the good sleeper" I made the horrible mistake of picking him up and nursing him every time he woke up. Even if he wasn't crying. I did this for a week because I didn't want to wake my mom or the neighboring visitors. I thought it was a good idea. Most night's he'd sleep from 8-4, so it didn't seem like a big deal.

When we got back from this trip is when I realized what a fatal mistake I had made. He now had to go back to sleeping in his own room, alone. He started waking up 2 or 3 times a night. I was exhausted. 7 months of no certain sleep routine does a number on your body and mind. Ask Levi, I wasn't the same person. I was cranky, snapped easier than ever, didn't have motivation. It sucked.

So, one day a few weeks ago I decided that sleep was probably the answer to all our problems and Caden needed to be fixed. After all the advice, the googling, and what have you, I couldn't quite figure out what was going to work best for us. I knew waking up with him and nursing him wasn't the answer.

I hadn't decided anything but one night, Caden woke up at 10:30pm after going down at 7:30pm. I lay in bed and decided right then and there that I was going to let him cry it out. I swore on my life when he was born I'd NEVER let him cry it out. That was just cruel and terrible. But I was fed up. Levi asked me if I wanted him to go get Caden. I said no, just let him go.

After a few minutes I went and got the video monitor to watch him for peace of mind. That help a lot. I could see that he wasn't hurt or wet. I repeatedly told myself "My parents and Levi's probably let us cry it out and we're fine, we still love our mom's" He cried for an excruciating 40 minutes and then crashed back to sleep. A huge weight was lifted when he fell asleep.

Ever since that night, he has slept at least 7 to 7, every night. My body took a few weeks to get used to it but ever since we "fixed" Caden, life has been so wonderful!!!

I'm convinced that the cry it out method is the quickest way to fix sleep problems. It is REALLY tough listening to your little baby cry and cry but it only took 1 night! ONE!

Fixing his nighttime sleep also helped improve his napping! He now takes a 2ish hour nap every morning around 10am and an hour in the afternoon, when we're home. When we go to work it throws things off but he definitely gets 2 hours or more some how.

I know everyone has different opinions about how to handle sleep and babies crying but this worked for us. And without the support of your partner nothing will work. You have to be on the same page and support each other through everything. I know a long while back Levi suggested we let him cry, I wasn't ready. I was, at the time, content with waking up.

Overall after being a strong "hater" towards the Cry It Out method, I have been converted and I suggest trying it if you can stick with it!

The 4th Trimester Bodies Project

The project is simple
"The 4th Trimester Bodies Project is an ongoing photo documentary created by photographer and mother Ashlee Wells Jackson. This project is dedicated to embracing the beauty inherent in the changes brought to our bodies by motherhood, childbirth and breastfeeding."  (http://4thtrimesterbodies.com/)

I've told Caden's birth story here


I decided to do this for 2 reasons:
1. I love what the project is about and wanted to help other mothers to realize they're not alone. That this new body is perfectly normal and beautiful and is a badge of honor!

2. Because I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone to hopefully learn myself that my new body is just perfect and nothing to be ashamed of.

Ashlee was a lovely lady to work with. She and her daughter Nova were so awesome to work with in their comfy little studio in the city. We shared stories and laughed about silly little things our children do. She made me feel comfortable, probably without even knowing how nervous I really was in the beginning. I love talking to other mamas and sharing experiences. It helps you to feel normal and human and that's what this is all about. Barely children is human, your after pregnancy body is human. It's nothing to hide.

This project is run by a mom, a photographer, a wife. She needs your help to raise enough money for this project to be seen to fruition. Please if you can and you believe in this project, donate! They have a FundRazr page (https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/4ZyWd?utm_campaign=donation-thankyou&utm_medium=email&utm_source=09-2013)

You can also participate by contacting Ashlee on the website (http://4thtrimesterbodies.com/contact/)

If we raise $2500 as a group and donate it we can get Ashlee and her team to come out to the suburbs so please email me if you're interested in that! mamainabox@gmail.com

So here's the final photo we chose for the book.

July Citrus Lane Box

Citrus Lane time again! If you're interested in joining Citrus Lane, use this link to get $10.00 off your first month! https://www.citruslane.com/invitedby/citrus.lane.672367

Caden wake up from his morning nap just minutes before the mailman delivered our monthly box. He already loves boxes so when I put it on the floor with him he was excited before we even opened it!  He went straight for the bright yellow tissue paper!!

Here's what we got!

1. Jittering Giraffe from Tiny Love - It jitters, jingles and... that's about it. Caden is now 7 months and I thought that he wouldn't really be interested in this toy. It seemed a little young for him, but I clipped it to the edge of his pack n play and he was amused by it so this was a winner! It retails for $7.99 on Target.com and Amazon.

It was taste test approved!

2. On-The-Go from ZoLi - Its a snack stacker. It also says you can use it for formula, I've never used formula so I'm not sure how it works for that. Either way, once we start introducing different snacks I can see this coming in handy. I considered putting purees in it, but the description says it's for dry contents only, so that's out of the question. But that's ok! It's BPA and phthalate free so that's a plus. It has an 'easy pour spout' and you can carry as many or as little of them at a time as you need! It retails for $15.00! (There's most of the price of the box already!)

3. NurturMeals from NurturMe - At first I thought... oh another food we aren't going to use. But I read the ingredients.... organic quinoa, organic apples, organic pea. Ok cool! So basically it's dried quinoa, apple and peas that you mix with water, breast milk or formula. It's USDA organic, BPA, Gluten and GMO free. It's good for babies from 6 months to 4 years old! There aren't any sugars or salts added, or preservatives. They're especially handy for traveling, which we will be doing in a few weeks so if he likes this I may get some more! Unfortunately I don't believe they're available in any of my local stores so I'll have to order them online. But they'd be safer in my suitcase than those food pouches! The blend flavors range from $9.50 to $11.99 for a box of 8. So $1.50ish per 'meal' is about the same price as the pouches. But then you have to pay shipping, so that's a bummer. 

4. California Baby Travel Set - Basically these are just sample sizes of California Baby's Aloe Vera Cream and Calming Shampoo & Bodywash. We currently use California Baby Shampoo and Bodywash - unscented. And I love it! I can't wait to try out these 2 products. 

5. Little Buddy Wipes from Me4Kidz - Antibac wipes, who doesn't use them!? They're infused with fresh cucumber and tea tree scent, alcohol & sting free! I'll add them to my pile of wipes and see. These are more for cleaning hands, faces and toys. This packet of 32 retails for $2.49.

6. Postagram from Sincerely Inc - This is a sample of a Postagram with a coupon code for 10 free postcards. You're welcome to use the code CITRUS1307. It's an app that makes a postcard from a picture of your choice and then send it to friends. The picture is perforated so they can pop it out and stick it on the fridge or anywhere they want! That's pretty neat! You could be on vacation, take a picture and send it via snail mail! I like it!

Oh yeah! The wipes and snack stacker pasted the taste test too! Everything must be tasted!