High Maintenance Mom

I was lucky enough to attend a lecture by Dr Richard Ferber, Director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Children's Hospital in Boston and author of Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems, recently and brushed up on my knowledge (via Dr Ferber and other's books) on sleep and how to achieve it in babies and toddlers. I have been blessed with two good sleepers but that doesnt mean we havent had our late nights and frustrating moments. In our family sleep and nutrition rank highest on the "must get right" scale. While Dr Ferber is clearly a well respected doctor and author, he is not an excellent public speaker. If you had not read his book, the lecture would have been too broad and short for you to gain much insight. Having said that, I am glad I went because just by the amount of parents who brought their kids to the 7:30pm lecture, I could tell we had it good!

I am blessed to be able to breastfeed my 3 month old son and hope to continue to my 6 month goal (I nursed my daughter for 7 months) but understand that there are many mothers who do not have that option and need to feed their child formula from day 1. I reached for a popular formula brand when my daughter was 7 months old and felt OK with my decision. Now, it seems that between the new choice of organic formula and formulas with added DHD/ARA, they are new questions.

I had been using my humidifier to soothe my baby when a friend showed me their white noise machine (Marpac White Noise Machine Sleep Mate Sound Screen 980 Dual Speed Sound Conditioner) which can be purchased via amazon.com.

Maybe it was because I was a new Mom or maybe I was just trying to do what I felt was the right thing for my baby. But when I saw the the Halo SleepSack Wearable Blanketby Halo Innovations was recommended instead of blankets to aid against SIDS……I bought it on Amazon.com and have been very happy with the product!

Urban Nurture is reinventing the childcare market in New York City. With three groundbreaking services, Urban Nurture will deliver the core values and experience of traditional British Nanny care.
• Nanny Fix-it: Problem-solving for children in the family setting, guided by veteran British nannies.
• Nanny Know-How: Advisory service for finding and keeping the best nannies.
• Nanny Night: At-home, fully secured, overnight childcare; occasional or long-term.

Looking for the perfect toy for your baby/toddler or a gift for a friend's? High Maintenance Mom and CuteLittleMe want to give two lucky High Maintenance Mom members a fabulous baby/toddler toy in the February giveaway. One Manuella elephant or one Pastel Toys wooden rabbit could be yours at the end of February...

We started visiting zoos when our oldest turned one. It's a great way to learn about animals and a good walk. During B's second year, the flamingos at the SF Zoo built nests and laid eggs. We were all captivated and returned often to watch the new chicks grow. I tried to document it but missed some of the early stages. Last month we went to the San Diego zoo and saw flamingos and their chicks. We also found the San Diego Zoo Animal Library board book about baby flamingos that is perfect for talking about animal growth and families...

Whole Foods is introducing their Whole Baby program with an informative booklet, coupons, free samples, and a lecture series. The booklet, which is available at Whole Foods stores, contains information about healthy eating, natural soothers, body care, and coupons. The coupons are good through 10/31/06 and include Stonyfield Farm yogurt or milk, Earth's Best products, Burt's Bees buttermilk lotion, Mothering Magazine, and Seventh Generation diapers...

I spent some time at Target comparing prices for Pampers with those from Amazon (see Pampers) and found Amazon to be more competitive even without their current sale. For a size 3 diaper the Amazon sale price works out to $0.22/diaper, their non-sale price is $0.24/diaper, and the best price I can find at our Target in Redwood City, CA is $0.26/diaper. See below for the rest of the prices plus links to buy the diapers from Amazon...

I've been thinking a lot about breastfeeding and what my life was like right after my first was born. I was consumed by making sure B got enough milk when I was back at work. It seemed like such a struggle. When I look back at his first year, I realize that not only have I learned to accept the choices I made, but I am also happy with them...