Tag Archives: sleeping

12-18 Month Essentials!

12 Wednesday Jul 2017

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Good afternoon!  Hope all of your weeks are off to an excellent start!  E is now 18 months and her needs have totally changed so I thought it was high time I got around to doing a post about what she is loving/needing now!  The one thing that I have noticed, is that our “needs” are fewer and it’s becoming more of a what she “wants” and/or enjoys for longer than 6 seconds.

Bathtime

  1. We have moved her out of her enclosed tub (that was really just a bucket) and she is in the full bath now.  Dude, bathtubs are slick and toddlers have no concept of taking it easy.  After one tub-free bath session, I had to go get a bath mat.  Just make sure you let it air dry suction side up every once in awhile because it does get mildewy underneath!
  2. I found this bath fingerpaint in the dollar section at Target, or at least something similar and E loves it!
  3. In addition to these toys that she still loves, we have thrown in cups and bowls that she can fill and dump.

Diapering

  1. We’ve moved into the possible potty training phase of life.  I will probably do a full post on this as we get closer, but for now, the only thing we have done besides couponing for pull ups, is set a potty chair in the bathroom.  She doesn’t really like sitting on it without her diaper yet, but we encourage her to just sit on it when we go too, get comfortable with it, etc…

Play

  1. She still loves everything I mentioned in the 6-12 months post including babies, blankets, buckets, etc…
  2. One magic item I have found are pom poms, cups, and spoons.  When I need just like five minutes to breathe or drink my now cold coffee, I pull this activity out.  It will keep her busy for I kid you not, like 30 minutes.  She just fills up all the cups with a spoon (I demonstrate) and then dumps from cup to cup and then does it all again.  As she gets a little older, I am hoping she still loves it and it can become a sorting activity with all the colors!  Although my child blessedly is not obsessed with putting everything in her mouth, I do monitor this activity because the poms are on the smaller side…they may sell bigger ones?
  3. I gotta give a shout out to my mom for giving E this doll.  She can go in the bath and then when she is dry can function like any other baby/doll!  And she is so stinking cute!!
  4.  Purses.  She loves carrying a fake cell phone, keys, and her purse, waving and saying “bye”.  Wonder where she learned that??  Also, you have not seen a fight until you have watched two toddlers fight over a purse.  Gah, so awkward.  Always bring your own purse and baby doll to a playdate.  Always.
  5. ALL THE STICKERS.  You must always have stickers in your diaper bag when you go out.  MUST.
  6. She is finally getting into reading.  Before now, she really wouldn’t sit still for more than a touch and feel book.  I feel like she is just now getting to the point of understanding the elements of the story/remembering what is on each page.  Right now she loves Planes Go! and Hooray for Hat!
  7. I’ll go ahead and throw clothes on here again too because they often serve as entertainment.  She now can put on her own rainboots which is HUGE in the parenting of a toddler world.
  8. I might do a whole separate post on this, but big Items that are good for a birthday wishlist: Play Kitchen (we still need to get E one…she is obsessed), Tent (great for storing toys out of sight), Car, and water table (could fill with pom poms during the winter!)

Sleep

  1.  E no longer sleeps in a crib and if you feel like your kiddo is ready to transition I did a whole post on E’s transition to her big girl room and also a post on how we did Toddler Sleep Transition.  We love her Dockatot!  I also did a post on Establishing a Nighttime Routine!

Eating

  1. I wrote a whole post on Toddler Eating and some of our tips/tricks.  This age is all about control.
  2. E pretty much eats only what we eat now…no more just “baby/toddler” foods like puffs.  The one thing we do still give her are pouches.   Great for on the go, but also a great source of nutritious foods that she won’t necessarily get otherwise.  Especially when she was teething and wasn’t super into food, pouches were a lifesaver!
  3. We also love these sippy cups.  The spout makes for a great transition cup.  It was the first sippy cup E would take!
  4. E has also pretty much outgrown her beloved high chair which does transition into a toddler chair!  She likes her freedom when eating now and so we put her at a table with chairs!
  5. We take E to a sitter and we have to provide meals so we use this lunchbox and backpack to pack for her days there.  This fall, she will start helping us pack and unpack as a part of her chores/things that she can do to help–and let me tell ya, she LOVES to help.

To take a look back, here are the essentials from 0-3 months, 3-6 months, and 6-12 months!

We just adore this age.  They are so fun and really are becoming their own little selves.  What do/did your littles love at this age??  What should we prepare ourselves for in the next bracket??

Hope you all have a great day!
Erin

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Toddler Sleep Transition with Dockatot!

13 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by in Daily Happenings, Life's Loves, Uncategorized

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Good morning! Today I am so excited to share with you part of E’s big girl room!  Her room is still a work in progress, but one of the things that we wanted to establish before baby sister arrives is that this is Eleanor’s room.  If you ask Eleanor to show you her room, she walks and points to this one.  So as far as goals go, check!  We are absolutely not going to push her sleeping in this room until she is absolutely ready (and we really don’t need the crib until around August).  But, today I wanted to share our thoughts on transitioning her to her new room!

1.We decided to go with an adjustable twin bed and mattress (can make it shorter than even a regular twin) versus a second transitional crib because it will grow with her for longer and we will not have to transition twice.  Eleanor so far has been a pretty adaptable child.  So, knowing her personality, we thought we would give this a shot before assuming she wouldn’t be ready.  Worst case scenario, we go get a crib and save this bed for later.
2. Next, we wanted to have her see and help with the building/creation of the room well before baby arrives. She helped us get the bed out of the box and “helped” put it together.  She mostly just moved cardboard from one side of the room to the other and hid the instructions, but all in all, super helpful.
3. We are so excited about using the Dockatot Grand (9-36 months) to ease her sleep transition in bed. It’s not only super comfortable, but is also breathable so it’s safe for sleep.  They also have an infant option for 0-8 months!  We wanted something that would help her feel “confined” like in her crib, but not so permanent so this fits the bill perfectly!
4.  We are still going to use the same sound machine and heater (we are purchasing both again for baby) to help the room sound and feel the same.
5.  We have at this point cut down on most “baby” nighttime rituals.  She is off of bottles and other than brushing her teeth and turning on all of her machines, she just lays down and goes to bed.  The only thing I would really like to kick before baby is the pacifier habit. Right now she has a “bink box” that she gets to choose pacis from before bed.  There are about 25 we keep in there and she gets to choose about four before bed…it is funny to watch her root around for the ‘good’ ones and change her mind and put one back.  It is actually helping to have so many in bed with her because she really doesn’t cry out at night for them anymore, she just roots around until she finds one!  Buuuuuuuuut…ugh I hate the look of pacis and just really want to be done with them.
6. And we picked out a big girl comforter and pillow that were simple enough that we could build a room around–nothing so ‘loud’ that it dictated the entire decor of the room.

All in all, we are really just trying to make it as stress free as possible for everyone, but mostly E.  We have tried to stay flexible and adjust when needed on most things parenting and so far it has kept us sane.  She has already taken one nap in it and didn’t freak out or try to climb out of her Dockatot, she just started playing with her binks and making noise when she woke up like normal so we took that as a good sign!

For more information on the Dockatot and a $10 off coupon, head here!

What transition tips do you all have?  What made the move easier for your littles?
Hope you all have a great week!
Erin

Ps.  Stay tuned on Friday for a post all about toddler eating with an exciting giveaway!!

*This post was sponsored by Dockatot, but all opinions, as always, are my own!

Baby Essentials 6-12 months!

12 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in Life's Loves

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Welllll hello, friends!  This is a post I have been meaning to write for awhile.  I’ve kind of grouped the 6-9 month and 9-12 month essentials because although there is a big gap in these ages, things got busy around here–Life Lately post coming soon!–so I’ve grouped them.  But I will do my best to kind of breakdown when she loved these things and when she kind of started phasing out of them.

Bathtime

  1.  We ended up switching from the infant tub to a Large storage tub that we got at a baby shower.  We felt silly at first, but honestly, only having to fill that (and she fits perfectly in it) makes bathtime quick and painless.  And it keeps her toys close so we don’t have to worry about her trying to walk or crawl in the tub to go get the toy she wants.  Win-win.
  2. We also got this cute little whale for over the faucet (which she now likes to play with) because I was getting too nervous she would bonk her head on the faucet when she kept trying to stand up!
  3. We still use Tubby Todd shampoo and Babyganics bubble bath.
  4. We’ve used a variety of bath specific toys, but also thrown some of her favorites that are ok getting wet in with her.
  5. We also still use this bath scoop and love it!

Diapering

  1. Other than diapering becoming a workout for us, not much has changed.
  2. We also still use and love this healing balm and diaper cream!

Play

  1. Buckets.  Lots and lots of buckets.  She loves to just take things in and out of them.  We have probably 50 buckets, bins, and other storage containers around the house.  For your sanity, make them cute.
  2. Books.  She LOVES this one because there are arf arfs (dogs) in them.  I love these books because they have all of the things she uses and sees everyday so it feels like we are super parents by reading it to her.  We take those moments when we can get ’em!
  3. Blankets.  Eleanor is obsessed with them.  In addition to Aden + Anais swaddles, Eleanor loves this blanket.  She literally cannot go from one room to the next without ALL of them.  We are gonna need more blankets for the next babe if she’s anything like Eleanor.  I have my eyes on this one!
  4. Babies.  Oh my.  It was her first word and we are honestly not sure at this point if she will learn any others.  First thing she does when she wakes up is say bay bay and look around for one of her seven babies.  We also now have to put them to bed when she goes to bed.  It’s cute.  Promise.
  5. While she doesn’t really use a walker anymore, it was key in the 6-9 month and a little beyond growth.  She started to stand and teeter around 8 months, but with the help of a walker and her determination, she was walking by 9 months.
  6. Recently, Eleanor has been super into our cell phones and really anything she sees us using.  I try to limit when I am on it around her, but at the end of the day, it’s how I take her picture, call people, tell time–really just unavoidable to keep out of her sight.  Plus, there are other people like her sitter who use them too.  It’s just a fact of life.  That being said, she wants it and for whatever reason, I have not seen any that really actually look like the cell phones that we have.  I did find this one that makes similar sounds and it does the trick.  Now she loves putting it in a purse I gave her to play with.  We are in trouble.  Big trouble.
  7. One last thing I thought I would throw on here are her clothes.  While they aren’t toys per se, she does love going and getting things off her clothing rack (and destroying everything else on there in the process) and bringing them to me to put on.  Socks, hair bows, shoes, her tutu, rain boots, sunglasses, etc…By the end of the day she is quite accessorized.  She’s trying really hard to put on her own clothes and it’s kind of the cutest ever.

Sleep

  1. We still use and love our sound machine and nursery heater.
  2. Eleanor only gets her pacifier when she’s sleeping, desperation in the car, or when things are rough (like right now she is getting 3 molars at once and still isn’t feeling well) she can have it a little more often.  We are hoping to phase it out by the time baby #2 arrives!  She is already pretty good about giving it up when we ask, but usually she just puts it away herself when she wakes up!

Eating

  1. We are off the bottles and on to sippy cups.  Eleanor likes these transitional sippy cups because they still have the soft top!  She also like to drink out of a straw…the hard top sippy cups, not so much.
  2. We still also use this Boon Drying Rack.  Still have no idea what people did before it was invented.
  3. We gave her this toothbrush as a replacement for the paci when she was awake and it actually worked pretty well!  And it served as a teether and it cleaned her teeth.  Done.  Now she is using a real toothbrush and is absolutely obsessed with brushing her teeth.
  4. For snacks, she loved these teethers, puffs, yogurt melts, and pouches!  Snacks were definitely something that started adding up so I really watched for sales at Target and Amazon…once you hit that 4 month mark, I would try to stock up if you see sales!!

I think those are pretty much our favorites in a nut shell!  It’s been a wild year and we have learned so much, but still are unsure of so many things.  With baby #2 on the way, we have been looking back and seeing what actually worked and didn’t and trying to assess how we want to attack the next round of parenting, but honestly every single baby is different and that’s what makes the journey so fun, learning and growing with your child.  Hopefully there are some things on this list (and here’s the 0-3 month and 3-6 months essentials) that hopefully you can use to help make the journey a little smoother 🙂

What are your must haves?  Anything you would add to this list??

Hope you all have a great day!
Erin

Preparing for Baby!

10 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by in Life's Loves, Uncategorized

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Well, we have almost made it twelve weeks.  This whole parenting thing is so much more than I ever thought it would be.  SO much more.  The highs and lows are so real and so much more powerful than I had ever imagined.  With each passing day, I become more and more thankful for the moments we share as a family and seeing how much Eleanor has changed our lives. We were definitely parenting newbies and we have had to redesign her nursery four times because it was absolutely not functional the first three times.  We have lived and learned a whole lot these last twelve weeks so I thought I would share some of the products that have helped save our sanity these first few weeks!

Bathtime

1. Baby Washcloths  This was one of the items I was ready to roll my eyes at that we added to the registry.  What on Earth!?  Can’t we just use regular ones??  WELL let me tell you.  Our little one will only bathe with one of these soaked with warm water on top of her head, belly, and feet.  And just TRY washing her with anything else.  Just try.  The addition of these cloths has made bathtime possible, even enjoyable.

2. 4moms Bathtub  Ok, so I will admit that I am still not totally sure how this tub’s bells and whistles work.  What I love about it is that it fits in the sink and now in the bathtub.  I think she is outgrowing it a bit because we have to plug up the drain in it so that she can really work herself down into the warmth of the water.  This girl HATES to be cold.

Diapering

3. Butt Paste  What I love is that it doesn’t smell and so far we have been rash free.  We’ve used the non-sensitive too and works just as well!

4. Honest Healing Balm  OK, this stuff must be made of unicorn tears or something.  It’s kind of on the pricey side, but I am ready to smear this stuff on my face.  Eleanor will scratch her face or develop a dry spot and we put just a dab of this stuff on and within the hour, nothing remains.  We will put it in her diaper area in the mornings and after bath if the area seems irritated at all.  I am almost to the point of  the “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”‘s dad and Windex with this stuff.  Anytime anything goes wrong I suggest using this stuff.  Sleep?  Put some healing balm on it.

Play

5. 4moms Rockaroo Again, this was something that my pre-baby self kinda had to laugh at.  And then the baby won’t stop crying and you set them in this and immediate cooing commences.  Worth every penny.  I also thought that I only needed one sleeper/play seat.  No.  You need one for every room unless carrying it from room to room is something you enjoy which you won’t when you have a baby in your arms.  Eleanor slept in this in our room until we transitioned her to her crib and now we use it as the downstairs seat.  Now that she is older she loves to sit in her Rockaroo and look at the lights and play with a few toys!

Sleep

6. We thought Eleanor didn’t like to be swaddled until we found these.  She would fight her way out of everything else and the blanket would be up around her face and then I wouldn’t be able to sleep thinking about it getting all tangled up around her.  We only put her in the swaddle when it’s nighttime (hoping she associates it with LONG sleep!  We also put on this lotion to help her sense bedtime).

7. Speaking of bedtime, E has been a pretty decent sleeper.  We turn on this sound machine at bedtime to the ocean sound and it also has a light projector.  So her routine is bath, lotion, swaddle, turn on machine, she looks at lights while I feed her, burp/put in pacifier, then I lay her down and she falls asleep watching the lights.  I have associated her sleeping habits to this exact routine and I had a small panic attack when the projector flickered the other night while I was feeding.  Turns out a sock just fell in front of it and I made a mental note to add this item to our must-have list as my blood pressure spikes at the thought of it breaking.

8.  So I was petrified that Eleanor was going to freeze to death in our house.  Not only do we keep the house pretty cold, it is also just drafty.  This heater has a crib sensor that turns the heater on and off to regulate the temperature of the crib so that the baby does not overheat.  I also selfishly love this so that when E wakes up in the middle of a cold winter’s night I look forward to getting out of bed and scurrying into her room because it is so warm and cozy!

Eating

9. These bottles have made it possible for me to switch between feeding methods and bonus: they are so much easier to wash than some other brands.

10. I’m actually really stumped as to what people did with their bottles before this product’s existence.  It actually makes me feel like my kitchen is still a place where we do other things than wash bottles and pump parts.  My cracking-off hands assume that I do nothing else, but at least the kitchen appears otherwise.

11.  Speaking of washing ALL THE BOTTLES, this soap is amazing.  I’m not sure about what other brands offer, but foaming soap is a must for bottles.  Otherwise, you will spend 2,397,986 hours trying to get all of the soap out of all the nooks and crannys.  No, thank you.

12.  When I was feeding E at the beginning and even now, it can be tricky to gauge when they are hungry or not.  The discovery that the pacifier can help a mama out has been amazing for both of us.  If she doesn’t take the pacifier (this is especially important for me at night) then I know she is hungry.  One tricky part is finding the right size for your baby…we have a ton, but the only ones we can get to stay in her mouth are the MAM newborn pacifiers.

Anything you would add to the list??  Would love to hear your thoughts on products we need for the next stint of this journey too!

Have a happy day, friends!
Erin