Does Your Baby/Child Have Healthy Sleep Habits? Are they sleeping through the Night?

If your baby/child isn't sleeping through the night, I recommend reading the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy child." I was given the book with my first one who is now 5 1/2 yrs. old. I didn't start reading it until he was about 5 mos. old and started using the techniques immediately. He was sleeping through the night by about 5 1/2 months. This time around I refreshed myself with the book during the last trimester of pregnancy in hopes that I could get this baby to start sleeping through the night much sooner! Lexi was born September 2009, she was calm and easy going from the minute she was born. Thankfully, neither of my babies had colic, feel so blessed on that one! Within her first weeks of birth she was giving me 4.5-6 hours of sleep for her first stretch at night. By the time she was 8 weeks she was consistantly giving me 7 hours for her first stretch of sleep at night. Around 10 weeks we started to struggle with her naps during the day, she was fighting them and I couldnt' figure out why. Therefore, I got out my book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and refreshed the nap section and sure enough, I was waiting too long to put her down for her nap and therefore, she was overtired. Changed what we were doing to ensure that she was not having more than two (2) hours of wakefulness at a time. This does NOT mean wait until two hours after she just woke up to put her down, but to have her down in her before that two hour mark so that she could put herself to sleep. Alas, it worked and she was no longer fighting her naps and was going to bed at the recommended time of 6 PM. By 12 weeks/3mos., she is now sleeping through the night, 6 PM-6 AM and it is wonderful! The basics of this book are as follows:

*Babies Can't handle more than two (2) hours of wakefulness

*Bedtime needs to be around 6-6:30 PM

*Sleep Begets Sleep

No time is too late to start, if your little one is no longer a newborn, but still not sleeping through the night, get this book and within a few nights you will have them on track....the older they are the more of a challenge those first few nights will most likely be, but stick with it and I am confident that you will be happy with the end result!

Are you familiar with the Benefits of Infant Massage?

Haven't posted in awhile, so figured I would post this time about something I feel very passionate about...Infant Massage! Below is just a few benefits of infant massage between parent/caregiver and the baby. I am posting my website for you to check out more benefits of this wonderful opportunity. Please log onto www.nurtured-touch.com to learn more and/or book a class.

*Increase weight gain (great for premature babies)-related to increase in secretion of growth hormone

*Strengthens Immune system by increase in production of white blood cells

*Increases relaxation-enhances neuro development by speeding myelination of brain and nervous system, therefore improving brain-body communication enhancing neural cell firing

*Increase in body and sensory awareness resulting in increased exploration and muscle tone.

Diapers-Better for Baby, baby for our Planet! Plus a convenient way of shopping for these Diapers

This time around, I had done quite a bit of research on a diaper that would be better for our environment, better for my baby girl and yet still the convenience of a disposable. I purchased both the Seventh Generation as well as the Nature Care Baby and I am really liking both. At first glance I didn't think I was going to like the Seventh Generation solely based on the look of it. However, much to my surprise I am loving it and wow it does a great job of holding everything in. Lexi is now 6 weeks old and she hasn't leaked out of the diaper even one time. The Nature Care Baby are great as well, however, she did leak out of it one time, but I don't fault the diaper as I think she would have leaked out no matter which diaper she had on. :-) As far as the baby wiapes, I am liking the Nature Care Baby Wipes the best, didn't really care for the seventh generation ones as they seem a little on the dry side. Also, have been buying these diapers on Diapers.com, it is free shipping and overall less expensive then purchasing them at a local store. Not to mention the Nature Care baby diapers aren't available in any store. At one time they were available at Target, but not anymore. Diapers.com is really on top of their shipping as well, everytime that I have ordered the diapers have come the next day, even though they state that it will take two days, it never has taken the two days (and even if it did, that is still quick).

Are you a breastfeeding Mom?

I wanted to share with anyone who is currently breastfeeding, has friends that are, are currently expecting and plan to breastfeed or maybe need a great breastfeeding gift for someone...this fabulous product that I have come across. It is called the Milkies Milk Saver. I discovered it by accident during my most recent pregnancy with Lexi. Lexi is now 5 1/2 weeks old and I have used it quite a bit and absolutely love it. You use it on the opposite side that the baby is nursing from and it catches the milk during the let down phase. Therefore, it keeps it from going to waste into a nursing pad and viola you get to start building your milk supply and haven't even used a pump, not to mention the time you are saving since you are already feeding baby. I will still begin pumping in the next week or so to help build my supply up even more as I will be returning to work part time the beginning of December. However, if you are a stay at home mom, I feel this is such a great product that you could quite possibly save yourself the expense of a breast pump. The first two days that I used the Milkie I was able to store about 24 oz. of milk, wow that is quite a bit of milk that would have just gone to waste. Now I will admit that I have a really strong milk supply and of course the results from one person to the next are going to vary. However, according to the milkie milk saver website, most women release 2-4 oz. during the let down phase. I have had times that it has been close to 4 oz., but on average, for me it is about 3 oz. each time I use it. I have become a little lazy with it, so I haven't been using it at every feeding, but still have built up a pretty good stock in the freezer without any pumping. :-) I actually just leave it on the other breast until she is done feeding as I continue to drip even after the let down phase and this way some of the hind (the more fatty milk) is going in there too. Check out the milkie milk saver online at http://www.mymilkies.com/. I have also included a photo here.