Teething Bites!

Even though our littlest munchkin is 18 months, she is still in the teething stage. Since my husband and I have  gone through teething with all three daughters, I now know every baby deals with it differently . Our first daughter we would have never known she was getting a new tooth in unless we felt it or saw it. Therefore of course we figured teething was a piece of cake. That was until our second and third were born. I then dreaded the teething stage and everything that came along with it. The slight fevers, drooling and those nasty teething poops. Yup I said it, the teething poops which I'm sure many of you moms know exactly what I'm talking about. Oh and yes, can't forget when your baby is nicely sleeping through the nights, and all a sudden the teething stage ruins it.

So I thought  I'd share a few teething remedies that work great my daughter.

•  I use the Hylands homeopathic teething tablets. They are like magic, and easily dissolve in their mouth. 
•  For a teether our littlest has a maple wood teether. I like the more natural teethers instead of the plastic or rubber with the liquid's inside. 
• Sophie the giraffe is an exception because the rubber material is all natural. She loved chewing on her.
• All natural teething gel. I know a lot of parents who are turning away from the normal teething gel, so the natural teething gel is a nice alternative. 
• In the summer a good ole fashion frozen washcloth for teething. Not only works great for them to chew on while frozen but helps keep cool during the summer heat. 

Toilet Paper Roll Binoculars

Our latest craft we created are the "toilet paper roll binoculars". All the supplies we already had in our home. You shouldn't have to run to the store for the supplies. My daughters thought they were pretty neat. They became detectives once they finished theirs. 

All you need is: 2 empty toilet paper rolls, yarn, paint or markers, paper, tape, hole puncher and scissors.

steps

1.Color or paint the empty toilet paper rolls.(If paint, let them dry.)

2.Cut a strip of paper down the long width. (About an inch.)

3.Wrap the strip of paper around the 2 empty toilet paper rolls and tape it to stay. You may use glue, but we noticed tape worked better.

4.Hole punch the 2 holes. One on each outer side of the empty toilet paper rolls.

5.Tie your yard on and you now have binoculars!

Picture coming soon

Stripping Cloth Diapers

Yup, I am one of those crazy cloth diapering moms. I use bumgenius and sometimes prefolds with covers. All a sudden Helen started getting rashes with the cloth diapers. This never happened before. Then when she would soil the diaper, it would smell like ammonia right away. So I knew it was time to do what is called, "stripping" cloth diapers. Since I put a status update about it on my facebook, and had a response and having some cloth diapering friends, I thought I make a post a how to!

Usually you want to strip your diaper every three to four months. or as needed.

Why you might want to strip your cloth diapers.

• They are starting to cause unexplained rash on your child.
• They smell even after you have washed them.
• They smell like ammonia after your baby have soiled them.
• There is a detergent build up, or diaper cream build up.
• Your cloth diapers might be leaking now and you can't figure out why. 
• If you have hard water you may get mineral build up.
• Sometimes using too much detergent or not enough during washes. 

Here is how I striped my cloth diapers.

• I made sure they were washed first. 
• Then I did another complete wash cycle on HOT water with  no detergent.( I turned up our water heater for this)
• Once they were washed (they do not have to be dry) rinse them on hot water over and over until you see no more bubbles on top. 
• Air dry them, or dry them on low heat.
• Sunning them also will help disinfect.

I think of Stripping cloth diapers as a fresh start.