The Cibo Review

Recently, I was at a restaurant with my family for lunch. Harper was just getting into table foods. But if I put a plate in front of her, it would end up on the floor. Still the case today! So inevitably, she would eat the food that I would cut up for her right off of the table. As she is eating, I am watching a bus boy clean off the table next to us. Harmless enough, right? Wrong! He proceeded to wipe the $10 bill that was left on the table with his table rag and then wiped down the rest of the table with the very same cloth. I literally gagged. Never again would Harper eat off a table. That’s when I came across The Cibo. A new mompreneur product that was about to launch. The great thing about it? It sticks to most surfaces, without being sticky! I just rinse or wipe it when she is done, roll it up, and throw it back in my diaper bag.

This is now one of my mommy must haves! The Cibo is not just a great place mat, but it helps to keep floors clean with is handy little scoop. I love their slogan, “make their mess a little less.” As mothers, could we ask for more? You can use it for kids aged 1 to 8 for food, as well as for crafts. Even better, this particular mommy inventor is dedicated to helping to end hunger for children. A portion of the proceeds go to feeding hungry children. And who isn’t all about giving back these days?!

For your viewing pleasure, here is an adorable video of Harper and her Cibo.

You can buy The Cibo for your little one here

Enter PROMO CODE “Harper” at check out for 10% off!

Off to the Greek Theater

Last week Evan and I went to see Sam Smith at the Greek Theater. It was magical.

I have done a lot of shopping lately. I figure that since I have my body back I should finally buy myself some new clothes. This is what I wore to the concert.

Jacket: Kenneth Cole New York

Jeans: Paige Denim

Sweater: Michael Kors

Hat: M.Fredric

 

Make Your Own Baby Food

Organic baby food bought in stores is pricey and obviously not as fresh and nutritious as what you can make yourself at home. If you care about your baby’s health, saving money and our planet, take an hour a week and make your own baby food! It’s easy to do and it only takes about 15 minutes to make a batch of your own.

 Stage 1 Foods

pears, apples, carrots, peas, prunes, squash and sweet potato

 Stage 2 Foods – 6 months and older

apples and apricots, apples and blueberry, apples and plums, bananas, banana’s, peaches and raspberries, pears and mango’s

 Stage 3 Foods

sweet peas and creamed spinach, zucchini peas and broccoli

Combinations that Harper loves:

apple, peach, oatmeal  and yogurt

apple, yogurt, oatmeal and banana

banana, apricot barley and yogurt

prunes, peaches and oatmeal

peas, summer squash and brown rice

corn and butternut squash

carrots, spinach and potatoes

green beans and brown rice

sweet potatoes and brown rice

List of several BPA Free baby food containers companies:

Sage Spoonfuls

Baby Cube

Sprout Cups

What you will need to make baby foods:

Steamer

Blender

Tiny glass jars with BPA free plastic lids

Or BPA free plastic baby food containers

How To:

Wash and peel fruits and veggies with a natural fruit and veggie wash

Steam food until soft but not soggy.

Use the organic flour version of any grains added

Organic plain whole yogurt

Drain and blend until smooth add a small amount of water if needed

You may need to use a vita-mix or food processor for denser veggies.

Spoon food into containers and allow to completely cool before putting on the lid.

Cool in refrigerator for a few hours before freezing

Will last up to 3 months in freezer

Keeping Up A Healthy Milk Supply

In a previous post I wrote about what to expect after birth when your milk supply comes in. I received numerous questions about how I kept my milk supply up while nursing harper.

Below are are a few of my tips and tricks to maintaining a healthy milk supply.

1. The most important thing to know, I believe, is that your breast milk increases on a supply and demand basis. Meaning, that the more your baby is on your breast or the more you pump in between feedings, the more milk you will produce. So if you want your supply to go up pump in between feedings.

2. A healthy diet is key! Drinking a glass of water while nursing to keep you hydrated is important. Eating healthy foods and a balanced diet is also very important. Almonds and oatmeal are also know to help mothers produce more milk.

3. Lactation teas! If you are allergic to certain pollens or plans its is probably beat to stay away from herbal teas. But if not my favorite brand was the  Mothers Milk Tea by Traditional Medicinals. It is important to remember that too much of the herbs that are in lactation teas can be harmful to your milk supply. If you have questions about this please contact a lactation consultant.

4. MY FAVORITE! Milkn’ Cookies

When Harper turned six months old I noticed a drop in my supply. Within two days of eating one cookie a day, my supply was up again and I was pumping an extra 4 oz. a day!

5. Make sure that you have your baby in a proper position in order to establish a good latch.

6. Lastly keep your stress levels as low as possible. Stress can significantly reduce milk supply.

Remember, I am not a lactation consultant. I am a mother and a doula who has training in breastfeeding support. If you need support breastfeeding or are not able to bring your supply up please contact a lactation consultant.

xo

Q&A

Cristal Perez How much should my 1 month old be drinking in every feeding?

As far as feeding goes I will assume you mean breastfeeding. In the first few days after birth your milk will come in. Your breasts may become engorged until your baby begins regulating your supply. It is important to be drinking plenty of water and eating well when nursing so your supply stays up. Your baby will need to nurse every two to three hours.

Here are some signs that your baby is getting enough:

Your breasts feel softer after nursing and you can hear your baby swallowing while nursing.

Your baby has plenty of wet and dirty diapers (at least 4-5 wet and minimum 1 dirty per day)

If your baby is taking pumped breast milk, at one month old your baby will be drinking about 24-28 oz per day in about 6-8 feedings

As your baby gets older he/she will begin drinking more because their stomach has grown big enough they will hold more milk and stay fuller longer. Which means that they will be able to go about four hours in between feedings. Harper started to do this around four months old.

I will do a post tomorrow about things that you can do to bring up your milk supply if you are needing help with that.

Reminder: I am a doula, who had breastfeeding training, but I am not a lactation consultant. If you are needing breastfeeding support please check out my resources page.

How do I get him to sleep more or get into a napping routine?

At one month old babies sleep about 15-17 hours in a 24 hour period. Your baby is adapting to the sleep-wake cycle that you favor, and his stomach is growing and holding more breast milk or formula by the time that he is 3 months old. Until this point you are probably not getting much sleep. It is so hard to function through out the day with the little sleep that you are getting. I strongly suggest that you sleep or rest when baby sleeps. Eventually your baby will adjust to two longer naps a day and longer periods of sleep at night. There isn’t much that you can do about your babies sleep pattern now. Around two or three months old I would start having a bad time routine that you stick with every night. This will help you to communicate with your baby that it is time for bed. You will eventually get to periods where he will sleep through the night. But when teething starts or he gets a cold sleep with become disrupted again. Welcome to parenthood! Harper did not sleep through the night until 10 months old. Since then she has been a great sleeper and unless she has a cold or really soiled diaper she is down from 8pm to 7am.

These were great questions. I hope that my answers helped!

xo

A Night Out With Ev

 

It is so hard to get alone time with my husband now that we have a baby. We always say that we are going to do a date night once a week. And then he has to work late, I have to work, Harper has a cold, blah, blah,blah. The list of reasons why we don’t do this on a regular basis could go on and on. Life shows up and we have to rearrange our priorities.

Last week a family member came to visit us and spent the night. She offered to watch Harper so Evan and I could go out on a last-minute date night. Can I just say how absolutely grateful I was at the end of the night. I have a routine where every morning I list off all of the things that I am grateful for. But this was different. It was like gratitude and an abundance of love was radiating through me.

If you live in the LA area and you haven’t gone out to the Santa Monica food trucks,  you are missing out. Every Tuesday night on Main Street there is great food and great people all sitting together on a lawn eating and enjoying each others company. We ate at the Indian truck and it was so good. After we went down to the marina and walked around for a bit and then saw a movie. We didn’t get home until after midnight… I felt like such a rebel. 😉

Anyways, it was fun. I know that it can be so difficult to sort out time for date nights when you have a baby or toddler. But I felt so good and rejuvenated afterward that I need to do this at least every other week.

Love Letters To My Little One

When Harper was about four months old I made her an email account.

My intention is for my husband and myself to write her letters throughout the next 18 years and on her 18th birthday I will give her the password to the account and she will have all of the special “love letters” and pictures from mommy and daddy.

So far I have written her about 5 letters. I talked about her birth and what it was was like to watch her turn one. What weaning her from nursing was like and how cool it is to see her grow into a toddler.

I just think that this is such a cool idea.

I am attaching one of the letters that I wrote to her.

Hello my sweet baby,
Today was officially out last day of nursing. I feel so torn. Part of me is so happy that we are less than a week away from your 1st birthday. And part of me feels sad at the thought of not having that connection with you anymore. Don’t get me wrong the bond that we have is incredible but it was your last psychical dependence to me.

 I miss the feeling of you kicking me when you were in my tummy. Every time I felt it I got so excited. I cried when your umbilical cord fell off after we got home from the hospital. And nursing was the most important thing to me when you were a newborn(aside from making sure you were healthy obviously). I remember when they brought you to me in the recovery room. The very first thing that I did was unwrap your little blanket for some skin to skin bonding and you began to nurse right away. I am so grateful that we had this experience together.

I am really proud of us for sticking to breastfeeding for the first year! GO US!

You seem to be doing well especially at night with taking a warm milk bottle with mommy and going to sleep. Tonight you didn’t fall asleep right away but you did on your own when I lay you in your crib. After we moved you into your own room you became a great sleeper! You sleep 10 hours or so straight. You won’t understand the brilliance in that until you have your own children. For the first 8 months or so of your life we all co-slept together. That was nice and it was what I thought was best for you but you kept me up all night nursing.

Anyways, I love you tons.

Love forever and always,
Mommy

What are some things that you have put together for your little ones? I love hearing about new ideas and suggestions!

xo

What’s in My Diaper Bag?!

 

Rebecca Minkoff Knocked Up Diaper Bag:

I splurged a little on my diaper bag. I felt that since this is the bag that I will be carrying for the next two-three years I needed to really like it. Rebecca Minkoff is known for making great purses and this is definitely one of them. It comes with a changing pad and it has lots of pockets.

Honest Company Diapers and Wipes:

I really like Honest Co. products. Our family does their monthly subscription. Nothing beats knowing that my diapers will be on my door step on the first of every month. Plus they are plant based and free of chlorine processing, latex, lotions, fragrances, common allergens, phthalates, optical brighteners, PVC, heavy metals, organotins (MBT, DBT, TBT) & harsh petrochemical additives.

Star Naturals Baby Sunscreen Stick:

I can’t tell you how many times I have been out and about and we decided to stop at a park to play last minute. I leave this in my bag because without it Harper would never wear sunscreen. It is free of chemical active ingredients which is not only good for your baby but also for coral reefs.

Onesie:

Throw up and leaky diapers and food spills happen… A LOT!

Honest Company Hand Sanitizer:

It’s just a good product. It doesn’t leave my hands feeling sticky or reeking of alcohol.

Klean Kanteen Sippy Cup:

Made of food grade steel this sippy cup is safe for baby and eco-friendly.

Dirty Diaper Dispenser

Dior Addict Lipstick:

It’s important to have somethings that are nice for us mommies as well. This lipstick I love and wear almost every day. It lasts for months and it leaves my lips feeling super soft.

L’occitane Rose Hand Cream:

It really is the greatest. 🙂

And of course I have my keys and cell phone as well!

What do you keep in your diaper bag?

Baltic Amber Teething Necklaces

I have gotten a lot of questions about the amber necklace that Harper wears. Yes, it is for teething and yes, it works.

 Amber is a resin that contains healing oils ( Succinic Acid ) which are easily absorbed into the body. Succinic acid is a natural component of plant and animal tissues, and its presence in the human body is beneficial in many ways. Natural amber necklaces are a completely non-invasive remedy for side effects associated with teething.

 Harper got her fist two teeth when she was four months old. She drooled like crazy and it drove me nuts. I would be changing out bibs on her all day to try to keep her dry. One day, when I was shopping at Trader Joes, I passed another mom who noticed Harpers drooling. Her daughter was wearing an amber necklace and she told me that it really worked for her. I’m a pretty “crunchy mommy” so I got one for Harper. With in a few hours I noticed a huge difference. I removed the necklace during bed time and she wore it all day. Her drooling stopped almost immediately and she became less fussy. What a life saver! Make sure that the necklace that you buy is short enough that your little one can’t chew on it. Baltic amber necklaces are for wearing, not chewing!

I got mine here: Earth Baby