Elimination Communication

I get the "what the what?" expression when I tell anyone or they see me practice Elimination Communication with my baby.  But let me tell you, it has been an amazing experience so far for me and my baby.  We've had great bonding time and it has helped me feel more connected to her as we communicate with each other in a way many people have no idea babies can do!

When it is just the two of us at home all morning and afternoon, she goes completely diaper free!  You are thinking... gross!  But here is the deal- she only uses the restroom!  No accidents on me or the floor.. or chairs... or bed... or anywhere!   If you ask me, it is way LESS gross to have her use a toilet than to pee and poo in her diaper where she has to sit in it for who knows how long till someone notices so it can get changed.

I could blog all night about it and how it works, but my blog isn't really about that as much as I am trying to have a single place for pregnant or new parents to go to in order to find information on living simply with a baby.

So I'm directing you to a great website about EC... (that's the hip term for Elimination Communication).

http://ecsimplified.com/about-elimination-communication/

It is by a women named Andrea, and she has written a book on it, gives a 101 overview on her website, she has a blog, gives tons of information, and even has scientific research on it.  I get emails from her once a week that really encourage me and help me out.

I even joined a local EC group here in Austin.  We email each other now and then about success or advice and get together once a month.

I'd say there are still a few kinks I need to work out on it- like what to do when other people are caring for her?  No one else knows when she is communicating her need like I do so she ends up getting frustrated with them.  But I might email Andrea or my support group about this soon.

Wanna try it?  Let me know if you do- I will cheer for you!

Baby Containers

For centuries women carried their babies on their body.  Then one day in 1733, an English garden architect invented the first known stroller that was pulled around by a goat.  It wasn't till the 1900's that they became so popular in the West.  The great bonding opportunity found in baby wearing started to disappear.  But now its coming back!  To the left is a picture of me trying out by Lucky Baby Sling when Baby A was less than a week old.  I had my doubts about it at first because she looked so squashed in there.  I think maybe it was actually too big for her at first because by week 3 she was fitting in it well.

Here she is in it a lot more comfortably.  She is 2 and a half months old... and 15 pounds keep in mind!  Your baby may look differently in it.  But basically you can tell if she is comfortable or not by if she is squirmy or fussy when she gets in it, or if she is looking zen as my friend Julie S would put it. ;)  As the baby grows there are different positions to put her in to hold her.  Check out the Lucky Baby site to see more about it.  

Now we also got a backpack style baby carrier like the one below but she was not content in it at all.  An occupational therapist spoke to a group of mothers I meet with bi monthly about these things.

 She said as I sat in my chair to slump forward and curl my arms into my chest a bit... then in opposition try arching my back backwards in my chair with my arms held out.  Obviously the first was more comfortable and soothing.  The same goes for your baby.  When he is in a curled up position as the sling provides he will be more soothed and cosy and possibly even fall to sleep.  While carrying your baby in the front of your chest where he looks out will put him in a very alert position just as when you sit up with your arms and legs separated and hyper extended.  So this is great for keeping your baby alert probably, but its usually just best to keep that baby calm and relaxed in your arms.  But the OT suggested one more problem with these front carriers.  She said many children are starting to walk with this cowboy waddle.  Their hips are being distorted at a young age causing some developmental issues.   Now if you have been doing this with your baby already- don't freak out!  It's okay.  It is awesome that you are keeping your baby on your body where they can feel your warmth and protection and chances are you aren't going to mess up your child.  It might just be time to put that carrier away for a while.  OR consider getting a simple sling or try a wrap made from 6 yards of cotton gauze cut in half the long way.  (Look on youtube and google for videos on how to do this- I haven't tried it yet myself.)

Something the OT also was concerned about for babies these days was the overuse of infant car seats.  She and her colleges call them baby containers.  Parents put their babies in the car seat and tote them around in their car, get to the store where they carry them in the car seat in the cart, then when they get home keep them in the car seat for nap time and when they wake up they'll even feed them in it.  The baby spends most of its day in the car seat... only to be taken out to be put in a bumbo or baby jumper.  Keeping babies contained like this all day can cause developmental delays.  Its important to let the baby lay around on the floor for tummy time and play time and be held to learn to hold their bodies and necks up.  So a good rule of thumb is to try to keep that baby in the car seat only when it is required by law.  

With that being said, there are those days when Baby A has gone crazy all day long and we go for a drive in the car to the grocery store and she finally zonks out!  Okay, I'm not going to risk waking her to put her in a sling.  I'm going to take that quiet time where I can get it and stealthily transfer her car seat from car to grocery cart or stroller. 

Which somehow brings me to where I started- strollers.  Are they a baby must?  Not at all!  Take a look at the movie "Babies" and you'll see a healthy baby boy growing up in Africa with out a stroller.  So if you don't have room in your car our house to keep a stroller you can skip it.
  

I have two strollers that were both given to me in my slight protest because before I had the baby I was hoping to depend solely on my slings.  


One is a snap n go.  This can lead to TERRIBLE habits of baby containing, but when used in extreme moderation it can be nice.  Sometimes I even push it around when I have my baby in the sling when I'm shopping and need a place to put my purchases and diaper bag... and my coke (it seriously has two cup holders).  Not to mention on hot summer days I don't like having to put the baby back in a hot car seat so its nice to bring it in even if she isn't actually in it.  

The other stroller we haven't actually gotten to use much because she is still a bit too small.  It is a jogger stroller made by Columbia called the FunRun Jogger.  The only time Baby A has been in it was when Chris gave it a spin around the block while she sat in it very awkwardly.  He thought it felt great and is looking forward to some jogs with her when she is big enough.

Believe it or not, I have more on baby containing, but that's enough for one blog entry right?  Email me if you have any thoughts or questions!

There's an app for that.

It is so great to have a smart phone when you have a baby. You can easily surf the web while you are at pediatrician appointments, feeding, or when you can't move from your seat because she finally fell asleep in your arms and you don't want to risk moving her. FaceTime becomes a feature you actually want to use when you are calling the grandparents! And best of all, the apps. For just a dollar or two you can buy an app to replace something the baby stores are charging you out the bum for. Here are just two examples, but to stay on a budget and keep your house from baby clutter, think: Is there an app for that?

I was so happy when my sister-in-law let me borrow her itsbeen to help me monitor my feedings and diaper changes. My mother said she knew me well and doubted I would use it. Boy was she wrong... for almost one week. The hardest part about it for me was keeping up with it. Every time I sat down to feed I would try to be prepared by having my water, my cell phone, my computer, and my itzbeen. After forgetting so many times I finally looked on my iPhone for an app and sure enough there were many! So finally I got to a point where I only had my phone to track feedings and I used my phone for the internet so I only had to keep up with it and my water. I'd say that even within 3 weeks I ditched the monitoring all together. She was growing at a healthy rate and I was feeding on demand anyway so it became pretty unnecessary. Skip the $25 itsbeen and go for the $1.99 app on this one. While there are plenty great ones to choose from, the one I settled on was the Baby Feeding Log by Aron Beaver.

It's true that white noise can help soothe a baby to sleep, but should you buy a special toy to make that noise? I say only if you love it and think its cute. But if you are like me and want to reduce toy clutter you can download the TMsoft White noise app. My favorite setting is on the free version- it sounds like you are in an airplane, but without the crying baby! It puts me to sleep just as well as it puts my baby to sleep. It also has a timer on it so you are not listening to it for 8 hours at night... (as if a baby sleeps 8 hours a night).

White Noise

Relax. Sleep Better. Feel Better.

Talking on the phone AND needing a white noise machine? Turn on the radio to static. It works like a charm on our baby when she gets upset in the car.

Real really simple nursery

When I was pregnant I did loads of googleing to find great ideas for keeping it simple when we had our baby. To my surprise that was not as easy as I had expected. For the most part I had to figure it out on my own. I suppose that is because not many advertisers want to advice you to buy as little as possible. But here I blog out of the goodness of my heart, not to sell you anything!

The picture above is how we started out. Our "nursery" was in the corner of our own bedroom. We actually have a second bedroom but with my mother staying with us for a few weeks to help us get adjusted while the baby was here, we wanted her to have her own room. We also just thought it would be easier to care for the baby in the middle of the night if everything we needed was in our room. That ended up working really well.

But let's break it down. A friend of mine gave me the wire drawers that have been great because I can see right through them and know exactly where everything is. The top drawer is filled with diapers so I don't even have to open it, I just grab from the top.

To the left of the wire baskets you will see the "diaper champ." AKA waste of money. It wasn't really helpful, obviously with cloth diapers being larger than disposables. I thought I could use it to throw wipes in but it didn't get the wipes into the bottom part very well. Also the wipes don't smell bad after even a poopy use, so it was pretty pointless and ended up in the recycling bin within a week of Baby being born. It was replaced with a small trash can we already had at our office desk. It has a step peddle to open the lid which helps make for quick disposal.

Also we have a small table set up with a lamp on it and baby wipes. Originally we had a wipes warmer. AKA waste of money #2. It really didn't keep the wipes so warm. By the time we took it from the warmer to the booty it was cool again. We also had to keep it warm by constantly wetting this pad on the bottom of it. And as it turns out, it doesn't bother the baby one bit to have a non warmed baby wipe. (update on this: I was actually at a friends house who had a lionheart wipes warmer and it actually worked pretty good.  Still not a necessity but at least I know they at least do work.)

If you want to keep it extra simple, skip the wipes all together! We told a friend of ours that we don't use wipes after a number one because the pediatrician said it wasn't necessary and even better for the works down there not to. They replied that they don't use wipes at all for one or two! They just run their baby's bottom under the water! I would love to do that, but the sink is way too far away to do that. It is my dream to have a bathroom big enough for our whole changing table set up though. That would be perfect and perhaps make Elimination Communication easier... what is Elimination Communication? It will have to be the topic of a completely different blog!

We also have one hamper for our cloth diapers which is pictured... and not pictured is a hamper we got later for messy baby clothes. Which we go through quicker than you would know!  (we now know that keeping a bib on the baby is a lot easier to change than her whole outfit- it catches drool and spit up well)

In the corner is our pack n play with built in changing table. Awesome! If you are trying to keep it simple in your house, always try to get combo deals like this. The changing pad has worked well for us. Baby A is 15 pounds and 25 inches long (yes she is in the 95% in weight and height) and this thing is holding out well. The pockets on the sides are great for holding diapering supplies. There is a place to hold just a few wet wipes. It is pretty pointless to use this because I'd be refilling it everyday. However if I were to take it on a trip, which I haven't yet, it would probably be useful then.  (update on this: we did travel with it and it is very difficult to take apart and put back together with the changing table and canopy on it.)

Graco Pack 'n Play Portable Baby Play Yard

As for the crib section... during the first month this sections was called the baby storage unit. We pretty much just thew blankets and toys in there as we got them from visitors. We kept her in the Rock N Play to sleep in. Eventually we cleaned out the baby storage unit and would place her in it on occasion for just a few minutes just so she would be in a safe place when I was in a pinch and needed to set her down. By two months old I was placing her in it for naps. Only recently I have placed her in it for a whole night's sleep. There is a mat that makes it into this "crib" like setting, that we can take out when she is older to play in. I'm not sure how that will go. It seems so small and cage like to contain a child in, but so far this pack n play has been awesome enough to make it worth its money even if we don't use the bottom part.

As I mentioned before she sleeps in a Fisher Price Rock N Play, pictured below.

Fisher-Price Newborn Rock 'n Play Sleeper

This thing is wonderful! I originally considered co-sleeping with the baby. There is some controversy over this, but seriously the only people who roll over their children and suffocate them are drunks and druggies. Occasionally she slept in bed with us, but it made for a slightly uncomfortable night for us as we were overly cautious not to roll over her... and also my husband is just a big guy and I'm a bed hog so we didn't really have room for a third. But if you are able to, I know that there are many different beds you can put in your bed for added security and safety for your baby. If you rather not add something in your bed and keep it simple, just be sure to do the safety research.

So our alternative was the Rock N Play. The rock n play sat by our bedside all night long. It has no electronics on it and can easily be moved all around the house. So wherever we needed her to be to nap she could nap there.

It also made the middle of the night feedings much easier. I just picked her up, laid her in bed with me to feed, and then when she fell back asleep, I just put her right back in.

It is at a incline which helps digestion I'm told. I am so grateful she has not suffered from colic but I'm told that this incline is really helpful to those colicky babies.

One more praise for this thing is that if your pediatricians and baby books have freaked you out about not letting babies roll over and sleep on their belly, you don't have to worry about it in this thing.

Our little girl seems to talk in her sleep so I wasn't getting very good sleep so we transitioned her into the other room. This transition has been super easy because she is still in her same rock n' play so she doesn't seem to notice or care.

Well I'm sure this blog isn't going to win any blog awards but I sure hope it helps someone out there in thinking of ways to keep their home baby simple. I will continue with more simple tips on bathing, diaper bags, and baby carriers next time.