The Remix

I guess this is my attempt at reviewing some baby products...Well, more so my way of reminding myself what I really like. I call this post "the remix" because it's just that. I thought with J, through trial and error, I had it all figured out. But it seems like everything I did for him was thrown out the window this time. It's true what they say--every baby is different. So I had to learn that it was okay to toss out my (somewhat) conventional wisdom, try new things and learn what worked best for B. So without any delay, here's what is currently in heavy rotation at our house...BTW, this is also B's 4 month old updates all rolled into one nice post :)

Formula: B is drinking about 5 ounces of formula every three hours. Before bedtime, he takes about 7 ounces, but that doesn't hold him any longer. He's still hungry when he's hungry and he wants the food NOW! B drinks Similac for Spit Up (also known as the green one). He started off with the regular brand, but as the name suggests, he was having a few issues that this formula resolved quite a bit (so we were able to get rid of the zantac!). In contrast, J was on Enfamil. We had many issues with J and formula and he ended up on the (hella pricey) nutramagin formula. Boy was I glad when 12 months came! Anyhow, B drinks this stuff up and seems to like it. I guess it was a good compromise for him after he finished up the last of my breast milk. And he seems to like it so much that he still won't drink water or juice...

Bottles: As I may have stated in a previous post, I love all things baby and that includes my obsession with bottles. With J, the Dr. Brown's bottles were the latest and greatest in the market, so of course he had to have them. They worked like magic and the anti-colic gadgets help J as his reflux was the worst. The down side of those bottles was that there were all the extra pieces to clean, but like I said, for him, it was worth it since they helped him so much. Well, with B, again, I wanted to try to latest and greatest on the market so I registered for a slew of the Born Free bottles. I loved the look and loved even more that they were chemical free. So I went with it. Well, in the hospital and at home when B started receiving the supplement to my breast milk, he was fed from the small nurser bottles with a Nuk nipple. So he was used to that. Once I tried to transition him to the Born Free, his sucking pattern and preference was already established and the Born Free nipple was too big and uncomfortable for him. So I sadly took all my (cute) trendy bottles back and exchanged them for the Tommee Tippee brand. Hey, they're just as new to the market and have great reviews, so I didn't count the trade as a loss. Well, thankfully B took to them and they worked great. They also have an anti-colic valve and have helped to reduce his spit up. So yeah, I like them okay (that's all that matters, right, LOL)...They've actually just introduced a new sensitive tummy bottle and I had to stop myself from buying them at the store today :)

Food: The doctor started B on rice cereal after his last appointment. He's taking a tablespoon of Earth's Best Organic Whole Grain Rice Cereal mixed in with about two ounces of formula. Of course it's been an adventure getting him used to eating it, but it looks like he is finally getting the hang of it. He always wants to pull and beg for food when we are eating, so I think he finally feels like he can get his taste of "real" food. For now, we are following doctor's orders and only giving him the food once or twice a day, so he's not getting that much of it. J started on rice cereal but quickly moved to oatmeal because rice just wasn't his thing. We'll see how long B enjoys the rice before we make the switch.

Diapers: With J, I SWORE by Huggies. There was no better diaper out there for him. And yeah, well, this go round, for some reason, Pampers seems to be the magic diaper for B. The Huggies leave him irritated and I find the cut too narrow for him. So Pampers it is. B is in a size 3 (!) diaper right now and the Pampers contain the blow outs and seem to absorb more than the Huggies. And actually, we ventured into another unknown territory. B is in G Brand cloth diapers right now. He was a little too irritated and we are applying a special cream from the doc. So I decided that we needed to air him out a bit, so we are giving the cloth diapers a go. Now, don't get me wrong, when it's time for the poops or blow outs, he will be back in the disposables and when he's at the sitter, plastic it is. He's still only having one BM per day, so I am comfy with the cloth. I only have two of the cloth diapers and about six liners, so it'll be mostly for giving his little butt a break when we are around the house.

And cause they are just so darn cute...

Well, I think that's it in terms of the stuff we have in the current rotation. Well, aside from the Soothie pacifier that we can't do without.

More to come....