For New Mamas & Babies: Christmas Gift Guide

Clockwise from top left: Pom Blankets, Organic Striped Booties, Eat Sleep Poop, Orfeo Bloom Rattle, IGLU Wooden Play Gym, Striped Bodysuit, lifefactory Bottles, Knit Rattle, Knit Pom Booties, Wooden Crochet Teether, Birth Print, Gizmine Humidifier, Donna Wilson Plush, Sakura Bloom Sling

www.withtwocats.com

A Few of My Favorites

I’m currently off working on artwork for the opening of my Etsy shop and have some fabulous guest bloggers filling in for me over on my blog, with two cats, so I thought I’d share a few of my favorite past children’s posts with you this week:

.

Home Design:

Violet’s Nursery

Play Room Progress

Britnee’s Play Space

My Violet:

Just the Girls

A Little Animal Lover

A Tiny Botanist

A Spring Romp

Keeping Cool 

Children’s Party Ideas:

A Super Hero Soiree

A Circus Celebration

A Rainbow of Colors

A Back to School Bash

Personal:

Our Perfect Halloween Day

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

Adventures in Breastfeeding – Pump Wars

Pregnancy:

The Dreaded Glucose Test

Tackling a Baby Registry

One Year Later

How-to’s:

How to Choose a Pediatrician

How to Decorate on a Budget – Part I

How to Create Your Own (Removable) Fabric Decals

Enjoy!

Tips for Little Eaters

Although I doubt that many of you have the same issues that we’ve experienced with Violet, a lot of this can pertain to any kid who is picky with food, dislikes certain tastes, or has issues in general with eating solids, so I hope some of you find it helpful! Here’s what has worked for us:

Tips for Little Eaters:

1. Start with something bland. Violet’s prescription formula is very VERY bland, and we made the mistake of trying to start solids with apples. Let’s just say it was a LOT more flavor that she was used to and it didn’t go well. We went back to the drawing board and tried potatoes instead. Although she still wasn’t thrilled, it went much more smoothly than apples. We then slowly built up to carrots, apples, and so on up the taste ladder.

(Violet is currently eating plums, broccoli*, carrots, blueberries**, potatoes, avocado, prunes, and freeze-dried apples. Why no meat, grains, or dairy? No, we’re not vegans. FPIES kids react least often to fruits and veggies, although we may be trying a meat next.)

*Okay so she just bites it and then spits it out, but it’s progress! **She eats the insides and spits out the skin. I’ll take it.

2. Stick with what works. Once you’ve found a food that gets good reviews (Violet eventually decided she really loved freeze-dried apples and pureed carrots) stick with that for a little while in order to build basic eating skills (chewing, swallowing, and the like) That way they’re not focusing on the taste or texture as much and are really able to just get the basics down.

3. Patience is key. For a long time Violet would put freeze-dried apples in her mouth, but didn’t seem to realize that she was supposed to swallow them. We’d always find little apple bits all over the place, which was frustrating, but we knew we were making progress based on the fact that she wanted to put them in her mouth at all. After a LOT of patience, one day it eventually clicked and she realized that those apples were FOOD and that she was supposed to eat it. That was such a huge milestone – it was the first truly solid thing that she swallowed and that opened up whole new doors for us.

4. Discover your inner model No matter how much you DON’T want to eat prunes or broccoli or freeze-dried apples (which are actually surprisingly good), this one is really important. If you won’t eat it, most likely neither will they. Over exaggerate chewing and swallowing so that your child can observe eating skills and hopefully imitate them.

5. Use peer pressure to your advantage One of our huge breakthroughs came on a day when we went to visit Violet’s babysitter and her kids They were gobbling down Violet’s freeze-dried apples like they were candy, and Violet realized that not only were those things a hot commodity, but also that the other kids WEREN’T SPITTING THEM OUT. It was after that day that we really noticed that she started to chew and swallow. I also will play YouTube videos of other babies and toddlers eating. She really watches and imitates what she sees in the video. This is how we got her to start taking bites of larger bits of food and she also tries to use utensils now as well. Seriously, what did parents do before the internet?! Here are her current favorite videos:

Cute Baby Eating Peas (Good for eating finger foods)

Baby Eating (Good for biting pieces from larger bits of food)

Toddler Eating Strawberries with a Spoon, Very Silly! (Good for using utensils)

We also recently started to take Violet to feeding therapy. We would have started sooner, but it took THREE MONTHS to get in! Here are a few tips that the therapists shared with us:

• Provide your child with at least two preferred and one non-preferred food at each meal
• Limit distractions
• Eat as a family at the table and serve family style at all meals
• Allow your child to help with food preparation and setting of the table (Violet seems to eat more when she sees me chopping up her food for whatever reason)
• Set mealtime routine with breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner
• Allow child to ‘play’ with food and get messy. (This one surprised me as parents are notorious for telling children NOT to play with their food, but apparently studies have shown that children who are allowed to play with their food become better eaters in the long run. Playing with foods has allowed Violet to get used to new textures and to learn that eating is fun and not just a chore. It’s definitely a LOT more work, but it’s working and that’s what matters.)
• Do not hide foods in other foods, ‘trick’ you child into eating a food, or force feed your child. (The idea is to gain your child’s trust. Mostly I place the foods in front of Violet and allow her to decide what she wants to eat and doesn’t want to eat. I model and encourage certain things, but don’t force the issue. Usually she will eventually try everything on her tray.)
• Don’t strap your child into the high chair. (Obviously if you have a very squirmy child and feel that it’s a safety issue, by all means use the straps, but this kind of goes along with the trust thing and making eating fun and not a chore.)

And although this post has gotten (quite) long already, I have one more thing I really want to add. The next time you see a mom feeding her child formula, please don’t judge. I nursed Violet for nine months and would probably have gone longer if it hadn’t been for her GI issues. After months of her reacting to my breast milk and an elimination diet that caused me to lose too much weight, we finally ended up with a prescription formula that has done wonders for my baby girl. She’s like a totally different, much happier and healthier girl now that she is on something that doesn’t irritate her little body. She sleeps better, feels better, and I can’t thank formula companies enough for making these products for kids who need them. You never know for what reasons a mom is scooping powder and shaking up bottles, but know that they are most likely good reasons and that she is doing what is best for her and her family.

Thanks for letting me get up on my soapbox for a minute there. I really, truly hope that this post is helpful to some of you – whether your child is just a picky eater or something more serious.

And if you have any tips for getting your kids to eat solids, I’d love to hear them!

Mimijumi Very Hungry Bottle

When I was pregnant with Harper I knew that I wanted to breastfeed, but had no idea how it would go or how long it would last. I wanted to have a stash of bottles just in case, but found it very confusing with all of the bottles on the market.

If only I had known about the mimijumi Very Hungry bottle. It is a breastlike baby bottle that closely mimics the breastfeeding experience. –Ideal for transitioning from breast to bottle feeding.

The innovative design of the nipple to replicate a mother’s breast creates a natural feeding and latching experience for a happier and healthier bottle fed baby. Bold color and soft textures are combined to give the mimijumi Very Hungry bottle a distinctive, eye-catching appearance.

The bottle is made from high quality plastic that is clear as glass but safer for baby. The material was engineered in Switzerland to be used in medical applications and has all certificates required to be in direct contact with food. The bottle is also made from BPA free plastic.

Visit mimijumi.com to learn where to buy these breastlike nursing bottles.

& be sure to follow mimijumi on Facebook & Twitter for product info and promotions.