Favourite baby products

Lavender Bath Set

This is my favourite bath set.  I love the smell of it. I also saw that it does relax Vincent. I have tried different soaps and this is the one he is the calmest. I use the shampoo and soap the most often.  When I feel he needs a little more relaxing I add the bath one which is like a bubble bath.  When Vincent is a little irritable after a bath, I like to rub the lavender lotion on him.

PC Zinc Oxide Cream

I have tried a lot of butt creams and this one is the best. It’s the strongest one. I only have to use it on Vincent a few times for it to clear up.  It’s also the thickest and when he pees it doesn’t rub off.  Pat had a few rashes on his arm and put this cream. It cleared it up quick. He got his arm wet and it still had some on it.  I have tried penaten, arbonne, and pate d’ile.  The PC brand is the best one.

Vicks Baby Vapour Rub

Vicks baby vapour rub is great for when Vincent has a cold.  I find that it also helps relax him.  It’s not as strong as the adult one, but it’s perfect for babies.  I started using it on Vincent around two months old.   The tub said not to use it until 3 months.  Since we started using it, I make sure to put some on when I see a cold coming.

Ovol

Ovol is great for colics. It would calm him down very quickly.  If he was very upset due to colics, I would give him some ovol and his mood would change automatically.  We didn’t know about ovol until he was almost 3 months old.  This would have been a lifesaver when he was a few weeks old.  Ovol is a little pricey, but in my opinion is a necessity with baby colics.

Gripe Water

Just like ovol, gripe water is a necessity for babies with colics.  I just stopped gripe water with Vincent last month. We had been using it since he was home from the hospital at 3 weeks old. It’s a natural product.  This product helped a lot. It was a definite lifesaver. In my opinion, the only thing I didn’t like was the smell. It smelled like dill pickles.

Vapour Bath Soap

This must be one of my favourite products.  When I have a cold I also use it in my bath.  When Vincent seems to be starting a cold, I make sure to give him a few extra baths with this product.  We go through a lot of this.  I find it helps clear his nose making it easier to use the hydrasense nose sucker. Mix a vapour bath and baby vicks baby vapour rub and your baby will be on the road to recovery.

Weight/Height Percentile

A few people asked about Vincent's percentiles.  He has fluctuated a lot since his birth. Here are pictures of the details I have.

Favourite Baby Items

Swing

Vincent enjoyed his swing when he was a newborn. He used it regularly until about five months old. He loved the disco ball setting on the high chair.  The chair is very soft and easy to clean.  The rocking motion of the swing helped relax him.

Bouncy Chair

This item was a lifesaver for us. He slept in it a lot the first few months of life since it helped his reflux. Once we started feeding him cereal it was the easiest place to feed him.  Vincent definitely loved the vibration on it. The battery of this one was long lasting.  I believed we changed it for the first time when he was around four months old and it was used for hour’s every day. The only reason we stopped using it is because Vincent learned how to get out of it, even when he’s tied.

Bath Sling

The bath sling was good for when he was a newborn. Our condo doesn't have room for a baby tub therefore we bought this sling. It's very soft and dries quickly. Vincent used it from seven pounds to 14 pounds and the sling fit him perfectly. The best part is that the sling is a great price. It sells for $20 at stores, but we bought it for $7.

Bath Ring

When I bought the ring a lot of people asked “where” and “why” we bought one.  The “why” is Vincent can play with toys.  Also, it makes washing him easier as he is sitting down.  Vincent loves the ring.  We had to buy it on amazon as they aren’t sold in baby stores in Ontario. They stopped carrying them as parents would leave the baby unattended in the tub.  I NEVER leave Vincent unattended. I am always in the bathroom with him.  The ring has a very good suction cup which also makes it safer.

Tummy Time Pillow

This pillow was a lifesaver when he was a newborn.  It helped work his neck better as he wasn’t face planting in the floor.  I wanted to get him a tummy time surf board, but they didn’t have them when we went to buy.  I am very happy we didn’t buy the surf board as this pillow was small.  I could just pack it up and bring it when we visit people.  This pillow played music, and as he grew he could play with the toys.  We tried different tummy time toys and all the other ones he could roll off of it.  He has never rolled off of this tummy time pillow.

Dry Grass

Dry grass for bottles is a lifesaver. We even bought a second one.  It’s easy to use.  I find it’s the best way to dry bottles as it lets air dry bottles.  We bought a flower attachment to better dry the nipples which saves us a lot of room. Every few days, I can easily remove the grass from the bottom plate and wash the plate.  I love this feature as we can make sure there are dirt and germs growing at the bottom.

Light Machine

I wasn't going to buy a light and sound machine, but when I got a gift card we decided to buy one. I would have regretted it if I never bought one. This machine makes his room look like northern lights. The sounds make us seem are we are outside in the forest. The sound features help drown out sounds from outside. It's been great the past few months as there was a lot of construction sounds in the building. The light machine has also been a good tool when it comes to sleep training, especially at the beginning. When he would still cry when being put down, he would look up to the lights and just calm down.

Jumperoo

The jumperoo has been Vincent's favourite toy for months. He loves to jump in it. It would keep him busy for hours at a time. In the morning, when maman was tired, I could put him in his jumperoo and just lie on the couch and relax. He would jump, squeal of happiness and watch the Wiggles. I much prefer the jumperoo then the other standers. Because of that, he can actually jump and the toy makes him bounce. Vincent still uses the jumperoo sometimes. We put it in his room. Therefore, we can put him in there while I put away his clothes. When the jumperoo is in the living room, Vincent isn't very interested as he rather crawl around.

Little Tikes House

We found this toy house at the consignment store for only $12. This has been the best find yet. Vincent is addicted to this house. He loves to crawl around it and play in the door. One side is decorated like the outside of the house, the inside is a kitchen. The outside has a doorbell that Vincent loves to press. Vincent will be able to play this house for another good amount of time as there are activities for older babies. For example, once he is able to stand, there is an activity which allows him to put shapes into holes near the roof. Also, he will be able to put the ball in the chimney. The door swings both ways which lets Vincent to crawl through it. This week, he has really enjoyed the toys on the door, the turning flower and recipe book.

Music Table

We bought this music table at the consignment store. There is missing the microphone, but Vincent doesn't care. He loves to play with it. When we bought this table Vincent was about two months old. We didn't know then, he would love music as much as he does. This is the first thing he pulled himself up. He is getting pretty good at doing it. He loves to lean on it and touch the piano notes and the guitar. My favourite part is when he tries to dance to the music.

Sleeve bib

Sleeve bibs are a necessity when babies learn how to eat. They are very messy.  When we are at home, I strip him to his diaper, but we can’t do that in restaurants. We decided to try the sleeve bibs.  They are great and Vincent leaves the restaurant clean.  These ones were a little pricey ($20 each) but I will go buy some at IKEA to see if they are good. The IKEA ones are $7 each. 

Foam Floor

We bought four foam puzzle pieces when Vincent was a few months old. When he started crawling, and falling, I decided to buy eight more.  This floor is great as when Vincent falls he doesn’t cry and it doesn’t hurt.  He fell a few times before the floor mats and would cry a lot.  The floor also helped him convert from army crawl to a regular crawl. Also, Vincent pukes almost every time he eats and that makes floating floors very slippery.  The foam mat doesn’t get slippery.  I also enjoy how durable they are. We bought the cheapest colourful floor and it gets washed every night. The floor still looks new.  Vincent loves to pull the ends off and play with them.

Foldable High Chair

Most restaurants have high chairs, but many of them are too big for babies. I feel like most of them are made for toddles. Also, they don't have trays which means the food goes on the floor. We decided to buy a chair that folds. This is an item we bought brand new, which is rare. We have used it so much at this point that it's worth the price. What I like about this chair is it turns into a booster seat. We don't need to use the tray if we don't want to. Also, when we go out to eat, we normally put the chair on the table therefore the food hits the table and not the floor.

Quilt

Vincent’s great aunt made this quilt. We have used it so much. When Vincent started playing on the floor, I would put his toys on it so the quilt would pick up the puke. Once he started to crawl around I stopped using it at home.  When we go visit somewhere I still use this blanket. It helps Vincent know that it’s his area to play. A lot of pictures where taken on this blanket. It will be a blanket that will be kept forever. Once he is done using it, I will put it in his box with the quilt he receive when he was at CHEO around Christmas time.

Cottage Swing

This swing is a favourite for Vincent at the cottage. It really showed me that Vincent is fearless. This is scary for maman as I am a definite chicken. This swing ties very nicely to a tree branch. It fits fairly small babies and big toddlers. I know the toddlers as my sister has the same swing. I will post a blog about the cottage and give more details about it. The reason I opted out for a swing, is that you put straps over his shoulders. I find he is more securely tied then a swing that you just plop them in.

Sleep training

Sleep training is a very controversial topic when it comes to parents. It's something I wanted to do, but I needed the extra push to achieve it. The first time we started Vincent was about Six months. We did it a few nights and he wasn't ready. Last month when Vincent was Eight months, I went to see the pediatrician. During the appointment she asked about his sleep schedule. I was telling her that we start bedtime routine around 7:30pm and hope to have him in bed by 8pm. Most nights he wouldn't go to bed before 11pm. I have to be honest, the doctor smiled and laugh. She then started telling me that Vincent was playing us. He didn't want to go to bed because he knew he could get away with what he wanted. She looked him over and looked at his milestones. His Dr. said he is very smart. She advised us to put him to bed at 7:30pm and make him fall asleep on his own. Babies learn to self soothe as young as Five months therefore Vincent was more than ready. She told me I can look up different methods. I asked her which method she would recommend. She said she liked the cry it out method.

There are two different types of cry it out method. One is putting him in his bed and let him cry until he falls asleep. The second option is go see him every five to ten minutes until he sleeps. Also, make the times between little visits longer every time.

I had decided to do the first option because Vincent gets madder when he sees me go in his room then leave. She said that she had chosen the method for her kids. For both her kids it took almost three hours for them to fall asleep the first night. When I left the appointment, I didn't know if I should be excited to start sleep training or be scared. The other thing was letting Pat know about the sleep training. After talking it over with Pat, we decided to give sleep training a few nights to see if it works for us.

We decided to try to aim for 8pm bedtime instead of 7:30pm. It would fit our schedule much better. Sleep training was a big success for us. It was the hardest thing we had to do with Vincent. This is saying a lot since we have had to do a lot of stuff. Sleep training has changed our life. Vincent now goes to bed between 7:30pm and 8pm at night. He sleeps much better. Some nights he wakes up a few hours later for a bottle, but then he falls right back to sleep. Most nights he will sleep until 7am. Here is a list of how long it took him to fall asleep the first few nights.

• ·         Night 1: 1h 15mins
• ·         Night 2: 32 mins
• ·         Night 3: 29 mins
• ·         Night 4: 8 mins

Vincent then left for the cottage since Maman was sick for three nights.  Once Vincent came back I thought we would have to restart, but I was wrong.  Now he usually cries less than five minutes at night and most nights he no longer cries.  Vincent seems to be enjoying falling asleep on his own since he trained himself to do the same for his naps.  I am happy with how great he is doing.

Update from month 5 to 8

After taking a 4 month break from blogging, I decided to get back to it. Here are the updates on Vincent since the last blog.

Month 5

When Vincent was 5 months old his grandparents' Saumure sold their house in Ottawa and officially moved to the cottage. It's at 5 months old we started bringing him swimming at the condo pool. He was finally able to enjoying it since they warmed the water to approximate 82F. He has really found his voice this month and loves to chat. If you are trying to watch TV he will chat louder than the TV to get our attention. . We saw a dietician  to get him started on purees. He had been on cereal for more than a month at that point. We started using our blender a lot this month as we made all his foods for the first month. The food we started him on was chicken, carrots, green beans and banana. He enjoyed the bananas and the green beans. He HATED the blended chicken. He would not swallow the chicken, he spit it out and rubbed it in his hair and face. One of the milestones he hit this month was sitting unassisted. One day he woke up and was able to sit. He really started enjoying his toys once able to sit. At his pediatrician appointment this month he had met all his 6 months milestones. He had also just turned 5 months when we saw her. A lot of babies meet these requirements at this age but the reason the pediatrician was happy is Vincent is still considered a preemie. Both Pat and I are happy on how Vincent is growing and learning. Vincent also had his first boat ride at the cottage at 5 months old.

Month 6

When Vincent turned 6 months old, I was actually pretty sad, but happy. I was happy he was healthy, but sad that he had already been here for half a year. The first 6 months flew by very quick. It was hard to believe it had already been 6 months since we had to visit him in the hospital for three weeks. During this month, Vincent had his first sleepover. It was harder on maman, then Vincent. The house was empty and quiet. Vincent started doing something pretty cute at this age. He goes in full giggles in his sleep. You will be snuggling him and he will giggle. He also started doing it in his crib at night. This month, Vincent started getting teeth. He got his first two teeth in one day. By the end of his 6 months he had four. We had wanted to start sleep training, we tried doing it for a few nights, but decided he wasn't ready. Thinking back now I don't know if it was Vincent not ready or maman and papa. Vincent started really liking music and dancing. If he was crying, we would turn on music or sing to him. At this point, we have been taking him swimming almost every night at the condo. He loves going under water, swimming, kicking. I also had started throwing him in the air, letting him go and he falls in the water. Vincent would squeal of happiness. When there are other people at the pool, they are shocked seeing his reactions. He is now known as the swimming baby at the condo complex.

Month 7

When Vincent turned 7 months, I noticed he was starting to really chew his food. He loved the mum mum crackers. Pat and I had talked it over and decided to start feeding him the same dinner as us (I will post a blog about him eating what we eat). His first few real food was ribs and pizza. During this month we went to Sudbury to see family and celebrate tante Mel's 30th birthday. We saw a lot family and got to play with cousins. During this month, Vincent got two more teeth. This month was really quiet when it comes to new things.

Month 8

This month was definitely a hectic one for Vincent. Papa was on vacation for the first week. We went to the experimental farm with Vincent. He loved the pigs and cows. There were 11 piglets that were a week old and kept jumping all over each other. We could have stayed there all day with Vincent as he LOVED watching them. The long weekend, there was a Saumure family reunion. It was fun to take up-to-date family pictures and Vincent got to meet more family. Vincent also started army crawling at the beginning of being 8 months. At the end he was crawling on his hands and knees. This month, Vincent went to see the pediatrician for a check up to make sure he was well. During the appointment, the pediatrician asked about his sleeping schedule. I advised he wouldn't go to sleep until 11pm because he wanted to play with us. She advised us that we should sleep train and put him to bed at 7:30pm. I am writing a blog about the sleep training and if it's working or not. Vincent started swimming lessons with maman at the local wave pool. Vincent loves swimming and we get to learn new things. The last thing Vincent did before turning 9 months was pulling himself up on the stander.