My mommy knowledge

So having three kids over the course of the last five years has given me some mommy knowledge.  Recently a dear friend had her first baby and I was able to pass along some of my knowledge.  I told her to take what I say with a grain of salt though because what works for me might not work for them.  I loved being able to share with her different things I've learned and thought maybe I'd post some of it here.  Maybe someone out there will benefit from just one of my little tidbits?

Fisher Price Night Time Diapers

I've found that these are awesome overnight diapers.  They hold a lot more liquid than most diapers leading to less/no diaper changes at night.  The down side is the smallest they come in is a size 3, so it's a while before I can use them.  But trust me when I do I order large quantities of them off of Amazon.  (Babys R Us used to carry them but don't anymore.)  Usually you can find deals with the subscribe and save and just cancel your subscription after it arrives because it takes a while to go through the large box.  =)

  Visible Aid 

This one is kind of a shameless plug for my sister in law.  She is an Aloette consultant, but without her I would have never discovered it. This is an all natural Aloe based product... and it's a magic lotion.  =)  I use this for everything.  But my main use is on baby's scalp and face.  It's a miracle worker on cradle cap (just a teensy dab rubbed into their scalp and then brush their hair/scalp with the soft yellow baby brush.)  It keeps those amazing cheeks my babies get so nice and soft.  I use it on them after every bath.  The tube isn't very big but just a small dab goes a long way and it lasts a long time.  I actually keep three tubes around, one in the diaper bag, one in the bath stuff and one in my purse.  You can also use it for sunburns, rashes, etc.  If you are interested in ordering contact Stephanie Jarvis to get you some!! They have other products I LOVE, so if you are interested message me and I'll give you a list.  =) 

Small Floor Fan

That link will just take you to Amazon (seriously Amazon is my best friend, we're like this *fingers intertwined*) ha ha ha.  But you can get these at Walmart while they are in season.  I'm a HUGE fan of white noise.  These provide just that, plus keep the air in the room circulating (a plus when trying everything within my power to prevent sids) They also cover up outside noise.... my babies have all had one in their rooms from day one.  Even when they are in the bassinet in our room we have a fan going.  I never have to worry about the dog barking, siblings being too loud, fireworks.  One year we had people over for the first Fiesta Bowl that BSU was in, remember how crazy that game was??  Final seconds of the game we win, we were jumping up and down going crazy and Natalia slept through the whole thing! 

Best Butt Cream EVER

Again, leading you back to Amazon... but you can find this at Norco if you are in need of it ASAP and can't wait for it to ship.  This is the most magical diaper rash cream you will ever find.  Seriously.  So once upon a time when Oliver was spending a lot of time at Primary Childrens Hospital in Utah the doctors recommended this to my BIL/SIL and they actually carried it at the store in the hospital.  That knowledge was passed down to me.  This stuff seriously clears up diaper rash so freaking fast.  If they have diarrhea then I start using it with every diaper change to help prevent diaper rash.  Again, a little spendy but totally worth it.  It does last a long time too.  I carry one in my diaper bag and have one at the changing table.

Baby Wear

You've probably seen the million pictures I have posted of me carrying Quinton around in my Ergo.  My biggest piece of advice to moms who are about to welcome a 2nd, 3rd etc baby... baby wear.  I had a Bjorn on loan with Natalia and it killed my back so I rarely used it, but she was my only so I really only used it to travel.  The Christmas before I got pregnant with Lydia, knowing we wanted more kids I asked for an Ergo from my FIL.  It has been a serious life saver ever since.  I should have worn Lydia much more than I did, but the times that I did were awesome.  I could take care of Natalia and the house all while getting my baby snuggles on.  With Quinton it is the ONLY way I've been able to survive being so outnumbered.  He LOVES it in there.  The days that were especially tough on us because of his gas, I would put him in it and he would go right to sleep.  The only con I have is that he gets really warm in there, and he hates to be hot.  We tried to use a Moby wrap since it's much more light weight, but he just didn't get as comfortable and doesn't sleep much in it.  He's finally sturdy enough that I don't need the newborn insert anymore so it has definitely helped with the heat.

aden + anais swaddle blankets

I discovered the aden anais swaddle blankets with Lydia.  Natalia wasn't lucky enough to have these, just the normal flannel swaddle blankets... that she always broke out of.  Lydia loved these and they are big and perfect for swaddling (until it's time to move to the fleece wrap, see next item)  To this day she still carries one or two of these around with her and snuggles with them at night.  For Quinton I got a bunch from a couple of moms off of Facebook (I love those groups you can join to buy/sell baby stuff!) they were in brand new condition and a fraction of the cost.  I always have one for Quinton around, he loves to snuggle his face into them already.  I even use them as my burp rag/tuck them under his chin while drinking a bottle.  So much easier than finding a bib and trying to attach it while he's crying.  =)  They are so light and thin too so I'm much less worried about them smothering themselves with them when they start moving around in the crib.

Fleece Swaddle

Yet another item I didn't discover until Lydia.  Natalia broke free of her swaddles around six weeks and we never tried anything else.  She has always been an awful sleeper and I wonder if I had had one of these back then if she would have become a better sleeper.  Once we started using this on Lydia around 9/10 weeks she started sleeping 8-11 hours straight at night.  HEAVEN. To this day she is an amazing sleeper!! Quinton still isn't that great of a sleeper but he did start sleeping better once I switched to this sleep sack vs. the light cotton one.  Go figure the kiddo who hates to be hot was getting cold at night. =)  It will suck to have to break him of this habit, my mom broke Lydia of it around 7 months when she had them for the weekend that charlie and I were in Scottsdale.  Hoping she'll do the same for me while we are at the Oregon Coast for our anniversary in Sept.  =) 

How to give medicine:

Sorry about the quality/blurryness. I had Natalia take this for me while I was giving Quinton his antibiotic. =) 

I don't know why it took me soooo long to figure this out, because I just started doing it with Quinton a couple of months ago.  With the girls I struggled to give them medicine/antibiotics because they would always spit some out. Then I'd worry if they got enough of it. Quinton kept gagging on his gripe water, and then I think I came across something similar on Pinterest.  Just insert a bottle nipple into their mouth and squirt medicine into the nipple, and they suck it right down!  With Quinton I have to do it right before I give him a bottle so that he's hungry and he'll drink it.  If I wait until after his bottle he'll just push the nipple out with his tongue totally defeating the purpose.  It's worked amazingly with his round of antibiotics he's been taking for his ear infection.  

Anyway those are just a few of my opinions.  I've got lots and could go on forever.  Baby monitor?  Splurge and get a video one.  They are totally worth it.  Ok... I'm done.  How about you mamas out there?  Are there any pieces of advice you could give me?  Anything you've learned???