New Mom Survival Guide- 2nd Edition

Since my first post, New Mom Survival Guide, was so popular, I thought a follow up was in order. After all, the things that work in the first three months can only last so long because babies grow SO FAST! I can’t believe my little one just turned seven months old. I knew becoming a mom would be hard, but I had no idea that as soon as something clicks for your family, your baby might outgrow it. So, I thought I would share with you some of the things we had to switch to once Casey James got too big and some new things too. In my New Mom Survival Guide- 2nd Edition, I’m sharing all the items I’m loving for swaddle transition, starting solids, teething help & infant play. Plus, I’m excited to offer a GIVEAWAY from Sleeping Baby!

Just a reminder, I’m no expert. These are the things that helped me with MY baby. Every mom and every baby are different, so these are not guaranteed to work for you and yours. Just keep in mind that most of these products were recommended to me by another desperate fabulous mom. So they worked for somebody else too. This post contains sponsored content, which means I received an item free of charge in exchange for an honest review of their product. However, the sponsor happened to offer to give one of you a free one too, so I think it happens to be worth it. These are still all items that I use everyday (as evidenced by pictures of my baby using them) and that small boost helps me keep blogging and giving you free advice. Thanks for supporting my blog! Now for the fun stuff.

Starting Solids

Arguably one of the biggest changes in a baby’s life is starting solid foods. Going from all milk all the time to eating at the table and sharing a meal with family members is a big step. It comes with a lot of anticipation (allergic reaction fears) and a lot of unexpected delights (that first dirty diaper after solids). For some reason, I stressed really hard about this. I bought a beautiful antique wooden highchair, and then ordered custom cushions for it and in the end, that was just a waste of money for an adorable, but impractical set up. After the first feeding, I admitted defeat and went to Mom-land aka Target and bought the Fisher Price Space Saver High Chair.

The navy and white pattern (seen in picture above) is what initially caught my eye because it wasn’t too precious, but the price was unbeatable (under $50.00). I love the fact that I can just strap it to an existing dining chair. It’s ridiculously easy to clean because the tray can be washed in the sink or in the dishwasher and the seat cover is machine washable too. It also grows with your child by having adjustable height and recline features and can even serve as a booster once they are older. My favorite feature is that it has a hole in the tray’s edge so you can tether a sippy cup to the tray. No more thrown sippy cups! All that for under fifty bucks? Shut up and take my money! Did I mention it’s lightweight and portable too? Here’s the link again to get your own in one of four different colors.

You might also notice that green bib in the picture. Y’all the Bibbity Rinse and Roll Bib by Summer Infant is a Game Changer! It’s made of a rubber like material (but is PVC and BPA free) so it’s waterproof. It also has a scoop at the bottom that catches any rejected food, or in the case of a teething baby like mine, lots and lots of drool. This item happens to also be dishwasher safe and very affordable at under $5.00, so go ahead and buy a spare for the car and your diaper bag. At the end of a feeding, all you do is wipe baby’s face and rinse out the bib before dropping it in the dishwasher (or clorox wipe it if you’re like me). Seriously, this is the only bib you’ll ever need at meal times.

Infant Play

I don’t know about you, but whenever I read about “playing” with my infant, all I could think was “what are we supposed to do? He just lays there.” Well, once he hit three months, Casey wanted to be exploring things and banging his hands and jumping. One day my husband and I stopped in to our local big box store and my husband wandered off, as husbands do. I finally found him in the exersaucer aisle banging on this jumperoo with our son. I can’t find a link to the exact one, but it is from Fisher Price and very similar to this Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo. The only difference is mine was more expensive and is jungle instead of rainforest themed. It has adjustable height so he can keep on using it as he grows. The seat spins and has music and lights. At under $75, it’s actually very reasonably priced as far as baby activity gyms are concerned. I can put my son in this and he is happy to bang and spin and jump in it for 45 minutes at least. What would you do with that extra 45 minutes? Vacuum? Laundry? Netflix? No judgment.

Unfortunately, I can’t take that jumperoo everywhere we go. So for times like grocery shopping and car rides, Casey loves this Toy Fox from Skip+Hop. It is full of textures, patterns and sounds that crinkle, rattle and soothe. It has an attached leaf rubber teether and a detachable yellow bandana teether that you can wear around your wrist. It can even be tethered to a car seat. Basically, it keeps him busy enough not to fuss and even comforts him enough to pass out on the go sometimes. Now you can linger over that Starbucks. You’re welcome.

Teething

If your baby isn’t teething yet, you can definitely tell it’s coming if you’ve noticed your adorable little infant starting to drool everywhere. I’m talking lots of drool. Drool on his hands, all down his shirt and whoopsy! Now it’s in your freshly washed hair. My son started this at three months and just now cut his first tooth at seven months. You can ignore it if you want and the wet shirt will give his chest and chin a lovely little rash (just as you were getting over baby acne). OR, you can get these adorable Bandana Bibs from Copper Pearl (pictured above and below). They come in sets of four with adorable cotton designs on the front and fleece backing so baby stays dry. The pointed bandana shape doesn’t flip up like the rounded bibs and multiple snaps on the back allow for adjustable fit from newborns to toddlers. I was afraid the fleece might shrink when I first washed them, but they have held up perfectly to a ton of washing.

Once you get to the actual teething stage, you’re gonna need something to attach to that drool bib. TRUST ME. Casey will put anything in his mouth to try to get some relief. But the first thing he usually goes for is the fabric part of his pacifier clip. So when Trendy Teethers offered to send me a clip-on teether I was ecstatic! They have adorably cute designs and Casey loves the soft silicone beads, even over his pacifier and wubbanub as seen in the picture above. Don’t worry, it’s all 100% non-toxic and BPA free. I was even more ecstatic when Trendy Teethers offered up a FREE teether of choice to one of my loyal readers. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below!

 Swaddle Transition

If you read my previous post in this series, you know I was IN LOVE with the Miracle Blanket to swaddle my Houdini baby. If you have a baby under three months old, go read that post and get yourself one ASAP. Casey went from sleeping 4 to 6 hours to sleeping 11 hours (that’s right, E-L-E-V-E-N HOURS) at night. Needless to say, I was very anxious about the idea of him outgrowing, or worse, rolling over in a tight swaddle.

I googled and read parent forums to figure out our next step. After days of seeing the same suggestions over and over, I decided to ignore it and first try weaning my baby off the swaddle during naps by leaving one or both arms out of a regular sleep sack. Yeah, he wasn’t having it. He would wail and cry and flail his little arms around. Lots of parenting books advocate letting him cry it out for a few days. Those parents are made of tougher stuff than me. I can’t handle cry it out. So, I went back to the parenting forums and still resisted trying this swaddle transition everybody was talking about called the Zipadee-Zip from Sleeping Baby.

I didn’t want to wean him with another item he would just outgrow. Now I know they offer transitional sleepwear in sizes all the way up to 5T, so there went that excuse. I still wasn’t convinced. Even though science is on their side, I didn’t think it could work for us. I mean, my baby is a special snowflake; unique and the exception to the rule. So I kept swaddling him well after he was able to roll over because I didn’t think he could roll with both of his arms tied to his sides. Until one night he woke crying (which he never does) and when I looked on the monitor, he was face down in his swaddle struggling.

Mom Failure at it’s finest. I ordered a Zipadee-Zip immediately! It is a star-shaped wearable blanket that allows baby to “feel their edges” so they can self-soothe back to sleep like a swaddle, but allows them the freedom to roll over in safety. It was a sleepless few nights for the both of us while I waited for it to arrive because I refused to swaddle him again. The very first time I put him in our brand new Zipadee-Zip, he rolled over and went fast to sleep. We were back to sleeping E-L-E-V-E-N glorious hours again the very first night. It’s been smooth sleeping again ever since.

I love this product so much that I contacted Sleeping Baby to tell them and ask if they would let me host a giveaway to share their product with my readers. And they said YES!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway ends March 17, 2016 at 11:59 PM EST. Open to Residents of the US only. Winner will be selected at random and be notified by email and announced on my Facebook page. Winner will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. Please note that Blooming in Bedlam is not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. I have represented each sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prize and in a timely manner. I will contact the sponsor regarding your prize(s). The sponsors, in most cases, are shipping their items to you directly. I will make every effort to assist you obtaining your prize. If there is an issue with a sponsor, please notify the blog you won a prize from within 30 days for assistance, after that we may be unable to assist you. The product provided for the review was free of charge from the company. The product offered for the giveaway is free of charge, no purchase necessary. My opinions are my own and were not influenced by any form of compensation.  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are in no way associated with this giveaway. By providing your information in this form, you are providing your information to me and me alone. I do not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of contacting the winner. Good Luck!