Category Archives: Baby Products

Product Spotlight: Prince Lionheart Reusable On-The-Go Bottle Warmer

Prince Lionheart Reusable On-The-Go Bottle Warmer

The Prince Lionheart Reusable On-The-Go Bottle Warmer was a product I stumbled upon accidentally when I was shopping for other baby supplies. I didn’t realize this type of thing existed! Jeff and I would gripe about the process of having to ask for really hot water to warm a bottle, in the event that he was with Jia and I wasn’t there to nurse her. Why wasn’t there an easy solution?

Well, enter the Reusable On-The-Go Bottle Warmer! There are only a few other travel bottle warmers out there, some require a car lighter, others require hot water to be poured into the walls of a thermos. But, this one is a handy click-to-activate wraparound pouch that begins to warm instantly!*

I actually get more use out of this bottle warmer with heating up my Infantino Fresh Squeezed pouches when we are out and about. Since I am exclusively breastfeeding and don’t want to throw my body’s schedule off, I nurse and don’t feed her bottles. However, I found a great use for the bottle warmer when we went on a road trip – warming up a few ounces of breastmilk to mix oatmeal with fruit! Genius. (well, I thought so…)

Anyway, at $14.99 (and don’t forget a 20% off coupon from Buy Buy Baby!) this item is a really great deal!

Hope you enjoy the product spotlight! Please feel free to leave any feedback on my contact page!

*The reusable bottle warmer can only be reused when the crystals are reactivated to their liquid form with boiling water. Once used, it cannot be reused prior to reactivation.

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Sprouting a Tooth?

Three months ago, when Jia was only about 4.5 months old, I was convinced she was teething. I couldn’t see any teeth yet, but noticed some hints of white beneath the gum and she was waking in the middle of the night (something I thought we were done with). She was letting out a high-pitched unfamiliar cry, was temporarily quieted with frozen teething rings, but still wouldn’t sleep. The only thing that would lull her back to sleep was nursing (I’d already weaned her from night feedings). Her pediatrician confirmed she was teething (Jia had a low grade temp, consistent with that of teething), but part of me suspected he only told me this to alleviate my anxiety about why she was all of a sudden not sleeping through the night.

Fast forward 2.5 months later, right before Jia’s 7 month birthday we finally saw two teeth sprout up from her bottom gums. OK, to tell you the truth, I was nursing her and felt her chomp down *OUCH* Only 2-3 weeks later, three more teeth on her upper gums started peeking through. My little Ji-A-Lantern was growing up and now I am faced with questions re: first dental appointment. Continue reading “Sprouting a Tooth?” »

For Crying Out Loud…!

Crying. Screaming. Tears. Red-faced. Sweaty. It can drive a newor even an experienced parent crazy, left feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, confused, and fed up.

We have been really lucky – Jia really was never much of a crier. The only time we really experienced much crying with her was in the early days when she was trying to teach us what she needed – to be fed. After that, around 3 months old (like the photo above), she only cried when she was in an unfamiliar place and someone else wanted to try holding her, or if we were in the car. Yep, the “drive the baby around the block to stop their crying” didn’t work for us at all. She’d be a happy smiley baby and the second you got in the car, you better hope you didn’t hit the red light on your 1/2 mile drive to Target.

Anyway, we attribute our happy hardly-crying baby to white noise and swaddling, which we started literally from the day she was born. Jia was swaddled basically the whole time we were in the hospital and when she cried, Jeff immediately placed her on her side and shushed then jiggled her and she became serene. Immediately. I wanted to share with you what tips for white noise and swaddling we swear by. Continue reading “For Crying Out Loud…!” »

Product Spotlight: Baby Bjorn Babysitter Bouncer

When someone asks “What’s the one thing you couldn’t live without?” For us, this is it.

For my first Product Review, I decided to start with my favorite baby product that we own. The Baby Bjorn Babysitter Bouncer was given to us as a hand-me-down from my good friends Samantha and Miles. Jia wasn’t born at the time we were given the bouncer, so we hadn’t realized what a blessing this chair would be for us. After Jia was a few weeks old, we quickly realized Jia was refluxing. Sam swore by the bouncer for her then-colicky baby Nikolai. We needed to keep Jia sitting upright immediately after feedings, starting with 30 minutes and this bouncer has been the ultimate lifesaver! We’ve since decreased her upright time to 15 minutes, just watching how well she has tolerated less time over the months but we still use this bouncer every day. After a full 7 ounce bottle from dad, we stick her in the bouncer while we eat breakfast in the kitchen. We bring it on road trips, we bring it to our family’s house, basically if we are going anywhere for a near-extended period of time, the Baby Bjorn Babysitter comes with us!

Aside from helping provide an upright position without scrunching a full stomach after feedings, the bouncer is great to easily pop baby into so your hands are free to do things around the house. I love being able to pop Jia into the bouncer to clean out the dishwasher, prepare meals, feed the dogs, or fold laundry. The toy bar is also really beneficial. We attach toy rings to the bar so that she can have her other favorite toys nearby while she’s in the bouncer. It is such a vital piece of baby equipment, which is why a picture of it is my main photo for my “Useful Links” menu item above. It’s my most useful item!

Enjoy my first product review! I hope it is helpful!

There are a couple extra features that this bouncer has that I have not addressed, so for additional features please visit their website at www.babybjorn.com/baby-bouncers.

A Sprout By Any Other Name…

Recently, as our little family has been out in public, I’ve received many compliments and questions from moms about my iPhone case. It’s covered from edge to edge with Jia pictures from her first month and I love it!

Personalization is so fun and makes a gift or trinket special. Before I had Jia, I liked things that were monogramed, though I never had anything of my own personalized except my push present purse that Jeff bought for me. But, after Jia’s arrival, I have a better appreciation for personalized keepsakes. So many of my friends’ babies were born with such neat names, they may need a little personalization, too! (this is for you, Kannon, Madison, Kipton, Gage, Colbie, Tiana, Hayden, Lorelei, Liam, Liana, Lena, Kadence, Caden, and so many more cuties!)

We put a lot of thought into naming Jia, and with so many adorable pictures we’ve taken of her, we are so happy to have things with her name (and face) on them.

Here are a few personalized items that Jia has, that I adore: Continue reading “A Sprout By Any Other Name…” »

The Diaper Bag: Your Season’s Fashion Must

A parent’s diaper bag is a vital accessory once baby arrives. When Jia was pretty new to us, I would get a little bit anxious leaving the house because I really didn’t know what I needed to stuff inside of it and if there was enough of it all. Sometimes I’d go out and realize I left my nursing cover at home, or I would have an abundance of burp cloths but forgot to replenish the stock of bibs in the diaper bag. While preparing to leave the house by changing a diaper, feeding, or getting Jia strapped into her carseat, I needed my husband to make sure the diaper bag was ready.

We cloth diaper at home with Cloth-eez pre fold diapers with Thirsties Duo Wraps (with snaps) or Bummis Simply Lite diaper covers, and use The Honest Company‘s eco-friendly/baby-friendly disposables when we’re “on-the-go” for an extended period of time or for overnight. But, if we are going on a short afternoon trip, we tend to keep Jia in cloth. That being said, our diaper bag is usually pretty stuffed to the brim.

Here’s what we always have in our bag: Continue reading “The Diaper Bag: Your Season’s Fashion Must” »

Introducing my Sprout to Solids

As a dietetics major in undergrad, we were well-versed in maternal and infant nutrition since this was one of our core requirements come our senior year in the program. We learned about theories behind maternal nutrition throughout pregnancy and postpartum, as well as what baby needs to thrive. What was always hammered into our Maternal and Infant Nutrition course was that baby should know how to support her own head, have an interest in the food of those around her, and be 6 months old.

Six months, six months, six months!

Baby’s iron stores are only good enough to last 6 months out of the womb (as well as zinc, protein, vitamins B and D), so by the time baby reaches 6 months of age, iron-fortified cereal has long been the recommendation as a first food for baby for as long as I can remember. Breastmilk alone is nutritionally complete for the first 6 months of life. I also learned early exposure to solid foods can have a negative impact on baby, mostly because baby’s gut hasn’t fully matured enough to handle solid foods without possible inflammation, allergies, constipation, and/or diarrhea. However, before I even had Jia, I noticed on my Facebook newsfeed that a lot of my friends were starting their babies on solid foods right around the 4 month mark. Despite all of the adorable pictures of babies with food all over their faces, in my head I questioned this since it went against what I learned all those years back in college. Continue reading “Introducing my Sprout to Solids” »