Mom-Saver Mondays: Swaddles

(A day late and a dollar short, sorry.)

It's clear to me that Mother Nature made a grave error: babies should not be born with arms.

They can't control them. They're allllllll over the place. My baby is 2 months old today, and still punches me in the face (inadvertently . . . I hope) on a daily basis.

Arms clearly should grow in later.

This is never more obvious than at night, when your sweetly sleeping (ha!) angel suddenly flails his arms and whaps himself in the face.

That's a pretty crappy wake up call.

And if you don't do something about, he's going to keep whapping himself in the face, on and off, throughout the entire night.

That means a terrible night's sleep for you, and a pretty crappy one for him too.

Enter, the swaddle.

Just wrap your baby up like a burrito, pinning his flailing arms at his sides, and he'll sleep soundly.

If you've ever tried to swaddle your baby with a blanket yourself, you know how tricky it is. Like putting an octopus in a pullover. And even if you manage to get baby wrapped up snugly, he still finds a way to wiggle a hand out and scratch himself awake.

These things are the answer:

Summer Infant SwaddleMe

Have you ever seen a baby look more like a burrito? These things have velcro all over the place to make swaddling easy and permanent. Well, at least until you're ready to release the Kraken. My baby is napping in one as we speak--he's wiggling and squirming all over the place, but his arms are trapped and he's yet to smack himself awake. Thank God. 

Go buy a few of these right away. They say arm control doesn't develop until 3-4 months. That's a lot of lost sleep.

Note: I have not been compensated in any way for this review. I have not been given a free product, as lovely as that would be. In the future, should you want to offer me things for free to review, go for it. For now, anything I review was paid for out of my own pocket, and I offer the review out of the goodness of my heart.

 

Mom Saver Mondays: Fold Over Sleeves

My little one is now, incredibly, 3 weeks old, and while so much has changed over the last several weeks, one thing hasn't: his arms are all over the place. 

This is particularly unfortunate when he's nursing. He can barely control his arms long enough to latch on, and before you know it--wham!--I get whapped in the boob.

This is painful.

Even more painful if his scratchy little fingernails are exposed.

He's far too small to clip them, so we try to keep them filed, but even so--they're sharp, scratchy, and hit you when you least expect it. 

Various stores will sell you wee little mitts to slip over baby's hands. These things are useless. Baby wiggles out of them faster than he wiggles out of socks. That's pretty darn fast.

But there is an answer: fold over sleeves.

Some Carter's sleep 'n' plays have them, as do some Old Navy one piece sleepers.

An extra flap of fabric is sewn to the end of each sleeve. Just fold it over, and baby's hands are enclosed safely inside his sleeves. And unlike the mitts, he can't escape.

He can still give you a painful whap in the boob, but it hurts a lot less than it does when fingernails are exposed.

Mom-saver Mondays: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

The grocery store is quite possibly my least favorite place in the entire world.

And I don't even have kids yet.

It's just so full of stupid people doing stupid things.

• Wandering about aimlessly, like they're not sure why they're there.
• Bringing their entire extended family with them so the 8 of them can stand in the cookie aisle arguing with each other about Oreos vs. Hydrox.
• Abandoning their carts smack in the middle of the aisle while they stare glassy-eyed at the pasta selection.
• Arguing with the cashier about a $.02 price difference on a dented can of beans.

Grrrrr.

My blood pressure is going up just thinking about it.

Needless to say, I try to limit my trips to the grocery store as much as possible, and I'm sure this will be doubly true after baby arrives.

The problem with that is foods that really need to be purchased fresh. Like bread.

Mmmmm. Fresh bread.  

I could eat it for every meal.

And with a bare minimum of effort, you can too. Even with a baby!

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking 

This homemade bread method is nothing short of brilliant.

You do need a few tools, one of which is a bread stone. They can be pricey, so check the thrift store. 

Then, a pizza peel, which is like an enormous spatula, and all of $15. 

And a lidded, non-airtight dough bucket, because if you put the dough in an airtight tupperware, it will explode. Or something.

Dump your ingredients together, mix 'em up (pathetically easy if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook), and toss your dough in the bucket. Ten minutes. When it's done rising, pop it in the fridge for up to 14 days.

When you want fresh bread, you just lop off a hunk of dough, take literally 20 seconds to shape it into something resembling a loaf, and then let it sit there on your pizza peel while you feed your baby or do your 18th load of laundry of the day. Then you toss it onto the bread stone, which you've preheated along with the oven. 

You barely need to be awake to do this.

Your husband could easily be tasked with it as well, it's that easy.

I usually get 3 loaves of bread out of their standard recipe, though they claim it makes 4.

And, sure, the best loaf is the one I make right away, before refrigerating the dough. But the other 2 are still quite tasty. 

There are also recipes in here for various fancy breads which maybe you'll have time to make when your baby starts preschool, but the basic boule is versatile and easy as pie. 

It sure beats going to the grocery store. 

Note: I have not been compensated in any way for this review. I have not been given a free product, as lovely as that would be. In the future, should you want to offer me things for free to review, go for it. For now, anything I review was paid for out of my own pocket, and I offer the review out of the goodness of my heart.

Mom-saver Mondays: Non-sucky Maternity Jeans

If jeans are hard to purchase when not gestating, they're even more obnoxious to deal with while you're pregnant. 

The options are fewer, for starters, and the sizing is even more grotesque, because companies are trying to shove as many body types as possible into about 4 standard sizes.

The easiest way to do this is apparently to sew an enormous elastic panel around the waist band, which all preggos can grow into.

It reaches your armpits.

It rolls down constantly.

It's synthetic and doesn't breath.

And it doesn't even hold the jeans up.

In short, I hate "full panel" jeans, or pants of any kind.

Thankfully, early in my pregnancy I found Old Navy demi panel jeans.

Let me acknowledge that, no, they're not perfect. They don't stay in place as well as normal jeans, so you still have to do the tug-and-walk.

But as far as maternity jeans go, they're my top choice.

The panel expands around your belly, or rides under it as you get bigger.

They come in a couple of styles and washes (even skinny jeans!).

They come in actual sizes, rather than sm/med/lg. 

They don't shrink in the wash.

And while the MSRP is around $40, I've never paid more than $25 for a pair.

So, if you have to wear an elastic waistband like a five-year-old, I highly recommend these as your least repulsive option.

Note: I have not been compensated in any way for this review. I have not been given a free product, as lovely as that would be. In the future, should you want to offer me things for free to review, go for it. For now, anything I review was paid for out of my own pocket, and I offer the review out of the goodness of my heart.

Mom-saver Mondays: Clinique All About Eyes Serum

Can I tell you for the 837th time that new moms--or any moms, really--don't get a lot of sleep? 

And you know who else doesn't always sleep well? Pregnant ladies.

Aside from frequently waking up bathed in a cold sweat, having a complete panic attack about impending parenthood, you're also uncomfortable, and possibly in pain. And have to pee. 

All together, this leads to a lot of interrupted sleep. You might be in bed for 8 hours, but if you're waking up every time you roll over, the proportion of that time spent sleeping is far less.

If you're a new mom, you might get anywhere from 6-12 weeks to spend at home with your newborn, free to look like hell. If you're still pregnant or have already rejoined the workforce, though, you generally have to leave the house every single day with your shirt tucked in, hair brushed and face as un-terrifying as possible.

This stuff is a lifesaver.

(Or a mom-saver, as I've noted in the post title.)

Clinique All About Eyes Serum

De-puffing Eye Massage

The first thing to love is that silver roller ball. It's cooling, soothing that puffy feeling that makes you want to wander about with your eyes closed for all eternity.

(Probably more so if you, say, chill it in the fridge for a few minutes, rather than leaving it in the bathroom while your husband takes a year-long shower, creating enough steam to power a small boat.)

It instantly makes you feel more human.

Add to that the effects of the serum itself, which, in a matter of minutes, de-puffs and brightens your entire eye area, and you'll soon find you can't live without it.

At $28, it's no bargain, but I recommend you work it into your budget. 

(I'll also add that I've been using my current tube almost every day since late November, and it's still nearly full, so the quantity of product you receive for that price is quite fair.)

Try it and you may never hear those 3 horrific little words again:

"You look tired."

Note: I have not been compensated in any way for this review. I have not been given a free product, as lovely as that would be. In the future, should you want to offer me things for free to review, go for it. For now, anything I review was paid for out of my own pocket, and I offer the review out of the goodness of my heart.