Freezing Foods

I like to buy in balk, its cheaper, it saves time (trips to the store) and I always have something to make at home.

With such a large family its rare that the balk stays in the freezer more then a month or two, but it would be good to know what can be frozen and how long it will keep.

So here's a little list that shows how long food will keep in the fridge and freezer. Hope it helps on the never ending quest to save time, money and our sanity. :D


(site: http://www.demesne.info/Home-Maintenance/Keeping-Food.htm)

*I do disagree with the "not recommended" on freezing milk. I freeze mine all the time. Milk can be frozen for up to six weeks.

Baked Goods

The thing about baked goods is how lovely they are when they are fresh. Buy fresh and luxuriate in the aroma and texture. With good baked breads, cakes, and cookies there's really not a terrific reason to stockpile them.

	Refrigerator	Freezer
Bread	Don’t refrigerate. Signs of spoilage are often evident after 7 days.	1 month
Raw Cookie Dough	2-3 days	3 months
Cakes	Store at room temp., except for cheesecake	Unfrosted cakes 2–4 months; fruit and angel 6–12 months
Cheesecake	3-7 days	1 month
Pumpkin Pie	2–3 days	1–2 months
Fruit Pie	2–3 days	6–8 months

Dairy

Typically, most aged, hard cheeses freeze reasonably well and keep fine in the fridge too. If they get a bit of mold, you can usually cut it off and use the clean cheese. This is not true of soft cheeses. Once you get even a hint of mold, pitch it.

	Refrigerator	Freezer
Milk	1–2 weeks	Not recommended
Cream, Half & Half	1–2 weeks	3-4 weeks
Buttermilk	1–2 weeks	Not recommended
Open Canned Milk	1–2 weeks	Not recommended
Fresh Whipped Cream	1 day	Not recommended
Aerosol Can Whipped Cream	3 months	Not recommended
Sour Cream	2–3 weeks	Not recommended
Cottage Cheese & Ricotta	1–2 weeks	4 weeks
Yogurt	1 month	Not recommended
Hard Cheese & Grated Cheese (Opened)	6-12 weeks	Easy to freeze. Defrost in fridge to reduce crumbling.
Soft Cheese (Brie, Bel Paese)	2 weeks	Not recommended
Cheese Spreads	3-4 weeks	6–8 months
Cream Cheese	2 weeks	Not recommended. You can freeze cream cheese and use in recipes where creaminess isn't required.
Butter	3 months	12 months
Margarine	3 months	12 months
Pudding	2 days	Not recommended

Eggs

The closer you are to your egg source, the longer you can expect them to keep.

	Refrigerator	Freezer
Fresh in-shell, unwashed	1–2 months	12 months. To freeze, mix eggs well. Add a small amount of sugar or salt to preserve. Label with additive and use sugared eggs with desserts, salted eggs for baking or omelettes.
Fresh in-shell, washed	4-5 weeks	12 months.
Hard Boiled	2 weeks	Not recommended
Raw Whites/Yolks	2-4 days	12 months.
Pudding	2 days	Not recommended

Deli Foods

Buy deli type foods only for immediate consumption. If taking to a party or picnic, be vigilant about keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold! That said, some of us really do like cold pizza and Chinese food for breakfast.

	Refrigerator	Freezer
Entrees, Cold or Hot	3-4 days	Not recommended
Sliced Lunchmeat	3-5 days	1–2 months
Salads (excluding green)	3-5 days	Not recommended

Fruit

Keeping fruit can be tricky. It depends on how ripe it is when you buy it and what conditions it needs to fully ripen. Some need a chill, others want to be left out on the counter. Many fruits can be prepared for freezing using a sugar and citric acid pack so you can enjoy them long after the season is past. That said, they are typically best used for jam or smoothies because freezing breaks them down so they taste fine but look ugly.

	Refrigerator	Freezer
Apples	1 month at 32–35°F	Must be prepared for freezing.
Apricots, Grapes, Nectarines, Peaches, Pears & Plums	2 weeks–1 month at 32°F	Must be prepared for freezing.
Avocados	3-5 days at 35–45°F (buy green and leave on counter for a week)	Not recommended
Bananas & Plantains	Bananas turn brown in the fridge but remain perfectly edible for a week or so.	Not recommended
Blueberries	2 weeks at 32°F with 90% humidity	6–8 months. Wash, dry, freeze in single layer. When frozen package and label.
Cherries	2 weeks at 32°F	Must be prepared for freezing.
Grapefruit, Lemons, Limes & Oranges	2–6 weeks depending on type	Must be prepared for freezing.
Guavas & Papayas	1-2 days	Not recommended
Juice, opened container	1 week
Kiwis	3-5 days	Must be prepared for freezing.
Mangoes	Do not refrigerate	Not recommended
Melons	1 week	Not recommended
Pineapple, whole	1 week at 50–55°F	Not recommended

Meat - Fresh

As a general rule, the smaller the cut or package the less time it takes to dry out.

	Refrigerator	Freezer
Chicken or Turkey Pieces	1-2 days	9 months
Whole Chicken or Turkey	1-2 days	12 months
Beef Roasts & Steaks	3-5 days	6–12 months
Duck & Goose	1-2 days	6 months
Game Birds	1-2 days	6 months
Giblets	1-2 days	3–4 months
Ground Meat or Stew	1-2 days	3–4 months
Lamb Roasts or Chops	3-5 days	6–12 months
Pork Roasts or Chops	3-5 days	4–8 months
Pre-stuffed Pork, Lamb Chops or Chicken Breasts	1 day	3 months if prepackaged for freezing
Heart, Liver, Tongue	1-2 days	6–12 months
Venison Roasts, Steaks, or Chops	3-5 days	3–4 months
Ground Meat	1-2 days	3–4 months

Meat – Smoked or Processed

Preserved and deli meats should be presented carefully if used in a buffet setting. Keep in mind that the clock starts ticking the minute you set food out and is cumulative, so if you leave crackers and ham salad out for a half hour this evening, and set it out again for a half hour tomorrow, the total is one hour, not a half hour for each time. (It's something to think about so you can avoid getting sick.)

	Refrigerator	Freezer
Bacon	7 days	1 month
Corned Beef	5-7 days	1–2 months
Whole Ham, Fully Cooked	7 days	6 weeks
Slices of Ham & Half Ham, Fully Cooked	3-5 days	6 weeks
Hot Dogs	7 days	1–2 months
Sausage – Smoked Links & Patties	7 days	1–2 months
Sliced Sausage (Pepperoni)	2-3 weeks	1–2 months

Meat – Cooked

	Refrigerator	Freezer
Chicken Nuggets or Patties (prepackaged)	1-2 days	2–3 months
Fried Chicken	3-4 days	2–3 months
Ground Turkey/Chicken	1-2 days	2–3 months
Rotisserie Chicken	3-4 days	2–3 months
Cooked Red & White Meats	3-4 days	2–3 months

Seafood – Fresh

	Refrigerator	Freezer
Fresh Lean Fish: Cod, Flounder, Trout, Haddock, Halibut, Pollack & Perch	3–5 days	4–6 months
Fatty Fish: Mullet, Smelt, Salmon, Mackerel, Bluefish, Tuna & Swordfish	3–5 days	3 months
Shucked Mussels & Clams	7-2 days	1-2 days
Shucked Oysters	7-9 days	3–4 months
Crabmeat	7 days
Shrimp	3–5 days	6–12 months
Scallops, Crayfish, Squid	2-3 days	2-3 days
Caviar (Opened)	1 day	Not recommended

Seafood – Cooked or Processed

	Refrigerator	Freezer
Cooked Pieces	5–7 days	Not recommended
Smoked Fish	14 days	Not recommended
Cooked Shellfish	3-4 days	Not recommended

Obese babies?

I saw this article on msn.com yesterday:

Chubby babies 'obese' as early as 9 months, study says

The path to obesity may begin much earlier than anyone thought, according to a new study that found about a third of U.S. babies were too fat.

In a long-term study of more than 7,500 infants across the country, nearly 32 percent of babies were deemed overweight or even obese at 9 months. By the time the children were 2 years old, that number had nudged up to more than 34 percent.

“It definitely raised eyebrows when we saw how early it was showing up," said Brian Moss, an adjunct professor at Wayne State University and author of new research in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

Experts say the best way to treat chubby babies is to monitor their diets for quality and quantity — particularly portion size.

“It can take just a few tweaks to a baby’s diet to make a difference,” said Dr. Wendy Slusser, an associate clinical professor and medical director of the Fit for Healthy Weight Program at the Matell Children’s Hospital at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“It’s probably only about 150 calories a day difference that we’re talking about.”

Good news? Kids' weight goes down, too While experts were distressed to see that babies that young were already significantly overweight, they did see a hopeful message in the new study’s details. Some of the chunkiest 9-month-olds had shed their excess pounds by the time they were 2. During the same time frame, however, some of the normal-weight infants had gained too much weight.

“It means that in that age group weight is a lot more fluid than it is in an obese 14-year-old,” said Dr. Goutham Rao, clinical director of the Weight Management and Wellness Center at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

“And that means that these children are not necessarily condemned to be obese,” added Rao, who was not affliated with the new study.

Still, Rao and others warned that parents of the heaviest babies should take heed and make changes as soon as possible. Parents need to figure out what it is about their baby’s diet that is causing weight gain, he said.

“Every child that has a healthy diet will get to a healthy weight,” Rao said.

The children in the new study were all born in 2001. Weight and height (length in the case of the infants) were measured at 9 months and at 2 years. Then the researchers compared the measurements for the babies in the study to standard growth charts developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those charts were based on measurements gathered between 1963 and 1994.

Kids who were above the 85th percentile for weight compared with height were considered overweight. Children who were above the 95th percentile were considered obese, according to the researchers' definition.

Surprisingly, high birth weight wasn't a reliable indicator of whether a baby would be overweight or obese, experts said. Some big babies thin out quickly, while some babies born small become heavy, sometimes because parents overcompensate with food.

Most concerning in the current study was that 32 percent of the kids born in 2001 fell into the overweight range, more than double the 15 percent of children whose measurements were used to construct the charts.

“This could be a red flag telling us that we need to be aware and to be focusing on healthy eating habits early on,” said Slusser, the UCLA expert.

Stay away from sweet food, drink The best way to get an infant or toddler’s weight under control is to go back to basics, Rao said. That means staying away from sweet drinks, including fruit juices, and high-fat, high-sugar foods.

“You would be surprised at some of the foods and drinks kids are given,” Rao said. “You see a lot of very young children eating French fries, because that’s what their parents are eating. Sometimes you’ll even see parents putting regular soda into a baby’s bottle.”

Breast-feeding is the healthiest choice, if possible, Slusser said. And when it’s time to introduce solid foods, lean heavily on pureed vegetables and fruits.

One more bit of advice from Rao: Pay close attention to portion sizes.

“Parents often don’t realize that children’s portions are far smaller than those of adults,” he said. “The rule of thumb at our center is that your portion of any sort of food should be no bigger than your fist. For a 1-year-old, that’s pretty tiny.”

(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40856449/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/)

Now, since this blog is a place to share our thoughts, feelings, opinions, and ideas, I want to say that overall, I think this study is somewhat ridiculous.  I think this for several reasons:

1.   Babies. have. fat. on. their. bodies. 

2.  The study makes the statement  "Some of the chunkiest 9-month-olds had shed their excess pounds by the time they were 2"; I had to think, "Really?  Funny how a BABY that isn't super mobile would lose wait once they start walking and running!" 

3. Isn't most of the information in this article common sense?  Now, I know there ARE parents out there that put soda into a baby's bottle (seriously?), but I do not think that that is the majority of responsible, caring parents.

I suppose I feel so strongly about this topic because, going by this study, my son would have been considered overweight, possibly even obese.  And he has NEVER been either of those.  You can't determine a child's overall health purely by the numbers on the scale and on the measuring chart.  You just can't.  There are so many variables that determine a healthy body.  My son was 9 lbs. 14 oz. when he was born.  Definitely considered a "big baby."  I had a hard time nursing (due to him having severe reflux and me having low milk-supply) and by the time he was one month old, he weighed 10 pounds.  Babies are supposed to regain their birth weight by the time they are 2 weeks old (if not sooner).  B took 'til he was 4 weeks old.  He was looking too skinny and he was hungry.  When I told this to his doctors and the lactation consultants, they would brush me off and say, "He's a big boy!"  Yeah, but he wasn't getting bigger.  Even "big babies" need to eat!  

Just recently, among a myriad of problems, B had lost weight; 3 pounds in one week.  B is in the 95th percentile for weight, 93rd percentile for height; so a big kid.  But he was LOSING WEIGHT, and not because he was getting taller and thinning out from that.  Our pediatrician assumed he was doing fine because of the percentiles he was in; B's GI doctor was concerned that he was losing weight.  I'm not saying I don't love our pediatrician, but in this case, he was wrong to not look past the numbers.

I do agree that it's our job as parents to monitor what goes in our kid's mouths.  Of course they shouldn't eat french fries and soda for every meal.  But really, please don't go telling us that our 9 month old BABIES are overweight, just because of the numbers.  Look at their overall health.

Alright, I'm off my soapbox.  

What are your thoughts on this topic?

What is the Best - Part I

I want to start a new segment asking for your opinion on the best baby/child products.

My son is plagued with really bad diaper rash right now (thanks to 7 diarrhea diapers in the last 24 hours) and I sent my husband out this morning for more diaper rash ointment. He asked me what to get and I wasn't entirely sure.

So, here's my questions. What is the best diaper rash ointment/cream/treatment? What are your methods for getting rid of diaper rash?


**********************************************************************************
Deborah says: I usually use Boudreaux's Butt Paste. It's gentle, clean, smells good and does a great job at preventing and treating light diaper rash. However, it hasn't seemed to do a great job with heavy lifting. Still I love it and will continue giving it as a gift to every baby shower I go to.

Emily says: I have only ever used Burt's Bees diaper ointment. It is natural, which is the big selling point for me. In my experience, it works really fast. Usually a rash was cleared up by the time I changed the next diaper! Hope this helps!

Jennie says:  I use something that may sound strange but it works like magic. It's called Bag Balm, and is actually made for cow's utters. Depending on which state you live in, Walmart sells it. In Idaho (where I used to live) they sold it in the pet section, but here in Arizona, where I live now, they don;t sell it at any Walmart, which means you'd probably have to get it at a feed store somewhere or something. It's in a square, green tin and unfortunately has kind of a strong, unpleasant smell (in my opinion), but it works great. We've used all the other butt creams, but this one heals the rash faster than any of them. You can actually use it on any skin irritation, whether it be diaper rash, some other rash, exema, etc.

Meagan says:  I have to agree with Emily. I used the buttpaste for a while, but Ve had a pretty bad rash while teething and I switched to Burt's Bees. It did wonders! It works VERY quickly and smells incredible!

Sandi says:  We use either desitin or corn starch on their bums. Also, I use a hot wash cloth to wipe off their rumps because the heat kills the bacteria and doesn't seem to hurt as much as the cold wipes do.

Maura says:  Buttpaste is good.

I also used to let J sleep with nothing on...let it air out. I would put a plastic mat and a few towels down and let her sleep away with her little bum out in the open. It lets it breath and the diaper wasn't rubbing it. Helped clear it up faster.

Mindi says: I SWEAR by the stuff my hometown pharmacist makes. They've been making it for years and it's a family secret and they do NOT tell you what is in it (besides the usual Petroleum jelly, zinc, ect). It will take away your childs diaper rash in 1-2 days, NO JOKE. We all use it, everyone from my town swears by it, and I will NOT use anything else. Anyone wants to try it out, let me know!

Congratulations

One of our mommies is now a new mommy! Nicole just had a baby boy on Monday morning. Nicole and baby N are doing great. From what we hear, J is very excited to be a big brother.

We love you Nicole! Take it easy and get lots of rest...if you can.

Walking

I need some help please. My son is 14 months old and refuses to walk. He has been cruising for over six months now. We thought he'd be walking by the time he was 10 months old! But no. He still prefers to crawl. It's not a balance problem. He'll stand on his own and play with toys, but as soon as he realizes he's standing, he'll grab on to something or sit down. And yes, he'll sit. He doesn't fall, he sits on purpose. So I know he has good balance and control.

What he lacks is motivation.

He doesn't eat a lot of candy, so candy isn't really a motivator. We can't hold up a toy or something to get him to walk because he loses interest and just crawls to the toy. If we put something in his hands so that he can hold that instead of our hand, he stops and plays with it.

Any other ideas we haven't tried?

I think this important!

I received the following information from a work email. I thought it important to share!

Some knew about the red light on cars, but not the 112.

It was about 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon, and Lauren was driving to visit a friend. An UNMARKED police car pulled up behind her
and put his lights on. Lauren's parents have always told her never to pull over for an unmarked car on the side of the road,
but rather to wait until they get to a gas station, etc.

Lauren had actually listened to her parents advice, and promptly called 112 on her cell phone to tell the police dispatcher that she would not pull over right away. She proceeded to
tell the dispatcher that there was an unmarked police car with a flashing red light on his rooftop behind her. The dispatcher checked to see if there were police cars where she was and there weren't, and he told her to keep driving, remain calm and that he had back up already on the way.

Ten minutes later 4 cop cars surrounded her and the unmarked car behind her. One policeman went to her side and the others surrounded the car behind. They pulled the guy from the car and tackled him to the ground. The man was a convicted rapist and wanted for other crimes.

I never knew about the 112 Cell Phone Feature, but especially for a woman alone in a car, you should not pull over for an unmarked car. Apparently police have to respect your right to keep going to a safe place. *Speaking to a service representative at Bell Mobility confirmed that 112 was a direct link to State trooper info. So, now it's your turn to let your friends know about 112.

You may want to Send this to every woman (and man) you know; it may save a life. This applies to ALL 50 states

1. snopes.com: Cellphone 112 Emergency ��
Will dialing 112 connect you with an emergency call center when your cell phone has no signal?
...Claim: Even when your cell phone signal is blocked, dialing 112 will connect you with an emergency call center. Example: [Collected on the Internet,...
...your mobile phone has no signal (so even if you were in a tunnel) if you dial 112 it diverts to a satellite signal and puts you through to the 999 call...
...The global mobile emergency number, 112, is "special" in the sense that (unlike other local emergency numbers, such as 999) it will use any tower your...
Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:18:08 GMT http://www.snopes.com/science/mobile.asp

Taking Advice. Even from family members.

With the holidays in full swing, we are bound to spend a few hours, if not a few days, with our friends and family members.

An interesting thing can occur if you spend enough time in the same room as people with children: everyone starts comparing notes. You don't know when to wean your child from a binky? You ask when everyone else did. Soon you will be overwhelmed with advice, not only on the binky matter, but on everything else as well. We've all learned things, we all have our opinions, we all know what works the best for our children. So naturally, we want to share it all. Isn't that what we do here?

But with the flood of advice and warnings and well wishing scoldings, you may be confused by what advice to follow. Surprised that so many people can think so differently about one subject. Embarrassed that no one thinks your way is a "good" way.

My advice to you? Just smile and nod. Sometimes, without meaning to, friends and even family, can make us feel bad about the way we parent.

Don't.

You love your child, you do your best, and that is all anyone can ask for. You know your child better than anyone, so if someone gives you advice you know won't work, just smile and nod. Say thanks. Add your two cents. Go home and feel good about the fact that even though we all parent differently, we can still get along nicely.

On the flipside of the coin, if someone asks for your opinion, give it to them but don't force it on them. Your idea is a good idea, but is it the best for someone else's child? Maybe, maybe not. Let the parent decide.

By the off chance that someone decides to attack you (I've heard mother-in-law horror stories but, thank goodness, have never had to deal with that!), don't get angry. That's the worst thing you can do because one tends to lose their logic when they are angry. Stay calm, breathe, tell the person whatever you want about why you do things the way you do. If they persist or you can't remember the reasons, just tell them that you appreciate their advice (even though you really just want to kick them in the shin), but you are doing what is best for you child. And then move on. Get up, walk away and leave them there. If you can't walk away, strike up a conversation with someone else immediately.

Anyone else have advice on how to deal with advice? :)

Not Just Diaper Rash

In February of this year, my little boy, B (then 2 1/2 years old) got sick.  It resulted in him getting constipated, which caused him to start holding in his bowel movements.

In June, he was still holding in his bowel movements.  It had caused his poop to become extremely hard, and B would scream, cry, and thrash when he felt the urge to poop.  This had been going on for four months, and no amount of prune juice or other home remedies for constipation were working.  We brought it up with our son's pediatric gastroenterologist.  She prescribed a "clean-out" for our little boy, which consisted of one pedialax tablet followed by five doses of miralax finished off with another pedialax tablet.  Needless to say, B was "cleaned out".  For awhile, anyway.  We were told that "curing" constipation of this degree could take up to 1 year to alleviate, sometimes even longer (yay?).  We needed to get to the point where B didn't hold in his poops.

Let me include that during this time, B would have bouts of a TERRIBLE diaper rash - in a matter of one day, he would be sore, cracked, and bleeding on his bottom.  I would treat it with a medication I had been given for a similar diaper rash when B was a baby - it's called mupirocin (bactroban).  It would quickly clear up the diaper rash (in about one or two days.)

Bring us to now, November.  We are STILL dealing with this constipation, even though B is taking one capful of Miralax daily.  B has had two more clean-outs.  He is still holding in his bowel movements, and when cases are horrible, he screams and cries (and breaks my heart.)  And he is still getting those awful diaper rashes.

On Friday of last week, we took B in for his 3 year well-child checkup.  I brought up my frustrations about B's lack of pooping (and therefore lack of being potty trained) to the pediatrician.  At first, he just insisted that I continue  to give B miralax; "you have to keep the poop soft!"  I was quite persistent, informing the doctor that even on Miralax, and having soft - even RUNNY - poops, B complained/screamed/yelled of stomach pain and that his bum hurt. That caught the doctor's attention, and he asked to see B's bottom.  Upon looking at it, he said, "just a minute", and returned to the exam room with a swab.  About 5 minutes later, a nurse pops her head in the room to tell us that the swab came back positive.

My poor little guy has strep.

In his tummy, and on his bum.

Yep. Strep.  Perianal Streptococcal Dermatitis, to be exact.  The main symptom of this?  A bright-red, itchy, painful, bleeding rash.

Yeah.  Not just a "diaper rash".

When the doctor mentioned the diagnoses, I remembered that when B was about 9 months old, he had the same thing.  And I've been fighting it off now for about the last year.

It breaks my heart that my little boy has had STREP in his STOMACH for almost a year.  No wonder he won't poop!  No wonder he doesn't eat!  No wonder he complains of stomach pain!  (Our doctor told me, when I asked if it could cause stomach pain, that it most likely feels like what a throat feels like with strep.  So sad!)

Apparently this is a pretty common illness, and more commonly misdiagnosed.

After just one day on antibiotics and topical ointment, B isn't screaming.  Or crying.  Or holding in his poop.  And he's eating.  And not complaining of an owie bum or tummy.

I hope none of you have to experience this, but I hope if anything similar happens with your child, you'll know to ask your doctor.

I knew there was more to my boy's constipation than just constipation.  I'm grateful I listened to myself, and that I was persistent with the doctor - who listened to me.

Potty Training

This can be one of the most rewarding and exciting things you'll do with your child...at least up until this point in life. :) It can also be one of the most frustrating and disgusting jobs you'll ever do.

We've been potty training J for awhile now. We started in late September in the hopes that we'd have things mostly mastered by Christmas time which is when N will make his appearance. (There's just something about having only 1 child in diapers that is very appealing to me.)

Like every child that goes through this process, J has had his very good days and his very bad days. Today, for instance, he woke up dry. He said he didn't need to potty yet, and wanted to eat first. Lately he's been pretty in tune with those things, so I sat him down and let him eat his breakfast. He finished and got down to play. I had left him in his night time diaper just to make sure I wouldn't be cleaning up a morning woopsie.

As he was playing, he jumped right up and yelled, "Mommy! Potty toilet!!!" and then ran for all he was worth into the bathroom. My mommy heart swelled with pride. :) I was so happy that he's finally getting it!

He went back to playing and after a little while, he repeated the process, except this time his words were slightly different. Instead of a potty run, we were making a poop run. YAY again! But no matter how hard he'd try, he just couldn't (or wouldn't) make it come out.

Again, that was ok. At least he's trying to listen to his body now. We went through this at least 5 times in about 10 minutes, each time with no results. Then, his warning got a little more urgent and finally we had success. He told me he didn't want to wear a diaper, but he wanted to wear big boy underwear. Fine. (Keep in mind we're recovering from a GI virus.)

He went back to playing and then almost cried when he said, "Poop toilet!" as he had stuff running down his legs. I probably could have (and should have) been smarter about that, but I also wanted to encourage him to feel like he's doing something awesome and important. I want him to feel like he IS a big boy.

I know a family (and I'm not going to name any names) that went through the potty training of their 2nd boy as if it were boot camp. They'd make their little one sit on the toilet until he went...come crying or constipation...or both. Granted, he did have some major issues with constipation and it was hard to get him to go, but one parent would even resort to yelling to try to entice the poor little guy to go. It didn't help much as you might imagine.

Because of having seen that, and because my little guy has such a sensitive spirit, I knew I couldn't ever go about things that way for our family. What we've chosen to do instead is more like bribery. :) I'm not ashamed to admit it or even do it that way.

Every time J goes potty, he gets a piece of candy (Halloween candy worked wonders in this department as we would hardly give him any candy unless he went potty). Going poop was a totally different ball game. Candy didn't really work for him in that department. But giving him really cheap toy cars did/does. Every time he goes poop, he gets a new car. He LOVES his cars and lately has found a new way to get more of them.

We started out with setting the timer for 40 minutes or so and when the timer would go off, we'd go sit on the potty. It got to be kind of humorous for awhile because any time any dinger or buzzer would go off, J would jump up and yell, "Potty!" and run to the bathroom. Now he's starting to tell us when he has to go.

This is a way that has worked for us. It might not work for every parent or child and that's ok. There are several ways to go about potty training. It was suggested to us to let J wear the underwear underneath his diaper so he felt the wet a little more. That didn't work, but did make for a lot more laundry.

Though I'm no expert in this area by any means, my suggestion is to find a way that works best for your family (and especially for your child) and go with that. Be consistent and understanding. It is training after all and will take some time. :)

I'm looking forward to the time when we're only in diapers at night. And then to the time when we're completely out of diapers. That will be nice. :) And I'm sure those times are right around the corner.

When my baby is sick...

Yay, the holidays are here. Snow is on it's way. Soon we'll all be joining hands around a giant Christmas tree singing,

Fah who For-aze
Dah who dor-aze
Welcome Christmas
Come this way!

Oh, wait, I guess that's the Who's in Whoville. Anyway.

Let's face it folks, it's flu season. And cold season. And pneumonia season. And RSV season. And G.I. virus season. And (insert illness here) season. So many of my friends, family, and fellow mothers are home sick with their little ones.

One of our mommies asked for advice on what we like to do when our babies are sick, but I think so many of us were home sick with our babies that we didn't have time to respond.

I've been thinking about it, and here are just a few areas I have some ideas. More are appreciated.

COUGH/COLD

When I had my first child (and by "had" I mean adopted), I was pretty sure I had this mothering thing down. I knew why my baby was crying and how to fix it. I knew much to feed him. I knew that he needed his nose suctioned every morning and his fingernails clipped every three days. I knew that he sneezed a lot in the sunlight, and that he didn't love his swing. Yet. I knew how many times he pooped a day and how many ounces of formula he guzzled.

But when he got a cough at 4 months old, I felt like I needed to call this kid's mommy and have her pick him up. And then I remembered, "Oh wait. I am the mommy." I didn't really know what to do. My son didn't have a fever, but he had terrible green mucus and a cough that didn't sound wet, just uncomfortable.

I didn't want to call the doctor's office every ten minutes, so I watched S for a day and made sure I had all his symptoms. Then I called. I talked to the nurse and she told me a few good tips.

With babies that young, they can't have medicine. She told me to ease his discomfort and coughing, I could give him an ounce for every month old he was of warm apple juice. So, since he was 4 months old, he could have up to 4 oz of warm apple juice per day. (I actually watered it down, but I think it worked just the same.)

Also, I got baby Vick's vapor rub and rubbed it on his chest and feet. Yes, the soles of his feet. You may think it's silly, but it really does work. And besides, it's homeopathic, so why not give it a try? It also eases their discomfort from coughing and helps them sleep better. I loved that stuff and grew to associate it's smell with the smell of my baby. It says it's safe for babies 6 months and older, but the doc said I could use it on S.

You can use a humidifier to help baby breath at night. Get friendly with your child's nasal aspirator and keep one in every room of your house. If your child is older, sometimes propping them up helps them sleep better at night. Our son was always propped because the nurses at the hospital told us it would help with his acid reflux. However, you still have to be very careful with newborns and extra blankets or pillows. SIDS is always a risk.

Also, there is this cool thing called saline mist that you can spray into your baby's nose. It helps with breathing, and I found it also loosened up the dry gunk and made it easier for me to suction out.

RSV

A few months later, my son's cold returned, but this time it was different. His eyes were watery, as seen in the picture below.

His nose was constantly running, and his cough was wet. He was tired all the time and not really playful. Still happy, just lethargic. I called my sister-in-law that day to ask her about her son who was a year old and had just been diagnosed with RSV.

"I think that's what S has," I told her. The next day I took my son in to the doctor. He checked him out, listened to his lungs and his cough. Sure enough, my little guy had RSV. My sister-in-law said she had never seen a mother so in tune to her baby. That made me feel pretty good, but I told her it wasn't because I'm special, it was because I'd kept S indoors for the first 3 months of his life trying to avoid getting RSV.

There was a few things more we could do for him than with a common cold. We bought a nebulizer and gave him prescription breathing treatments every few hours.

It wasn't exactly fun or comfortable, but we did what we had to. We also made sure my husband and I did not spread the virus. S stayed home so as not to share the wealth. We washed our hands and clothes regularly, and we made sure S was as comfortable and happy as possible.

Why am I going through the trouble of this rather lengthy and possibly not all that interesting post?

Because. The only reason I knew to look for the symptoms of RSV were because someone had told me about them. RSV itself is not fatal, but it can weaken the immune system, making way for things like pneumonia, which can be fatal. So just be careful.

I also wish that I had been given some ideas on what to do when my baby is really sick. Now you know for a cough you can use apple juice and Vick's to the soles. Also, make sure your baby/child is hydrated. They may not feel like eating, but they've got to drink.

STOMACH FLU/ILLNESS

Our mommy Nicole just posted on her personal blog that her son J is having GI problems. He's been puking and...other fun activities, so his pediatrician recommended he eat bananas and yogurt. I don't know anything about this topic, so ideas are welcome.

RASH

A few weeks ago my son got a mystery rash. It was so strange and bizarre and I hated it. I was frightened. I called my mother, who didn't answer. I called my neighbor who is an ER nurse, and she wasn't home. I called my brother-in-law who is a Pharmacist. He asked me all the questions I expected. Did he have a fever? Was he introduced to any new foods? Did we recently change his laundry detergent? Was he itchy and scratching? Did he have any other symptoms?

The answer to all of these questions was no. My brother-in-law's advice to me was not to treat the symptom if it wasn't there. Benedryl would have been my first go-to drug, but I didn't have any. However, S wasn't itchy. He wasn't scratching. He wasn't miserable. The only reason I even knew he had a rash was because I happened to see it while changing his diaper.

So I watched him like a hawk, afraid that if I even picked him up I might irritate his rash. After a day, it went away. I never used Benedryl. Would S have died if I did? No. But I knew that it would have been for my own peace of mind instead of the well being of my child.

That being said, if I had said yes to any of those questions, I may have, honestly, taken S right to the doctor or the ER. I'm not even kidding. Especially with the food allergy. If he had been cranky or scratching, I would have pumped him so full of Benedryl that rash wouldn't have known what was coming!

Bottom line: rashes are scary. Don't freak out. Ask yourself a bunch of questions, watch your baby and his/her behavior, and then react.

You are the mom. You know best.

TEETHING

My son is now old enough to be getting some molars. Yippee. We took him to the dentist two weeks ago, and he actually recommended using a frozen Gogurt to help with teething pains. It's cold, it's edible. It's small enough for him to fit in the back of his mouth.

It was brilliant. I tried it on S and it was great. Messy, but great.

When it comes to cutting teeth, I don't skimp on the pain meds if my child is in need. If he's awake and happy and playing, I don't bother because he's plenty distracted. But when he starts to tug on his ears and hit his face or head, I break out the Tylenol. Or if he's going to bed. I don't want him sleeping terribly because he's in pain all night.
A bib also helps with the little ones. That way their shirts aren't covered in drool. :)

I noticed that my son's chin gets red and irritated when he is teething because the drool drips down his chin and just kind of hangs out there. I try to keep a rag around to dab off the drool and keep his chin from chapping.

FEVER

This section will be relatively blank. You see, my son does not get a fever. Hardly ever. Even when he had RSV he had a very low grade fever. Does that mean he doesn't get sick? No. In fact, he just expresses it in different ways. For example. About a week before the rash incident, all of a sudden my baby had really red cheeks. They stayed red for hours. He seemed a little down, a little more tired. No cough,  not really a runny nose. But I knew that this was his body's way of telling me he was sick. I gave him Tylenol, lots of liquids, lots of rest, etc. After a few hours he felt better.

What I know of fevers is that it's usually not the fever that is the problem (unless it's really high, and then you've got a serious problem!). The fever is just a symptom of something else going on. It could be a simple bug going around or even teething. Or it could be something bigger. You know your child, so don't be afraid to call your pediatrician and tell him your child's symptoms if you are really concerned.

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So, as you can see, in my limited experience, I have found a lot of things help for me. I'll ask you to share what helps you take care of your little guy or girl when they are under the weather, and if you aren't too busy mopping up puke or dosing out cough medicine, I'd love to hear.

One last thing. Mother's instinct is sometimes confused with panicking, but it's like I said before. YOU know your child, and if the doctor/nurse/etc won't listen to you, and you are sure there is something very wrong with your baby, you leave and find a doctor who is willing to listen to you and not brush aside your God given talent of mothering.

Sick with the Flu

Being sick is never fun. Having sick kids is almost worse because not only does it tug at your heart strings, but if they're young, there's not much you can give them (medicine wise) to comfort them and help with their symptoms.

This last weekend, we had a little boy who was sick with the flu. He threw up BIG time three times during the day. Each one was on me. He'd come up and want to be held and then just toss his cookies all over the place. That night he kept throwing up every few hours, but it would mostly be Sprite and crackers that we had given him. I just felt so helpless, but I knew it was only the flu and that it wasn't really terribly bad. It just seemed worse because he was barfing on me.

What are some things that you moms out there do for your kids when they're not feeling their best?

Feeling Overlooked

My husband and I are both middle children. We've both had to do our fair share of vying for parental (and sometimes sibling) attention. There have been times when we've felt a little overlooked, which can sometimes be the case in a family with so many children.

BUT, vying for attention is not something I want my kids to ever feel like they have to do. And, I don't ever want them to feel neglected or unloved or like we're playing favorites.

How do you moms of multiple children ensure that all of your children feel loved and like you're paying attention to them? I've been wondering about this a lot lately, because it will soon (within the next month and a half) be more of a worry for me. I'm due to have our second son in about 49-ish days. When our little guy shows up, I want our older son to still feel as loved as he has been. I don't want him to feel excluded, overlooked or ignored.

So, if you would, please share things that you have done that help with this situation.

Hug your babies

This morning my son woke up extra early. I gave him a bottle and some toys and left him in the crib so that I could shower. After I got out of the shower, he started to scream.

I took him out of the crib, sang to him and changed his diaper, put on fresh clothes and tried to read him a book. All the while he kicked and thrashed. He screamed at me and banged his head against the floor. (He's into doing that now and I hate it.) When I held him, he fought me. When I put him down, he crawled into my lap and laid there. If I sang "Popcorn Popping," he laughed. When I tried to hand him something we could play with, he screamed and threw it. This all happened in his room.

I figured maybe he wanted to play with his other toys, so I opened the door and tried to get him to walk out to the living room. He's been carried his whole life and has grown somewhat accustomed to it. When I try to get him to walk first thing in the morning or right after a nap, he screams and goes limp so that I'm basically carrying him by the arms.

By this point, my fuse had been lit.

"Fine," I told him, leaving him in a bawling heap in the hall. "You may sit there and throw a fit. When you are finished, come find mommy and we'll play."

I went and started scrubbing dishes. My boy came into the kitchen and started pushing me away from the sink and the counter. He stuck himself between me and the cupboard and pushed. I got the point and dried my hands. I picked him up and carried him to the living room where I tried to sit down and read books.

He screamed.

And so it went for another hour. He didn't want left alone. He didn't want held. He didn't want me to put him down. He didn't want food or his water.  He would laugh and be cute, but then if he thought I was looking at him funny or maybe not looking at him enough, he'd scream and kick and thrash.

I tried to put him down for a nap after he'd been up for 2 hours, but he screamed for 20 minutes and cried himself into hysterics. I picked him up and we started the whole thing all over again.

I told my husband I think someone took our baby in the night and left us with this screaming monster.

He then told me the tragedy of a little girl, three years old, who was run over by a truck yesterday afternoon. She died early this morning.

My baby's behavior did not change, but mine did. I was more patient with him. I held him and let him cry for a while until finally he was just flopped across my legs letting me scratch his back. I gave him Tylenol (he's cutting molars) and put him down for a nap again. Even though he's asleep, I'm having a hard time not going in there and pulling him out of his crib so I can snuggle him close. Because somewhere there is a mother who won't get that chance.

I'm sorry I took my baby for granted this morning. And my heart aches for your loss. I've shed a few tears for you, and I've said some prayers for you. I hope that you'll find peace. Soon.

Candy, Candy, Candy

This time of year always comes with a double edge sword.....copious amount of candy. Good because well....its good! and bad because of stomach aches, cavities and the not so much fun part of telling children they can't eat five pounds of candy at once!

There are a few ways to deal with all this yumminess.

One: sneak into the kids buckets nightly and start eating some of it down. They probably won't notice its going down. But then we end up with the extra work outs and the tummy aches. ;)

Two: put the candy away. Out of sight out of mind. When they ask for some of that goodness, get it out and have a few pieces. Eventually something new and fabulous will come along that will let them forget....like Christmas.

Third: Let the children pick about a week to two weeks worth of candy out (how many pieces a day/week you think is a good amount) and then tell the children to put their candy buckets outside their door. That night he tooth fairy will come and exchange the candy for an awesome prize (prizes can range from toys, to color books... even money to buy their own fun prize). The kids get to keep some candy and they get a cool new toy. Best of both worlds and you my friends get to do with that candy as you please.

We do the last one and surprisingly the kids are excited about getting to have both the candy and a toy. Plus we explain to them they are keeping their bodies and teeth healthy! It might not work well for the older children but it will work for a bit for the younger ones. :)

Night Terrors

Well, this is the post you've been waiting for. Okay, so only Deborah has been waiting for it because she knew about it. Anywho...

My son has never been a good sleeper. That's just a fact. But back in July when he started waking up EVERY night for weeks screaming and could not be comforted, I thought it was strange.

Here are the things that tipped me off that something was wrong:

1) He would wake up crying about the same time every night.

2) When we'd pick him up to comfort him, he would thrash, hit us, swat his ears, and just cry.

3) It would normally take us a couple of hours to get him calmed down and back to sleep.

One night it was so bad that I got a total of 4 hours of sleep (and I'd been dealing with lack of sleep already from previous nights). And then I still had to be up with him and parent the rest of the day. Yeah, I think that's the day I bawled my head off and called my sister to tell her that if motherhood was a job, I would quit. It was that bad.

After two weeks of this, I thought, "He has to be sick or something. This is NOT normal, even for him." I was so sure he had an ear infection or something because he got 3 of them last winter and he was swatting his ears when he'd wake up in the night.

I took him to the doctor, hoping for the first time in Kaleb's life that he was sick so they could just give me medicine and make it all go away. After two weeks of little sleep and a very cranky son, I was desperate.

The doctor looked at him and then said, "Well, he looks perfectly healthy to me. The only thing I can think of is that he's having night terrors. And unfortunately, there's nothing you can really do for that except make sure he has a regular bedtime and gets as much sleep as possible. They usually grow out of it. But if he hasn't stopped having them in 3 weeks, give me a call and maybe we'll do some sleep tests on him."

"THREE WEEKS?!?!?! I can't handle this for three more weeks!" Is what I wanted to say. But instead I thanked him and left.

Here's the problem: I had always thought that night terrors were just really bad nightmares. And if you were thinking the same thing, don't feel bad. Unless you've had a child or friend or someone you know go through it, you wouldn't know anything different. It's not as if they give you a handout on "Night Terrors" at the pediatrician's office to go along with the bazillion shot handouts they give you every time.

So when I got home, I did a little research on night terrors and discovered that they are NOT just bad nightmares. Basically, in layman terms, they could be described as sleep-nightmares, relating to sleep-walking or sleep-talking. When a person has a night terror, they are still asleep, even if they're screaming, thrashing, or have their eyes open. Another difference is that nightmares happen in REM sleep, night terrors happen in non-REM sleep. And, children or people who are old enough to tell you, won't remember a thing the next morning.

I found out that the main causes of night terrors is either stress or lack of sleep. With Kaleb, I knew it was a lack of sleep because he'd been staying up later and still waking up at the same time. I realized that it was a vicious cycle with him. He would be tired which would cause him to have a night terror which would make it so we were up with him for hours which would lead to more lack of sleep which would lead to a night terror the next night.

The turning point for me was when I read this from about.com:

"Typical night terrors last about 5 to 30 minutes and afterwards, children usually return to a regular sleep. If you are able to wake your child up during a night terror, he is likely to become scared and agitated, mostly because of your own reaction to the night terror, especially if you were shaking or yelling at him to wake up. Instead of trying to wake up a child having a night terror, it is usually better to just make sure he is safe, comfort him if you can, and help him return to sleep once it is over."

I also read something from a doctor online that basically said, "It can make it worse if you touch them. It's okay to let them cry. It might take even up to 45 minutes, but they will stop and go back to sleep."

That was a relief. Once I felt like I had "permission" to let him cry, it got so much better. When he would wake up crying, I would turn off the monitor, go lay out on the couch where I could hear him, doze on and off while he cried, and he would stop crying within a half hour or so. Ryan and I also made sure we were putting him to bed at a good bedtime every night. Within a week, he stopped having them.

After going through this with Kaleb, I feel that EVERYONE needs to know what night terrors are and how to cope with them. Every kid is different when they have them too. It can vary in symptoms, age, and "cures." But it's important that every mom knows exactly what they are and that they are not just bad nightmares.

It was a very long 3 weeks for my hubby and I, but we made it through and hope to never have to go back to that. And I hope none of you go through it either because it can be terrifying. But if you do or someone you know does, now hopefully you can learn from our experience!