Front Range Dad

I'm in it for the toys

Yet Another Baby Product Recall: Baby Food In Denver

Jan 26

Posted by Front Range Dad in Recalls | No Comments

From the KRDO.com New Channel 13 article.

Nurture, Inc’s HappyTot and HappyBaby foods that come in pouches are being voluntarily recalled. Really these pouch foods seem like a good idea, but I constantly am reading about failures in them, from not staying sealed to bacterial contamination. Staying away for now, relying on the “old fashioned” jar, which isn’t perfect either.

I need some reassurance from these companies. Time for damage control!

Check these pouches for swelling or leaking, but check the product info and return if there is any doubts to get your refund.

Another worried parent rant. :)

Tags: baby food recall, pouch, product recall

Unplug From Your Baby At Night

Dec 15

Posted by Front Range Dad in Baby Gizmos | 2 Comments

off button pictureTechnology has improved the job of parents significantly. It’s hard to imagine life without all the electronic gadgets we have avaiable to us. Things like electric bottle warmers, educational toys, musical sleep companions, white noise machines and the ubiquitous baby monitors. It’s all there to make life easier and give us more time with our little ones.

There is a price to be paid however, which is our reliance on these technologies. Many parents have become dependant on their cool gadgets and that can spell trouble, particularly when it gets in the way of living life.

They’re Everywhere, They’re Everywhere You can find a million products to help keep an eye on your baby in their crib, it feeds our parental need to know what our baby is up to every second.

New parents are the most succeptible and often receive these as gifts early in their baby's life. The assumption being that they will need to monitor every movement.  While we have them on camera all day taking pictures and video of their latest tricks, we seem to want to extend that obsession to night time.

A Watched Pot Never Boils

I won’t argue that they are certainly very helpful to keep an eye on your baby’s sleep habits without disturbing them, especially if you are transitioning them to their own room for the first time.

But at the same time, there is also a downside to these constant surveillance techniques.  It can keep us from allowing them work things out on their own. Hearing every grunt or movement can also be a hindrance to parents trying to learn how to get their baby to sleep.

Alternative And Freedom

I’m not saying that you should close the door and ignore your baby, but at times it might be a good idea to turn off the monitor and just let your baby relax on their own.  (Also, new parents need to relearn how to relax.)

There comes a point where all this staring into the baby monitor is more stressful and sleep-preventing than helpful for your baby. The baby will do what they are doing and you hearing every sound they make at night can keep you wide awake with the anticipation of more cries or demands from the crib.  I know I slept better when I didn’t hear every sleep disturbance amplified through the static of our monitor receiver!

If you find yourself hovering over your baby monitor, breathlessly waiting for the next squeak or squawk signaling wake-up, just turn it off (or at least turn down the volume) and try to read, talk to your spouse or just get some sleep.

Tags: baby, Products, sleep, tips

When You Think You’re Done, You’re Not Done

Dec 9

Posted by Front Range Dad in sleep | No Comments

teeth-xray

Not to dishearten the new parents, but our daughter turned one today and the last three nights have been a return to what life used to be like before we returned to sleep.  Up every 2 hours and fits of crying.

The culprit?  We wracked our brains and thought it was one of the following:

  • New footed pajamas bugging her.
  • Too cold in her room (weather has been between teens to negative digits for a week now).
  • Noise from visiting parents in our guest room scaring her.
  • Teething.

It’s always the simplest solution — she has her first cold.  Well, at least it looks like a cold, runny nose is tormenting her at night time preventing easy breathing — frustration and tears.

But this turns out to be symptoms something bigger.

Her one year checkup today informed us that she is teething, not just one or two teeth mind you, but four of her back molars are coming in at the same time.  (Can you hear my screams of anguish?)  Not just for me and my wife returning to no sleep for days, but for our daughter being uncomfortable, tired and cranky for who knows how long?

So the lesson I’ve learned is, just because things have gotten better, don’t count on them staying comfortable.  There is a high likelihood of returning to the “olden days” of broken sleep patterns.  And there really isn’t much you can do about it since no amount of sleep training will really get your child to sleep through this much discomfort.

Just make sure you keep at least one bottle of ibuprofen laying around, for everyone involved.

Tags: sleep, teething, tired