Introducing Solids to a Premature Baby - Mom Knows When the Time is Right!

 

My second born was 4 weeks early. Thank goodness for already having a child and for having many mommy pals. At the 6 month checkup, one of the pediatricians in the office yelled at me for not having fed the baby jars of food yet. I told her I had let the baby try but could tell by her tongue reflex and digestive issues, she just wasn't ready for meals yet and that at 6 months, I could tell by the end of the month she might be ready and I'd try her when she seemed ready.

That particular pediatrician insisted my babies health needs weren't being met. I insisted she was not paying attention to the actual child but reading charts that had nothing to do with the actual baby.

At 7 months, the child was ready to start eating foods and her first foods that she seemed to take to best were egg yolks and meats, only light rice cereal but not large quantities, and baby treats that dissolve well like Mum-Mums and vegetable cheese doodle looking things. She likes some veggies and fruits too.

She's more of a snacker than a big meal eater. She's growing, she's healthy and does well if you consider her a preemie instead of going by actual age. I've got a pal who had a baby also born 4 weeks early but hers was better considered by actual age than as a preemie. Proof that not all babies were made from the same cloth.

Note from editor - thank you so much for sharing your story and GOOD FOR YOU for sticking to your guns! One day, we hope, our intuition as mothers will be taken a little more seriously. I'm sure your story will help inspire other mommies to 'follow their gut' in situations like this. Best wishes to you both :)

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Zoie's Homemade Baby Food Adventure - Laguna Philippines

Having an easy breezy day!

Battle with spinach lol xoxoxo

My snack for the day

My little girl is now 6 months old.

She was born on Sept 12, 2011. I introduced solid food quiet early, when she was 4 months and a half. I'm not having any issues though.

I fed her with Gerber bottled foods. But lately I discovered 'why pay so much when I can feed her with my own preparations?'.

Thanks for your website and the wonderful baby food recipes you have posted. It helps me a lot in feeding her with wide variations of recipes.

Broccoli is one of her favorites even though I find it weird that she likes it! But I guess it's something in her tastebuds I cannot explain! xoxoxox :)

Note from Christine (editor): We're SO glad you're finding our site helpful :)

Zoie is gorgeous and it's wonderful to hear that she's a broccoli lover - it's such a healthy food. We hope that you both continue to have lots of fun exploring the wonderful world of homemade baby food!

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Homemade Notepad

I saw this on a craft blog and LOVED it so I had to share it!  This would be great for in mum’s handbag, in the car or for the kids to draw in. You could write any important school dates or notes in it or even glue in school notices so they are all together and won’t get lost. It is very easy to make and looks stunning.

cardboard box of some sort in whichever size you like (like a cereal box etc) keeping in mind you’ll be folding the cut out piece in half to form the notepaddecorative paperglue stickscissorsbuttonthick cotton or embroidery floss & needleCut out one side of your cardboard box (hence why a cereal box is great because it isn’t too thick)Fold this in half so the coloured side in on the insideGlue a plain piece of white paper to the inside to cover up the ‘cereal box pictures’ – my box was white so this was unnecessaryMeasure, cut and glue some decorative paper on the front of your notepad to give it some deisng. Make sure all the sides match up and it goes all the way to the spine of the bookNow is the slightly tricky bit.  You need to use your embroidery floss (I dont embroider so used a few strands of my cotton I had laying around and it worked just as well) and your needle to ‘sew’ on your button. Do this about 2/3s down your front cover near the opening. Weave your cotton in and out to secure the button, leave enough cotton to wrap a couple times around your notepad once you have finished.Rule and cut out some plain or ruled paper (for you to write on). Make this slightly smaller then your cover and try to get it as straight as possible. Fold all pieces in half so they sit nicely in the fold of your cover

Again using your cotton you need to ‘sew’ in your paper. So just like with the button start from the outside, on the base of the spine and weave your cotton in and out of the paper but in about 1cm intervals so the paper is secure. Tie off on the outside at the top of your book.

Close your book and wrap the end of the cotton that is tied to the button around your notepad a couple times and then wrap around your button.

There you have it. Clip a pen on and you are ready to go. Obviously there are so many variations you could do with this in terms of size, shape, decorations etc but use this basic outline to get an idea of where to start.

Here is the link to the where I found the idea – however I changed it slightly to suit me.

Emma Ranson is a stay-at-home mum to two beautiful girls- Grace and Sienna. She followed her heart to Hamilton and loves hanging out with her family- including her Australian Terrier Cross dog, Ruby. Emma is a whizz at all things crafty and loves the challenge of creating something new.

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Annual budgeting for school costs

So you survived Christmas, you’ve seen in another new year and now you’re gearing up for the onslaught of spending more money to get your kids ready to head back to School! It’s certainly an expensive time.

As I contemplated what to write for this article, the obvious sprung to mind – I could write about the best ways of cutting costs as we get our little cherubs ready to head back to school. You know – things like considering buying good second-hand uniforms instead of new, recycling stationery and books from last year and throwing them into the mix for the new school year, that type of thing. But generally speaking, most mums are pretty resourceful and know about this practical stuff already. So that meant answering the following question: what else could I write about that would add value and hopefully help reduce some financial anxiety in getting your kids ready for the next school year?

Are you one of those families that muddles through by maxing out your credit card over this busy time or do you actually have a budget? If the former part of this question applies to you then continue reading.

What I am about to say, cannot be used for this time of the year since the time for our kids to start the school year is upon us now, but certainly I can help you plan for getting your kids back to school for the 2014 school year. In the same vein as my last article, it’s all about planning. So how do you do that? First you need to get a handle on all of the true costs of sending each child to school. Try to be as specific as you can and list each item and its related cost down. These costs may include:

Uniform , say – $460.00Shoes – $115.00Stationery – $80.00School Fees – $220.00School Association Fee – $15Camp fees – $350.00Sports Team Uniform, footwear/gear and fees – $300.00

You may think of other costs, such as public transport use to get your child to school.

Note: the above examples are actual costs for one of my children who attend our local public high school. Remember, your costs may be quite different, depending on a number of factors like where your kids go to school, whether they require a uniform at all, whether you buy second-hand etc. If you think this all sounds very expensive, consider what these costs may look like if you send your child to a private school.

Once you have a good idea on what it’s going to cost you for each child for the entire year at school, then break this cost down into bite size chunks. Choose a frequency say, monthly or fortnightly and factor this into your overall family budget. Squirrel these amounts away.

In this particular example, you would need $1,540 for the entire year (setting aside $128 per month) for one child. By the time you get to this time next year, you will be prepared. You can rest easy knowing that you don’t have to max out the credit card, or fret about where you’re going to come up with the money to get your kids ready to start and participate throughout the entire 2014 school year.

In the meantime, for this time around, if you do need to use your credit card this year to meet ‘back to school expenses’ then appreciate that your credit card has an interest rate approximately three times higher than that of your home mortgage so your number one priority should be to pay off that credit card as quickly as you can. This may mean talking to the bank and halting capital repayments on your mortgage for a month or two, or hunting through the garage and cupboards to see what you and the kids no longer need or use and selling that on TradeMe.

If you have a revolving mortgage then consider adding the ‘back to school costs’ onto that revolving mortgage facility and incur interest at the lower rate of 5-6.5% rather than the credit card interest rate of 13-20%.

And lastly, consider talking to your school about staggered payments throughout the year for the various school/camp/sport activity fees. They may charge more for this or in using this option you may not have access to prompt payment discounts but often the additional cost is less than the cost of interest on a credit card. Good luck!

Is your child refusing eggs?

 

Here are a couple of recipes to mask the egg taste and still serve your child this wonderful breakfast protein!

Recipe 1:

Hard boil the egg, chop it really small, and mix it with yogurt and some Zaatar (Lebanese thyme). If you can't find Zaatar, then mix in some herbs like dried mint, add salt and pepper. Serve it with a spoon in a bowl. First try only 1 egg with a lot of yogurt.

Recipe 2:

Scramble the egg with diced tomatoes and some seasoning (salt, pepper, and some herbs). You can serve it with a spoon or put in a sandwich to mask the egg taste even more.

Recipe 3:

Scramble the egg with cheese and spinach and put it in a sandwich, you may call it a quiche.

Good luck!

Note from Christine - Editor: Thank you, Lara, for sharing your ideas! What a gorgeous photo :)

For more information about cooking eggs for your baby, please visit our Eggs Baby Food Recipes page

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Sugar Free Dessert for Baby and the Whole Family!

This is one of our most recently created recipes and it's been such a success with our family we couldn't wait to share it with you here!

Ideal for babies from 6 months onwards who have been separately introduced to all the ingredients beforehand, this is an extremely versatile dish and one we think you'll soon be preparing often! The pudding is soft and 'squidgy', meaning it's easy for your toothless tot to gum!It's nutritious, containing whole wheat, vitamin-rich fruit, eggs and calcium-packed milk.Although it's a fabulous winter warmer, it can also be served chilled, meaning it's the perfect dessert for any time of year.We've called this a dessert - but it would also make a brilliant breakfast! Prepare it beforehand and you have something nutritious on hand for those busy mornings!When chilled, this dish can be served as a finger food and it's ideal for those doing baby led weaning!It's so tasty that you can confidently prepare this sugar free dessert for baby AND the rest of the family to enjoy!

NOTE: Please do check with your doctor before introducing new foods to your baby. The information given here is for guidance only and does not replace professional medical advice.

This recipe produces just enough for baby to share with mummy and daddy - simply increase the quantities for bigger appetites or if your family is larger.

2 slices of whole wheat bread
1/2 dessert apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (we used Golden delicious)
2 eggs
2 tbsp whole milk (can also be made with breast milk or formula if you prefer)
1 small, ripe banana
1 tbsp raisins*
pinch ground ginger (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

*The raisins, even when soft from cooking, may be hard for younger babies to manage. Either leave them out, soften them by soaking in warm water for half an hour and add them to the blender when pureeing the other ingredients, or simply pick them out of your baby's portion when serving.

Remove the crusts from the bread, then cut each slice of bread into 4 triangles.

Grease a small oven proof dish, then layer four triangles of the triangles along the bottom (as shown).

Top the bread with the sliced apple. Sprinkle the apple with the ginger and half of the raisins.

Arrange the rest of the bread triangles on top of the apple.

Blend together the eggs, milk, banana and vanilla (we used our food processor for this).

Pour the mixture over the bread triangles very carefully, so that all of the bread is thoroughly moistened.

Sprinkle with the raisins, then transfer to the fridge and leave for AT LEAST half an hour. If we're serving this for breakfast, we leave it to soak overnight, to make sure that the bread soaks up all the liquid and is really nice and soft!

To cook, preheat the oven to 325 deg F.

Place the dish in the oven and bake for 30 to 40 mins. When ready, the eggs should be set and the top should be pale gold in colour.

Cool to a safe temperature, serve - and marvel over how good a dessert can taste with no sugar!

Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers - the pudding will keep for up to one month in the freezer.

Getting kids through separation and divorce

I often get questions about helping children through their parents’ separation and I recently received this question: Even when the parents are on the same page and are happier not living together, how do I get my kids through it? It breaks my heart. Tough for everyone!

Separation is no fun for the adults or the children, but there are certain steps that you can take to make things as easy as possible on everyone.

Structure and timetable

While it is very good that you are on the same page, it is really important that the arrangements are simple enough and clear enough that your children can explain them to anyone (theoretically) who asks.  .

Make sure that each child has a timetable on their wall in each house.  Children do better with a structure clear enough to be written down and simple enough that even the seven-year-old can tell someone else what the arrangements are.  That way they know exactly what is happening and they can see that the timetable was put together with the agreement of both parents.

They need to know exactly what time of day they are transferring from one household to another, what gear will live in which house and who is doing the pick-up and drop-off.

Keep out of each other’s house

I understand that it might seem lovely to have one parent come into the other’s house, have meals together, be tucked in by “the other” parent – but there are huge potential pitfalls with this sort of arrangement.  Children often live in hope that their parents will get back together again.  Popping in and out of each other’s house only keeps this hope alive in your children.

Another good reason to have the doorstep as the boundary is that you have chosen to live separate lives.  Sooner or later, one parent is likely to feel “invaded” if the other strolls around what has become their house – even if it was previously the family home.

If you need to meet to discuss matters pertaining to the separation or to your children, arrange to meet on neutral territory.  It also means that should the meeting become heated and voices get raised, your children do not need the anxiety and unpleasantness of witnessing it.

Stakeholders

Children need a stake in each household. At the very least they need a bed of their own and a place to keep their belongings.  Where possible, they should have their own toy and book collection in each house, so they can look forward to being reunited with some favourite playthings when they arrive at the each house.

It depends on the arrangement you have as to whether their clothes go with them of they have a clothes collection in each home.  Do your absolute best to clean the clothes that come into the house and send them back in an excellent and wearable state.  This maintains harmony between households and avoids a child returning with dirty laundry having to watch a parent get exasperated.

Nearness is good

One of the best things that you could do for your children is to have two households near enough to their school(s) so that their activities and friendships do not need to be disrupted.

If you do live near, try not to drive past the other’s house.  Take a different route.  Even if you are merely going the shortest way, the other parent is bound to feel spied upon.  It is also very uncomfortable for a child who loves you dearly to have to see you drive past.

Think carefully before babysitting for each other

While there is simplicity and safety in baby-sitting for each other, it means knowing more that is necessary about each other’s lives and what each of you are up to.  It is far better to have your own babysitting arrangements so that you avoid going in and out of each other’s houses and being left “alone” in one another’s homes.

Get double school notices

Be sure to insist that their classes, schools and places of extra-curricular activities send out double notices and reports so that regardless of where the children are, each parent knows about and can talk with the children about what is going on in their lives when they are not under your roof.

Unless something is going on at school that requires “the power of two”, you are better off going to Parent/Teacher meetings separately.  Rather than playing “happy families”, it is better that each of you develops your own relationship with teachers and coaches.

Sports and other activities

Try to avoid your children having to choose between parents.  Even knowing which parent to look at first or run over to can be stressful for children.  Try to have a system whereby you alternate at activities.

At the “one-offs” like concerts, both of you should be there if possible.  Keep friendly and make your children’s lives uncomplicated.

How much time?

While current Family Law thinking favours 50:50 time in each household, I far favour being equally concerned about their welfare without children having to live like nomads and change beds several times in a fortnight. These are adult decisions not child decisions, but it is reasonable to allow children of the age yours are to have input.

If you are able to make arrangements without Courts or Lawyers, let you children know that you will live with the first arrangement for twelve weeks and then there will be a review so that they can have input into what is working for them and what needs to change. After that, six-monthly reviews gives good stability.

Dating and re-partnering

Think slowly and carefully before introducing other adults ( and their children) into your children’s lives.  They have enough to deal with living in two households and having to greet and farewell parents on a regular basis.

If you have several days a fortnight without your children, that is the time to meet up with new adults.  There should not be any rush.  Your children’s stability is more important.

Listening

Give your children a chance to tell you how visitng the other houwe is for them.  They may well come home needing to let off steam.  Your priority is to listen with empathy and to stay on their side so that they get the feeling that “Mum gets it”.

Avoid taking action.  Unless there are health and safety issues, support your child to endure some of the discomforts of two households, probably with different rules.  Your job is to promote resilience to tolerate mild discomfort through knowing you can some home and let off steam to Mum.

See the good on the situation

Bruno Bettelheim once said, “Every child needs at least one parent who si irrationally crazy about them (and then they will be OK”)

This is a chance for your children to have two parents who are irrationally crazy about them without your having to manage a less than happy relationship under one roof.

Do your best to enjoy the adult advantages of separation.

Good luck,

Diane

Diane Levy’s warm, humorous, practical and commonsense approach to raising children is evident in her writing, her speaking and her private practice in Auckland as a family therapist. Her main focus is on coaching parents. She is also a regular guest writer for various media groups and was the Presenter/Therapist for the successful TV show Demons to Darlings.

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