Wholesale Wooden Things

Wow. The Maine Wood Company aka Casey’s Wood Products sells hundreds of gorgeous little wooden things (especially toys, things for the home, and decorations) for pennies.

As in, 35 cents for a wooden ruler. Go check it out!

Used Baby Gear

Before pregnancy, I had a huge, extensively researched list of all of the best baby gear. I inputed 3 years of reading DaddyTypes, the whole Baby Bargains books, and thousands of Amazon.com lists and reviews to come up with the list to end all lists.

Then we got pregnant, and the stuff started rolling in. The complete 0-12 month dress wardrobe that I wore as a baby, plus my nursery curtains, found in my parent’s attic.  The family heirloom bassinet and hand-crocheted blankets from Grandma’s store room. A big box of onesies and hats from my mom’s co-worker, who I’ve never met. A bag of crib sheets, mattress pads, and waterproof pads from a coworker. A sling, several hats and coats, baby tights, a monitor, and a pull toy  from the neighbors. Somewhere in there we’ve collected enough booties, cloth bibs, and bonnets for twins.

There have already been a few new gifts, too, though the shower is still months away. There’s also the inevitable find — like the $8 Boppy w/ detachable play gym (new in box!) I spotted at the thrift store. And the universal carseat stroller frame found in perfect condition in a neighbor’s curbside pile.

My rules (so far) for accepting used baby gear:

no carseats (always buy the latest and best-rated model, you can’t be sure others have never been in an accident)

no breast pumps (milk gets into the machinery) or bottle nipples/teethers/pacifiers (always buy these new)

no used crib mattresses (higher rate of SIDS with a used mattress)
no cribs with widely spaced slats or broken parts

nothing that’s not either new-in-the-package or in very good condition from a trusted source…

…unless it’s an awesome thrifting or ebay find that can be easily be sanitized.

Finally (and most controversially), I’m not interested in keeping a 20-tab spreadsheet of items that people have “temporarily loaned” us until they have another kid.  Don’t take items that your friends aren’t really, truly done with unless you want to transition your 12-month-old out of his beloved crib because the original owner needs it back.

Solving Severe Diaper Rash

When diaper rashes break out, forgo wipes in favor of a small spray bottle filled with plain water or at most, a soft wet washcloth. Air dry after changes and baths while holding the baby’s legs up (perhaps on Chux pads or a washable surface like a soft towel or cloth diaper), or use a gentle hair dryer with a COOL setting.  Daddy blogger Ben of the Trixie Update let his daughter air-dry at each change, and never had a problem with diaper rash.  

The Girlfriend’s Guide to Baby Gear recommends “Aqualox,” a recipe used at the Denver Children’s Hospital for severe diaper rash. Combine 6 tablespoons of Aquaphor and an equal amount of regular Maalox in a stand mixer until smooth, and store in a small plastic container with a lid.

Ointments containing zinc oxide are frequently recommended, but they can cause a skin condition known as oxide pox.

 The zinc oxide content of popular diaper rash creams:
Balmex=11.3%
Arbonne’s Herbal Diaper Rash Cream=12%
Bourdreaux’s Butt Paste=16% zinc oxide

Pinxav=30%

Desitin=40% 

For diaper rashes involving yeast, a Nyastin cream or grapefruit seed extract oil (available at health food stores) may help. Or your doctor may approve of mixing some Monistat into Aquaphor.

Also try:

Switching to a different brand of diapers or trying cloth diapers.

Creams with 1 or 1/2% hydrocortizone (for NON-YEAST rashes only!)

Triple Paste (sold at pharmacies with the Enemas).

Milk of Magnesia in the diaper.

Soaking in a lukewarm or cool water with baking soda or oatmeal (finely ground in your blender so it doesn’t clog your pipes).

For an older baby, try avoiding acidic foods (tomatoes and citrus) and adding yogurt or children’s probiotic supplements to the diet.

Lotrimin AF for a fungal rash (looks like burn marks).

Neosporin in a rash has broken the skin.

Sprinkling the diaper area with cornstarch.

Where To Find Decent Kid’s Clothes

I hit Target just before a baby shower last night to buy the mother-to-be’s requested gift (a gift card), and decided to get something a little more interesting from the kid’s section as well.

GROAN. Every piece of boy’s clothing was light blue and had some tacky phrase like “World’s Cutest Boy” embroidered on it OR a dumb-looking bear/frog/truck appliqué OR the omnipresent “All-Sport” theme.  Basic, classic, and age-appropriate were rare.

Greg from DaddyTypes totally summed up the situation for girls:

The whole rack of toddler clothes was an uninterrupted smear of rainbow sherbet. Every pair of jeans was encrusted with some junk. Every pair of pants had three tiers of ruffles and ribbons on the cuffs. Every shirt and dress was the same, only frillier. You know you’re in trouble when Lilly Pulitzer starts to look sedate. [And Lilly’s fine, but there aren’t enough divots to be replaced between chukkers for her to wear all the Lilly she already has. As for everything else, it looked straight out of a Care Bears Gone Wild video.]

The boys’ section, meanwhile, was an unrelenting row of rugby shirts. If you’re in the market for brat clothes (Disneyfied, TV-character-laden, wierdly adult-oriented things like Che onesies and rhinestone shrugs for four-year-olds) — you’re in luck.

The rest of us can find non-encrusted, non-trendy clothes at the stores below. Solid colors are the way to go, people:

Basic Brillance

American Apparel

Jacardi

H&M

Old Navy

The Children’s Place

L.L. Bean

Land’s End

Wal-Mart

Target (sometimes)

PleaseMum.com

Basic overalls from OshKosh — easy to find at thrift and consignment stores.

Tea Collection

BabySoy collection from BabyCenter.com

Zutano

BabyRockApparel

Kohls

WonderBoyClothing.com

Bu and the Duck 

Tips: Preparing For A Newborn

1. Have all of the gear you will need on-hand. “Quick trips” to Target will suddenly become a major ordeal. So get a 2-3 MONTH supply of diapers, wipes, breastfeeding supplies, bottles, and basic baby clothing like onesies, blankets, socks, and hats.  Pre-launder clothing items, and get every bit of 0-3 or 0-6 month gear out of the box, assembled, tested, and in the exact place you’ll want it when you come home from the hospital. The crib and basinett should be ready to place a baby in — not covered with stuffed animals or things you haven’t opened yet. Practice handling the car seat and opening and using stroller so you’ll know how they work. Do a mock diaper change and make sure everything is within easy reach.

2. Get up-to-date on the rest of your life: your oil changes, financial records, home improvements, scheduling service workers, etc.

 3. Outsource as much of the non-sleep, non-baby care tasks as possible. Plan to use services like Peapod (grocery delivery), Let’s Dish (prepared freezer meals), Amazon.com prime, and/or a cleaning service for a few weeks. Consider getting a Roomba, and have your floors professionally cleaned (you’ll be spending a lot of time down there.)

4. Get round-the-clock, hands-on help for at least one week. If your mom or other close relative or friend with baby experience isn’t available, seriously consider hiring a postpartum doula or baby nurse.

5. Nightlight the place up and prepare some good lullaby tunage.

Makes The Medicine Go Down

FLAVORit is a home kit for adding flavorings and sweetner to liquid children’s medicine.

Study Finds Playing With Blocks Helps Language Skills

Yahoo! News:  Playing with blocks helps young children gain language skills, a small study concluded on Monday.

After six months, language scores among half of 175 children aged 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 who were sent plastic blocks were 15 percent higher than a matched group that did not receive the free blocks, according to the study by researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Parents were given ideas about how to help their children play with the blocks, then kept diaries of their children’s activities over four days. Finally, all the parents filled out questionnaires that assessed their child’s vocabulary, grammar, and other language abilities.

 

Study author Dimitri Christakis, writing in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, said unstructured play with blocks stimulates thinking, memory and physical mastery of objects at a time when a child’s brain is growing rapidly.

“They are the precursors of thought and language,” he wrote of the skills learned from manipulating blocks. “Older children begin to make up stories or scripts for these objects …”

Such play may also substitute for less stimulating activities such as watching television, he said, adding parents ought to be skeptical of some toy-makers’ claims.

“An increasing number of media-based products are making unsubstantiated claims that they can make children smarter, more literate, and more musical,” Christakis wrote.

The study was funded by Mega Bloks, owned by Montreal-based toy maker MEGA Brands Inc.

Fun blocks:

Start with some basic larger blocks for babies: These minimalist black-and-white blocks  or these beautiful embossed alphabet blocks that come in German, Hebrew, Spanish, French, and sign-language versions.

Basic wooden blocks can be very expensive new, but there are lots to be found on Ebay.

Big manufactures make some cheaper options, like the 50-piece Natural Brio blocks for about $18, or these multi-colored 200-piece wooden blocks (with tote!) for $20.   Personally, if they’re going to be all over the living room floor, I’d go with the natural.

If you’re adding on, these Plan toys water blocks are great,  as are the architectural building blocks from  Haba in Japanese Pagoda, U.S. Capitol Building, Pyramid, Coliseum, Russian, and Romantic Church styles.

Travel blocks:Nonchalantmom sells Muji’s “Suburbia in a bag” — ironic blocks in a cotton drawstring bag.

A block-family toy for older kids: MagnaTiles

The Polkadot Platypus

This store has lots of gear I’ve never seen, including UPPAbaby and Mia Moda strollers. These well-priced (as in $100-$150) strollers look well-made, but don’t seem to have height-adjustable handles.

They also have shopping cart/high chair covers in cool prints (like skulls, dots, and stripes) and lots of fun apparel.

iPod Lullaby Playlist

1. Take an iPod (We’ve gotten several freebies from work, but any working iPod you can dig up on Ebay — hello, Gen. 1 Shuffle — will work),

2. Load it up with lullaby tunage, and

3. Find a way to play it through speakers. We’re using a tiny plug-in thing that was a $4.99 stocking stuffer at Bed, Bath, and Beyond last Christmas, but there are plenty of more elegant solutions.

Playlists will be according to your taste, of course, but the key is mellow.

LadySmith Black Muzambo

Simon and Garfunkel

Enya

The less exciting works of Mozart, Bach, Mendelsson

Assorted hymns

Etc.

Baby Laundry

No need for Dreft Syndrome, but you might want to buy some Oxyclean (for stains) and All Free and Clear.

Otherwise, wash stuff before the baby arrives (but not everything, as the baby will outgrow some things you’ll want to return) , and buy a mesh bag for teeny baby socks (Old Navy socks stay put the best).