Taking Care of Baby's Teeth

With the excitement of new teeth came the worries of how to correctly take care of them. I have a special brush that you can wear on your index finger. It's made completely from sillicone. However when I try to brush Danny's teeth I am faced with such loud resistance- I cannot stand it. I am really not sure what is the approach here: to force him to clean teeth which would be subjecting him to lot's of stress or let it go and then risk our new and shiny precious baby teeth.

Babycenter.com recommends to start taking care of baby gums even before the teeth come so that baby gets used to the process of cleaning their mouth. Well, too late now. We did not do that. So now the only hope is that he will eventually get used to it... Babycenter recommends to brush teeth twice daily as soon as he first breaks through.

At the same time at babycenter.co.uk I read that the first year you may not brush baby's teeth but at least "clean" them with a wet cloth once a day and start getting your baby used to brushing at 18 months.

More information on taking care of baby teeth at babycenter

And here are some good tips from a parent on how to brush teeth of a reluctant baby or toddler

Baby Development: 9 Months Old Milestones

So Danny is nearing his 9 months birthday and I am looking at what skills he should be developing at 9 months. I usually look milestones up on babycenter and in What To Expect book. I noticed that according to the book Danny is quite quick in his development and is achieving certain skills that are advanced for is age. However according to babycenter, we are lagging behind! For example, at babycenter.com I read tat by the end of 8th month baby is supposed to be "cruising" - moving around upright while holding onto furniture Danny is so far from cruising! He is not crawling either. So I am a bit concerned but not too much. I think he is just taking his time with crawling and cruising. He is doing a lot of stuff with his hands. He is amazing at manipulating toys, playing with small toy parts. He is very good at tis.

So 9 months' milestones are as follows (babycenter.com):
*separation anxiety is at its peak - actually Danny just started to react better to guests coming over to our place and us visiting friends.
*start to remember more specific information, able to imitate actions she's seen as long as a week before
can now put objects in a container and remove them - oh we already discovered this game last week!
*half of babies this age will initiate passing games - hey looking forward to that one!
starting to understand the word "no," - yes, we already know this word and hate it!
developing personality and a mind of his own - already see the beginnings of this!

Is it time for finger foods?

Since Danny turned 6 months I constantly come across mention of baby finger foods. I cannot possibly see how my LO could eat finger foods! Even now at 8 months he is not showing a very big interest in food. And if a smallest piece finds its way into his home-cooked puree, Danny gags and looks at me with big eyes. So what is the deal with finger food?

I decided to look into it.

I am reading online and in What To Expect that by 7-8ths month a baby should be able to eat finger food. In some sourced the age is 9 months. And here opinions divide! I read recommendations to encourage a baby to eat rougher consistency foods and finger foods because later on they will resist new experiences and insist on getting the food the way they are used to- pureed. Others say do not rush your baby, when a baby is ready he or she will show interest in food and will swallow little pieces without problem etc.

One of the signs that a baby is ready for finger food and self-feeding is when they learn “pincer grab” – grabbing objects with their forefinger and thumb. Danny has developed pincer grab already a long time ago!

So I am thinking to try introducing him to the safest and easiest finger food. The first choice for finger foods are those that baby can gum or that will dissolve in the mouth without chewing. According to What to Expect book such foods should be cut into “manageable cubes or chunks”. Unfortunately they don’t specify how big those cubes should be. I wish they did.
Here are some foods they mention in their list: whole-wheat bagel, whole-grain bread or toast, rice cakes or other crackers that become mushy in the mouth; oat circle cereal, wheat or rice puffs; tiny cubes of natural but pasteurized cheese (Cheddar, Swiss etc); chunks of ripe banana, very ripe pear, peach, apricot, cantaloupe, honeydew, or mango; small chunks of cooked-to-very-tender carrot, white or sweet potato, yam, broccoli, cauliflower (flowers only); fish in flakes soft meat balls, well cooked pasta…. and a couple others but I’ll stop here.

So reading this list I think I feel more or less brave to try a rice cake, banana, very ripe pear and very well cooked carrot. I wish I knew how big chunks or cubes should be so that a baby feels comfortable with it and does not choke. I guess baby finger food is way different from adult concept of finger food and should be cut into very small pieces…

Toy Review: Chicco Musical Train

We received this toy as a Christmas present from friends. Even though it is meant for ages 9 +, Danny at 7 months is already playing with it and enjoying it. The train ia amazing! I don’t know who likes it more baby or Mommy :-)

This toy consists of 2 parts: train locomotive and a carriage. I should say it is like a musical train activity center – it has so many function! So there is a locomotive part.. On the top of the locomotive there are 4 transparent buttons with 4 animals on them that activate 4 songs with the corresponding animal sounds. The sounds are cartoon like not the real thing. It is very cute! There are 2 setting for volume which is very nice! The locomotive is “operated” by a bear which you can also push to play 2 various tunes at every push. Bell on the side of the locomotive is also pushable, as well as are the handles which I realized by a mere chance when playing with my boy. (I know I should have read the instruction but who has time for this!) One handle makes the chooo-choooo sound and the other sounds like train tracks… What else… On the other side there is a ball and a window: the ball can be spun and it makes rattly sounds and the window can be opened (slid up) to reveal a snail or a turtle – not sure here…

We are not playing with the carriage yet because Danny canot really push the train. Well, the carriage has 4 passengers animals in it that move up and down when the train is moving.

It is a great toy not only for entertainment for an explorative baby but also a great thing for developing motor skill such as hand manipulation! Danny likes to spin wheels and the ball, push the bear and of course just munch on the whole thing! :-)

What I really like about this toy is that it has a great play potential for various ages. Now Danny is mostly hitting the train with his hands and rolling the wheels and the little rattly ball with his tiny finger which is already a great developing activity for a 7-months-old. In the future, not only will he enjoy rolling the train and pushing buttons to play music but I can also teach him which animals are drawn on the buttons and show the corresponding animals riding in the carriage, as well as teach him to recognize the sounds these animals make in the train songs etc. I can imagine several fun games we could play with this train.



PS: Funny observation. The main theme melody in the musical train is The Saints… kind of funny because originally it was used in the funeral music in New Orleans.

Breast Feeding and Teeth Decay

Photo by Ben McLeod, flickr.com
I have been worried for several months already thinking what to do about night feedings (and Danny is still doing those so frequently) when our first teeth will start to come out. According to several articles I read, breastmilk can cause teeth decay as it contains sugars that feed nasty bacteria... Tonight my fears were reinforced after I read an article on Baby Bottle Mouth in What to Expect book (the First Year) . However after my hubby looked around online he found a detailed article that explains the matter. According to this article, no concrete data has been found to support the fact that breastfeeding can cause teeth decay. Actually there are some facts that suggest the opposite... For example, when a baby is nursing milk gets into the moth behind teeth - which is true just remember the latching on pics from any book on newborn care. Also baby really needs to suck to get milk, it doesn't just float freely, so if he sucks, he is awake and he is also swallowing... so there is no danger that milk will stay in his mouth for several hours after feeding... also in some studies they found that breastmilk can protect teeth and that it's ph level is just slightly different from that of water...

Well, I feel better now though not a 100% sure there is no danger to our upcoming teeth

Here is the link to the article for more details http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/tooth-decay.html

Venting About Sleep Issues and Stuff

So the mirracle of last night did not happen tonight. Inspired by how easily he soothed himself yesterday, I tried to give Danny some time to cry but he wouldn't stop, so I had to pick him up and rock him. Tonight I decided to push myself... The thin is that when you are tired and you know that if you rock him till almost sleep and put him down he is more likely to stay down, you just dont feel like experimenting or doin g someting differently... But today I pushed myself to rock him till light drowsiness and as soon as I woudl see his eye closing I would try to put him down - took 3 times till he styaed in his crib and made an effort to fall asleep.

Was reading again a book What to Expect (1st Year) today... Sounds like all the baies should sleep through the night by 6 months... They say if your baby got used to nurse at night, he will do it as long as he can.... Recommendations are to stretch time between nursing, send in Dad etc. But it is so hard to stretch time between feedings - he is so stressed and I get sooo stressed... I just seems easier to feed him and hope that at some point he will just outgrow this night waking issues... And sure he wil outgrow it... But what will happen to me by the time he does - I am so desperate for sleep!

Well... trying to follow my instincts and not to stress my baby so I guess I will try earlier ithdrawal and less time nursing... He is growing and changing and hopefully there either will be a window of opportunity to teach him better sleeping or his attitude and perception of things like nursing and sleeping will change and I will be able to do something to improve the whole sleeping situation.

Progress? Or Just A Lucky Night?

Today Danny fell asleep by himself again! It happened just a couple times before... like 2 and yesterday - but he cried on and off and complained and I had to go back to him like 3 times and try to rock him so I just thought he got tired and fell asleep. But today Danny woke up 15 minutes after I breasfed him and put him down sleepy (not asleep) into his crib. I tried to pick him up and calm him down but he would just cry in my arms which I cannot stand... after a 5 minute battle I just put him down and decided to give him 5 minutes to cry... after 3 minutes crying subsided and after 4 minutes I didn't hear anything... I even got worried he is unwell so I went to check on him. But he was perfectly fine - lying on his side and falling asleep... Amazing! I wonder if this is definite progress or just tonight...