Snug-A-Bug-Blog

When I found out I was pregnant the first thing I wanted to buy was a new crib set. I started my Internet search for the perfect bedding which would set the perfect decor for the nursery.I wasn’t interested in any of the regular baby designs and so many of the baby sets had really cheap feeling material.

After a lot of looking at shops and seeing many sets that were nice but were a crazy price, $600+ seems like a lot for a crib set in my opinion, I decided to check eBay. Day after day I would search through hundreds of different sets.

Finally I settled on a print that wasn’t frou frou and very unisex, I did not know at that point if I was having a boy or a girl. It had dragonflies and ladybugs and would take 4-6 weeks to be made. I plunked down my money and waited diligently for the set to arrive.

At about 4 weeks I noticed that the sellers rating numbers were slowly going down. When I checked originally everyone had been happy with their set but had complained about the speed of delivery, I was only 3 months pregnant at the time so I could wait. Now though people were saying that they had not received their sets, the seller was no longer returning e-mails and the phone number was disconnected.

Needless to say I did not receive my perfect crib set. I did get a full refund, returned through Paypal and my credit card company.

I have since that experience have bought many things off eBay without any problems.

I will be posting Part 2 in a few days.

Tags: eBay, crib set, parenting, motherhood, buying online, Minky, Minkee, bedding, decor, baby

Posted on Saturday, September 9th, 2006 at 10:00 am

A few years ago, I had a friend whose Granddaughter was learning sign language to help her communicate before she could speak.At the time I thought it was strange, but before I became pregnant I heard about more parents who were teaching their hearing children sign language. It made sense, babies and toddlers are unable to speak but understand language and often become frustrated at their inability to get what they want.

Many people who have tried teaching their babies to sign and say that it really helps with the terrible two’s. As toddlers they are less frustrated because they can communicate with their caregivers and get what they need and want.While I was pregnant I started to look into different programs and books to help you teach your baby signs. Joseph Garcia’s Sign with your Baby seemed to be the best. It comes with a book, DVD (you can get a VHS video if you still haven’t made the plunge to DVD but I have to ask why?), and a reference card. You can find used copies on eBay. I read the book when Georgia was about 4 months old, and I tried using a few signs with her like milk, eat, and more. I quickly got bored and slowly stopped doing the signs.

Last week Jay decided to throw the DVD in the player to watch. It was very cute all these babies doing signs and the parents seemed happy with the results. The nice thing about the DVD is that you could see how to actually do the signs. So we decided to try again. It suggests the signs “milk”, “more”, and “eat”. We also decided to try dog, drink and water.

After about 4 days, Georgia was in here high chair eating strawberries. She finished what she had been eating and it looked like she was signing “more”. So I gave her a few more, when she was done, she signaled more again. It was very exciting that she learned that quickly and she looked so proud of her new language.

You can get a variety of books and flashcards to help teach your baby how to sign:

SIGN with your BABY Complete Learning Kit: US DVD Version, Book, Training Video (DVD), Quick Reference Guide

Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk, New Edition

Has anyone else tried signing with their baby?

Tags: baby, parenting, motherhood, signing with your baby, ASL, Joseph Garcia, communicating with your baby

Posted on Thursday, September 7th, 2006 at 10:00 am

One of the best books that I read while pregnant to prepare for labour was Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth.The book is divided into 2 sections, the first is full of positive birth stories, the second is tips and advice to make labour easier.

Ina May Gaskin is America’s foremost midwife and has compiled a lot of information tips and advice to help get you through labour without intervention.

While I was going through labour, the chapter “Let Your Monkey Do It” carried me through, I let my body do what it had to and followed its cues as to how to make the labour easier.

My labour was easy. It lasted only 6 hours and I had no medications or interventions. It was the labour and delivery I wanted. Both my husband’s support (and back massage), and the information from the book helped to get me through the labour the way I wanted. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting a natural medication free birth.

Tell me what books or tips helped you through labour?

Tags: labour, labor, pregnancy, childbirth, midwife, natural, parenting, motherhood, medical

Posted on Monday, September 4th, 2006 at 10:20 pm

I was happy to discover that Baby Center has started a Canadian version of their site. While I was pregnant I used their UK site.

The Baby Center lets you put in your due date or babies birthday and they send you weekly updates about the stage in the pregnancy or the developmental stage your baby is at. They also have advice and support for those trying to get pregnant.

As well they have a forum so you can “meet up” with other Mom’s and Mom’s to be.

Posted on Wednesday, August 30th, 2006 at 12:40 pm

I was just clicked through a link onto the Oprah Show asking what were your favourite Baby Shower gifts, and I thought it would make an excellent blog post.

There were three things that I could not have made it though the first 6 months of motherhood without—all of them bought off of eBay, none of them received as shower gifts—but I believe any Mother would be thrilled to receive them as a gift.

The first was my Boppy. I am a breastfeeding mother, who was determined to make it through the rough beginning no matter what. I could not have done it without my Boppy. In fact I have 2 Boppies one for upstairs and one for downstairs. It seemed like all I did for the first three months was breastfeed my daughter. The boppy allowed me to have my hands sort of free and get her in just the right position to latch onto the breast properly. It was definitely a life-saver.

The second item was the Fisher Price Cradle Swing. When we put Georgia in the swing she would sleep 5, 6 even 8 hours in a row, which meant that we could sleep 5, 6 even 8 hours in a row. It was a sanity saver. We didn’t have the swing for the first 2 months, and when we put Georgia down to sleep in her bassinet, crib, or safety sleeper she would sleep an hour maybe an hour and a half at a time.

Another plus about the cradle swing—because the baby sleeps at a slight incline, it takes the pressure off of their head and keeps them from having that flat head some kids get due to the “Back to Sleep” SIDS prevention campaign. A big negative about the swing is that in takes 4 D Batteries, and we went through them quickly. Fisher Price should think about adding an optional plug-in adapter to help save on those batteries.

The last baby product that I couldn’t live without was the Baby Bjorn Carrier. We bought a travel system stroller and car seat, so we could easily take Georgia out shopping and be able to transport her from car to stroller without waking her. This never worked. As soon as we got into the store she would start crying—we then found ourselves carrying her while pushing this big empty stroller—not fun.

Once we bought the Baby Bjorn she was much happier. She especially liked being able to see all the people when she was out. People also interacted with her because she was up on your chest. I think that it helped with her with her social development, and it is so much easier to move around shops without a stroller.

The Bjorn was a also a life-saver at home—if she was a little fussy I could slip her in to the carrier and still get stuff done around the house.

Now too big for the Bjorn, she enjoys the stroller as she can sit up and see out. I was able to sell one of my Baby Bjorn’s on eBay for more then I paid for it.

(Shameless plug ahead) I would be remiss if on the Snug-A-Bug Blanket Blog, I didn’t recommend any of my blankets as great shower gifts. They are perfect for the Fisher Price swing, carseat, and your travel system stroller (that your baby may or may not like).

Tell me what your three favourite things were for your first 6 months with baby.

Tags: Baby, breastfeeding, baby products, ebay, Oprah, Boppy, cradle swing, Fisher Price, Must have baby items, baby shower gifts, gift, parenting, motherhood

Posted on Saturday, August 26th, 2006 at 12:00 pm

I can not believe it but my daughter is 11 months old today. The time seems to have flown by. She has been such a big change in mine and Jay’s life, yet (I know this is cliché) I can not remember how life was before her.

There is no sweeter sound than her giggle, and her now toothey smile is magnificent.

We hemmed and hawed about having a baby for many years, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to have kids. They just seemed so restrictive. Now I wonder why we waited so long.

Happy 11month Birthday Georgia!

Tags: Baby, parenting, 11 months

Posted on Friday, August 25th, 2006 at 12:45 pm

Before Georgia was born, my husband Jay and I decided to use cloth diapers instead of disposables.

I didn’t like the idea of throwing all that plastic into a landfill and the chemicals used to make diapers white—not to mention having those chemicals up against my baby’s skin all day.

As I started to look into cloth diapers I could not believe the cost difference. Although cloth diapers are expensive in the beginning, I think we have spent about $600-700, that is much less than the costs of disposables. The cost I have read are about $2000/year!

While researching the different cloth diaper manufacturers, I was pleasantly surprised a lot of the companies are Canadian. The two spots we have bought diapers from are The Baby Marketplace and Mother-ease. I loved the way the MJ fitted diapers looked and they have worked very well. The air-flow covers by Mother-ease do not leak. We had used Bummis diaper covers at first and found that they leaked, I am not sure if it was us or the wraps themselves. Luckily I was able to sell them on eBay .

I must admit we have used some disposable diapers. It just seems like to much work to bring cloth diapers with us when we are away from home, not to mention carrying the dirty diapers around with us. There are some diapers that are chlorine free, Seventh Generation. They seem to work better than huggies and pampers with no leaks, although because of their taupe colour and lack of cartoon characters they do attract attention.

Overall I would have to say I am happy with our decision to use cloth diapers as our primary diapering. Laundering them isn’t much work, an extra load every other day. Cloth diapers today are not the same as years ago no folding or pins, they have been replaced by snaps and Velcro.

The one item I need to recommend for all cloth diaper users is the gamma seal lids for your diaper pail. The lid screws onto standard 5 gallon buckets (the kind used for paint or pickles) and no smell comes out, but when you open it watch out. You can get them at The Baby Marketplace and Lee Valley.

Tags: cloth diapers, diaper pails, diaper covers, gamma seal, mother-ease, the baby marketplace, bummis, seventh generation, lee valley, baby

Posted on Friday, August 25th, 2006 at 5:30 am

Welcome to Snug-A-Bug blankets.

I began by sewing blankets for my daughter, Georgia. So many people wanted to know how to get one for their own child or as a gift that I decided I would offer my designs for everyone.

Most of the blankets that you buy are not great for using with a car seat or stroller. The blankets I have been designing are meant to be used with a stroller and carseat. They have supersoft minky lining for your special baby to snuggle against and are backed with colourful hip designs.

Not the mass produced designs you see everywhere. Different from other minky blankets with the soft “snug” at the top off the blanket, a trim edge of cuddly soft Minky-Line fabric, providing the perfect softness when tucking in your baby.

Every item is made with love on my Grandmother’s 1950’s Pfaff sewing machine, like I was making it for Georgia.

I will be adding new things regularly so please keep checking back.

You can check out my latest designs at my Etsy store.

Posted on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 at 10:37 am