LilSugar

Bye Bye Bottle

babysugar — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:00:38 -0700

We've seen Suri Cruise tote her bottle around town since she was a wee one and many other tots still hit the bottle in their older years.

Prior to my wee one's first birthday, my doctor talked to me about transferring to a sippy cup. She explained that drinking from a bottle causes the milk, formula or juice to collect causing “baby-bottle” tooth decay.

To see what the AAFP recommends, read more.

The American Academy of Family
Physicians provides five tips to avoid baby-bottle tooth decay:

Put your child to bed with a bottle of plain water, not milk or juice.
Stop nursing when your child is asleep or has stopped sucking on the bottle.
Try not to let your child walk around using a bottle of milk or juice as a pacifier.
Start to teach your child to drink from a cup at about 6 months of age. Plan to stop using a bottle by 12 to 14 months at the latest.
Don't dip your child's pacifier in honey or sugar.

Source

Sippy Cups Can Lead to Speech Issues

LilSugar — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:00:51 -0800

Sippy cups save mothers from mopping up spills and allow tots a bit of freedom to roam with their beverages, but now the convenient cups have been linked to speech delays in children.

According to a recent WebMD article, sucking on the sipper's stiff spouts may lead to lisps and slurred speech. To see how to solve the problem, read more. Sandra Holtzman, a speech pathologist said:

If a child goes from the breast or the bottle to a sippy cup, they tend to drink it as if it were a bottle. They lie back or tip their neck in the usual manner, so it's almost like drinking a bottle. They have a hard object or spout with various shapes depending on the type of cup, and their bodies are tipped back. This hard object or spout misplaces the tongue and pushes the teeth out as the thumb can.

For parents looking for a solution, experts suggest switching out sippy cups with those with straws.

Too Old For the Bottle?

babysugar — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:00:04 -0800

At my daughter's one year appointment, my doctor told me it was time to change over to sippy cups and leave the bottle behind. Luckily for me, it was an easy transition.

The almost two–year–old Suri Cruise is one celeb tot that still totes a bottle. Does your babe still hit the bottle?

Source

Texts and Tunes: Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay

LilSugar — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:00:47 -0800

Everything changes after you welcome a child except your sense of humor. This is the point Stefanie Wilder-Taylor makes in her book Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay: And Other Things I Had to Learn as a New Mom. From meeting other new moms (that you like) to dealing with traveling, her take on motherhood provides a laugh out loud dose of reality. Each short essay eases anxiety for new moms by looking at the comical side of parenting.

This is no What to Expect When You're Expecting; Wilder-Taylor swears like the best of them as she assures women that they can be good mothers - even if they don't spend $800 on a stroller.

Does Motherhood Drive Women to Drink?

LilSugar — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:00:28 -0700

Crayons, check. Puzzles, check. Chilled Pinot Grigio, check. Mamas may wish to hold onto pieces of their pre-baby lives with a cocktail here and there, but the phenomenon of the spiked playdate or daily "wine-o'clock" drink seems to be more common.

The stress – felt by both working and stay-at-home moms – to be the perfect parent has led to women confessing their mommy moments which often include a drink or two before the lil ones hit the hay. Forty-six percent of lilsugar readers recently admitted to driving their kids after casually drinking, while Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, author of Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay, told her fans that she was sobering up after realizing that she was drinking two, three or even more cocktails while home with her children. According to the New York Times, "better-educated women are more likely to drink than less-educated ones; so are women employed outside the home versus those who stay at home."

Do you think motherhood is driving women to drink, or are women just being more open about it than before?

Lip Tip: Safe Sippy Cup

LilSugar — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 04:00:00 -0800

Plastic, kids cups are a thing of the past for parents worried about the rise in Bisphenol A and other chemical warnings. Now it's all about stainless steel, and the Safe Sippy has cornered the market. The $15 non-leaching, 11-oz. cup is selling off the shelves. The insulated, dishwasher-safe Kid Basix cup features removable handles, a straw-shaped spout and no-leak valves.

BornFree Goes Beyond Bottles

babysugar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:30:51 -0800

Vanilla ice cream, Dove soap, and a cup of joe: these are a few of my favorite things because there is no worry attached to them. I get that same feeling when I am buying something from BornFree. The company that put BPA free products on the motherhood map has expanded to include more than just nipples and sippy cups. Mothers can now enjoy peace of mind when it comes to pacifiers and teethers, too. Expectant ladies looking to stock their shelves with tried and true bottles may enjoy the gift set ($25) that includes a bit of everything. Even now, my almost 1-year-old boy can't get enough of the teething-gum-brushing-blue-ringed toy. The pliable object may have sent Sophie the Giraffe down to the minors.

Lil Links: Try These Tasty Recipes For a Spooky Spectacle

babysugar — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:30:16 -0700

18 spooktacular recipes - Parenting
Jenna Elfman drags out her non-maternity gear in a mini - Celebrity Baby Blog
Registry must haves for moms-to-be - Fit Pregnancy
Oye! She's still using a sippy cup in grade school - CafeMom
Holly Robinson-Peete wishes the Travoltas spoke out earlier about autism - ParentDish
Salma Hayek says the pregnancy glow is a lie - Celebrity Baby Scoop
The baby manicure tragedy - The Laughing Stork
Help find these recently missing children - Mom Logic
Do you write down what your kids say? - The Poop
Mother-daughter relationships - Real Simple

Deciding on a Bottle For My Baby-to-Be: Weil Baby

LilSugar — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:30:10 -0700

Bottoms up! When it comes time to move baby from breast to bottle, there are a lot of options on the market. When my son was born, I swore by a barely known brand of bottles that quickly gained momentum after the Bisphenol A scare called BornFree. The non-toxic containers didn't leak and had sippy cups made in their likeness so my child was able to easily transition to a big boy cup at about 4 to 5 months old. While I'm still a fan, there's a new line on the market that I'm equally impressed by and considering for my baby-to-be - Weil Baby. Having read a few of the renowned health experts books, I was anxious to check out Dr. Andrew Weil's bottles, training cups, brushes, and silicone nipples and pacifiers. Though creating modern eye candy wasn't his intent, the line's ergonomic lines will be popular with design conscious parents as well as eco-friendly families. Made from glass and Tritan, a clear BPA free material, the bottles ($18 - $19 for a 2pk) have a built-in venting system (no tedious washing!) that helps eliminate gas bubbles and colic in kiddos. The goods are sold in recyclable packaging so you can also feel good about lessening your wee one's carbon footprint.

Day Care Offices Offer Best of All Worlds For Working Moms

LilSugar — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:00:22 -0700

Pack your briefcase and don't forget the sippy cup. While the debate over the success of working mothers rages on, many mamas seek out jobs that allow them to work from home in order to achieve the balance they desire. Having the flexibility to conduct their business as their wee ones wander about sounds like an ideal situation until the kiddos refuse to take their naps and mom is forced to conduct a conference call hiding on the floor of her closet.

Babysitters, nannies and traditional day care centers may be available to watch the kids, but where does that leave the work from home mom? Cubes and Crayons is one solution. A Bay Area co-working space, the first of its kind, offers on-site day care for members. The mostly female members can use desk space, WiFi, communal kitchens and lounge areas while their lil ones enjoy all of the benefits of day care right next door. Members pay based on the frequency with which they use the space and are surrounded by parents in similar working situations.

Would you consider joining a co-working day care center to allow you to maintain your career while still spending as much time with your children as possible?