thebibimbapmom

[thebibimbapmom]

My Elimination Communication Must-Have Items

We’ve been practicing EC with our son since he was just around two months old. Our approach has evolved along the way, based on his preferences and timing. Throughout this process, we have found some items that we wouldn’t be able to do EC without, and I’d like to share those with you. 

My Favorites

TinyTrainers

Leo’s been using these since he was around 8 months old. By then, we were successfully catching every poop so we felt safe to put him into trainers during the day. We had to size up since Leo has plump thighs :) They are well made, haven’t shrunk too much and look super cute on little tiny babies :)

TinyUps 

We use these with the TinyTrainers whenever we need to go out or when I know that I will be distracted and I don’t want pee on the ground. :) They come in really cute designs and work perfectly to catch any misses!

Komfi Baby Boxers

These look so cute on my baby boy. I’ve never seen boxers that are so tiny! You pair them with the soaker pads and they will hold at least one pee miss. 

Diaper Sprayer

This will come in handy if your baby has a poop accident. You can easily spray out the poop from the underwear.

Top Hat Potty

We used this for the first couple of months. I would feed my baby his bottle or nurse him, while sitting him on this potty. Back then, he would always poo during his feedings, so this helped a lot. However, my son grew very quickly and became much too heavy for me to continue using this so we transitioned to the Smart Potty. 

Smart Potty

Leo has used this from the beginning. At first we only use the insert, by putting it between our legs and holding Leo in a squat hold over it. Once he got big enough to sit on the potty, we began using it the way it’s supposed to be used. Leo seems to be very comfortable on this potty (we have tried another one and he hated it).

Potty

Around the time Leo turned 10 months, we purchased this potty. Leo was getting much taller and we needed a second potty for downstairs. He likes this potty as much as the Smart Potty. Both are our favorites :)

Once Upon A Potty Board Book

Leo loves this book. It has introduced him to the potty and what he is supposed to do with it. Each time we read it, he tries to go poo and pee as we’re reading it, so cute!! We got the boy version, but there’s also a girl version. I love how it normalizes the use of cloth diapers too :) 

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions, let me know here or on my instagram account: LeBibimbaps!

Some of the links in this post are a part of the Amazon Affiliates Program. This means I get a small percentage back from Amazon from any potential purchase. I only share products that are loved and well used in our home, and want to pass on to you. Clicking on these links is what keeps this blog running. Thank you for your support, and for reading my blog!

[thebibimbapmom]

My Cloth Diaper Must-Have Items

After over a year of cloth diapering with my son, I’ve had the chance to use various approaches based on the phase my son was going through at the time. With this experience, I’ve come to really love and dislike certain cloth diaper items and I thought I’d share my favorites today. 

My Favorites

Thirsties Duo Wrap Cloth Diaper Cover

I prefer the Thirsties covers because the material feels more breathable than the other types we have tried. It’s also double gusset so it will be less likely to leak around the legs. Plus they have cute patterns :) 

Buttons Organic Prefolds 

These are the softest material and work great! We used these until Leo outgrew them :( And then switched to using our Oso Cozy prefolds which are not as soft, but we received them at our baby shower and didn’t want to waste them. 

Buttons Microfiber Inserts

We use the microfiber inserts with Leo whenever we go out. They keep him feeling nice and dry even when we don’t get to change him as often as we’d like. We have also used bamboo and hemp inserts, which work well, but don’t keep Leo feeling as dry as the microfiber inserts do. 

Fitted Cloth Diapers

We use these most nights for our 1 year old. They’re much easier for us to use than a prefold with snappies because our son rolls around, kicks, arches his back etc, in order to escape the diaper from being put on. But with the fitted cloth diaper, we can snap it on quickly before he rolls away :) We haven’t experienced any leaks with these (always put a waterproof cover around them).

Snappies

These are necessary when you’re doing special folds with the prefolds and they don’t pinch or poke you or the baby, so that’s a plus!

Coconut Oil

I use coconut for EVERYTHING. My hair, as a moisturizer, cooking, face mask, etc etc So it would only make sense that I use it for my baby, right? Well, we love it and so does Leo. It keeps his skin feeling super soft and keeps the diaper rashes away. Also great for baby massages before bedtime!

A Large Wet Bag

This particular one is large, which is great when traveling for a few nights. I love that it has a pocket for storing the clean diapers, and another for the dirty diapers. 

A Small Wet Bag

Great for throwing into your diaper bag or just keeping around the house for any dirty diaper related stuff. These are also great for taking to the pool or beach to keep any wet items away from your dry stuff.

Mini Portable Washer

We like this washer a lot! It works perfectly for our needs. We wash our diapers almost every night and this really helps us to conserve water. The only thing missing is a spinner, but we just move our diapers to our own washer for a spin cycle before we hang (https://amzn.to/38LG6QF) the diapers to dry. If you’re looking for a washer with a spinner, you may like this (https://amzn.to/2QugTUP).

Diaper Sprayer

Trust me, you’ll be using this quite a bit. We used it for almost every diaper change when Leo was EBF. He would always have a little poop in his diapers and we would simply spray it off before soaking the dirty diaper.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions, let me know here or on my instagram account: LeBibimbaps!

Some of the links in this post are a part of the Amazon Affiliates Program. This means I get a small percentage back from Amazon from any potential purchase. I only share products that are loved and well used in our home, and want to pass on to you. Clicking on these links is what keeps this blog running. Thank you for your support, and for reading my blog!

[thebibimbapmom]

Tackling Nighttime Leaks

It was around the time Leo turned 11 months that we started experiencing leaks at night. At that point, we had done the switch from disposables to cloth diapers at night to minimize the waste we were producing (we had stopped using disposables during the day when Leo was around 2 months). We were using the Buttons Daytime Large Microfiber inserts with a Thirsties Duo Wrap cover. Everything was working out great....that is, until the leaks started. All of a sudden, Leo would wake up crying in the middle of the night because he had wet himself and his sheets. At that point we thought maybe cloth diapers were not going to work out and we went back to using disposables. However, Leo leaked through the disposable diapers as well! Let me tell ya, those were some rough nights! Leo had difficulties getting back to sleep after wetting himself, and we would end up spending an hour or two trying to fall back asleep. I needed to come up with a solution quick, as I was exhausted and in deep need of some Zzz’s

I decided to attempt nighttime EC. I figured, well he’s waking up anyway, why not try to potty him before he has a chance to wet himself?! Well, I gave it a try and not only did Leo not pee in the potty, he also was unable to fall back asleep. So, again, we spent hours trying to fall back asleep. 

I spent the next day searching the web for any type of solution. This is when I stumbled upon a tip from one of the mom groups on Facebook. She put her baby in a prefold folded into an angel fold with a diaper cover over it. I knew we had about five big OsoCozy Prefolds, so that night we used a prefold with a Thirsties Duo Wrap Cloth Diaper Cover. It worked!!! We finally had a full nights rest and I was so happy and excited to have solved the problem. I figured out that this approach fixed the issue because, due to Leo being a side sleeper, the pee would drip down his side and completely miss the diaper insert. However, since the angel fold prefold wraps around his hips, the pee gets caught in the prefold! 

A couple of weeks later, we had a new issue on our hands. Leo had begun to hate diaper changes. By then, he was wearing Tiny Trainers most of the day which we would put on him standing up. I suspect that’s why he no longer liked being laid down to get his diaper on anymore. Bedtime started becoming a nightmare, we would wrestle with Leo while attempting to wrap the prefold around him and click on the diaper cover. Leo would scream, arch his back, roll around and basically do anything he could to avoid getting the diaper put on.

It was then that I remembered the fitted cloth diapers (also, these), which we had not been able to use yet, since Leo’s belly was too fat. Now that he was more mobile, he had lost some of his belly fat and I thought that maybe I could try using them again. That night, bedtime was so much easier - even with a moving and rolling baby! The fitted prefolds snapped right on, (no special folds or snappi fasteners needed) making it 100 times easier and quicker to put on his diaper.

We’ve been using this system for the past two weeks and I couldn’t be happier. I hope this information has been useful to you. Let me know if you have any questions here or on my instagram account: LeBibimbaps

Talk to you all soon!

Some of the links in this post are a part of the Amazon Affiliates Program. This means I get a small percentage back from Amazon from any potential purchase. I only share products that are loved and well used in our home, and want to pass on to you. Clicking on these links is what keeps this blog running. Thank you for your support, and for reading my blog! 

[thebibimbapmom]

My Baby Must-Have Items

Ever since Leo came into my life last February, I’ve grown a collection of baby things that saved me. I’d like to share these items with you in hopes that some or all of these will help you as much as they did me. I definitely plan to have all of these on hand for my future babies.

MyBrestFriend

I heavily relied on this for the first month and a half of Leo’s life. While Leo was teeny tiny, I would lay him on this pillow and wrap my arms around him. Since this was my first baby, I really had no idea what I was doing or how to properly hold Leo while nursing. This pillow gave me the support I needed to feel safe holding my newborn baby boy. It also allowed me to have free hands to help Leo get a proper latch. I didn’t get to use it for long since Leo got very heavy. Thankfully my friend gifted me hers, so I didn’t have to pay anything for it. Once Leo started making the MyBrestFriend sag too much from his weight, I decided to stop using it. At this point Leo was big enough for me to hold comfortably without any support. 

Snuggle Me

I heard about this a month before Leo was born. It was highly recommended by everyone who had one so I just had to get it. I was able to snatch one during a sale, and thank God I did! Leo sleeps best when he’s in the snuggle me. We only let him sleep in it if he has the Owlet sock on (more on this later). Tip: The company sells “imperfects” which are a bit flawed and sold for much less than the normal price. Leo’s outgrowing it quickly. His little feet are starting to hang off the edge. A toddler size snuggle me is available to buy but the price tag is high, so I’m still debating whether to get it or not. For now, Leo is happy with his current snuggle me.

Owlet Sock

This item is pretty pricey, but in my opinion well worth it. The Owlet has brought us much peace of mind while Leo sleeps. I’ve heard of many parents checking on their child often to make sure he or she is breathing. My husband and I just check the owlet app on our phones and we know Leo is OK. We don’t even have to check our phones, since the app will sound if Leo’s heart rate gets too high/low or his oxygen levels too low. I got the Owlet Socks off of Facebook Marketplace. It was being sold brand new (never used) for half the price, such a steal! The package comes with socks in three sizes, with the largest sock lasting up to 18 months of age or 25 lbs. Leo is on the largest sock now and he’s only 5 months old. I'm hoping we can keep using it until he’s at least 12 months old.

CasaCam Baby Monitor

This baby monitor has not given us any issues in the past 5 months of use. While choosing a monitor, we kept reading reviews of how other monitors would stop working or something would break after a few months. We haven’t encountered anything like that with this monitor, and therefore, I highly recommend it. The only drawback is the battery life of the monitor. We find ourselves having to put the monitor on the charger often and wish the battery would last longer without needing to charge.

Nested Bean Zen Swaddle

This swaddle saved us during Leo’s first 4.5 months. He had a really strong Moro Reflex (”startle reflex”) and when we’d try laying him down unswaddled, within minutes he’d wake himself up and start crying. We also tried using muslin blankets to swaddle Leo, but even as a newborn, Leo would find his way out of them (I suspect we weren’t making them tight enough). Thankfully, we had this swaddle and let me tell you, Leo slept “like a baby” and so did we!! The swaddle uses velcro, so we didn’t have to do any fancy or complicated wrapping (trust me, simple is best when running on a couple hours of sleep per night). The velcro was strong enough to keep Leo from escaping. Around the 4.5 month mark, Leo outgrew the swaddle and would wake up with his arms out of it (sad days). At this point I knew it was time to teach him to sleep unswaddled (TIP: sleep suits help with that). I’d recommend buying two of these swaddles for when the other is in the wash. We only had one swaddle (they’re pricey), so we used the following swaddles which were good, but not our favorites: (SwaddleMe and Halo SleepSack).

Nested Bean Zen Sleep Sack

Once Leo was able to sleep unswaddled and without a sleep suit, I transitioned him to this sleep sack. Leo has slept much better in this sack than he has in any other. He’s nearing his 6 months now and is able to sleep fine even without this, but I think he sleeps longer in this for sure. 

Spectra Baby USA - S1

I’ve been pumping since the week Leo was born due to a low milk supply. Because of this, I got to try three different pumps (Medela Symphony, Ameda Finesse, Spectra S1) and can say that the Spectra is by far my favorite of the three. The suction is not rough on my nipples and the sound is very quiet compared to the other pumps. Another awesome thing is that it’s battery powered and rechargeable. It really is the best pump, you must get it!! The worst pump was the Ameda Finesse. It hurt my nipples and the suction was very mechanical like, it didn’t feel anything like the suckle of a baby. Not to mention that it barely pumped any milk out, even in the highest setting (ouch!).

Dr Brown’s Options Bottles and Ultra-Preemie Nipples

We realized I had a low milk supply after nights of Leo crying from hunger. Because of this, we had to supplement with bottles of pumped milk to make sure he was eating enough. We didn’t know much about the best anti-colic bottles and the thought of nipple confusion didn’t really cross our minds (we just wanted our baby to eat). After some time of bottle feeding Leo, he began getting gassy at night and was unable to sleep. He also stopped wanting to nurse all together and would get frustrated on the breast. After some research, we found out that these bottles help minimize colic and that using preemie nipples is the best choice for breastfed babies because of the slow flow. I highly recommend these bottles & nipples to anyone who plans to continue breastfeeding but finds themselves having to supplement with a bottle. As soon as we started using these nipples, Leo began wanting to nurse again.

Gripe Water (with chamomile)

As mentioned previously, for some time, Leo was getting very gassy at night after drinking his bottle. In addition to changing the type of bottle we used, we also began giving him Gripe Water. We noticed he would not wake up as often due to gas, after giving this to him. Plus the chamomile helped him sleep better! 

Baby Gym & Toys

Leo LOVES this gym! He has used it since day 1. He used to stare at the toys hanging down. Then one day I saw him swipe at the toys, which eventually led to pulling and shaking the toys. Now he sits up and touches and grabs the toys. This also saves me during diaper changes, since it distracts him while I do the “dirty work” without little hands getting in the way. 

Baby K’Tan

When Leo was between newborn to 3 months, this saved us. There were times when he would cry non-stop and the only way to sooth him was to put him in this and wear him around the house. He would usually fall asleep within 5 to 10 minutes of being worn.

Baby Tula Explore Baby Carrier

This is such a comfortable carrier. It’s easy to get Leo in and out of and doesn’t hurt my back. So far I have only worn it with Leo facing my chest. I look forward to having him face outward, I’m sure he will love it! Sometimes I take Leo out on walks with this as I feel that Leo can see and experience more when he’s in this carrier versus sitting in the stroller.

Activity Arch

This has saved us on long car rides. Before we had this, Leo would fuss a lot whenever we would slow down in the car. We had to try and catch all the green lights and avoid traffic, in order for Leo not to cry. Once we got this, Leo was entertained and didn’t mind car rides as much. He loves this activity arch so much and stares at every single part of it. Lately, he has also been pulling at the toys and interacting a lot more with it versus just staring at it. 

Coconut Oil

Extra virgin coconut oil is a must-have item for so many reasons. I use it to give Leo body massages after his baths. It also gets used to prevent and fight diaper rashes (which don’t happen often thanks to cloth diapering, more on that later). I used to apply the oil on his cradle cap too. There are so many ways to use this “magic oil”, even for yourself! 

Water Wipes

I have heard that the chemicals in other wipes can be too harsh on baby’s delicate skin. I never tried other wipes on Leo, and don’t plan to. These wipes smell fresh and work great. I also use them to wipe his mouth after he eats and to clean his hands (baby hands get so dirty & sticky). 

Thirsties Cloth Diaper Covers (AI2)

I absolutely love the Thirsties brand of cloth diaper covers. I didn’t get to start using them until Leo was a month old because they were a little too loose on him. I love these because of how thin the material is. It feels closest to a disposable diaper in terms of thickness. If you choose to use a different brand, I definitely recommend going with the AI2 system. This means you have a cloth diaper cover and an insert. With this system, you simply replace the insert when wet or soiled and reuse the cover as long as it did not get soiled. Thanks to EC (more on that later), I find that Leo sometimes does not even have a wet diaper for quite some time, which means less laundry!! yay!

Mini Portable Washer

This makes cloth diapering so much easier and less smelly. After each diaper change, the insert gets thrown into this washer where we left it full of water and white distilled vinegar (to soak). At the end of the day, we run the wash and done. This particular washer does not have a spin & rinse cycle, so we typically move our diapers down to our washers to do the final spin cycle before we hang the diapers to dry.

Buttons Prefolds

I got the bamboo unbleached prefolds and they are amazing! The fabric is super soft and I don’t worry about Leo being uncomfortable. I also got some OsoCozy prefolds but those are very rough and I worry that it could agitate Leo’s skin. I use these in combination with the cloth diaper covers rather than using regular diaper inserts.

Nursing Pillow

Once I stopped using the MyBrestFriend, I found that after some time of Leo nursing, my arm would hurt. I was afraid this was hurting Leo, and then I found this pillow online. It was an impulse buy but sooo worth it! Leo gets very comfortable on this pillow while he nurses and he eventually falls asleep. 

Baby Bjorn Smart Potty

Our family has decided to practice Elimination Communication (EC) with Leo. We started when he was four weeks old and at first I was doubtful of it, but now I’m a believer! Leo is only 5 months old and he recognizes the potty and goes pee or poop when sitting on it. We change a lot less diapers and especially less poopy diapers thanks to EC, who wouldn’t want that? :) You should definitely look into EC and give it a try, what’s there to loose? 

There you have it, my list of favorite items thus far. I hope this has helped you as you prepare for your bundle of joy. Leave me comments if you have any suggestions or feedback.

Thanks,

Bibimbap Mama!

Some of the links in this post are a part of the Amazon Affiliates Program. This means I get a small percentage back from Amazon from any potential purchase. I only share products that are loved and well used in our home, and want to pass on to you. Clicking on these links is what keeps this blog running. Thank you for your support, and for reading my blog!

[thebibimbapmom]

My birth story

I gave birth to my son on February 19th at 2:12am. The birthing time took a total of 21 hours and I used hypnobabies almost the entire time.

It all started at 5am at home in my bed. I had just laid down after going pee and I got the sudden urge to pee again. So I went to the restroom and nothing happened. I thought it was odd and went back to bed. The minute after laying down, my water broke, at which point I rushed back to the toilet as I yelled to my husband that my water had broken.

I listened to Hypnobabies tracks throughout almost my entire birthing time, until my headphone batteries died. By that point, I was in quite a bit of pain and had taken a sleeping pill which made me groggy. I wasn’t quite thinking straight and had forgotten about the speaker that I had as a backup to play the tracks. So I spent a chunk of the latter part of my birthing time without listening to anything. I regret having done that because up until that point, I had a very peaceful experience and was able to tolerate the birthing waves well as I listened to my tracks. Once I was no longer listening to anything, I began to let fear in (It did not help that the nurse kept saying that I had at least another 6 hours of this-she was wrong).

As part of my birth plan, I had included an epidural. I had every intention of getting one no matter what. I know that typically, women who use hypnobabies have unmedicated births. That was never my plan. My intention for using hypnobabies was to learn how to control/minimize the pain. I wanted to allow myself to go unmedicated as long as possible to prevent the labor from slowing down, as I had heard can happen when you get an epidural right away.

I was having birthing waves all day but I could almost not feel them at all. They weren’t strong enough to dilate my cervix. After a few hours of walking around the hospital halls, sitting on my birthing ball, doing squats, etc with no progress, the midwife decided to insert a small balloon inside my cervix to help dilate it to 3cm. This worked, but then after waiting a little longer, we saw no further progress and the birthing waves still weren’t strong. At this point, we had gone hours and hours with minimal progress and the midwife told me I could eat dinner. I was starving. It was the best meal of my life!

Then the midwife and nurse told me that I more than likely would not finish until the next day. They saw I was in pain and suggested I take a sleeping pill to rest up for the long birthing time that lay ahead. At first I was hesitant, but they insisted that I should rest. At this point I wish I would have gone with my gut feeling, but instead I agreed to take it. The sleeping pill helped me sleep, but I kept waking up every 5 minutes with pain. I don’t think I rested much at all. The pill made me feel intoxicated and nauseous. I felt very little control over my body and was extremely dizzy. This hindered me from being able to concentrate on relaxing and entering a deep hypnosis.

When they gave me the sleeping pill, they also administered pitocin to help strengthen the birthing waves. The pitocin kicked in quickly. I woke from my short nap in intense pain and feeling very nauseous. I tried getting up on my own but couldn’t. I needed to throw up. I ended up throwing up all the food I had eaten earlier. At this point, my body was shivering uncontrollably as well.

The birthing waves were coming every minute and we’re much stronger than before. In the bathroom, as I was on the toilet throwing up, the transition happened and I entered the pushing stage. My body began to push with every wave. I kept telling the nurses that my body was pushing but they did not think I was ready yet. They still believed I had hours left and they kept telling me this. Hearing this made me feel scared of what sort of pain I could feel next. So, I began to insist on being given the epidural ASAP. It took a while for the anasthesiologist to arrive but once he did, it was immediate relief. I must say though, staying still for the epidural during the pushing contractions was no easy feat.

It was at this point that they decided to check how dilated I was. (To avoid introducing any infections to the baby, they had not checked ever since they inserted the balloon hours and hours ago). The midwife was shocked to find that I was in fact 10cm dilated. They rushed to get all the equipment in and put on their suits. They removed the catheter a few minutes after they had inserted it. Minutes later, I began to push. The pushing lasted no longer than 30 minutes and I had my baby in my arms.

All in all, hypnobabies helped me to get through the birthing waves and birth with much less pain and fear than I would have had otherwise. The tracks kept my mind in the right place, I imagined each wave as a big strong hug and continued breathing slowly through each one. I kept my body and mind in a happy place and did not let myself become desperate or afraid of the pain until the end.

I plan to use hypnobabies again for all of my future birthing times. But I will make sure to avoid sleeping pills and remember to play my tracks over the speaker once my headphone batteries die. I will also bring a pair of earphones that go into your ears, so I can keep one ear unplugged since I was unable to use my headphones during the pushing because my midwife said I needed to be able to hear her.

Watch my post on YouTube where I also talk about my experience and give some tips that helped me!

Thanks,

Bibimbap Mama