A Dirty Business

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Posted by Dana

There are quite a few diaper pails out there on the market...The Diaper Dekor, Champ, Genie, Arm & Hammer Munchkin and the list goes on. Most have their own special bags so that your initial $35 dollar purchase costs you another $5 every month. ($60 a year for 2+) So you go out and buy one of these fancy plastic trash cans and everything is smooth sailing until your baby starts on solid food and you realize that while you felt you were getting your monies worth by filling the bag to the brim in the past you can no longer do so because at half full no brand of room deodorizer or air purifier can put a dent in the stench. You add baking soda or maybe you even have the one that does it for you every time you close the lid. Still, no help. So what happened? Why did this great diaper pail that got so many rave reviews fail?

The answer is in the third sentence above...plastic. The other answer is that waste stinks. Literally. Plastic absorbs odors my friends so eventually no matter what fancy frills your plastic diaper pail has it can not over come this simple fact. Eventually your little saving grace will be your little stinking grace. So what can we do?

Unless you can take the little balls of offensive odor out to the garage every time(better your garage stinking than the nursery) you have only one pail option...stainless steel.



The pail pictured above is the VIPP Stainless Steel Diaper Pail. It comes in a variety of colors and you can have this pretty little paper weight in your home for the heart-stopping price of $248. Don't worry, you don't need your eyes checked. I actually typed that a diaper pail was over $200. Some models are even over $300. Before you get bent out of shape at the injustice, anyone who has ever shopped for a kitchen or bath stainless trash can knows that they have a higher price tag. The model above has a super smell stopping seal but most any stainless trash can will do. So trade in your old plastic stinky relic and upgrade to a stainless and see firsthand why it is #1 in the #2 business.

Terusin Bacanya......

Maternity Clothes

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Posted by Dana

An excerpt from:

Maternity and Post Natal Notes for Meredith
(aka The unsolicited advice that will eventually annoy you)

Old Navy and Motherhood Maternity are the best places to get nice casual or work clothes for an affordable price.

DO: Splurge on a pricey pair of maternity jeans for two reasons: one, because you will have something you can dress up or down as needed and two, because there will be times when you need to feel pretty and maternity jeans that still make you look slim are a godsend.
DON'T: Buy too many "under the belly” styles. They are fine for the first two trimesters but unless you want to buy more clothes at month seven, invest in the “secret belly fit” option. As your stomach gets bigger the pressure from most under belly styles will become uncomfortable.

There is a store called Destination maternity which is Motherhood, MiMi and a Pea in the Pod all under one roof. They have some great sale racks and it's definitely worth a trek to north Dallas to get the "nice" jeans and their lingerie selection is vast. I also purchased some maternity/nursing gowns there that I still wear because they are so comfortable.

I also still wear my old navy tank tops. I have them in every color, they were cheap and did not lose their shape.

Terusin Bacanya......

Preparing for a teething puppy...I mean child

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Posted by Dana

If you are in the market for a crib and you feel like I did (and still do) that a convertible crib is an awesome idea then you need to purchase a little item called a plastic guard. You will not need it right away, but once you see that first tooth coming through you need to hop skip and jump to your local Home Depot and grab one or your crib rail will look like this:

Derek is not the only tot to ruin a future foot board. The plastic guard is just an inexpensive small piece of clear plastic that is worth every penny. You might worry that it is an eyesore but I assure you that it looks a lot better than the alternative.

Terusin Bacanya......

Thermometers

Monday, February 16, 2009

Posted by Dana

Thermometers are just like any other baby category. There are so many different types and different spins on the same item. There are basically five types pf thermometers:

Rectal, Oral, Temporal, Ear and Armpit

Oral is not considered a viable option for infants and your pediatricians office will ask you for your child's rectal temperature if you call them with an issue as the rectal temperature is the most accurate.

I have used every type (except the oral obviously) and while the ear and temporal sound fool proof, if they are not done exactly right the reading will be off. I actually own the two options pictured above and the top one is my absolute favorite. I am sure I am not the first mother or caregiver that has been a little worried about sticking something up my child's behind. What is nice about this thermometer is that the display screen is large and lights up. In addition, the portion that you insert is short so there is no concern of going too deep.

Terusin Bacanya......

Baby Bathtubs

Monday, January 12, 2009

Posted by Dana

You can spend countless hours pouring over all of the baby tub reviews like I did or you can come to terms with the simple fact that there really isn't a comfortable or easy way to bathe a small infant and one tub is pretty much as useful as the rest. Soap and water will clean a baby just as effectively in a $10 tub as a $40 one regardless of what the ads say.

There are new tubs out that will do fancy things like tell you the water temperature, circulate the water and add bubbles, and there are tubs with fancy slings and attachments. Each style of tub or bathing apparatus works best during certain stages. I personally tried the Fisher Price Rainforest Bathtub and the Mother's Touch Comfort Bather.

When my son was a newborn I found the easiest way to bathe him was lying on a thick folded bath towel next to the sink with a baby towel over him. This prevented him from getting cold and kept his cord stump dry. I found that using the newborn sling caused him to get cold and not enjoy his bath time as much. Now that he is older, the rainforest tub works well for both a baby that can and can not sit up. My only wish for the rainforest tub is that they pad the back of the slanted seat. My son tended to slide sideways.

As for the comfort bather, I am not overly fond. Not only does my son slide down in the seat but he is high enough out of the water that he gets a bit cold.

I have since purchased the Aquababy Bath Ring. The downside is that his little hiney slides around a lot. I solved that problem by using a thick rubber kitchen drawer liner. Once the sliding debacle was address he splashed, played and had a grand time.

Aqua Baby Bath Ring

Mother's Touch Comfort Bather

FP Rainforest Tub

So which tub is for you? It really boils down to preference. I personally think that the Rainforest tub (and those like it) was the best transitional tub. It will easily work for an infant up to 12 months (or older) depending on the size of the child. For both the tub and bath seat, rubber drawer liner solved the slipping problem.

Terusin Bacanya......