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Gregory almost choked (several times) while chomping on one of the teething biscuits.  I want to quickly review 2 baby biscuit products and share with you which one to buy and which one to avoid.

 Gerber Finger Foods, Bite Biscuits

• 12 biscuits in a box
• Each are individually packed
• Net weight of 5 oz or 142 g
• Recommended for 10+ months
• $2.49 plus tax

Earth’s Best Organic – Barley Teething Biscuits

• 12 biscuits in a box
• Two biscuits per packaging
• Recommended for 9+ months
• $3.29 plus tax
• Net weight of  4.6 oz or 130 g

On the surface, Earth’s best seemed like a good deal, mainly because of it’s “organic” status.  However, I have observed that its Barley biscuits tend to break apart in rather large chunks.  In addition, they dissolved in “gritty” nodules.

On the other hand, Gerber’s biscuit did not break apart easily and they seemed to just dissolve as they were being licked by Gregory.

Conclusion: I recommend Gerber’s biscuits over Earth’s Best organic biscuits.  I will be writing a letter to Earth’s Best to let them know that I consider their products to be un-safe.

My little buddy was very whiny from the get go.  I knew something was not right when he had this sad face on and wanted to me held all the time.

It got gradually worse as the day went on, refusing to eat or sleep so I called my pediatrician.  She told me to give him a warm bath to calm him down and come in for a sick visit later in the afternoon.  I ended up jumping in the shower with him and he passed out under the warm shower  in 2 minutes!

To make the long story short, my pediatrician ended up diagnosing him with an inner ear infection and prescribed amoxicillin (anti biotics).

Moral of the story?  Be in tune with your baby’s behavior patterns!  We are all busy with work and chores but at the end of the day, our kids are what matters, right?

My wife and I were working in the dining room and noticed our little Gregory “slithering” towards one of the toy bins. Lo and behold, from the supine position, he grabbed on to the edge of the container, and slowly got him self into the knee position, then stood up!

It seems like his milestones are being hit one after another! Oh yea, his single tooth on his bottom gum has finally exposed….

Finally! After waiting and waiting (seems to do a lot of waiting!), at 10 months I finally detected a single tooth coming out from his bottom gum. I only noticed it because Gregory has a tendency of sucking on my index finger when eating sloppy food so I was able to feel the “nub”.

Yes!

Well, Gregory started to roll from his back to stomach since last week. We are overjoyed (and relieved) that he achieved this milestone but didn’t realize that the amount of our sleep will be reduced either!

Apparently, he has not quite figured out how to roll from his stomach to back just yet so he is waking us up multiple times during the night because he is stuck! Just this morning, after hearing his cry, I found him on his stomach, stuck in a corner of his crib.

We were so focused on getting him to roll from his back to stomach that we never bothered to re-inforce the other.

So dads out there,

Well, we’ve waiting for Gregory to start flipping from back-to-front and vice versa.  After 10 months of agonizing suspense, he finally started to do just that last week!  Hooray!

For those new parents out there, don’t get discouraged if your child is not progressing on his or her milestones “on-time”.  Most experts say that progress varies greatly among infants.

The unfortunate result from this milestone achievement is that now he is flipping on to his stomach, crawling to a corner in the crib,gets stuck and cries during the middle of the night!  We feel like we have regressed back to our sleep deprivation stage!   Thank goodness that I am a stay-at-home dad so that at least one of us can stay up at night.

Of course, I need to work during the night on my web ventures so I guess it’s not too bad?

After changing more than 2,000+ diapers during the last 9 months, I consider myself to be some sort of a diaper expert. I gained my expertise by facing many, many diaper leaks and unmentionable poo explosions, which incidentally were enough to make a man cringe and cry at the same time. Coupled with sleep deprivation and early morning hour eyes-half-open-but-I-am-still-sleeping diaper changes, I quickly learned to appreciate a good, quality diapers and wipes.

Here are some tips I hope you find them valuable:

Diapers – There are many brands to choose from: Pampers, Huggies, Luvs and other countless store/generic brands. In my opinion, Pampers is the best, closely followed by Huggies. Someone cane chime in to let me know if they are all manufactured by the same company, but I definitely see differences in material quality and design.

• Pampers Swaddlers/Cruizers - Pampers diapers seemed to be little bit softer than Huggies; they were also more flexible so they adapted to the baby’s body shape well. As long as we bought Pampers on sale with coupons, price differences were negligible.
• Huggies – Huggies just came out with a new line touting curved diapers (much like Pampers). Huggies materials seemed more dense than others so it felt stiff as I was putting them on Gregory. I’ve also had more leak incidents with Huggies than Pampers.
• Luvs and other generic store brands – Maybe my experience is unique but they did not fit well, nor hold up the liquid well.

TIP #1: When changing a diaper, remember that the back side (with glue tabs) are thinner than the front side – very convenient to be aware when you need to change diapers in a semi-dark room (yes, I’ve put on diapers inside-out and backwards many times)

TIP #2: This applies to boys only. Make sure his you-know-what is pointing down when putting on a new diaper! Upper section of the diaper does not contain as much absorbing materials as the bottom section. This alone will guarantee that you will not have a leak!

Baby Wipes -I have tried 3 different unscented wipes so far and I chose Berkley & Jensen Baby wipes as the best choice:

• Huggies Natural Care Wipes – Huggies wipes had the best “cotton” feel; unfortunately, sheets clumped together badly when being removed from a container so I ended up wasting a quite a bit of clean wipes. Huggies wipes also ripped easily during use (which can’t be good when cleaning up poo explosions!)
• Pampers Sensitive Wipes – Pampers had the best mix of cotton and polyester feel; wipes separated easily when being removed and they stretched well instead of being ripped. Unfortunately, Pampers Sensitive Wipes were the most expensive one out of the three brands.
• Berkley & Jensen - I have been pleasantly surprised with Berkley & Jensen; Wipes didn’t rip easily and they were uniformly moist. Although not as soft was Huggies or Pampers, but Berkley & Jensen was approximately ½ the cost of other brands.

TIP #1: Make sure to wipe all those little skin folds between legs!

Good luck with your diaper changes!

Apparently, there is trouble in the toy land again. This time regarding the use of PVCs. Today’s Wall Street Journal article talks about:

Protests Spur Stores to Seek Substitute for Vinyl in Toys

By Joseph Pereira, The Wall Street Journal

After recalling millions of toys to protect consumers from lead paint, toy makers face growing pressure over another material, a plastic found in myriad playthings, from balls to dolls.The Toy Industry Association, the manufacturers’ trade group, says polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, in toys poses no safety risks. Still, retail giants Inc., Corp. and Corp. have started programs to get rid of some of the toys and other products that contain PVC, bowing to pressure from environmental activists concerned that children who chew on PVC could ingest dangerous chemicals. Some of these chemicals have been banned in the European Union and will also be illegal in California under a law effective next year……..

……..Depending on how it is made, PVC frequently contains lead or other toxic metals. Vinyl chloride, used to make PVC, has been identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a carcinogen. Certain chemicals in the phthalate family, which often are used to soften PVC in toys and other products, have been linked by researchers to developmental and other health problems in children…………..The PVC toys that Ecology Center identified included the Fashion Fever Barbie doll from Mattel and a Classic Tinkertoy construction set from Hasbro. Mattel says it doesn’t believe that PVC poses a danger and Mattel is “in the exploratory phase with a variety of different companies for alternative plastics.” Hasbro says, “We’ve always had a policy to look at alternative materials we use in all of our toys and games, and that certainly includes PVC recently.” Both Mattel and Hasbro say they are now using a nonphthalate as a plastic softener.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has warned that phthalates like those used to soften plastic have been known to cause cancer in rats, and hormonal and developmental disruptions in children’s reproductive organs. A study of 96 baby boys in Denmark and Finland published in 2005 found that those fed breast milk from mothers who had ingested higher levels of phthalates had less testosterone at three months of age than boys exposed to lower levels. It wasn’t known how the mothers had ingested phthalates.

Another study, published in December, of 102 Bulgarian children aged 2 to 7, said that those exposed to a certain phthalate in dust were more likely to experience wheezing problems. Researchers are still trying to determine how these chemicals can enter a child’s system….chief research chemist at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says, “What we know is that phthalates at very high exposure levels result in adverse health effects in animals.”

I just don’t get. Don’t toy manufacturer’s recognize that product safety should be their primary goal? Better yet, maybe we should all start buying simple wood toys?

I always get confused between infant, toddler, etc., so I did a quick research and came up with the following:

• Newborns (0-3 months)
• Infants/babies (4-12 months)
• Toddlers (13-36 months)
• Pre-schoolers (3 – 5 years)
• Grades K-2 /kindergarten (5-8 years)
• Elementary/Grade school (8-12 years)
• Junior High (13-14 years)
• High School (14-17 years)

Just keep in mind that these general guidelines so don’t think they are set in stone!

What do people think of when they hear the words “Stay-at-home” dad? A trail blazing rebel or a burn-out? Why are more and more men choosing to stay home? Was I becoming more “in-tuned” with my sensitive side? Or, have I simply gone mad?

With the arrival of our beautiful son Greg 8 months ago, these were some of the difficult questions that raced through my head as my wife and I were about to decide on a life-altering decision: who stays home.

Trendydads.com chronicles my life journey through emotional and practical challenges of becoming his baby’s primary caregiver, a husband and an entrepreneur. So come on in, take a seat and enjoy the ramblings!

 PS.  I managed to gather copious amount of notes during the past 8 months so I will be uploading these past messages for your entertainment !!