Chewbeads Baby Gramercy stroller toy

Hi Mamas and Papas!

How's your week going so far?  Mine is going well, although my name (Mama) seems to sound whinier and whinier lately!!! Any of that whining over at your house?  Toddlerhood sure is challenging, can't wait to see his teenage years!!! hahaha

Well, today I'd like to talk about our Chewbeads stroller toy.  Quickly, here is what well.ca has to say about it:
100% silicone ring and beads - plastic "C" hook
Select beads glow in the dark making the toy interesting to baby, and easy to find in the dark
No BPA, no phthalates, no cadmium, no lead, no metal
Easily cleaned with dish soap and water

Ok, well, I have to first say that I LOVE Chewbeads! So, I'm not very objective here! hehe But really this is one of my favorites!  Honestly, I'm not one to attach toys to the car seat or whatever very much, plus we used the carseat cover all year round, so no place either.  Anyway, so I bought this one because it was on sale!  Looking back, maybe the Mulberry Teether would've been a better option... and I still might buy it!!! hahaha baby is teething like crazy right now, so watch me go!!!  So, to get back to the review, E chews on the hook too, but loves the toy overall!  I do love the whole string thing with the hook, even if I don't attach it, for many uses.  For example, say you're holding baby and trying to entertain her while having an adult conversation, you can hold the hook and let her play with the rest and not be worried about baby throwing the toy on the floor! Ta-Da!!  Plus, E has the best time with ev'ry part of the toy, really!  I love that it's soft on the gums, so pleasant to look at and easily washable, like really easy (you should treat a teether like a soother and wash it very frequently, so this is perfect)!  I'm just Loving that all those chemicals aren't in it  as well and that I can give that toy to my precious little baby without worrying!  She's honestly always looking for it and reaching for that one instead of her other ones, when given the choice.  For me, it's super pretty to look at and I feel good giving it to my baby: that's the main thing right here, right?! .

Now for the OT (Occupational Therapy) part, well it's a chew toy, so it basically fulfills that need! hehe ok, ok, I love that it's super easy to grab in different ways.  The ring is also big enough to fit baby's both hands and still be able to chew on it!  This also helps develop the hand to hand transfer as well as bilateral grasp.  E also loves to swing it, as the string of beads are fascinating to her.  The color contrasts are also super, captivating the baby and helping to distinguish the relief.

Overall: love this toy! love this company! I highly recommend pretty much any of their products, starting with this one!  Good thing my post isn't a drinking game, taking a sip ev'rytime I say "love" or some form of it!!!! hahaha

I personally bought it from Ana Banana (local stores in Moncton and Saint John, NB), but it's also available online on well.ca and other websites.  well.ca is having a sale right now on it actually, and if you're a first time buyer and use code: " ErgoMamaV  " you'll get $10 off a $40 purchase, until March 21st!

Thanks for reading!
V

anabananababy.com

well.ca

Tummy Time (Part 1)

Hi Mamas (and the occasional Papa!)

This post is about tummy time!  I've talked about it before, but now I want to actually get directly into the subject, for this post to be an overall reference for this.

First of all, what tummy time will do for a baby is help him develop his shoulder, core and neck muscles, for one.  As he progresses, pushing himself up, weight bearing on the hands and working the whole upper body, is great for the development.  Muscle and strength development starts from the body center and then moves away.  Hence, tummy time will help the obvious ones, like the shaping of the spine, the strength in the shoulders and the neck, etc, but will also help a baby eventually pick up small objects and even further along the years, hold a pencil right and cut with scissors (all fine motor skills basically). You get the jist!

Ok, a little bit of theory, but very useful theory: The "Back to Sleep" ("Dodo sur le dos") campaign that started in the 1990's, was very effective to reduce SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrom).  But then studies showed that just at 6months, you can see many delays (not just motor!!!) with babies who sleep on their backs versus their stomachs. Therefore, while sleeping on their backs is still the safest practice, when the babies are awake, they should be put on their tummies for supervised playtime from the very very start!   I couldn't find studies that compared babies sleeping on their stomaches versus babies sleeping on their backs with tummy time awake (especially that compare cognitive and social skills), but in clinic we see a big difference in the motor development. Sadly, this Back to Sleep campaign might've scared some parents to put babies on their stomachs AT ALL and since is has been launched there are more and more issues with fine motor skills, especially in schools, as it is often not identified before then. (Plus, I'm aiming at fine motor skills here, but there are lots of other issues the arise from this) Supervised tummy time should be done from birth!  You put your baby to sleep on his back from birth, right? well do the same for tummy time!  Why? you want to shape their brain from the start and make the right connections in there!  babies don't stay little for long (as we all know all too well!!!) and as soon as they can climb up and walk, don't even try to make them walk on all-fours!!! hehehe waste of time!!!  Of course there are other ways you can reinforce their upper body strength if they're passed their tummy/crawling phase (so don't get discouraged if you're there right now), but why not give them a good base from the start?!
All that said, please do Back to Sleep, just do supervised tummy time awake as well to outweigh!

Another big problem that came along with "Back to Sleep" is plagiocephaly.  Good news???  Tummy time will definitely help this as well!  Not to get to into this subject, but a few other basic rules apply if you see your baby has a "flat head": alternate sides you lay him down to sleep, alternate the side you give him the bottle(if you bottle feed), do skin to skin (with mama or papa) on his tummy and alternate sides you lay him down to change his diaper.  If you see it's not going away or your baby has a definite preferred side, immediately talk to your doctor about it and suggest getting referred to a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist to help.

Now that I've got you convinced on Tummy Time, I'm working on Part 2 of this with a list of Play Ideas.  My part 3 will be for older kids that are having issues with fine motor skills now and want ideas to go back to basics.

So stay tuned and I'll post as soon as I find my list makes some sense! haha

Enjoy
V

Do ONE thing today! #FridayFunDay

 

                               

Hi Mamas and Papas!
Here's a quick one! I want you to do ONE thing today, ONE thing, that's all!  One thing that will improve your interaction with your child, one thing that will improve your child's play, one thing that will help your child mature, grow and develop and basically, one thing that will make your child happy!  I'm writing this, thinking of a "child" as a baby or a toddler, but really it can be transferred to a 0-99 year old!

So, back to my thoughts: If you're like me, you have tons of toys just there for your kids to freely play.  Well, just let your child freely play and... wait for it...: Observe!!!!!! Simple, right?!  Observing will give you cues on what your child likes, not just the specific toys, but what kind of interaction he has with the toys, what kind of play he uses, does he use imagination, is there pretend play, what does his movements look like, etc.  That will then allow you to create play situations with your child that is tailored to his needs!  I always say, just play...but if you take a few minutes beforehand and observe, you get so much information to make sure playtime is maximized for both of you.

So now go.  Observe... and then Play!!
Enjoy
V