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Friday, June 19, 2015

Minbie bottle & nipple review

June 19, 2015 0 Comments
When I was given the chance to review the Minbie nipple (and bottle) I was thrilled. As a mom to a breastfeeding baby, I am exhausted. But as a mom to a breastfeeding baby who won't take a bottle, I am fried. I knew the second I saw the photos of the Minbie that this would be worth a shot!

When we opened it, I was so ecstatic to find that they mailed it to us all the way from Australia! How awesome is that?!







Inside the packaging was a nice letter from Minbie. A bottle (which I had no idea was coming!) and a 3+ month nipple. The bottles are available in either 120ml glass or a 210ml BPA-free plastic. The nipple is made from a high-quality silicone. They are available in a wide range of flows from x-tra slow for your newborn to advanced for your baby who is 6 months or more. The newborn feeding kit is perfect as a gift or first time mom. It includes a plastic bottle and slow flow nipple.

https://minbie.com/product/newborn-feeding-kit/






 I right off the bat was very intrigued by the design - it's an elongated nipple that seems so much like what a breastfeeding baby is used to - Winning so far!



 So was Palmer, apparently. Because I had barely pulled it from the packaging when she scooped it up and started sucking on it! I have given her a bottle three separate times now, each time from the Minbie, and each time she has drank it like a champ! The Minbie has helped our non-bottle-taking 9-month-old to take a bottle as if she has had one since 9 weeks! Fabulous!












I liked this diagram the best from the Minbie website, to show just exactly WHY Minbie is a better nipple design than other nipples. Why it's best for a baby transitioning to a bottle. Or even a baby transitioning FROM the bottle to be breastfed. I think the best part is the elongated nipple - it sits farther back in the mouth, just like a mother's nipple does! We are only a few weeks in, and the real test comes when she takes the bottle from someone besides me! Hopefully all goes as smoothly as it has thus far. If you have a baby struggling to take a bottle, you really should order the Minbie here. If you have a baby you have been supplementing for some time and want to wean back to the breast, you should consider giving it a try! Thanks again to Minbie for giving us a chance to review this amazing bottle + nipple, and giving mom a chance for some sleep!





Monday, February 16, 2015

Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit

February 16, 2015 2 Comments

When given the chance to review the Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit, I was pretty excited! I have heard nothing but good things about it on my birth boards, and a quick google search made me realize it's the topic of many discussions on mom-sites. "MMSS", "Magic sleepsuit????", "Help! Is the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit really worth it?" were just a few of the many topics I came across while looking up what it was. Was it possible that a zip-up, "snowsuit" looking outfit could help a non-sleeping baby sleep? Would it help improve Palmer's sleep when she was going through a growth spurt? Would I screw things up by getting one for my already-sleeps-through-the-night 5 month old? What's so awesome about the Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit? Would baby overheat in it? Was it safe? Is it going to be counteractive to the already safe-sleep practices we use in our home? (she only has a fitted sheet on her crib, and pre-Merlin, went down, on her back in an Aden + Anais swaddle blanket)


The day we received our sleepsuit in the mail, I was pretty excited. I won't lie - we had some giggles over the marshmallow-man effect it gave Palmer. It looks hilarious. First night down, I put her inside of it in just her diaper (the video is her first night) I carried her up and laid her in her crib right after the video. Let me warn you - I did not rehearse or practice, and I am apparently NOT the greatest at video reviews. But I know that I needed to get this blog posted before the info left my mind, so I am sharing the video anyway, in it's not-so-awesome, mumbling glory.

http://youtu.be/oJ2FpXWQ-PU


She slept awesome! No stirring around the normal 5:30 am timeframe like she usually does! She slept until just before my 7:30 am alarm went off! Amazing! She did wake up with chilly cheeks, hands, and feet, though. So I made a mental note to put socks on next time.

Night 2: I placed Palmer into the sleepsuit in just a onesie. My babies tend to sleep warm, and I didn't want to overheat her, so we tried it with a onesie this time. My only complaint from that night was her poor toes were so cold in the morning, again. I had forgotten to put her socks on after getting her into the suit! So the next night, we did a onesie and SOCKS. In the morning, around 5:30, she woke up to eat, and her legs had somehow gotten pulled up, into the sleepsuit. Bummer! I thought of how annoying that was going to be each night, to have to reach up into the tiny leg hole and pull her legs back down.

Night 3: Palmer went down in a onesie (and socks this time!) and slept 6 hours straight! Fantastic! She hasn't been feeling well, so I am not surprised she awoke after a mere 6 hours, but I honestly wonder if we would have even had THREE hours had she not been zipped up in the comfort of her new Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit. Cheeks and toes were a bit chilly, so apparently I just need to learn to up my thermostat for our bedroom temp. Palmer sleeps in her crib, which is against our bedroom window.

Night 4: After the cold feet/cold cheeks night, I decided to go ahead and give her a try in the sleepsuit in a light sleeper. We followed the same routine we always do - feed her around 9:00pm, and by 9:30, she is drowsy and zipped up, ready to lay down. She slept amazing that night too, however, when she woke up around 7:00, she was a little sweaty. I do know my kids are warm sleepers, so I expected this, but wanted to have a good comparison of the different ways she went down in it, to help with this review. So I know for me personally, she runs a little cool in just a diaper, a little hot in footed sleepers, and just right in a onesie, provided she has socks to keep those toes warm!

I love the snugness and warmth it provides to my daughter, and honestly, I feel she does too. I know that's the reason she sleeps fantastic when in the sleepsuit, no matter what she's wearing. Many nights, when she wakes up for the first time, she is frantic and fussing. When I get to her crib, she has busted out of the comfort of her swaddle and has one arm out and the unraveled the blanket and it's sitting on her face! The Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit has eliminated that scared-to-death, pit-in-my-stomach feeling I've gotten several mornings (or middle of the nights) when I wake up to her with a blanket on her face, wriggling to get out from under it.

I can imagine the Merlin would have been a great addition to our family several weeks ago! It's been a lifesaver for a baby who is slowly learning how to break out of the swaddle, but not yet ready to sleep in her crib without something swaddling her.

Maureen is the brilliant mind behind the Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit. She is a mother of 4, and a pediatric physical therapist. When her own son wasn't sleeping well in his crib at night, she created the Magic Sleepsuit to stimulate the calming, comforting environment of his car seat, where he slept soundly. The sleepsuit is designed to replace loose bedding a promote back sleeping, giving baby a wonderfully peaceful environment to sleep in. It reduces their reflexes, which in turn helps them stay sleeping longer periods of time. Made from a soft microfleece outer-layer and a soft cotton inner-layer, sandwiched between the two is a layer of poly-fil, the awesome combination makes a just-right sleep environment for baby. Best of all? As a mom of four, I can't imagine how difficult this product would be if it had one, centered zipper or wasn't machine washable. However, it IS machine washable (win!) and also has a DOUBLE zipper which not only makes getting Palmer into and out of the suit a breeze, but diaper changes are fantastically easy too!

It comes in several different color choices and is affordable at the price of $39.95.

There are so many reasons why the sleepsuit is a great addition to our home. The main one? Fantastic sleep! With sleep, everything else falls into place. When Palmer isn't sleeping, I am not sleeping, and when mama isn't sleeping? Well, chaos ensues. So thanks so much to the Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit for eliminating the chaos!