TEETHING BABIES

A very good friend of mine has organised some sales for us to Australia. (She's very clever too - please check out her website)

We are excited to be "international" now :o)

Our Willow Cottage Double-Ended Spoon and Triangle Teethers will be flying over to Australia to be chewed on by little Australians. That's lovely.


So while we are talking about teething babies (and while the memory of last night with a crying little man not going to sleep for hours and hours ... and walking up and down ... singing ... putting him in the swing .... is still very very fresh in my mind) I thought I would just share a few teething hints that we've used over the years.

We have used Weleda Teething Powder - just a little on a spoon and into baby's mouth. We also give this to older children whose teeth are hurting - either losing teeth or getting new ones. However, our current little baby is dairy-free and because this powder is in a lactose base we're better off to use our next choice:

Naturo Pharm Teethmed Relief Spray. After a little research and discussions with people I still really don't know where I stand on the sometimes controversial topic of homoeopathic remedies. But I include this spray on my list because it seems to work very well, and gives babies relief.

Another great idea is to give baby a clean cloth to chew on. Or you can wet a corner of a facecloth (boiled water if baby is very little, or if your water is not the best). Squeeze facecloth out and put into a plastic bag in the fridge (freezer if baby is older). When the facecloth is cold (frozen), take it out of the bag and give it to baby to chew. Remember to replace the cloth with another so you have one for later.

Distraction is a wonderful tool too. Playing a game with baby, reading to them, clapping and singing (we were doing our Cozy Time this morning and singing and dancing. Every time the children stopped singing and dancing our baby started to cry again because he remembered his teeth were hurting him).

Baby Carriers! Teething babies OFTEN want to be held. All day. Use a sling, a frontpack, a backpack, a wrap ... whatever you have and whatever you find to be comfortable. If you have a baby carrier that pinches or hurts your back then please try and find something else. Unless you have a very bad back/shoulders/neck then there is usually some sort of carrier that will work for you and your baby. Ask my friend! She knows heaps about baby wearing!!!

An indoor swing is a fantastic resource. We have a wooden, rope and canvas swing which we were blessed to find at a fundraiser sale and it's had so much use.





Daddy has put big strong hooks in the doorway so children can swing inside. Heaps of fun, and it's been used for teething babies, and children with a fever etc. If a sick child is happy to swing quietly we just tuck their feet up into the swing when they fall asleep and leave them there! We keep an eye on them of course!

Babies who are dribbling a lot may get a very sore rash on their chins. Dry it carefully and apply a little Tui Bee Balm - this is a natural and very effective barrier/healing balm.


Dribbling babies don't need to wear bibs all the time to keep their clothes dry - some parents like the look of a bandana worn cowboy style.

Oh! Have I mentioned Willow Cottage Double-Ended Spoon and Triangle Teethers???!!! Very effective, safe and absolutely beautiful to hold and feel.


We think our Amber Teething Necklace works too. One day I had forgotten to put our (then) 2
year old's necklace on. He was scratchy and horrible all day. When Daddy got home he said "Hasn't he had his necklace on?". Why did I forget?!?!?

We purchased our necklace from Nadine28 on trademe. Here is one of her current auctions.



We don't give our babies solids until they are around one year old, so they don't have rusks or anything till then. Our latest baby has had a little food - some avocado and some slippery elm, but he's not really very keen and I'm happy to wait till he's older before introducing food properly.

Also - MUMMY MILK! Mummy Milk has natural God-made painkillers!! Let your baby nurse as often as they want. Ensure that Mummy has a good, moderate, healthy diet with no alcohol, drugs or anything nasty (like caffine or chocolate... sorry! but these things are not good for babies!!!!!!!!) :o)

I'd just like to add here the most important thing we can do for our babies and children, from pre-conception onwards; when they are well, when they are sick, when they are happy, sad, disappointed, hurt, confused, irritated ... always - pray for them, pray WITH them, and tell them that you love them. You love them so very much, and that God who made them, and knows them so well loves them even more.


Please let me know if you have any other hints to help babies cope through this very painful time.


Blessings
The Mummalady

TUI BALMES

Here's a picture our oldest son did to celebrate the fact that WE ARE NOW SELLING TUI BALMS!



Roll on over to our website www.willowcottage.co.nz and have a little look at the range of Tui Balms we stock.

Totally natural, effective, pleasant to use and very cost effective.


And yes - Bee Balm is just the thing if you find yourself suffering from a little sunburn.


Blessings
The Mummalady

A LITTLE WHITE LIE? A LITTLE BIT OF IMAGINATION?

Little girl and a brother stayed home with Daddy, while Mummy took some of the other children to a country craft fair.

When Mr 5 got home from the fair he was keen to tell about what he'd seen.

"There was a man selling soap ..." he was struggling to recall, " ... and a man with no shoes selling the stuff that he put on my bee sting ..."

I think, at this point, he realised that even though there was a lot to see, he hadn't remembered much at all.

So - to make the story more interesting he "invented". He lied.

" ... and there was a big fat man with poppy eyes selling dog hair!"




His older brother had a strong visual image of this, so he kindly drew it for us. He reckons that city-folks might buy the dog hair to scatter around their inner-city apartment rugs to give their home a "country-fied" air (he was remembering the story someone told us about people in the city buying spray-on mud to decorate their 4-wheel drive vehicles ...)

So we had a discussion about saying things that weren't true.

Some people call them "embellishments".

Actually they are lies (like pretending your 4-wheel drive has been off-road, and that you own a dog when in fact you don't.)

Black and white. Truth and lies.

Mr 5 now knows that if he wants to say something that isn't true because he thinks it would be funny he needs to say "And I think it would be funny if there was a big fat man with poppy eyes selling dog hair ..." or whatever his funny thought would be.

Truth is important. God said so.



Blessings
The Mummalady

GIVE A CHILD A SCARF part 2

We're still using our beautiful silky scarves!

This time I looked at some little wooden napkin rings we had, and a sudden idea popped in to my head.

These two pirates had a fine game, and their "pirate hats" stayed on!

We just need to get Daddy to make us some swords now, our pirates have decided they want to be soldiers .... watch this space!


Blessings
The Mummalady

GIVE A CHILD A BONGLINE

A bongline? What's a bongline?


String a line up - washing line, skipping rope, anything you have spare.


Hang up some items that make a nice noise when you hit them.




Give your child a stick, and instruct them that they should TAP the items on the bongline - make sure they understand that they are not to TAP the chickens, dogs, brother, sister ...





Our favourite tune on this bongline was Old MacDonald. Very musical :o)

I'm glad this is an outside game. :o) :o)



Blessings
The Mummalady

GIVE A CHILD A CAN AND A BALLOON ...

Not all children do this - but it's wonderful when they do!

We had a book from the library about musical instruments. Little girl read it. The next minute she's hunting in the recycles box for a tin can.

"Where are our balloons?" she said.

"May I have some sellotape please," was next.

She went outside to the driveway and chose some little stones.


The stones went into the can.

The balloon was cut, and after a few false starts and discarded balloons, this beautiful instrument was made.

She then had to make two more for two little brothers who were watching the construction.




You can either make "music" by pinging the balloon on the top, by tapping it with something, or by shaking the can and listening to the sound of the pebbles inside.

These instruments were popular for many days - the rougher the child, the shorter the life of the instrument of course! The 3 year old's instrument was the first to break. Followed closely by the 5 year olds one!

So the pebbles went back on the driveway.

The cans went back into the recycles box.

The balloons went into the bin.

And everyone agreed that it had been great fun.


And all I did was give a child a can and a balloon.


It's precious when things work like this.


Blessings
The Mummalady

Too Cute!

Mummy Chicken is actually a grandmother this year, but she is still having her own chicks!

She chose a beautiful sheltered, quiet spot under some bushes in the shade to sit on a whole clutch of eggs. We don't know how many there were, and we're not sure how many have hatched - at least four that we've seen.

This beautiful little cute yellow chick just popped out to say peep peep.

We will watch her tomorrow and see if she takes her chicks out for a walk.


Just thought I'd share because we are still excited by the miracle of new life.

Blessings
The Mummalady