teaching an old mom new tricks

 (in case it wasn't clear, the old mom is me.)

Greta (2013), Cecilia (2016), Elizabeth (2021)

i am swiftly approaching a decade of parenting, and between raising my own three children, growing up with five younger siblings, and spending many a high school evening babysitting, i feel like i generally have a pretty good grasp on how to handle the baby and toddler years. (the teen years, not so much -- and i'm so grateful to have some trusted friends to look to for their wisdom in navigating those years ahead!) there are certainly some things that have held true for me since Greta was a baby:

-when in doubt, add water (whether it's a drink from a sippy cup or five minutes splashing in a bath)

-try to learn your baby's temperament, understand their cues, and follow the eat-awake-sleep-you time rhythm per the incredible wisdom found in my favourite parenting book, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer 

-allow your babies plenty of time to play uninterrupted, even when that means they appear to be staring out the window

but now that we're well into Elizabeth's second year of life, i've discovered some new tricks that are definitely an improvement on my old ways. first of all, transitioning Elizabeth to a sippy cup was a challenge compared to my experience with her older sisters. both of them immediately figured out how to drink from any soft spouted sippy, although they struggled to master straw cups. i've been following the helpful Feeding Littles account on Instagram for the past few years, so i knew that they recommended open or straw cups for oral/motor development that affects future speech clarity. Elizabeth figured out how to drink from her tiny open silicone cup by 7 months (with my help - i'm too lazy to clean up the mess that would ensue if i let her handle the cup herself). but when it came to transitioning away from bottles at one year, i went for my tried and true soft spout cups and honey badger wasn't having it. i would even take a drink out of it myself to demonstrate and to pull up some water into the mouth of the spout so she could understand, but she just batted it away. finally, i ordered a set of Dr. Brown's weighted straw cups and handed one to her. i fully expected it to take several days for her to figure out how to suck water up through the straw, but on the very first sip she figured it out - and hasn't looked back! 

a corollary to the straw cup triumph: both Cecilia and Elizabeth really struggled at bedtime after weaning off of formula, often waking up half an hour after bedtime screaming for a bottle. (i don't remember Greta doing this, but, again, i'm old.) my solution with Cecilia was to give her another bottle of milk. i did this a few times with Elizabeth, but really didn't want to go through the whole rigmarole of brushing her teeth again and worried about her drinking milk while lying down (which increases the risk for ear infections). i happened to see someone in a Facebook group recommending putting water in a baby's bottle for this exact situation. and you know what? it totally works. she only needs to take a few sips and she's satisfied. 

secondly, my diaper bag game has leveled up with each child. with Greta, i kid you not, i had a Coach diaper bag in a fun pink print. it was super cute, but the only thing that differentiated it from a regular tote size purse was that it came with a matching changing pad. with Cecilia, i wised up and got a backpack style bag with insulated pockets for bottles and a wipes pocket on the side with a magnetic flap for one-hand access. that poor backpack has been used and abused for the past six years and finally, after one strap had broken, multiple zippers had lost their pulls and the insulated layers started cracking and peeling, i bit the bullet and ordered a Ruvalino bag. it's still a backpack style, but so much more functional with a square shape that makes it much easier to find things inside and a side pocket for my own water bottle. all the zippers can be opened and shut with one hand (!!!) and it has two handles to lift it upright or to hang on a bathroom hook. i happened to get mine on sale for $45 and don't think i would pay the full Amazon price ($90, what?!?) but it is a great bag. 

finally, when it comes to strollers, i have to come to value features and comfort over a small footprint. of course, if i was living in a city i would probably still opt for the streamlined Chicco Liteway Plus stroller we had with Greta, which folded up small and was easy to carry. but now, living my suburban life of luxury (ha), i am so grateful for the Chicco Cortina stroller we got for Elizabeth (for free, from our neighborhood Buy Nothing group -- even better). it has a huge storage basket, a full-size child snack tray, two parent cup holders, and the seat reclines completely flat. it's a little bulkier to maneuver, but totally worth it, especially when it gets pressed into duty to hold all of the coats plus the diaper bag and whatever else we need to cart around! 

living the life on a zoo trip this summer

it just goes to show that every baby is different, guidelines continue to evolve, and perspectives and priorities change over time. what a ride!