My Top 5 Tools for Supporting Mama and Baby's Health

I know that this time of year (but really all the time... let's face it) is hard on families with small children. Colds and flu and back-to-school hit us hard! So many people ask me how I support our family to 1) try not to get hit so often and 2) support us through the experience when we do come down with something.

Here are my Top 5 Tools for supporting our family throughout the year, but especially now:

1. Aged Garlic Liquid -- this is HUGE if your family deals with all the ear problems... iykyk. I use it for the little one while nursing so that it stays in the ear longer while she's on her side. You can put it inside the ear or take it by mouth!

2. These cough drops and all the stuff on this list -- if you're dealing with the respiratory stuff, we seem especially susceptible to that around here! But we LOVE these cough drops and the chest rub. So worth it.

3. Using a steam inhaler is super helpful for breaking up gunk -- babies can't use it, but the shower has the same steam effect for them! Standing in the bathroom while the hot shower is running can help.

4. Getting in plenty of fluids and antioxidants! We love these electrolyte drops in our water and this supplement for supporting the happy cells to do their work in the body.

5. Drinking echinacea tea! I made it for me and baby girl last week and cooled hers with an ice cube. :)


Hope this helps! Having these on hand has made a world of a difference for us when the ick strikes.

Easter Basket Ideas from a Music Teacher Mama

Easter Basket Ideas from a Music Teacher Mama
Need some cute Easter Basket ideas?



Here's some things I am going to add to my baby girl's -- both musical and non-musical, for now and for when she's a little older! Click on the photo to take you to where I got it. :)



1) Cute outfits! She's growing WAY faster than I anticipated, so we're buying clothes like crazy around here to finish winter and start spring in bigger sizes than I expected. :P

2) Books! Can never have enough books, especially that share Truth.

3) Conversation cards -- for older kids, about the things that matter most.

4) Musical instruments! Egg shakers are a great musical instrument and perfect for springtime Easter basket theme. :) I also really like ukuleles as an affordable first quality instrument. The brand below is a good starter.


5) Coloring books! There's tons of options out there, here's a great one I love.

There you have it! Some fun Easter Basket options. Check out my "Things I Like" page for more gift ideas.

How to Make a Nighttime Cloth Diaper

How to Make a Nighttime Cloth Diaper
Cloth diapering can be intimidating, especially at nighttime because we want to let baby sleep those 8-10 (or more!) hours without waking them up for a diaper change. It can be especially challenging if you have a heavy wetter or flooder like I do because you need something that both absorbs fairly quickly but also holds a lot.

My best recommendation for you is to make sure you use natural fibers and pockets or covers with gentle elastics, what brand you use doesn't matter so much.

After trying a lot of different types and styles, I personally use pannolino bambino and two little hands co pockets the most. PanBam has the gentlest elastics I've tried so far that don't leave big marks on her cute rolly thighs!

For inserts, I typically stack a PanBam trifold with a cotton doubler because I've found it is enough absorbency without being too bulky (since she's still only 4 months old). Here's a video of how I put together the nighttime diaper. I avoid microfiber like the plague because it causes compression leaks (like a sponge) and really only worked for us for the first 2 months or so before we were having leaks.

I just bought some specifically nighttime trifolds from PanBam recently to try for when she gets bigger; I'll let you know how we like them!