I was watching Modern Family on my DVR and saw Mitchell and Cameron trying to Ferberize Lily. It made me laugh since I am like Cameron, a “mother bear” who can’t stay outside the room while my little one cries.

A month ago, all my family got together for the New Years and my cousin who has a year old brought her baby who has been Ferberized. They had a strict sleep schedule, and when it was time for the little one to take a nap or sleep she would just bring him upstairs lay him on the crib and he would toss and turn for a little while but would fall asleep on his own. That NEVER happens to me. I have to either walk around singing to my little one, or she needs to nurse before she can fall asleep. I am sick as a dog from a cold and my 14 months old woke me up 4 times last night to nurse.  When I woke up this morning I started thinking should I have sleep trained my baby??

On babycenter Ferber method is described as:

Ferber says you can teach your baby to soothe himself to sleep when he’s physically and emotionally ready, usually sometime between 4 and 6 months of age. He recommends following a warm, loving bedtime routine and then putting your baby in bed awake and leaving him (even if he cries) for gradually longer periods of time. Putting a child to bed awake, says Ferber, is crucial to successfully teaching him to go to sleep on his own.

Parents are instructed to pat and comfort their baby after each predetermined period of time, but not to pick up or feed their baby. This routine is called “progressive waiting.” The suggested waiting time, which Ferber charts in his book, is based on how comfortable you are with the technique, how many days you’ve been using it, and how many times you’ve already checked on your child that night.

After a few days to a week of gradually increasing the waiting time, the theory goes, most babies learn to fall asleep on their own, having discovered that crying earns nothing more than a brief check from you.

There are several other methods of sleep training your baby as well.

If you are interested in the topic here are some books you might want to read.
Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth
The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers: Gentle Ways to Stop Bedtime Battles and Improve Your Child’s Sleep
The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby

In my on going concern of protecting my bean from all possible harm, I realized that even with all my planning and provisioning, I would not be able to cover every inevitable harmful scenario. The result of this mental exercise, I need to learn infant CPR.

RED CROSS

I start my search with The American Red Cross. The American Red Cross offers an online course

Child/Infant CPR

Time allowed for course: 14 days

This web-based course teaches American Red Cross CPR for children (ages 1-12) and infants (under age 1). Students will learn how to recognize and respond to breathing and cardiac emergencies. This course may take up to 3 hours. To earn CPR certification, students must pass the online test and then attend a skill session to perform and review skills.

CPR certification is valid for 1 year.

Course fee: $40.00 USD

They also offer standard courses

CPR Training Course

This 4 hour course provides individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary to recognize and provide basic care for breathing and cardiac emergencies for adults.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the three emergency action steps to follow in an emergency.CPR Class
• Learn the four life-threatening conditions for which you should check
• Recognize the signals of a heart attack.
• Learn the cardiac chain of survival for a victim of cardiac arrest.
• Learn the precautions for using and AED.
• Demonstrate how to use basic precautions when caring for victims of breathing and cardiac emergencies.
• Demonstrate how to check an unconscious adult.
• Demonstrate how to care for a conscious and an unconscious choking adult.
• Demonstrate how to give CPR to an adult.
• Demonstrate how to use an AED for an adult in cardiac arrest.

Length: Approximately 4 hours

Certificate Validity: 1 year

If you would like to schedule CPR training for a group of people of 10 or more at your site, please call (310) 445-2688 or see more information at Workplace Safety

If you need to take a CPR class for yourself, American Red Cross has community classes available. Please call 1-800-627-7000 to get course schedules and to register.

Here’s a map of all the Red Cross locations:

Okay, I lied, those locations above are not all. There is a Santa Monica Red Cross office as well. They offer CPR classes for free. Here is a list of their offerings:

32411: Adult CPR with AED

32410: Adult CPR with First Aid

32407: Adult, Infant, & Child CPR with First Aid

32415: Adult/AED, Infant, & Child CPR

32800: CPR for the Professional Rescuer

First Aid

3210: Infant & Child CPR

32302: Infant and Child CPR with First Aid

Waterpark Lifeguarding Instructor

YMCA

The Los Angeles YMCA offers a ton of courses in a variety of subjects. They also offer a variety of CPR classes. My local YMCA, the Westside Family YMCA offers the following courses:

Community CPR with AED and First-Aid Classes

Sign up and be CPR and First-Aid certified, for you never know when the world might call upon you to be a hero! CPR and First-Aid Certification classes are offered on the following Saturdays from 10:00am – 2:00pm: March 28, 2009 May 30, 2009 June 27, 2009 July 25, 2009 August 29, 2009 September 19, 2009 CPR w/ AED & First Aid Class Fees Facility Members: $55.00 General Public: $70.00

In addition, the Santa Monica CPR Training Center also looks like a great resource.

They offer the following:

We offer the following CPR classes:

BLS for Healthcare Providers       $60.00

Heartsaver AED (includes CPR) $55.00

Heartsaver CPR                          $50.00

Family and Friends CPR               $40.00

BLS Skills Test (call for appointment) $65.00

Please call about First Aid classes.

I also found some other online resources:

The University of Washington has some online help, illustrations of proper application of infant CPR and a video.

UCLA also offers some CPR courses, however I didn’t see anything specific on Infant CPR.

onlinebabycpr.com also offers a free course

Since my baby bean was born and until about a month ago, I used Pampers Swaddlers. It came highly recommended by moms on multiple blogs and websites. My hospital also gave it to me to use when I had my baby.

About a month ago, I got a  coupon for Huggies Diapers through costco so I decided to use it and try it out. I am not happy with my decision. I feel that this particular line of Huggies they sell at costco are much rougher and can’t imagine how uncomfortable it must feel to wear it all day.

I am going back to Pampers swaddlers. The problem is, now that my bean is 15 pounds, she is going to be graduating swaddlers soon. Pampers only make swaddlers up to babies who are 22 pounds and under and for me that means that I can only use it up until my baby bean is about 19 pounds.

So which brand of diaper do I move on to after she graduates swaddlers? I never thought I would be contemplating diaper brands but here I am…..

Possible choices

1. Huggies Pure & Natural
2. Pampers Cruisers
3. Seventh Generation
4. Nature Babycare
5. Luvs

In case anyone is interested, I have spent some time spreading out my little bean’s vaccination schedule.  To create my vaccination schedule, I used the following lists. 1. Standard vaccine schedule, 2. The Vaccine Book, 3. Vaccine schedule followed by 10th Street Pediatrics in Santa Monica, and 4. Vaccine schedule followed by UCLA Pediatrics group in Santa Monica. I decided to vaccinate her fully, except for Rota vaccine. This is because I don’t plan on sending my little bean to daycare any time soon. If anyone wants a pdf version of the list, please email me.

Nursery University- Whoa, I just saw this review. My wife and I have just started looking for preschools- literally today was our firsts interview- and this is scary in a way. I mean i knew that there was a lot of competition around schools, but this just seems like it is not about the child in any way, this is all about the parents and their career advancement.

When I dress my little bean, I always put a bodysuit on her under any other clothing. I think of it as her underwear. That way her belly is never exposed so I don’t have to worry constantly if she is properly covered and protected from elements. I also believe it keeps her diaper in place better.

One of the bodysuits I purchased was SpaSilk 100% Cotton Assorted Short Sleeve Lap Shoulder 7-Pack Bodysuit and these are one of the best.

It’s not too expensive, so you can buy more than one pack so you can just change your little one and toss it in the laundry and also it’s very soft for your baby’s skin.

We now, in our presence and in our home- ever present, have a child. A small crying bundle of wanting love. It is up to us to decide upon a vaccination schedule for this fleshy conglomerate. As a couple of artists we aren’t very good at listening to people, and we like to think of ourselves as rebellious- even in our old age. With our anarchy symbols on we decided to do some research…

The book that we were told to read is called The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child (Sears Parenting Library) (go figure) written by Robert W. Sears- soon to be a major motion picture. Dr. Sears has information and opinions, and boy does he share them with you. The book is great don’t get me wrong- a wee bit on the dull side, but great. My husband used it as a sleep aid but found that it put him into such a deep sleep that he would have a hard time waking up in the morning.

Dr. Sears lays out all the diseases that are currently on the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended vaccine schedule one by one, and tells you about the disease, and about the various vaccines that are made to treat the disease. He even goes into detail of the composition of each vaccine used. I found this book to be the all inclusive bible of vaccinations.

Towards the end of the book there are two suggested vaccination schedules. The first is selective vaccination schedule, and the second is alternative vaccine schedule.

The selective vaccine schedule delivers the most crucial shots for your child and delays or skips the most less critical shots. The alternative vaccination schedule spreads out the pediatrician recommended schedule over time so that only two shots are given at once.

We were leaning towards the selective vaccination schedule but have now decided that we will do the alternative vaccine schedule because we would like to travel with our precious gemstone of a child.

Are you going to use organic products for your baby? Here’s one to consider, Bumkins Organic Cotton Washcloth 3-Pack – Dusty Blue. They come in 3 colors, natural, rose, and dusty blue. Note however, these ARE made in China. Amazon has a good deal on them.

product info:
* Perfect for first foods and heavy droolers
* Made from 100% unbleached cotton
* Organic terry for extra absorbency and softness
* Trimmed with coordinating satin and cotton fabric
* Adjustable Velco closure
* Each pack includes 2 satin and 1 cotton trimmed bib
* Organic items made in China

Founded in 1983, Evergreen Community School opened its doors with four children enrolled and one teacher. In 1996, having outgrown its church setting, the school transitioned to an independent non-profit status, and the entity Evergreen Community School was born at their current Santa Monica location.

Evergreen uses a developmental curriculum based on the theories of Piaget, Erikson, Vygotsky and the Reggio Emilia approach. The curriculum is experiential and is designed to promote growth through play and exploration. Using age-appropriate materials and activities, children are assisted in building socialization skills while practicing the developmental tasks of trust, autonomy and initiative.

Evergreen program includes music, art, storytelling, science, woodworking, cooking and various other indoor and outdoor activities. The classrooms are designed to encourage independence. The environment provides a wide array of choices that foster autonomy while building self-esteem and a sense of responsibility.

Evergreen enrolls 60 children ages 2.5-5 years old.

Current hours and tuition are:

Monday – Thursday, 9:15 am – 1:30 pm; Friday, 9:00 am – Noon $12,000 September – Jun
Monday – Thursday, 9:00 am – 1:45 pm; Friday, 9:00 am – Noon $12,000 September – June
*Tenants of 2600/2700 Colorado Avenue have first priority providing the timely submission of child’s application and our ability to find an appropriate placement. Second priority is given to residents of Santa Monica.

Evergreen Community School is located at 2800 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Phone: (310) 453-6255

CLASS DESCRIPTION:

Bring your baby to these special groups to share and learn in a friendly supportive atmosphere. Discussions are facilitated by lactation consultants and broach many topics including postpartum adjustment, feeding, burping, sleeping, gas and colic, normal newborn behavior, and soothing fussy babies. Classes are organized by the age of your baby: 0-4 and 4-8 months.

• Expectant mothers are encouraged to attend a complimentary New Mothers Support Group of the 0-4 month group prior to giving birth. Additionally, there is no charge for the first 0-4 month New Mothers Support Group you attend with your baby.

*0 To 4 Months – No enrollment necessary. Just come in a few minutes before the class begins and sign in at the front desk.

*4 To 8 Months – Required prepay four sessions.

Phone Number: (310) 998-1981

The Pump Station in Santa Monica and Hollywood Location