“I would never claim that my methods are the only correct ones, nor presume to tell another physician that his advice was all wrong.  In the final analysis parents must decide for themselves what they think is best for their child.  However, I will say this:  I have practiced pediatrics successfully for over seventy-five years.  During that time I have found that these methods have worked for me and my patients.  Suppose you asked me for directions to downtown Atlanta.  I would tell you the roads I have taken to arrive there safely.  In the same way I share with you my experience in caring for children. “

“The way to make milk is to be happy, have a system, and love to do it.”

“I found that if left alone, by age two the baby’s feet would straighten out by themselves.  If they’re not straight by then I have the mother buy roller skates and let baby skate a few minutes a day.  It’s a great way to train the feet to toe straight ahead. ”

“Babyfood has done more for little people than anything except immunizations.”

“The three major causes of tooth decay are eating between meals, carbonated drinks, and mouth breathing.”

“We treat babies more like toys, but they’re human beings.  When you bring a baby into the world, he is your responsibility.  That child’s not supposed to make you feel big; you’re supposed to make him feel big.  You need to give that child a chance… If you bear a child, there’s no sacrifice too great for that baby.”
– Dr. Denmark Said it by: Madia Bowman

For three nights in a row, he literally screamed for about 5 hours during the night.  Nothing could calm him down.  He wanted me to hold him but continued to scream out in pain and do the horrible “arching of the back” that all moms know too well.   I could not figure out what was wrong with him, because I had never seen him like this.  Finally on the third day, I felt around in his mouth, and he had 1 huge bump (at least 1-2 cm) on each side protruding through his gums.  Finally on the 5th day, a little white started showing on both sides.  And, my son was back to normal.  It was night and day.

I don’t have any answers, but the only thing that would calm our son down was a nice long warm bath.

We have also used Hyland’s teething tablets.  I have heard many people swear by these, but I haven’t really seen a big difference when we used them.  I had to throw mine away because of the recall.  Anyone know if they are safe again?

We have also used Hyland’s teething gel.  Again, we haven’t seen this do a lot to help the pain.

Also, doctors recommend baby motrin instead of baby tylenol for teething because the motrin lasts longer throughout the night.

I would love to hear your thoughts on teething and what has worked for your children!

I know that everyone has their own way of deciding how much they will buy, how many they will buy, etc.  I know buying 3 presents for each child (just like Jesus received) is really popular.  At our house, we don’t have an exact formula to presents.  (I am sure this all will change as we have more children and our budget changes!).  Starting in November, I start looking for the deals and for things my children would like.  My daughter (3) doesn’t really say she wants anything particular for Christmas.  I keep asking her but she never really responds (except for a broom- haha!).  If we go to the store, however, she will point out a million things she wants!     This year, Gilt Group had a deal where if you became a new member, you receive $20 off, including shipping so I bought her and Bradford something that totaled $1 each after shipping!  Also, a friend gave me a few ballerina outfits that her daughter had outgrown, so that will also be under the tree!  Madeline’s 2 other gifts are the BOB books to help her start reading and a play dough set (she is really into play dough at preschool!).  All this to say, we try to find things that she needs/would like that we find for a good deal.  Eventually, I would like to buy more meaningful gifts instead of just fun.   I think that will start when the kids get around 4/5.  by the way… moms, if you join Amazon mom, you can ship anything for free!!

We started last year teaching Madeline a long passage of scripture during the Christmas holiday.  Last year she learned Isaiah 9:6.  This year, we are learning Psalm 139.  She is about 10 verses in, but we are in a little rut.  We will be taking a little break until she wants to start learning it again!   You would be surprised out easily children can memorize long passages of scripture.  We just make up motions for each verse and say it over and over and over….

This our little verse tree.  I got this idea from a friend last year.  I bought the little ornaments @ Target last year after Christmas and the tree half off @ Hobby Lobby.   Each ornament has a verse hooked to it- numbered 1-25.

I highlighted the “date” and then put the verse.  Each verse is about Jesus (his coming, who he is, etc).   It is such a discipline for kids to sit and listen to verses.  This tradition is fun because it incorporates things kids love to do (search the tree for the correct number, taking it off the tree, talking about the colors of the ornament…) along with reading the passage from the Bible.   We actually started our tree right after Thanksgiving since we will be traveling a lot over Christmas and I know we will skip the tree some nights!
and we can’t forget the big guy.  We do santa at our house, but we don’t make it a really big deal.  We don’t focus on him too much, but we do do stockings and get excited when we see him at the mall, etc.

One more tradition that I want to start (when we start spending Christmas day at our house!!!) is making a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas.  I think it is a great visual for kids to see (in their “language”) what we are celebrating on Christmas.

what are your favorite holiday traditions?

1. bananasMy son starting off loving his babyfood, and when he was about 6 months, he started shoving it away and not enjoying it at all.  We continued to feed it to him over the next few months because we knew how much he needed it (and he ate it because he was hungry!) but I also experimented with the food to try to make him like it.  That’s when I remembered that Dr. Denmark says that the baby should get 1 banana in each meal.  I wasn’t measuring when I made the food, so I started paying attention to make sure I got the right amount of fruits, vegetables, protein, oatmeal and banana.  Sure enough, I definitely was not putting enough in his food.  When I added the correct amount of bananas, he began LOVING his food again. He seriously cannot get enough of it.

2.  make them hungry.

It is so easy to let kids snacks or a lot of small meals throughout the day.   If their stomachs never have a chance to empty, then they are always hungry but never hungry enough to eat a good healthy meal.  Dr. Denmark says strictly 3 meals a day and no snacks (starting at 4 months).  Our family has 3 meals a day with a small snack in the afternoon to get them (and me!) through to dinner.

3. water

Drinking juice and milk throughout the day can decrease their appetite.   In our family we all drink water throughout the day, but occasionally we will have juice for a treat and milk in cereal for breakfast.

4. make it look good!!

I got these images from Another Lunch. Seriously, this lady is amazing.   I learned from her– put everything out together, make it colorful, add variety, make it look good!  A few smileys and stars on your food will make it go along way (all the way to you child’s tummy!)

5. put it in a shake

We try to have a “green shake” at least once a day.  We all love them and it is a great way to get some fruits and vegetables.   The only thing is your children can’t see what you put in it, or they will never eat it! ha!

1. blend spinach leaves and some juice (we use orange juice or juicy juice).
2. add fruit (blueberries, strawberries, peaches, raspberries pineapple…whatever you have on hand).  ALWAYS add banana.  (makes it yummy!)
3. blend all together, until smooth (add some ice if you aren’t using frozen fruit)
4. enjoy!

– you can use whatever kind of “leafy” vegetable you want (some, such as arugula give it a terrible taste, so you will have to experiment!)

– I also add a carrot if I have one on hand.

– Sometimes Madeline gets a little picky about her shakes, so we will make a “pink shake” (mostly strawberries/rasberries (+ banana) for fruit and a little bit of spinach) or a “purple shake” (mostly blueberries (+banana) for fruit and a little bit of spinach), just to mix it up a little!

6.  This may be totally obvious, but I just figured this out– fruit tastes SO much better when it is room temperature! I usually set berries, pineapple, grapes etc out on the counter after breakfast so they will be ready for lunch!  Much juicer and easier on the teeth!

What is everyone else’s experience in this?

How do you all deal with daylight savings time with your kids??  Madeline used to wake up at 8 every day, and now she has been getting up at 6.  I think it is because she is going to bed later.  Any suggestions??