I have so many random questions I want to ask around about, so many areas in which I would love some advice and opinions. How can I narrow this week's question of the week down to just one? So...
This week's question of the week is:
Can you help caramama out with answers or advice in any of the following areas?
(Hehe. See what I did there? I'm totally cheating!)
1. My daughter keeps singing some words to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle (or ABCs or Baa Baa Black Sheep--all of those have the same tune), and the words of the second line go something like, "Where you going in the night?" I have no idea where it is from, which means it probably was on some TV show I didn't watch with her (last time we had a mystery song, it turned out to be the Wonderpets song). She is singing the same words over and over, so I'm pretty sure she didn't make it up. Does anyone have any idea what she's singing? It's driving me crazy to not know!
2. I was looking at beds for the Pumpkin's new room, and most of the ones I like with drawers or trundles under have just the platform that you put the mattress on. No box spring. Londo is concerned that just a mattress might be bad for her back. Also the only ones we've slept on like that were super uncomfortable, but I think that has more to do with how hard the mattresses were then the fact that they didn't have box springs. Does anyone know anything about mattresses without box springs? I just know that the bed frames look cute.
3. I know I've gotten sibling/new baby book recommendations before, but I'm totally blanking on all of them. I keep meaning to buy some, but haven't been to a store on made an online order for a while. I'm going to REALLY soon. So, does anyone have any good recommendations for us to read to the Pumpkin to help her prepare for the new "baby brudda"?
4. Does anyone know how to safely (and hopefully easily) get cat urine out of antique fabric on a chair? I won't get into the story except to say, "Grrrrrrrrr!!!"
5. Londo and I were planning to buy a cheap dresser for the Pumpkin's new room because we are sure she will draw on it and put stickers on it and what have you. But my dad mentioned that if it's a cheap dresser it might not be that sturdy. And it is well known that my child LOVES to climb everything she possibly can. My dad was worried she's try to climb in or on a drawer (highly likely) and it would break and she's get hurt. Does anyone have an opinion on cheap vs. sturdy or a good idea to get both? (No need to recommend IKEA. I really like the idea of IKEA and the things I see other people have from there, but I can never find things I like/in my style there, unfortunately.)
6. The Pumpkin LOVES music. She also loves to push buttons, and she loves to turn on the music box attached to the crib in the nursery (where she is currently). So we would like to get her some sort of kids radio/(maybe) CD player for her new room. However, her love of climbing includes standing on toys. Also, she is not really careful with things yet, although she is learning. Anyone have any suggestions on a radio/CD player that would be good for her?
I'm sure I had more, but that's probably enough for now. I hope someone can help us out with any of these!!!
10 comments:
All I can comment on is the mattress thing - I like a mattress on a flat surface, and dont notice a real difference when I switch back and forth traveling.
Good luck!
1. I'm guessing she heard the additional verses to Twinkle Twinkle somewhere--see here http://parenting.ivillage.com/newborn/ncrying/0,,b6x6,00.html
I know the complete version is on the first "For The Kids" CD if you have that.
2. On the beds, we have a captain's bed for Mouse (big drawers underneath, no boxspring)--a lot of people actually think platform beds are much better for your back than box springs as long as you get a good mattress. Anyway, she seems completely comfortable and she gets extra storage. :)
4. have you tried that "Nature's Miracle" enzyme stuff? I'd test it on a swatch first, but it works on our oriental rug.
Try craigslist or newspaper classies for the cheap dresser, if you have time for that kind of shopping (or can browse listings while doing something else). There are all sorts of gems when people have moving sales or their kids grow out of stuff.
My SIL sent us an audio story of Angelina (ballerina)'s Baby Sister. I don't know if you are familiar with the Angelina books/dvds, but Noah loves them. Anywya, the story is also available on dvd and shows Ang getting jeolous because of the new addition to the family. Of course the matter is resloved in a harmonious way and she grows to love her mousy sister (Oh, did I mention that Angelina is actually a mouse?) The very posh English accent is a bit much though ( even for an Australian!), but it is highly probable that there is an American version like with the Thomas and Bob dvds ( why is that so?? I don't know).
None of our mattresses (hubby, mine and the kids') are spring. Ours have actually been made by a local 'matterasaio'(mattress maker) and are in wool/cotton mix, and similar to a Japanese Futon. They lie on slats though and are the best thing I have ever laid on. Great for your back and in natural fibres. I highly recommend them.
Re: dresser, your dad has a point, especially about climbing in drawers. A lot of cheap dressers, including IKEA, use thin fiberboard for the drawer bottoms, even if the rest of the dresser is solid wood and not MDF or particleboard. (We have an IKEA armoire that is solid spruce everywhere except the back and the drawer bottom.) So if the Pumpkin climbed into one, the drawer bottom could possibly collapse.
I don't know what your style is, but take a look at Da Vinci furniture. We have one of their toddler beds and it is really well made--all solid wood, no wood products, and supposedly the wood is sustainably harvested too. The dressers I think have some wood products (i.e. veneers and such), so I'd double check what all the parts are made of esp. drawer bottoms, but they are relatively cheap and seem to be good.
I'd go used for the dresser.
Love this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Im-Big-Sister-Joanna-Cole/dp/0688145094/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237239167&sr=8-1
My "baby" is 3 and his big sister still likes us to read it to her sometimes.
Be sure to preview whatever books you get. We had one (a gift) that I had to get rid of. The first line was "Ellie used to be Mommy and Daddy's little girl, but now she's a big sister." How sloppy is that? Is there not an implication of EXACTLY what kids might worry about -- that now that the baby's here, they might be replaced (i.e. no longer Mommy and Daddy's little girl?) Totally annoyed. /rant Anyway, love Joanna Cole's books (I'm a big fan of her Big Girl/Boy Potty books too).
Nature's Miracle rocks.
Both our kids are on a bed w/slats and a mattress (no box spring). I don't find it uncomfortable. For whatever that's worth.
Yes to the Nature's Miracle and the Joanna Cole books. Both worked for us. Also, probably the most effective thing, not that you asked, was doing the sibling preparation class our hospital offered -- and bonus, it was held on the mother-baby unit so we got to go look at the nursery! And it hit me like a ton of bricks that we were very shortly going to have one of those sweet little hours-old babies staring back at us from the nursery window. It really helped me get excited in a way I didn't before, not to mention what it did for Maggie in terms of making her realize what the baby would be able to do, how to take care of him, etc.
On the Cd player front, if she likes to push buttons, maybe give her one with a remote? Then you could put the player itself on a high shelf but she could still work it on her own. Or, Fisher Price and like make some pretty rugged ones.
Nature's miracle... try testing on a small part that is not very noticeable?
I would check used for the dresser. We have an antique store here that is also kinda a high end resale. We got nice chairs for our table for 20 bucks each (cheeper than IKEA) and they looked nice but were worn and scratched a bit (perfect for life with a toddler and cats). I know lots of resale shops are popping up around us, these tend to have higher quality stuff than just salvation army and the like.
But even so it will be hard to find dressers without the fiber board bottoms. So it depends on what type of climbing you expect. If you are worried about the whole thing tipping over most places sell braces to hold it to the wall.
OK, I can help with #2. Are they platforms or slats? The "slat bed" as my husband calls it is the norm in New Zealand. He insisted we get one. So I sleep on one and have for over 5 years, with no problems. If you can find one with flexible slats (Ikea has these now so maybe others do, too), that may be better, according to Hubby. At the time we bought our bed, finding a "slat bed" was almost impossible. We see them everywhere now- Hubby likes to say he was ahead of the trend.
If it is a platform, I slept on a bed like that in Sweden when I worked there for a couple of months. It was fine, but I had a latex or foam mattress (which is sort of the norm there). Ikea sells those, too.
Note you can buy the mattresses and/or the slats separate from the rest of the bed frame, if you don't like their bed frames. I have to admit, I'm not crazy about any of their twin bed frames for Pumpkin, but that is just me.
Can you tell that we're looking at beds for our Pumpkin now, too?
About the cat pee- I'm allergic, so I don't have actual experience with this, but we use a product called Bac-Out to clean up Pumpkin's vomit. It is enzyme based and has never marked any surface we've used it on. It claims to be good for pet fluids, too.
About the dresser- We have a cheap dresser for Pumpkin, but it was bought when I was a kid, so is actually sturdy, too. My Mom bought it for some ridiculously small amount of money at a dime store. It has been painted more times than we can count.
Maybe try an unfinished furniture shop for that combination of cheap and sturdy now? I think their stuff is usually pine, so cheap, but reasonably well made, since there is no finish to hide the flaws.
We got our son a very solid dresser for $22 at Restore. It is a second hand store that benefits Habitat for Humanity. Our local one is on Gaither Road.
Send me an e-mail if you have questions. My address is strugibear at gmail (dot) com
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