Weekly Recs #45 - Quiet time tips, engaging YouTube kid shows & high fiber recipes
Plus -- how baby #2 turned me into a "chill mom"
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I posted this on Notes the other day and got quite the response.
I was not a chill mom with Annie, my now three-year-old. Instead, I was an anxious mess who obsessed over ever detail of motherhood from nap schedules and wake windows to tummy time and feedings. When her nap schedule inevitably didn’t go according to plan, I would spiral and then contact nap the rest of the day to try and get her back on schedule. When that wouldn’t work, I’d doom scroll parenting advice on social media, reading books and buying sleep courses that all promised to solve your baby’s sleeping issues. Then I would obsessively track everything from tummy time amounts to bathing times to breastfeeding details in the Huckleberry app.
As I prepared to go back to work after four months of maternity leave, I realized I had spent the majority of my time off in a dark room rocking a baby to sleep.
Now three years later, I had the chance to do it all over again with baby #2 and I was determined to do things differently. The first few weeks after Olivia was born were hard — no one is designed to function on three hours of sleep or less a night. But we hit our stride together and three months later, things are going so well.
No one would call me a “chill” person. I am a fairly “type A” person who needs to be in control, but baby #2 has made me a pretty chill mom. Olivia has shown to be a subpar napper like her older sister, but now it doesn’t send me into an anxious spiral. Wake windows are a guide (and generally they are quite helpful), but they don’t need to be perfectly followed. Today, Olivia and I went to a “Mommy and Me Pilates” class during her normal nap time and it was totally fine. Last weekend, the whole family went to get bagels on Sunday morning and I got her to nap in the middle of a chaotic, loud coffee shop. Me of three years ago would have never been brave enough to even attempt that.
Instead of obsessing over everything she is doing, I just enjoy spending time with her. I haven’t tracked a single thing she is doing in any app and we are surviving just fine.
This whole newborn period feels like a redo of my first and it’s making me into a better mom to both my kids. My new perspective - babies are fun and cute and cuddly and I’m so glad I got to experience all of it a second time.
Meanwhile - when I wasn’t going on fun outings with my baby, here are three things we loved using over the past week:
Eat - a healthier Uncrustable: My latest find at Whole Foods are the Rudi’s Sandos frozen PB&J sandwiches. They look very much like Uncrustables, but have healthier ingredients and less preservatives. They are a perfect thing to have on hand for quick toddler lunches on the go or for packing in school lunches. Just be warned - they take about 30 minutes to defrost and my impatient toddler wasn’t pleased she had to wait that long to eat one. They are also available at Thrive online if your Whole Foods doesn’t carry them.
Play - a baby carrier for toddlers: Annie’s obsessed with her baby sister and wants to help me do everything related to the baby. This level of enthusiasm sometimes comes off too strong so I’m trying to help deflect it to other toys. This baby carrier was a big hit and she loved having her own carrier just like Mommy that would allow her to carry her doll around on walks.
Buy - Headband headphones: On our road trip to the beach, we got Annie this headband that is also a headphone and it was a lifesaver to ensure the entire car didn’t have to hear Paw Patrol. She has never wanted to wear the over the ear headphones I got her, but was willing to wear these. They are incredibly cheap and I’m sure they won’t last forever, but for that price, that is okay.
For implementing quiet time: Annie announced days after her third birthday (and a week before I had baby #2) that she was done napping. They had been a struggle for a while, but this was still a shock to our family system. I had relied so much on those two hours each weekend day to get things done and have a parenting break. We’ve struggled since then on how to enforce quiet time on the weekends, though admittedly we’ve been a little busy with a newborn. A bunch of posts I saw online this week are giving me renewed momentum to try again at establishing a system of quiet time. Here are the general tips from Katie Beach, Well Rested Mama, and Hey Azka to implement quiet time:
Start small by being in the room or nearby for a little while.
Set the stage by having a basket of a few easy activities they can self-play with.
Use a visual timer so they can see how long they have. And don’t feel like this needs to be a long time. Even 10 minutes in the beginning is fine. Work your way up to 30 minutes or an hour.
Don’t share it as a choice. Instead say - “You can sleep or you can play quietly in your room.”
Rotate in special toys to keep them engaged and encourage independent play.
Use a rewards chart to celebrate them staying in their room.
Plus other mom hacks:
Road trip entertainment hack to make little activity bags that kids can only open at certain hours of the trip.
A gallery wall of kid art created using clipboards to make it easy to switch art in and out.
Summer carrier tip to put a microfiber towel between you and baby’s body in a carrier to avoid getting them all sweaty.
A very helpful reminder that for babies - “a nap is a nap, no matter how short.”
- crowd-sourced 300 tips on how moms are surviving the summer screen-free.
File this under things I love, but will likely never have time to DIY, but if you want to create a homemade calendar/visual schedule for your kids - this one using Magna-tiles is very fun.
For interactive books: We are a big book household and the picture books I get Annie have different purposes and places in the home. The ones in her room to read before bed need to be low stimulation books to read as she gets tired. But I want the ones in her playroom bookshelf to be engaging books that hold her attention longer and are interactive. Numerous posts recently have shared recommendations for interactive toddler books. These were the most recommended stories:
Pop Flip Cook — With utensils that come out, kids can create their own breakfast while reading the book.
Goodnight Cat — Help cat find his magical friends with a flashlight.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears — The book folds out and has figurines you can use in the scenes.
All Better Baby — Make baby feel better by putting band-aids on and taking care of him.
Make Trains — Trains run on the tracks throughout the book.
Also — Amazon is running a big kids book sale and many books are a part of their “Buy 2 Get 1 Free” sale. Here is one mom’s list of the top books on sale.
Other product recs:
We’ve used and loved the GoBe snack spinner for years and I just found out they. have an expanded lunchbox version of it.
Why did I not realize dustless chalk exists? Buying immediately for our chalk wall inside.
Suction cups for plates so you can turn any plate into a toddler safe dish that won’t move around on the table.
A road trip scavenger hunt game with pictures for both readers and non-readers.
Two handy products for beach sand removal - a water bottle attachment that turns a water bottle into shower head and the viral cloth that removes sand from legs and arms.
A very fun beach toy - a wave skipper ball that bounces back to you.
For high fiber recipes: Annie and I have both been instructed by her pediatrician and my pelvic floor PT to dramatically increase our fiber intake to help keep everything more regular. I admittedly have always focused on protein and not much on fiber so it’s been a little bit of a change in prioritizing fiber instead. I saved lots of posts this week sharing tips on how you can encourage kids to eat more fiber rich foods:
Rebrand chia seeds and hemp hearts as sprinkles and put them on EVERYTHING - oatmeal, smoothies, toast etc.
Mix flaxseeds into jelly when making peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.
Plan meals using high fiber foods like berries, black beans, lentils, oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, fruit like pears and kiwis, and veggies like broccoli and avocados. We’ve been adding chic peas to everything and making lots of avocado toast.
Plus a guide from Mini Me Dietician, my favorite toddler eating account on Instagram, going into more details on fiber sources for kids.
Other recipes:
Yummy looking smoothie recipes branded for kids.
A one-pot veggie heavy orzo recipe for kids that you could pair with your favorite protein.
Make a tortilla croissant for an easy kid lunch using a tortilla wrap, cheese and broccoli.
Possibly the easiest bar recipe using just peanut butter, bananas, chocolate chips and oatmeal.
I never got into bread making as my pandemic hobby, but this recipe from Yummy Toddler Food for homemade bread seems simple enough I could handle it.
Casserole recipes you can prep before school/daycare pickups will become our go-to weekly meals when I go back to work soon. This zucchini and ground beef one looks yummy.
For “better” screen time - I’m not advocating you put your child in front of a tv screen, but summer days can be LONG and with juggling a tiny baby and a toddler who have very different needs, I’ve used screen time breaks strategically when I need to occupy the toddler. I’ve saved some tips from moms online about various YouTube videos that are more engaging shows for kids to watch then just another episode of Paw Patrol. The recommended shows were:
Search “books read aloud for kids” on YouTube and find thousands of videos of people reading classic storybooks to kids. They think it’s a show, but it’s very low stimulating and educational. I like this channel.
On Disney+, you can watch Dory’s Reef Cam from Finding Nemo. It is a three hour video of fish swimming under the ocean. I find it oddly meditative.
For another screen time hack, you can play podcasts from PBS Kids from the app on your smart TV. It feels like screen time, but it is really just audio.
For slightly older kids, search “directed drawing for kids” on YouTube and find lessons they can follow for art projects. This one shows how to draw “Lilo & Stich”.
And finally, when you need to get the wiggles out, there are many kid yoga videos that encourage kids to move and stretch their bodies. This one is Encanto themed.
Plus six other play ideas:
A recipe for homemade bubble mixture that makes bubbles that bounce.
Indoor play ideas for when it’s too hot outside from the play queen Busy Toddler.
Make reusable water balloons out of sponges you cut up.
A pre-writing exercise for preschoolers to help them identify their own name.
I share mostly play tips for toddler age and above, but I’m starting to collect play ideas for my newborn. Here are some easy ideas for a six-month-old. And here are ideas for two-month-old babies.
Any great content that I missed? Share below and don’t forget to subscribe!
And finally, this hit too close to home this week. #TeamCrapNaps
I am so happy you are able to be more chill with Olivia! There is much to be said for experience building confidence!