Children's Xylitol Toothpaste

We're trying out a new toothpaste!  I've read a bit about the benefits of xylitol, and was excited to come across Branam children's toothpaste with xylitol.  We avoid flouride in toothpaste (and our drinking water), but xylitol seems like a great natural way to help fight tooth decay and reduce bacteria.

The girls love using the toothpaste.  It comes in fun flavors: bubblegum and grape.  You can also choose between a gel (for younger children) and a paste (a bit more abrasive, for older children who are used to brushing).  So far the bubblegum gel is a huge hit.

Branam children's toothpaste:
- Is made with 30% xylitol.  (Other brands include just a token amount of xylitol for marketing purposes.)
- Is made in the USA.
- Uses xylitol from the USA, sourced from non-GMO corn or birch.
- Is endorsed by Healthy Child, Healthy World.
- Was developed by a pediatric dentist - Dr Steve Branam.

I like that my kids are using a toothpaste that I can feel good about.  Its worth browsing the Branam website for more information and to see other products that they carry.  They also have a couple of fun coloring pages and stories posted.  For more about xylitol, see here.

Thanks Branam!  Two thumbs up from us!


(We received toothpaste from Branam for the purpose of review.  All opinions expressed are my own of course.)

Homebirth: The Birth Box

We are very excited to be having our second home birth!  You can read my other birth stories on my blog: number one, number two, number three, ... and number four soon to come.  I had a difficult hospital birth with my first, an unmedicated hospital birth with my second, and an amazing (fast!) homebirth with my third.  Ross and I both loved the homebirth and are excited to have the experience again.  He ended up catching Esther because I gave birth so fast, and this time around he wants to catch the baby again.  I love this!  He is NOT one who does well with blood or even talk about blood.  There was something special about him being the one to catch Esther though, and the midwife agreed he could catch this time around as well.  She commented that if she catches the baby, she is wearing gloves.  If Ross catches the baby, his skin is the first thing baby touches.  Hopefully he and the midwife arrive on time.  They are both about 45 minutes away from me during the day, and last time my total labor was not much longer than that!

Anyway, on to the birth box.  If you saw my post about our "nursery", I mentioned the birth box sitting in the corner of my bedroom.  This contains all of the items necessary for the birth that I have gathered together.  Some of these are required by our midwife, others are things that I added for my own comfort.

I have:
lots of disposable bed pads
disposable padded underwear
(in the bathroom I also have Seventh Generation pads for use after the birth)
gauze pads
olive oil (for perineal massage as baby is crowning)
trash bags
gloves
comfrey leaves (for soothing afterwards)
Emergen-C packets
baby nose bulb
a tennis ball (for massage during labor)
two old towels
washcloths
receiving blankets

squeeze bottle (from the hospital, for rinsing after the birth)

after-ease herbal tincture for after pains

newborn outfit, diaper, and hats

Earth Mama Angel Baby stuff, soo nice to have on hand:
postpartum bath herbs
nipple butter
bottom balm
bottom spray
booby tubes

Other/ not pictured:
waterproof bed pad
set of old sheets to put on the bed
small mirror
arnica tablets
arnica massage oil (Weleda brand)
large water bottle with a straw

I put witch hazel on a couple of maxi pads and put them in ziploc bags in the freezer.  These will be for postpartum use and soothing those sore parts.

We have an exercise ball in the living room that I will use for getting comfortable during labor.

My bath tub!  Esther was born in the tub, simply because I couldn't get out and she was coming fast.  It made clean up easy and birthing in the water was quite comfortable.  I think I will end up going that route again, depending on how fast things are moving.

Is there anything else I should have on hand?

SmartWool Review

I'm a SmartWool convert!  At first I thought it was crazy when I heard about these expensive socks and how much people love them.  I'm convinced now.  Ross picked up a pair on sale this Christmas and raved about how they kept his feet warm instead of clammy and cold like other socks do.  Soon after that, I was able to try some out for review.

Some background on my sock wearing habits: I always get adorable printed socks from my mother-in-law for Christmas, and I love them.  But I never wear them.  I hate how synthetic fibers feel on my feet.  They make me sweaty and claustrophobic.  This is how my feet normally look:

Comfy, but not very pretty.  I suppose plain white cotton socks are okay around the house, but with certain outfits or when you go to someone's house and take off your shoes and everyone sees your socks... yeah, the bright white sticks out a bit.  Enter: SmartWool socks!

SmartWool socks are made of wool (obviously!), and are quite comfy on my feet.  Unlike other socks, they allow my feet to breathe, and keep them toasty warm at the same time.  Thus I have successfully ended the bright white sock embarrassment factor in my life.

Esther got to try some SmartWool socks too.  I'm happy to say that she too loves SmartWool and will never have to grow up with sock embarrassment.  She likes to look for the little SmartWool guy on her socks:

Hers have gotten a little fuzzy from being worn on our wood floors, but that doesn't seem to bother her.  She does slip when she is wearing them, so grippers on the bottoms would be a nice addition.  My kids enjoy wearing printed colorful socks (ie synthetic socks that make me want to gag).  We'll definitely be buying more SmartWool for them instead.

It hasn't been a very cold winter so we haven't used it much, but we were also sent an adorable hat and mitten set.  Esther loves it!  The mittens do not have any thumbs in them, which is a great idea and makes getting them on super easy.  I love the patterns on everything that we were sent too.

Ok, my pregnant feet aren't quite that chubby, this pair is padded for more warmth outdoors.  We also received a couple of SmartWool undershirts (which don't fit over my enormous belly....).  Ross wore one to work and said that it kept him toasty warm.  The seams inside are nice and flat and the wool is very soft (not itchy at all).  I refused to let him wear it again though because I want to wear it once my belly shrinks a bit.  ;)

What about you?  Have you tried SmartWool?  Have you heard more than you ever wanted to know about my sock habits?

I'm so excited that I can now wear cute socks!  Thanks SmartWool.

Drinkbands

We recently purchased a set of little 6 ounce glass cups for the girls to use.  While they aren't perfect, (they could hold just a bit more), they are much better than the ancient tupperware cups that we were using.  I had no idea what type of plastic those were made of and had been searching for a better cup for quite some time.  Thankfully, we also got some Drinkbands around that time.  I don't know what I would do without them!

Drinkbands are fun silicone bands that slip on a cup to help you know which is yours.  My girls enjoy picking out a color every morning when they get their cups.  Without these, I have no idea how we would keep glass cups separate.  I also like that the Drinkbands provide a bit of grip for little hands holding the glass cups.  The bands fit our Kleen Kanteens and regular glasses as well.  I've sent Lucy with a banded Kleen Kanteen to ballet class just in case someone else came with the same water bottle.

We received a set of 10 colors to review.  They have since changed the colors a bit and have added a smaller size for bottles.  The set that we have is stretchy enough and fits both the small cups and the bigger grown up cups too.  Of course the pink, purple, light blue, and green are most often in use here, but we do have all girls!  ;)  We've used the Drinkbands for a couple of months now, and they still look like new.

If you have more than one child, or ever have company over , or have a husband who sometimes steals your glass - you need a set of Drinkbands!  Great invention!  Thanks to Drinkbands for sending us this set for review.


(PS: Drinkbands were created by the same people who own hardlotion.com, our favorite lotion!)