And the winner is....

Tricia!

The beautiful wooden teether has a new home. Just email me your address at jflborn@gmail.com and we'll get that in the mail as soon as we can.

Thanks everyone for participating! Make sure to check back for more discounts, giveaways and fun tidbits about mothering naturally!

Teething Giveaway!

So last week I wrote a post on natural teething remedies for your little drooling baby :) Well, I thought a great way to follow up with that was to have a giveaway sponsored by a fabulous Etsy seller who specializes in all natural blocks and teething rings for babies!

I had always wanted an alternative to a plastic teething ring for my daughter. I had read numerous places that the chemicals emitted from the plastic of ANY toy let alone those designed to chew on can be harmful to babies. And with so many toys on the market being recalled I really didn't want to take that risk. So now you don't have to!




Hudson Block Co. is run by two grandparents who were inspired by their first grandchild to provide a perfect toy for him..."something safe, educational, natural, and environmentally-friendly." They design and handcraft blocks and teething rings which are absolutely fantastic.

AND to make it even better a portion of every purchase is donated to Compassion International!

Check out their teething ring:




Isn't it so cute?! It is made of natural hard Maple, free of paint or stain and sanded smooth for curious little mouths and tender young hands!

Here's the listing in their Etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25124589

So here's how the giveaway works:

1. Visit their shop, browse a little and admire their works of art :)

2. Come back to my blog and add a comment telling me what you like most about their shop, what item, philosophy, etc.

3. The winner will be picked at random on Friday May 29th!

Make sure to spread the news on this fantastic giveaway!

What Makes Me Happy

Packages in the mail! No matter how old I get, I still love the anticipation of waiting for a package to arrive, and opening it when it comes!

This is what I received a couple days ago:

Beautiful, isn't it? A rainbow of wool felt, which will now be available to make your Sweety Baby clips out of.

Just thought I would share my excitement :)

Stay tuned for a teething giveaway in a couple days from one of my new favorite Etsy sellers!

Drooling, drooling.....and more drooling

Every Mom has teething stories to tell. From babes leaving puddles of drool behind wherever they go to gnawing on the brick of the fireplace or the dining room table. Not to mention the constant waking in the middle of the night and the overall irritableness of your usual sweet-tempered little baby.

My daughter, Felicity started teething pretty early. Her first tooth erupted before she was 4 months old. Then it was one tooth after another after another....until now! My daughter has FINALLY cut her last incisor! Now hopefully I will get a break until the 2 year molars start showing their pearly whites.

Okay so I won't go into all my funny & ridiculous teething moments over the last 12 months, but I would love to share my experience DEALING with teething.

I am not sure exactly who opened my ears to homeopathic teething remedies, but lo and behold I started the endless hours of web surfing trying to find the best solution for my oh so cranky child.

I initially stumbled upon Gentle Natural's Disney Homeopathic Teething Drops:





And let me tell you it was the best stumble I could have asked for. One word describes these drops: Amazing. Here's a look at what makes these drops work:

Chamomilla 3X, 6X, 12X, 30X ............pain and sensitivity of teething, calming
Calcarea Phosphorica 6X ........................pain and sensitivity of teething
Kali Phosphoricum 6X ............................pain in mouth and gums
Magnesia Phosphorica 6X .......................pain and sensitivity of teething
Staphysagria 9X ....................................pain and sensitivity of teething

Okay so once I had these in my hand it was smooth sailing. I could handle all the drooling & fussiness in the world.....until Felicity was around a year old. I had just run out of the drops and desperately needed more so I went to Kroger to pick them up (the only place I had been able to find them!) There I was, it was a straight shot to the baby aisle at Kroger. I had a walked it a million times and could probably pick the teethings drops from the shelf with my eyes closed. My eyes raised to the teething shelf.....Orajel, orajel, hylands, and more orajel. Wait a sec where are my Disney teething drops?! I looked that shelf over countless times and also checked to make sure I was in fact in the baby aisle. I soon had to come to the realization that they were gone....forever. Kroger had stopped carrying my lifesaver and no other stores in the area carried them.

So after I composed myself, I forced myself to choose another teething product.

Orajel? I thought. No, no, no. I had heard a story of a baby's mouth going so numb that it hindered his gagging reflex and he starting choking....yikes!

Okay, okay I could go on forever about my dilema at this point, so long story short:

I went with Hyland's Teething Tablets:

Calcarea Phosphorica 3X HPUS - supports dentition

Chamomilla 3X HPUS - for irritability

Coffea Cruda 3X HPUS - for wakefulness and diuresis

Belladonna 3X HPUS (0.0003% Alkaloids) - for redness and inflammation

In a base of Lactose (milk sugar) NF.

As you can see they are much lower in Chamomile & Calcarea Phosphorica than the Disney drops. I wasn't as happy with them and I always ended up giving Felicity the maximum amount it said I could give her. Plus it was a little challenging trying to get the tablet UNDER her tongue. In fact, I don't think I ever succeeded in that endeavor.

I ended up also trying the Hyland's Teething Gel (partially because it said it was recommended by Dr. Jim Sears who is my hero):

Calcarea Phosphorica 12X HPUS - supports dentition

Chamomilla 6X HPUS - for irritability

Coffea Cruda 6X HPUS - for wakefulness and diuresis

Belladonna 6X HPUS (0.0000003% Alkaloids) - for redness and inflammation

So the gel has more calcarea phosphorica than the tablets and a little more chamomile. Plus, in my opinion it was much easier to put this on my daughter's gums once I got the hang of it.

Conclusion, teething happens. You can let your child suffer through it (and you as well) or you could try one of these remedies laid out in this post. Or you could ignore me completely :) In my experience, the Disney drops worked best of all, that is if you can find them anywhere :)

Happy Teething!

Welcome!

SO, I have officially entered into the blogging world :)

I've been told from numerous people that I should start blogging about my new online shop http://www.sweetybaby.etsy.com/ But I thought, "yeah, yeah, sure, what's that gonna do?" Well, I guess I caved in and took everyone's advice :)

But this blog is definitely NOT going to be solely about my Sweety Baby business. Since joining the Etsy world, I have really fallen in love and developed a passion for handmade things. Etsy can be pretty addictive, in my opinion, and what better way to find one of a kind items for gifts or even yourself without forking your hard earned $$ over to big corporations who put all the little people out of business (ahem....walmart).

So my initial thought about this blog was to highlight handmade, fun, funky things that any mother, business woman, student....well I guess any woman would love to have!

But after much thought I decided to dedicate this blog to all things natural, handmade and organic. I admit I am a sucker for everything natural and organic, including parenting! I hope to share some of the fun things I have learned in the past 16 months of being a mother as well as the past 28 years of growing up in a home where sugar was rarely allowed! (Although, I do admit I would secretly long to go to a friends house after school so I could eat their Oreo's! haha!)

So...please read often and be free with comments! Thanks!