3\. **Harry Potter**. Harry Potter, Hermione, and Ron. Or Weasleay’s. Or Malfoy’s. The possibilities are endless. I am a big fan of Harry Potter, so this one is bound to happen sooner or later. In addition, it was my husband’s idea (who I converted to a HP fan), so he can’t really say no 

4\.  **Dr. Who**. You’ve probably seen many [Doctors](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Doctor) and [TARDIS](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Tardis) (check out this [TARDIS dress](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GUD3NJ6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8\&camp=1789\&creative=9325\&creativeASIN=B00GUD3NJ6\&linkCode=as2\&tag=teenymunchkin-20\&linkId=eac2b78c744029c9c51a978f6ee9a04d)![](https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=teenymunchkin-20\&l=am2\&o=1\&a=B00GUD3NJ6)) at your different cosplay events, but what about the family version including a [Dalek](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Dalek)? I can’t get over its cuteness.

![](/images/dr-who-family-costume.webp)

5\. **Gru and the Minions**. For families of three, you could go with the three adorable girls: [Margo](http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Margo), [Edith](http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Edith), and [Agnes](http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Agnes). Or you can choose to be a family of minions with [Stuart](http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Stuart), [Kevin](http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Kevin), and [Bob](http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Bob). For families of four and more, you can add [Gru](http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Gru) and [Lucy](http://despicableme.wikia.com/wiki/Lucy), and as many minions as you want! Minions costumes are probably the easiest, you just need a blue/denim jumpsuit and a yellow t-shirt, plus making your own [DYI goggles](http://www.costumedetective.com/easy-ways-to-make-minion-goggles/). These are not so difficult to make, look at ours!

![](/images/minion-goggles.png)

Do you have fun family costume ideas? Please share!


As a foreigner living in the Bay Area, one of the things that I like the most about the US is having multiple opportunities a year to dress up in costumes (or at least way more than in Spain): Halloween, Bay to Breakers (San Francisco), Comic-con, themed parties, holiday parties, Burning Man, etc. And any day is a good day for your kid to wear their dinosaur costume, why not. Proof of it is everyone here has a costume box (even we have a costume box now!).

Since we moved to San Francisco, I’ve managed to get my husband to dress up with me a few times, and even to pull out a couples costume (Princess Leia and Han Solo). But the real fun came when our daughter was born, a whole new world of possibilities opened in front of us: family costumes!

In 2016, when our little one turned one, we went to  Comic-Con San Diego and we dressed up as Bulma, Trunks and Vegeta (Dragon Ball Z):
![](/images/bulma-vegeta-trunks-family-costume.jpg)

We even managed to get featured on the [SYFY instagram account](https://www.instagram.com/p/BIKp8dDhuOb/)! We saw really cool and professional costumes – not like ours, that were pretty amateur – at Comic-con, but I was surprised that there weren’t any more families rocking their costumes together out there.

Looking for ideas for family costumes? Here’re some of my favorites for our little family of 3:

1.  **Dragon Ball.** Bulma, Trunks, and Vegeta. See above. Depending on your kid’s age, you can pick different versions of the characters. Or you could add Bulla to the family if it’s four of you instead of three.

2.  **Monsters** **S.A.** Mike![](https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=teenymunchkin-20\&l=am2\&o=1\&a=B071NFVQCB), Sully, and Boo. This can be a very elaborate costume, true, but if you want something easy, you can always get a couple of t-shirts or sweatshirts (for Mike and Sully) and dress up your kid in pink with a couple of adorable piggy tails. Voilà. Below are a couple of ideas for the t-shirts/sweatshirts.



5 cool family costume ideas

5 ways to entertain toddlers at restaurants

My husband and I enjoy going out for brunch with our little one on weekends. However, the older she gets, the more challenging it gets to keep her entertained during the meal. Especially now that she’s 2 (they are called the “terrible twos” for a reason :-)). I’d be lying if I said we don’t use [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/) when we’re too desperate, but we try to avoid it if possible.

I recently ran into [this blog post ](http://coolmompicks.com/blog/2015/08/06/ways-to-entertain-kids-in-restaurants-screen-free/)which inspired me to write about the things that work for our 2-year-old when we go to restaurants. So here’s our list.

1.  **Crayons**. These are a must for us. Plenty of restaurants usually have crayons and color sheets for kids, especially in the East Bay (at least compared to San Francisco). But I always have a Ziploc with 4 crayons and a small notebook in my purse. You never know.![](/images/crayons-restaurants-toddlers.jpeg)

2\. **Stickers**. Toddlers love stickers. It doesn’t have to be a book with re-usable stickers, any kind of stickers will do. We normally buy regular office labels in different colors which she loves. We also have music stickers and all sorts of other kinds, but the plain colored ones are ideal to complement her drawings. Below you can see one of her works of art .

![](/images/stickers-toddlers-restaurants.jpeg)

3\. **Hand-clapping games and singing.** They won’t keep her entertained for more than 5-10 min at a time, but they’re fun to play! Plus they help develop control of muscles and hand-eye coordination. In this picture, she’s playing with grandma!

![](/images/hand-clapping-games.jpeg)

4\. **Small toys. **Her favorite cartoons are [Peppa Pig](http://www.peppapig.com/) and [Pocoyo,](https://www.pocoyo.com/en) so why not bringing them everywhere with us? She imagines stories while she plays with these little guys, and memorizes and repeats the names of the characters over and over. She can also spend a long time just lining them up.

![](/images/toddlers-restaurants-1.jpeg)

5\. **Telesketch type toy. **This is the one that we use the least. We had one of these Telesketch cheap imitations which she would play a lot with. But when it broke and we never replaced it (she has so many toys!). This was a present that we got from the Daycare she attended in Spain for two weeks last Christmas, and it’s certainly a great idea for toddlers.

If you have other toys and tricks to entertain toddlers at restaurants, please share in the comments, I’d love to try them with my daughter.


5 Ways to entertain toddlers in a restaurant

### Native shoes main features

**Waterproof**. Although not good for swimming, you can wear them at the beach, in the water (to protect from rocks or big stones for example) or outside to play.

*   **Comfort**. They are very comfortable, flexible, and lightweight (extra points for traveling!).

*   **Easy to clean**. They can be cleaned easily with a wet cloth or with a water hose. You can also use detergent on really dirty spots. Finally, they’re machine washable (not good for the drier though).

### 5 reasons why I love NAtive shoes

1.  No need to wear socks, which is good in summer since it gets really warm.

2.  Bye-bye stinky feet. Natives are breathable and don’t stink at all.

3.  They come in many different fun colors and styles and they go well with everything: a dress, shorts and a t-shirt, and even just with a swimsuit. My daughter has been wearing them every day this summer.

 ![](/images/natives-1.jpeg)

4\. Even though they’re slip-ons, they’re really easy to put on and take off

5\. Durable. As I mentioned, my daughter has been wearing them every day this summer and, after cleaning, they still look like new.


I love Native shoes. My daughter is using her second pair (she outgrew the first one already) and we couldn’t be happier with them. We recently got back from a trip to Spain and she got plenty of compliments about her red Native shoes (they’re not very popular there yet).
![](/images/natives-2.jpeg)

Even though they’re not meant for hiking or anything like that, for me, they’re the perfect shoes for the summer. Here’re a few reasons why.

### Native vs. Crocs  and other summer shoes

Most children have problems with flip flops, specially younger ones like my daughter (she just turned 2). Crocs offer a bit more protection and are very comfortable (or so I’ve been told, I’ve never owned a pair), but I just don’t like their looks (and I’m guessing I’m not  the only parent who thinks this way :P).

[Crocs](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0734F4J4C/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8\&camp=1789\&creative=9325\&creativeASIN=B0734F4J4C\&linkCode=as2\&tag=teenymunchk07-20\&linkId=4c45396f05da933ed04e01aec53a7463)![](https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=teenymunchk07-20\&l=am2\&o=1\&a=B0734F4J4C) and Native shoes are very similar in terms of features, but Native tend to fit a bit better and are more stylish. They are both made of plastic, although Native’s seems to be a bit softer.

**Are Natives for everyone?** Not for everyone. If your child has a wide foot, you may be better off with Crocs. The Miller style fits a bit wider than the Jefferson one. But still, if your child has extra wide feet, Natives are not ideal. That is about the only cont I’ve found about Native shoes so far.![](https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=teenymunchk07-20\&l=am2\&o=1\&a=B074HDT6K2)


Native, the best shoes for the summer

A few months ago my daughter caught the hand, foot, mouth disease (HFMD) at the daycare. And then I did. And then my friend did too. We all had spent a long weekend out of the city together while it turns out she had already been infected (but it wasn’t obvious because HFMD can be contagious before symptoms start manifesting).

I had never heard about this illness before, and only some parents with toddlers had heard about it in my circle of friends. Not sure if this is a ‘new’ illness or what, what I know is it wasn’t popular when I was a child so I hadn’t had it. Never too late.

### What is hand, foot, mouth disease

The hand, foot, mouth disease is a viral illness that usually affects babies and children under 5 years old. It’s basically a skin rash – sometimes with blisters too – that can appear in your mouth (inside and outside), hands, and / or feet. In our case, we had a rash outside our mouth, hands and feet. In my case the feet were the worst. In my daughter’s case her hands were the worst part (same for my friend).

In the United States its most common cause is the Coxsackievirus A16. It seems that it’s most likely to occur in the summer and early fall (although we had it in spring).

### Symptoms and transmission

One of the tricky things with the hand, foot, mouth disease is that it’s very contagious, even before the symptoms are visible, so it’s easy to not be careful enough (like in our case). Actually, we were told the first week is when it’s more contagious (and via more places). Symptoms include:

*   Fever

*   Sore throat

*   Sore on tongue, gums or inside the cheek

*   Red rash or blisters

While I didn’t have fever, the sore throat was one of the worsts I’ve ever had in my whole life. My daughter got fever a couple of days before the skin rash started. Luckily, none of us got blisters inside our mouth. That is good because at least she was eating and drinking – less than usual, but still – and she wasn’t at risk of dehydration.

The viruses can be found in a person’s nose and throat secretions (saliva, sputum, nasal mucus), blister fluid, and feces (stool). And there are multiple ways in which you can get infected:

*   Close personal contact

*   Through the air (coughing, sneezing)

*   Contact with feces (diaper change)

*   Contact with contaminated objects and surfaces

For us, I’m 95% sure a bowl of strawberries that the three of us shared is to blame :O

### How to help your baby with HFMD

The doctor told us there’s not much that you can do, it’ll just go away in a couple of weeks (she was better after a couple of days, and fully recovered after 10 days since the symptoms started being visible).  But here’s a few things that worked for us:

*   Ibuprofen or tylenol for fever

*   Hydrocortisone cream for the itchiness

*   Cold water (with ice) for pain relieve (in hands and feet)

*   Stay hydrated, drink lost of fluids

Hopefully, you don’t need this information, but if you do, I hope I’ve captured enough useful stuff for you!

*Featured image by Freepik*


Dealing with hand, foot, mouth disease (HFMD)

My friends laugh when I tell them I am ‘immune’ to jet lag. But it’s true. Or should I say, it WAS true. I moved to San Francisco about six years ago and since then I’ve traveled between there and Barcelona (nine-hour time difference!) an average of three times per year. I have a system to fight jet lag which had been working perfectly fine until two years ago. That’s when our daughter was born.

We’ve traveled with our child from San Francisco to Spain five times already (and two more planned for the rest of 2017). Fighting jet lag gets a bit more challenging with a baby or a toddler e.g. the ‘no nap’ rule doesn’t apply. But there are still things you can do to help your baby adjust to the new time zone and to try and avoid sleep regressions when back at home.

### What to expect

In our experience, babies and toddlers handle jet lag differently. Meaning it was a bit easier when she was a baby.

**As a baby, she would stay awake the first night (two tops)** and after that jet lag would be over (she was two months and a half). Recovering from the return flight would take a bit longer, between three and five days. The pattern repeated in the two following trips.

The last two times we’ve traveled with her in the last six months (she’s two now), it’s been a different story. **As a toddler, two trips ago it took her a whole week to get over jet lag**. Luckily, we were going to spend a month in Spain… so at least weren’t going to have to change her schedule again in a week. During that weak, she would consistently wake up at 1 am and fall back asleep between 2 and 3 hours later. She also had some trouble getting back to normal when we got home. As in we think she had kind of a sleep regression for over a month (although there were other factors that could’ve affected their sleep, so we’re not completely sure about it).

In her last trip (we got to Barcelona 2 nights ago) she’s repeating the same pattern: she’s waking up at 1 am and fall back asleep 3 or 4 hours later. **The third night has been way better, just 30-45 min awake**. I’m hoping that’s it this time, keeping my fingers crossed. And also, there are a few ‘rules’ that I follow in order to make it easier for my baby (and for us!). Keep reading.

### What to do to help babies and toddlers with jet lag

1.  **Travel by night.** For long flights (I’m talking about +8 hours), I’d suggest to take a flight after 6pm (if possible). Feed them when you get to the plane (or right before, saving the bottle for the take-off), put their pajamas on, and get them to go to sleep. Night planes normally turn off lights after dinner is served, so that always helps. When they get there the next day it’s been a short night, but it’ll also be a short day so it’ll more or less compensate. When you get to your destination, try to keep them awake till a little bit past their normal bed time.

2.  **Be patient, it takes some time to adjust to the new time zone**. When she was a baby, we’d take turns to play with her on the first couple of nights. She did really need that time awake, and we weren’t going to fight against it. She wouldn’t even cry, just wanted us to play with her. You can’t reason with babies or their jet-lagged bodies, so just embrace it and give them some time.

3.  **Go a bit later to bed the first night**. To make sure they’re really tired. Her bedtime right now is 8.30pm. The first night she was awake till 10 pm, the rest of the week I’ve been putting her down to sleep around 9pm.

4.  **Wake them up early, and compensate with (not too long) naps**. Even if they didn’t get a full night of sleep, don’t let them sleep till noon. Just try to compensate with naps, one or two, depending on their age. My daughter takes one nap per day, which can go from 2 to 3 hours, sometimes even a bit longer. I let her take a 2 hour nap the first day after we arrived, now it’s 1.5 hours only.

5.  **Go back to a schedule as soon as you can**. As soon as you can normally means after a day or so. If you’re on vacation, it may be difficult to get on a schedule. However, this is important for your child to go back to normal. Try to keep nap(s) time at around the same time every day (even if different than at home) and same with feedings. I also try follow the same bed routine even if a bit later.

Helping your child to overcome jet lag requires a bit of discipline but you’ll both enjoy your trip better this way. I hope these suggestions work for you, safe travels!



*Featured image by Freepik*


Jet lag in babies and toddlers

Also known as sensory walls, or busy boards, sensory boards are a really fun way for your child to play with everyday objects while experimenting with textures, colors, shapes, and whatever you can imagine. It’s really up to you… since you can put anything you like in your sensory board.

### What age are these appropriate for?

When I discovered these, I immediately wanted to create one for my baby. I wasn’t sure what age these would be appropriate for, but in fact these are good for babies and toddlers, it just depends on what you choose to put on them.

For example, we glued some zippers to one of the sides, and it turned out it was a bit too early for her to be able to zip and unzip them. However she’d touch them and try, ask as to show her how to do it, and eventually, she learned to pull the zippers all by herself.

When searching for ideas, just choose whatever you feel is appropriate for your baby’s age and current milestones. Below I’m sharing what we did for our baby, and a few other ideas that I found specially interesting.

### Ideas for your sensory board

Our four-sided sensory board was very simple to put together. Our daughter ended up not playing with all of the items we put on it. She was around 10 months old when we made it. Here’re a few things that we learned:

*   **Colorful zippers**. As I’ve mentioned above, she couldn’t zip and unzip them in the beginning, but she’d still like them and play with them until she eventually learned how the zippers worked. I chose bright colors (yellow, pink, green, and blue).

*   **Numbers**. It had both shiny numbers (from 0 to 9) and buttons on a string that you could move from one side or the other and count. She obviously wasn’t counting yet but enjoyed pulling from the string and spinning the buttons.

*   **Shapes**. This was by far her favorite side of the board. We draw different shapes on the board, then cut the same shapes and covered them with felt of different colors. Both the drawn shapes and the cut ones had velcro on them, so the game was to stick them in the right spot. She could keep herself entertained for quite a bit of time by sticking and taking off the shapes, sometimes even in the right spot :-p

*   **Plastic tube with “slide” for balls**. We made the tube with a water bottle and the balls with yarn. She didn’t like this much… basically only played (AKA tried to eat) with the balls until she destroyed them.

Here are a few other ideas that I liked (although haven’t tried yet!):

*   **Textures**. Just choose different types of fabric: hairy rug, crepe, fur, fleece, lamé, wool, satin, denim, shiny, … or whatever you have at home, and either stick small pieces directly on the board or frame and hang like on the image below:

![](/images/sensory-board-textures2.jpg)

[*Image from the Fun at Home with Kids blog*](http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2013/02/sensory-boards-infant-x-already-has-lot.html)

Another option is to use sand, a scrubber pad, a piece of plastic, cotton, and other materials, and put them in small boxes attached to the board:
![](https://preview--teenymunchkins-c68b1.stackbit.dev/\_static/app-assets/images/sensory-board-textures.png)

*   **Locks, chains, and handles**: I really want to try this one. We didn’t because locks and chains are usually heavy and it wasn’t going to work with a cardboard box. But these are definitely next for us! Toddlers love to open doors and cabinets, and our daughter is no exception, so this one seems a winner to me.

*   **Lights**. Lights are always fun when you’re a baby. Push lights are perfect for sensory boards.![](https://preview--teenymunchkins-c68b1.stackbit.dev/\_static/app-assets/images/sensory-board-locks-push-light-others.jpg)



*   **Letters: **Draw and color the ABC, or cut and paste or attach, use magnets, velcro, … or simply write your baby’s name on the board. Here’s a very cute board I found on [Lollygag Learning](http://lollygaglearning.com/diy-sensory-board-for-babies/):

![](/images/sensory-board-letters.jpg)

*   **Sounds**: This one may require a bit more work. You can go with an easier option, like a horn, or more elaborated ones like doorbells.


There are many more things you can do, if you have time, get some inspiration browsing [DYI sensory board images](https://www.google.com/search?q=DIY+sensory+walls+for+babies\&source=lnms\&tbm=isch\&sa=X\&ved=0ahUKEwi7\_77NkKbVAhVHsVQKHZOkA0oQ_AUIBigB\&biw=1874\&bih=990\&dpr=1) or reading cool blog posts like [this one](http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2013/02/sensory-boards-infant-x-already-has-lot.html) or this one.

### Layouts

The most common layout for sensory boards or walls is a piece of wood or cardboard that you can hang on the wall. Usually, you’d use wood if you think it’s going to be heavy (e.g. has locks and chains on it). You may also want to hang these close to the floor (so your baby can reach it!) and making sure it’s well secured.

![](/images/sensory-board-sitting.jpg)

[*Image from the Fun at Home with Kids blog*](http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2013/02/sensory-boards-infant-x-already-has-lot.html)

In our case, we had lots of cardboard boxes and not much space in the walls, so we decided to go with something light (fabric, zippers, buttons) and four-sided. Since our baby wasn’t still walking, she used it as a “stand up toy” as well (this required some weight inside the box). See picture below.

![](/images/sensory-board.jpg)

Finally, I found this other very practical version online, which I loved. You just need a box to use as a base, and it’s great for storing because it folds upon itself without squashing the contents.

![](/images/sensory-board-layout.jpg)

[*Image from Mum First Doctor Second*](http://mumfirstdoctorsecond.blogspot.com.es/2015/05/diy-sensory-board.html)

DYI Sensory boards for babies

Finding the right baby monitor can be a bit overwhelming: there are plenty of models, brands, and features to choose from. You don’t want to be cheap with something like a baby monitor, but how to know what you really need. On the other hand, baby is going to grow up and what are you going to do with your expensive baby monitor then? You may as well try to be creative and come up with an alternative idea, like using a Nest Cam as a baby monitor.

[Nest Cam Indoor security camera](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WBJGUA2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8\&camp=1789\&creative=9325\&creativeASIN=B00WBJGUA2\&linkCode=as2\&tag=teenymunchkin-20\&linkId=fc93bdc401d33de0776fc2207b6d2a49)
![](/images/nest-cam.jpg)

In any case, be prepared to invest some time in browsing online and reading reviews, so you can make an informed decision. Before you do so, try to make a list of baby monitor features that you value the most and why (this seems like a waste of time, but believe me, it will actually save you a lot of it).

After that exercise, we evaluated buying a Nest Cam to use as a baby monitor. Below are some pros and cons, followed by our final decision and reasoning. Hope it’s useful for you!

### Pros

*   You can give it other uses when baby is older (e.g. security camera)

*   App allows you to get the video anywhere you have internet access (vs. only at home where the baby monitor is)

*   Night vision

*   Easy to move around

### Cons

*   It takes a while to connect

*   It often disconnects from the wifi, so it’s not 100% reliable.

*   There’s occasional lag because it’s operating over wifi, again, not 100% reliable

To be honest, babies don’t move much so all you need is good sound in order to notice if your baby is crying or vomiting or something.

Do I prefer video or hearing my baby crying the moment she starts crying (without lag)? Baby crying. Do I prefer video or knowing that my baby is breathing? Baby breathing.

For that purpose, we ended up discarding the Nest Cam as a baby monitor and got the Angelcare monitor. It turns out to be a bit more affordable, sound is good, reviews were good, and its movement sensor gave us absolute peace of mind (ultimately, that is the reason why we went with this monitor).

[Angelcare Movement and Sound Monitor](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GU07FLQ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8\&camp=1789\&creative=9325\&creativeASIN=B00GU07FLQ\&linkCode=as2\&tag=teenymunchkin-20\&linkId=04149d6c2c101e34c90b2ee1b215a243)

![](/images/angel-care.jpg)

### Do you really need a camera?

When we first started researching about baby monitors we were definitely looking for one that had a camera. After looking at different models, we realized that maybe we didn’t need a camera after all. At least at the beginning. Are we going to be looking at our baby while she sleeps? Probably not… instead, we wanted to know:

*   That she’s breathing

*   If she wakes up and needs attention

So we decided to remove the camera from our “must have” list and mark it as a nice-to-have. We figured we had time to buy a camera if we ever needed one (spoiler alert: we haven’t yet). And if we were going to get one, we may as well spend the money in a good camera, like the Nest Cam, instead of in a baby monitor with a camera that it’s most likely be of less quality.

With time, I don’t regret that decision at all. While she was a baby, we never really needed a camera. But our daughter has always been such a good sleeper so it may be different for you. There was one phase though, when she figured out she could stand up in the crib, where it would have been useful to have one. Mostly to able to tell if she was standing or not. If not, no need to go in the room (which also meant more playing, and her thinking by standing up she could get our attention and avoid having to go to sleep). In two years, that’s about the only use case where I would’ve considered the use of the camera worth it. And anyway, that phase only lasted 2 or 3 months.

To summarize, while I recommend the Nest Cam as a product (we have two and are very happy with them), as a baby monitor, I don’t think it’s the best option for the reasons mentioned in this blog post.


Using a Nest Cam as a baby monitor

Playing with homemade edible finger paint

Finger paint is a great activity to play with your child. It’s not only fun but it also helps your child explore new senses, experiment with textures, and develop new skills like hand-eye coordination, concentration, creativity, amongst many others.

However, if you try to do this between 12 and 18 months of age, it may happen that your child is more interested in eating the paint than into actually making art  If that’s your case, preparing your own edible finger paint at home could be a good alternative. It may sound complicated, but it’s actually not that difficult. I haven’t done it myself, but I have friends who’ve done it with their children and recommend the experience.

We played with finger paint for the first time when my daughter was around 13 months old I think, we were past the ‘trying to put absolutely everything in my mouth’ phase, so we just used acrylic paint (I recommend this [Fingerprint Starter Kit by Crayola](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0197UC222/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8\&camp=1789\&creative=9325\&creativeASIN=B0197UC222\&linkCode=as2\&tag=teenymunchkin-20\&linkId=e2493eeb16dc35f1585099a4069c6374)![](https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=teenymunchkin-20\&l=am2\&o=1\&a=B0197UC222) which has everything you need, it’s non toxic, and washable). However, if we had tried it a few months earlier, I would’ve definitely made my own edible finger paint at home.


### Homemade edible fingerpaint

My friend made these for her 13 month old with baby cereal, water, and food coloring. You can’t probably tell from the picture, but each color has a different texture. In her case, that’s exactly what she was looking for: experimenting with different textures.

![](/images/home-made-edible-finger-paint.jpg)

The way of preparing these is not special: just mix the ingredients and voilà. She achieved the different textures by simply combining different amounts of water and baby cereal for each color. One thing to take into account is that this mix won’t stay. She got some awesome pics and videos of her baby while playing with the finger paint, and also of the art (see this blog post’s featured image) but the mix won’t dry so you don’t get to keep the drawings.

If you want something a bit more elaborated, [this blog post](http://www.learning4kids.net/2014/10/07/homemade-edible-finger-paint/) contains precise instructions on how to make edible finger paint. I’m sharing a summary below:

You’re going to need corn starch, cold water, boiling water, and liquid food coloring:

1.  In a pan, mix the corn starch and the cold water till you get a paste.

2.  Pour 1 cup of boiling water and stir till there are no lumps.

3.  Turn on the heat and mix till it starts having streaks.

4.  Turn off the stove and keep stirring.

5.  Split the paste in different containers,  add the liquid food coloring (3 drops of each color), and mix.

6.  Cover and store in the fridge for 2 weeks.

7.  Turn on medium heat on the stove and mix. The mixture will start to change and you will notice some clear streaks forming in the mixture. Once you see this, turn off the heat and continue stirring. It will start to thicken and turn into a wonderful, custard-like consistency.

8.  Before giving it to your child, make sure the paint hasn’t expired.

Enjoy!


From time to time I hear stories about people who are asked to stop breastfeeding in public and go somewhere else, or who are [criticized](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/christian-serratos-walking-dead-slams-breastfeeding-shamers-instagram_us\_595f96c4e4b02e9bdb0c0f80) or [insulted](http://wedames.com/my-1st-experience-breastfeeding-in-public-in-springfield-mo/) because of doing so. For eight months I was never asked to do so and everyone seem to be cool with it, or they just didn’t tell me. I personally think it’s everyone’s right to nurse their baby wherever they want, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, and as crazy as it may seem, new parents don’t want to spend all day at home with their babies.

One thing I did though, was ask if people minded me nursing in front of them. Even at home sometimes. You never know, and some people may genuinely not feel comfortable. To clarify, I’m talking about the kind of people who would’ve never asked me to stop breastfeeding in front of them.


## Breastfeeding in public for the first time


Breastfeeding outside of your home opens a whole new world of possibilities. It also makes you feel like “a normal person” again. At least it felt like that to me. I breastfed outside of our home for the first time on day six after our daughter was born. Before that, I would either go out and come back quickly for the next feeding or just don’t go out at all.


That day we wanted to show our parents around San Francisco, who were visiting from Spain. We had planned to go to a couple of different neighborhoods and were not going to have time to go back home on time for the next feeding.

I still didn’t have proper clothes for breastfeeding in public (not even a pre-pregnancy buttoned t-shirt). You would think one should prepare for that, well, I just didn’t think about it before that day. I was going to need to take off my top, and I wasn’t going to nurse my baby in a restroom (would you eat lunch in a restroom?), so I decided to stay in the car.

For context, it was summer and really hot. The baby was still learning to latch, and I was still learning what worked and didn’t for us. I started sweating, the baby started sweating, and it felt like it all went wrong. However, it was the best thing I could’ve done. After all, I felt accomplished that I had been able to nurse my baby outside of our home, and started building up my confidence.

After that first experience, and for almost eight months, I breastfed in many different places: malls, parks, offices, restaurants, and even standing in line waiting for a taxi at the airport (baby was starving!).



## 3 tips to comfortably breastfeeding in public

Breastfeeding in public doesn’t have to be uncomfortable, in fact, after just a few times, it’ll feel absolutely natural and you’ll stop thinking everyone’s looking at you.

>
> In my experience, the most challenging part of breastfeeding in public is doing it for the first time.
>

Having said that, here’re the top 3 things that helped me feel comfortable breastfeeding in public:

1.  **Wear comfortable clothes**. There are many types of tops that you can wear: pull up, top tanks, buttoned t-shirts, some ‘v’ necks, etc.

2.  **Build up your confidence**. As I’ve described above, my first experience breastfeeding outside our home wasn’t ideal, but it was decisive in helping me build up my confidence. The sooner you make the first step, the easier it’ll be. (Just don’t think too much about it :-)). I remember once a friend organized a meet up at a bar, and I went with my baby. I knew some of the people there, but I had just been introduced to others. Being able to breastfeed there, with no one looking at me like I was weirdo, just having normal conversations… that felt really good. Those were the type of things that helped me the most to feel breastfeeding in public was natural.

3.  **Look up places online**. Sometimes you go to parts of the city you know very well, but others you don’t. When that happened, I’d do my research and look up online places where to go if in need of breastfeeding e.g. restaurants and malls with family rooms, parks with benches, and I also discovered that if you ask, at most [GAP](http://www.gap.com/), they’ll let you breastfeed in a changing room (I did it once). There’re many online tools like for example [Winnie](https://winnie.com/) (which wasn’t available when I was breastfeeding, but now it is), where you can find this type of information.


[*Featured image by *](https://flic.kr/p/eU1L4U)**[*Chris Alban Hansen*](https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisalban/)**[* *](https://flic.kr/p/eU1L4U)**


Breastfeeding in public

I totally recommend going to your closest lactation consultancy center to get this one right. You may know the obvious things, like you need wireless bras and stuff, but they can measure you and tell you which size of bra you’re going to need both before giving birth and after. They can also recommend the best models. I tried 4 different types of nursing bras and only one felt good: [Bravado Designs Body Silk Seamless Nursing Bra](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DX6ZD6O/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8\&camp=1789\&creative=9325\&creativeASIN=B00DX6ZD6O\&linkCode=as2\&tag=teenymunchkin-20\&linkId=ce4d9669f6989d9b77cc18ca1c82cd71). The main reasons why I liked this bra are it opens on the front but at the strap level, adapts well to your shape, is very soft, comes in many different colors and patterns, and is durable.



Bras

his was a life saver for me. I was using it at work to be able to keep typing my computer while pumping. Equally useful at home, but really needed at work. A friend recommended the model I’ve linked from the title, which I really liked. You want to look at a bra that it’s rigid enough to hold the bottles, but still lets you breath.


Hands Free Breast pump Bra

If you’re planning to keep [breastfeeding when you go back to work](https://teenymunchkins.com/2017/07/11/breastfeeding-and-getting-ready-to-go-back-to-work/), you’re going to need a pump. Even if you don’t, you may still be interested in pumping for other reasons, e.g. your partner being able to feed and bond with the baby. If you’re not planning on using a pump frequently, a [single breast pump](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006HBS1M/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8\&camp=1789\&creative=9325\&creativeASIN=B0006HBS1M\&linkCode=as2\&tag=teenymunchkin-20\&linkId=c5d585efc93355c4908ed39818dc62fc)![](https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=teenymunchkin-20\&l=am2\&o=1\&a=B0006HBS1M) may be enough. Otherwise, you may be better of with a [double electric breast pump](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HWXCJS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8\&camp=1789\&creative=9325\&creativeASIN=B004HWXCJS\&linkCode=as2\&tag=teenymunchkin-20\&linkId=69c2a675883cab25c6cfe597f6d06678) like the one in the image.


Pump

If your nipples are sored, and they will (at least the first couple of weeks), you can apply lanolin cream which will help both with the pain and also prevent chapping and bleeding. And you don’t have to wash it before breastfeeding. I got a sample of the Medela one at the hospital, tried another one at home (can’t remember the brand), and went back to this one. Awesome product.


Lanolin cream

Washable or disposable, nursing pads are a must, specially during the first few weeks when your body is learning your and your baby’s feeding schedules and your breasts frequently leak unexpectedly.


Washable and organic nursing pads

These were an authentic gift to me. I got one at the hospital, a nurse gave it to me to help with the latching (to make sure the baby sucked the areola, and not just the nipple). Some other nurses didn’t recommend it, but the lactation consultant explained that used properly, it could be a very useful tool. It turned out to be true. I used it during a month or so, more in the beginning, and almost never at the end, mostly because my baby wasn’t having problems latching anymore. The trick is don’t let them get used to it! Other people use this to get some relief, since it provides a barrier between you and your baby’s mouth.


Nipple shields

Ok, you’re pumping lots of milk but… what do you do with it? Breastmilk doesn’t last much, so unless you’re planning on consuming it right after you pump it (or in a few hours) you may want to freeze it. If you do, these bags are perfect. I was very hesitant about plastic bags being resistant enough. These ones are. The maximum amount of breastmilk that I was freezing was 4 oz or 5 oz (rarely more), and they hold perfectly. You don’t want to freeze more than that in the same bag, otherwise it may be too much and you may end up wasting part of it (once you thaw it, you can’t freeze it again).


Breastmilk storage bags

This helped during a few months, at some point the baby was too big and it wasn’t comfortable anymore. ![](https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=teenymunchkin-20\&l=am2\&o=1\&a=B000KW5I6E)But then we started using it to help her sit on her own, and we had also been using it for tummy time. This pillow has many different uses, so it ended up being a good investment.


Boppy nursing pillow

How can you be sure if your baby is eating enough? You can count wet diapers (6 to 8 a day is normal), but how can you be certain that you’re doing it right? ![](https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=teenymunchkin-20\&l=am2\&o=1\&a=B0009MFUZE) Get a scale, and you can weight your baby as often as you want. Probably not the first thing you’d buy, but hey, why not if it makes you feel better. There are some models like this one which convert into a toddler scale, so at least you can use it a little longer.


2-in-1 Baby to Toddler Scale

When I started breastfeeding I realized I hadn’t planned for nursing clothes. I don’t really own buttoned shirts or ‘v neck’ t-shirts, so I didn’t really have many tops to comfortably breastfeed. If I wanted to be able to go out, I was going to need to buy some new clothes. Yay! The one in the image turned out to be my favorite. The main reasons being it looks like any other t-shirt, I hate 'v necks', is easy to get ready, just pull up, and offers pretty good coverage (you won't get cold).



Nursing t-shirt

10 products that make breastfeeding eaiser

Breastfeeding can be very rewarding but it may also take a while until you start enjoying it. While I was at the hospital after giving birth, I was lucky enough to get advice from nurses and lactation consultants who were just the best. They recommended different products, all very useful, and they also gave me samples. Other breastfeeding accessories, I’d learn about them after, mainly through friends.



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