Well, it's been about a week of working on the sleep training. I just got "the no-cry sleep solution" in the mail and have been reading through it. Combined with the advice nurse I think I may be on my way to a better night's sleep.
After the first night with the bottle of water, Charlotte completely refused to even try to suck on the bottle. The second night was a battle of wills. It was my will for her to go back to sleep without nursing, it was her will to prove to me that she wanted things her way by screaming as loudly as she could. Fortunately sleep training has started to take. I had set her bedtime for 9:30 and had started a routine. Then I read in the no-cry book that babies need to be in bed much earlier - like 7pm - and that my almost 6-month-old needs around 11 hours of sleep each night and 3-4 hours between 2 naps during the day.
To this I gave a dropped jaw "wha?! that much?!" I had no idea. The funny thing was that in the same paragraph the author says that she was putting her baby to bed around 9:30 and her baby started sleeping longer when she set and earlier bed time. It's like she knows me.
Charlotte almost always takes a long nap around 7. I don't know how it didn't occur to me that I should just put her to bed! So tonight when she started to get red eyed and sleepy I put her to bed. That was around 8. I fed her again at 10:30 and she's still asleep even now as I type.
Now that I've started to get a handle on the night-time sleeping thing, the next challenge is going to be the naps. So far Charlottes naps have been pretty short and at the mercy of my schedule. She sleeps in the car if I've been driving long enough and she always wakes up when I take her seat out of the car. If I'm home, she usually sleeps around noon but never more than half an hour. Other than in her carseat, she never naps without being held and she certainly doesn't get 3-4 hours of sleep each day. So now I have my work cut out for me. I need to figure out how to keep her asleep during the day. Considering how inconsistent my daily routines are this is going to be a tough one to figure out.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Ode to gDiapers
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| Charlotte modeling the Goddess Pink gPant |
That's the part you see. They come in all sorts of colors and designs - one of my favorite features. The waistband is elastic and velcro closures fasten toward the back of the diaper. The back closures are nice because I can stand Charlotte up if she's fussy to finish putting her diaper on. I imagine they'll also be nice when she's at an age where she can take her own diaper off since getting them open will be much more challenging than a typical diaper. I had about 10 of them in small and my medium collection is up to around 14. I don't need that many, but I'm kind of a nerd about collecting all the colors. I loved matching the colors with cute shirts in the summer and they look extra cute with baby legs.
The Pouch:
These snap into the pant and hold the pad. Rubbery piping around the edges fit around babies legs to prevent leaking. Because they aren't a permanent part of the diaper, you can easily switch them out of the pant if they're soiled. They wash pretty easily but break down faster if they go through the dryer - something I'm not great about preventing. The liner in the second picture is a bit yellow from staining. The amazing thing is they completely bleach to white if I put them in the sun for a few minutes.
gCloth
Next is what you stuff into the liner. This is a huge selling point for me! There are a few options. One is the gCloth. What's special about these cloth inserts is that one side is a soft cotton and the other is a very absorbent hemp. I used about 24 small ones and have 18 medium/large ones now. I throw them into my gdiaper laundry bag and throw the whole bag into the wash every couple days. In the medium/large size a prefold will fit rather nicely. They're much less expensive, but I really like the gCloth personally and I feel like they were worth the investment.gRefills
The gRefills are one of the two things that sold me on these diapers over other cloth diaper systems (the other thing being the availability in stores - more on that later though!). I've worked out a system where I cloth diaper when I'm home and use the refills when I'm out of the house and at night. What's absolutely amazing about these is that they are amazing absorbent (I never change her during the night) and you can flush them! Yeah, that's right. YOU CAN FLUSH THEM! They are completely biodegradable if you don't flush them. You can also compost pads that are poo free.
The system is really great, but you may wonder, what about the cost? This was something I really thought about before I invested in this system. Diapers are expensive regardless of which route you take. These cost quite a bit up front. I could have chosen a less expensive cloth system, but I decided to go with these for a few reasons. First is that I can use them again. We plan on having more kids and besides the pink diapers, we can reuse the pants and cloth pads - we'll probably have to buy new liners which come in packages of 6 for $20. The other reason I chose these is resale value. I shopped for used ones for months online. They're like the Honda of diapers. They retain their value.
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| I loved this shirt during the summer because it matched several different colored gPants. |
Because this is one of the only cloth systems available in major retail stores I've been able to coupon to cut some of the costs. Many packages came with a coupon for $2.50 and sometimes $5.00 off if you bought a two pack of the gpant and a package of gRefills. If you're not picky about color, the starter packages online aren't too bad. Diapers.com has a first time buyer discount and runs specials fairly often. I just bought 4 diapers for the price of 2 on babies'r'us website making each pant less than $10. New Seasons has sales on pants and refills every once in awhile as well. I've managed to piece my collection together fairly reasonably.
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| This was a limited edition pattern last summer. |
Okay, I'm almost done being a personal advertisement for this brand! I just want to mention a couple more reasons that I love these diapers. I've already mentioned how I bought them in stores. Recently babies'r'us expanded their selection and now they carry several more products which is great if you don't want to pay for shipping. Another reason is their customer service. Their site has videos and explanations for how to be successful with their products and when I've had to call their customer service they were very knowledgeable and friendly. The last reason I like them is that they're local. gDiapers were created in Australia but their US headquarters is based in Portland (I've been there for tea!) and I like to buy local when I can.
This video she's wearing her orange diaper with her rainbow baby legs.
So there you have it. My ode to gDiapers. Perhaps my complete nerd devotion to a cloth diaper system is a bit ridiculous, but there you have it!
If this wasn't enough information for you, there's always their beautifully designed website: http://www.gdiapers.com/
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Voice in the Night
Last night was quite a learning experience. I fed Charlotte a jar of apples mixed with rice cereal, bathed her, rubbed her with lotion, got her in pj's and nursed her before putting her to bed about 8:45. She went right to sleep, no problems. But then about 10:30 she woke up and wouldn't go back down again.
Around 12:30 I finally decided I'd had enough. Not only was I up unexpectedly, this unpredictability was turning into a pattern that I didn't want to repeat. I started to get overwhelmed by everything - the spit-up, the drooling, the biting, the hourly nighttime feedings, and the fact that Paul is required to work so much overtime I feel like I have to do it all on my own.
I didn't know what else to do so I called the nurse advice line at my pediatric clinic thinking they'd tell me that this was just part of being a mom. Surprisingly the nurse that called me back from Legacy had lots of really great ideas on how to get my sanity back (besides the usual hard drugs and drinking method :-P).
For biting, she said to scream bloody murder when she bites me, stick her on the floor, and walk away without looking her. I haven't tried this yet, but I know how my baby hates it when I scream, so I know this will probably make a difference.
For the hourly feedings she asked what I was doing with her. I said that I had her in a co-sleeper. When she wakes up and starts grunting at night I pull her in to bed with me and feed her. If she fusses when I put her back, I usually just keep her in bed with me. The nurse told me I was developing the bad habit of her sleeping in bed with me. Especially since she did sleep through the night before. So she told me to have a bottle of water on hand to feed her knowing she wouldn't like it for when she wakes up.
I followed her advice and gave her the water probably four times through the night. She gagged on it and then I gave her the binkie and she went right back to sleep. Around 6 she woke up and I gave her the water. She started gulping it so I knew she was actually hungry and I fed her.
I couldn't believe that this worked! Not only that, she slept in her co-sleeper all night with the side up. I didn't think she'd go back to sleep if she couldn't see me. Hopefully this is the ticket I needed to a full night of rest!
The moral of the story is, I probably should have called the nurse help line weeks ago. I tended to not bug my midwives when I was pregnant either knowing they had very long hours and busy schedules. But I could have probably saved myself weeks of sleepless nights if I'd called as soon as she started teething.
Around 12:30 I finally decided I'd had enough. Not only was I up unexpectedly, this unpredictability was turning into a pattern that I didn't want to repeat. I started to get overwhelmed by everything - the spit-up, the drooling, the biting, the hourly nighttime feedings, and the fact that Paul is required to work so much overtime I feel like I have to do it all on my own.
I didn't know what else to do so I called the nurse advice line at my pediatric clinic thinking they'd tell me that this was just part of being a mom. Surprisingly the nurse that called me back from Legacy had lots of really great ideas on how to get my sanity back (besides the usual hard drugs and drinking method :-P).
For biting, she said to scream bloody murder when she bites me, stick her on the floor, and walk away without looking her. I haven't tried this yet, but I know how my baby hates it when I scream, so I know this will probably make a difference.
For the hourly feedings she asked what I was doing with her. I said that I had her in a co-sleeper. When she wakes up and starts grunting at night I pull her in to bed with me and feed her. If she fusses when I put her back, I usually just keep her in bed with me. The nurse told me I was developing the bad habit of her sleeping in bed with me. Especially since she did sleep through the night before. So she told me to have a bottle of water on hand to feed her knowing she wouldn't like it for when she wakes up.
I followed her advice and gave her the water probably four times through the night. She gagged on it and then I gave her the binkie and she went right back to sleep. Around 6 she woke up and I gave her the water. She started gulping it so I knew she was actually hungry and I fed her.
I couldn't believe that this worked! Not only that, she slept in her co-sleeper all night with the side up. I didn't think she'd go back to sleep if she couldn't see me. Hopefully this is the ticket I needed to a full night of rest!
The moral of the story is, I probably should have called the nurse help line weeks ago. I tended to not bug my midwives when I was pregnant either knowing they had very long hours and busy schedules. But I could have probably saved myself weeks of sleepless nights if I'd called as soon as she started teething.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Epic Update
For me, writing is a way for me to gather my thoughts. I feel like my thoughts lately are so scattered (probably due to a lack of sleep) that I must gather them up and categorize them! So here is my life categorized.
First, SLEEP.
It's not happening anymore. Charlotte was sleeping so well and then teething hit and it ended. She had me up feeding her every hour last night. EVERY HOUR. I've been waking up with a stiff neck every morning for at least three weeks. I'm on my third pillow attempt to ease my sore neck. I'm going to look into sleep methods. It's a bit difficult to sleep train with a house full of people that need to be up at all hours of the morning. But I can't function like this. It also doesn't help that my husband works graveyards. So I don't have the option of "your turn." I need a frickin break.
FOOD.
Chuck's been on solids for a month now. I haven't been overzealous about making sure she has some every day, but I think I'll probably up the solids to once a day at least. She eats that much easily when I do feed her. This means I need to buy cases of baby food. I think I'll wait to make my own baby food when we have our own house. As it is, there's really no place to store it anyway.
GROWING
Charlotte wants to crawl so bad but can't seem to figure out the coordination for it yet. I think she's also going through another growth spurt because she's been eating like crazy and sleeping more during the day. I just bought her 6 month clothes (albeit not as many as 3 month). I would like if she could wear them for at least a few more weeks. Anyone else notice that pajamas and jackets are the last thing they grow out of? Maybe it's just my baby.
HOLIDAYS
If I didn't have a calendar I would guess that it's early October right now. The holidays feel a bit surreal to me. Thanksgiving just felt like another family meal. I'm beginning to think that traditions are what make the holidays feel like something special. In terms of Christmas, I'm really disappointed that no one wants to go to the tree farm to get a tree. I've been trying to establish this as a family tradition for Paul and I three or four years now and he fights me on it every year. I don't really understand his aversion to it. We have zero holiday traditions left in my family. I want us to have some. I think another tradition I want to start is Black Friday people watching. Perhaps I'll make a website devoted to photos of crazy people on black friday.
BUSY MOM
Right now I'm in the process of putting together a holiday recital for my voice studio. I'm a little nervous about my students preparedness. I've continued to take voice lessons and I feel like they've been very beneficial. I've made it my goal to give a recital (the senior recital I never had) probably mid-February. I need to get going on planning the details!
I'm also on the planning committee for my high school reunion. I love event planning (probably a bit too much) and I've spent quite a bit of time on it.
Lastly I've been seriously contemplating starting a small business making stuffed animals to sell on etsy and in a couple local baby shops. I think it's a good plan, but I worry about the time commitment. I really want to do it though, I think it's a completely viable business. I need to spend time doing some more research.
BAILEY
I think Paul and I are a bit stumped about what to do with our cat. He broke his leg and has been in a kennel for about 6 weeks. We shelled out the $160 to get x-rays which showed that he needs to have his leg amputated. The problem is that this costs $1000+ to do. We don't have the money. We don't have the credit. We basically have to give him up. I'm mad because he's been through so much and we've always managed to keep him - not to mention that we've spent over $400 on this leg so far. Paul's in denial and doesn't seem to want to do anything at all. In the meantime, our poor cat is stuck in a kennel with a leg that's not healing.
HOUSE
We're a bit further from buying a house than I'd like. I'm months behind on my Sallie Mae payments and it's hurting Paul's credit. We have no savings either. Giving, we've only been at my parents 3 months, but I'm getting antsy. Hopefully we'll be able to pre-qualify for our home-loan by February. I've kind of lost my momentum for the time being. We've been working really hard to be on a budget and to get stuff paid down. It still feels like our bank account is a sieve.
First, SLEEP.
It's not happening anymore. Charlotte was sleeping so well and then teething hit and it ended. She had me up feeding her every hour last night. EVERY HOUR. I've been waking up with a stiff neck every morning for at least three weeks. I'm on my third pillow attempt to ease my sore neck. I'm going to look into sleep methods. It's a bit difficult to sleep train with a house full of people that need to be up at all hours of the morning. But I can't function like this. It also doesn't help that my husband works graveyards. So I don't have the option of "your turn." I need a frickin break.
FOOD.
Chuck's been on solids for a month now. I haven't been overzealous about making sure she has some every day, but I think I'll probably up the solids to once a day at least. She eats that much easily when I do feed her. This means I need to buy cases of baby food. I think I'll wait to make my own baby food when we have our own house. As it is, there's really no place to store it anyway.
GROWING
Charlotte wants to crawl so bad but can't seem to figure out the coordination for it yet. I think she's also going through another growth spurt because she's been eating like crazy and sleeping more during the day. I just bought her 6 month clothes (albeit not as many as 3 month). I would like if she could wear them for at least a few more weeks. Anyone else notice that pajamas and jackets are the last thing they grow out of? Maybe it's just my baby.
HOLIDAYS
If I didn't have a calendar I would guess that it's early October right now. The holidays feel a bit surreal to me. Thanksgiving just felt like another family meal. I'm beginning to think that traditions are what make the holidays feel like something special. In terms of Christmas, I'm really disappointed that no one wants to go to the tree farm to get a tree. I've been trying to establish this as a family tradition for Paul and I three or four years now and he fights me on it every year. I don't really understand his aversion to it. We have zero holiday traditions left in my family. I want us to have some. I think another tradition I want to start is Black Friday people watching. Perhaps I'll make a website devoted to photos of crazy people on black friday.
BUSY MOM
Right now I'm in the process of putting together a holiday recital for my voice studio. I'm a little nervous about my students preparedness. I've continued to take voice lessons and I feel like they've been very beneficial. I've made it my goal to give a recital (the senior recital I never had) probably mid-February. I need to get going on planning the details!
I'm also on the planning committee for my high school reunion. I love event planning (probably a bit too much) and I've spent quite a bit of time on it.
Lastly I've been seriously contemplating starting a small business making stuffed animals to sell on etsy and in a couple local baby shops. I think it's a good plan, but I worry about the time commitment. I really want to do it though, I think it's a completely viable business. I need to spend time doing some more research.
BAILEY
I think Paul and I are a bit stumped about what to do with our cat. He broke his leg and has been in a kennel for about 6 weeks. We shelled out the $160 to get x-rays which showed that he needs to have his leg amputated. The problem is that this costs $1000+ to do. We don't have the money. We don't have the credit. We basically have to give him up. I'm mad because he's been through so much and we've always managed to keep him - not to mention that we've spent over $400 on this leg so far. Paul's in denial and doesn't seem to want to do anything at all. In the meantime, our poor cat is stuck in a kennel with a leg that's not healing.
HOUSE
We're a bit further from buying a house than I'd like. I'm months behind on my Sallie Mae payments and it's hurting Paul's credit. We have no savings either. Giving, we've only been at my parents 3 months, but I'm getting antsy. Hopefully we'll be able to pre-qualify for our home-loan by February. I've kind of lost my momentum for the time being. We've been working really hard to be on a budget and to get stuff paid down. It still feels like our bank account is a sieve.
Friday, November 18, 2011
The Teeth Have Landed
Charlotte has been developing rather quickly. She's completely sitting up on her own (although she still topples now and then) she's very talkative, she's able to grab straight for things she wants (and put them in her mouth), she has no problem finding sounds, seeing people from far away, and she's even started mimicking sounds she hears a little bit. Right now my sister is teaching her to high-five. She doesn't quite get the concept, but she's moving her hand to my sisters every time.
I had hoped that in the midst of all of these developmental milestones, that teething would be one of the ones on a normal timeline.
But, like everything else, teeth have come early.
At first I was upset because I dreaded what this meant for breastfeeding. Fortunately it hasn't been to much of an issue. It's all the other symptoms that have me in the fetal position on the floor in the wee small hours of the morning.
Teething comes with a whole slew of symptoms. Stuffy noses, irritability, changes in sleep patterns, drooling, chewing on everything, and, last but not least, sore swollen gums.
She gets frustrated from her stuffy nose because she can't breathe when she's eating. So I try various methods to help her breathe better, all of which make her furious. It's hard to tell when she's fussy because her gums hurt or if she's fussy because she's just tired or cranky. So I never know when to give her medicine. I just got a homeopathic one called Kids Relief. I figure with Homeopathic stuff, if I give it to her and she doesn't actually need it, at least it won't hurt her.
I have to say that the absolute worst parts of teething are the changes in sleep and the drool. I was getting a nice solid 5 to 6 hours of sleep a night. That's all over. Now I'm lucky if I get 4. Naps are completely unpredictable. Sometimes she'll sleep 3 hours, sometimes she'll sleep 10 minutes. I had thought she would be done with spitting up by the time teething was a real issue. Unfortunately she spits up just as much as ever (even solids). Combined with the drool, I end up changing her clothes at least four times a day.
Hopefully I can figure out some more solutions to make all of this a little easier for both of us. I'm going to the store today to get some medicine for her sniffles. That should knock out a big chunk of what's bothering her right there. I'm also going to check into the vulli teething toys since I've heard so much good about them. I might up the solids too so that she spits up less, but that will mean more work for me in terms of pumping. This too shall pass!
I had hoped that in the midst of all of these developmental milestones, that teething would be one of the ones on a normal timeline.
But, like everything else, teeth have come early.
At first I was upset because I dreaded what this meant for breastfeeding. Fortunately it hasn't been to much of an issue. It's all the other symptoms that have me in the fetal position on the floor in the wee small hours of the morning.
Teething comes with a whole slew of symptoms. Stuffy noses, irritability, changes in sleep patterns, drooling, chewing on everything, and, last but not least, sore swollen gums.
She gets frustrated from her stuffy nose because she can't breathe when she's eating. So I try various methods to help her breathe better, all of which make her furious. It's hard to tell when she's fussy because her gums hurt or if she's fussy because she's just tired or cranky. So I never know when to give her medicine. I just got a homeopathic one called Kids Relief. I figure with Homeopathic stuff, if I give it to her and she doesn't actually need it, at least it won't hurt her.
I have to say that the absolute worst parts of teething are the changes in sleep and the drool. I was getting a nice solid 5 to 6 hours of sleep a night. That's all over. Now I'm lucky if I get 4. Naps are completely unpredictable. Sometimes she'll sleep 3 hours, sometimes she'll sleep 10 minutes. I had thought she would be done with spitting up by the time teething was a real issue. Unfortunately she spits up just as much as ever (even solids). Combined with the drool, I end up changing her clothes at least four times a day.
Hopefully I can figure out some more solutions to make all of this a little easier for both of us. I'm going to the store today to get some medicine for her sniffles. That should knock out a big chunk of what's bothering her right there. I'm also going to check into the vulli teething toys since I've heard so much good about them. I might up the solids too so that she spits up less, but that will mean more work for me in terms of pumping. This too shall pass!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Preparing for the Holidays
Every year around this time I suddenly realize that the holidays are impending. November seems to sneak up on us every time! Perhaps it has to do with Oregon's lack of noticeable weather changes. It's a mixed bag of thoughts and feelings mostly related to wondering where the time has gone and how am I going to survive the next two months?! This year isn't much different, but I do feel as though I have a different perspective. Typically I start to work up an impending dread of what the holidays will include. They tend to become a gas guzzling blur of driving all over the place, knitting, sewing, cooking, cleaning, rehearsing, performing, and weeks of gift shopping. This is all very strenuous on my stress level. I think this year I'm going to be able to either deal with it better or just avoid it completely.
We're living with my parents so there's one less trip. I'm also accustomed to being sleep deprived so perhaps I won't be half asleep when we visit our various relations (one of Paul's cousins likes to tease me because I always fall asleep when we visit). Paul and I have decided that instead of buying each other gifts we're just going to allow each other to buy something for ourselves that we really want but haven't been able to get. I'm getting boots. He's getting a video game. We've also set spending limits with my family that will make it much easier to shop. The ultimate confidence boost is that nothing can be more stressful and exhausting than the first month with a newborn, so Christmas should be a breeze.I say all of this with confidence even though I want to run through my house screaming because Charlottes been grunting and restless the last hour and I'm about to lose my mind. So perhaps my hope for the holidays is a pipe dream and it will be as stressful as usual with the magnified stress of the baby to tote all over. But I can dream right?
Monday, November 7, 2011
Squeals and Snotty Noses
I feel like it's been awhile since I've posted anything. Since I posted last, we've survived a weekend choir retreat, halloween, and more of the day to day.
The choir retreat was a bit challenging. The beds that were there were all very small and narrow bunk beds that didn't leave much headroom for the bottom bunk. I ended up getting a migraine from sleeping on the mushy padding. Charlotte seemed to enjoy the endless attention. She also seemed to enjoy the sweet potatoes I fed her. She ate the whole jar in one sitting. A couple of days before the retreat she started to discover how loud she could yell and enjoyed practicing her big girl voice while the kids sang solos. It was pretty amusing.
The last few days she's started expanding her yell into baby words. It's fun to listen to her while she's playing with her toys "bobobobo oooo oo bobo yiii!!!" She also likes to experiment with how high she can squeal. She's quite amusing.
She's also right on the verge of sitting up by herself. I can seat her with a toy on her feet and she'll stay sitting until she tries to straighten her legs or leans too far to one side. A few times I've thought she was going to fall backward and she managed to right herself. We don't have a high chair because I had expected to use the bumbo, but it looks like we'll be needing the real thing sooner than I expected.
On a less happy note, I'm starting to lose the battle against this stupid cold. I had managed to squelch it's evil power over my sinuses a couple weeks ago with the help of umcka and emergen-c, but it's back with a vengeance. I've armed myself with chicken noodle soup, orange juice, more emergen-c, echinacea tea, and many boxes of tissues but this cold is pretty determined. Chucks been a bit stuffed up and I gave in and got the snot sucker by Nose Frida. It's a tube with a mouthpiece that attaches to a chamber with a hole in the end so you can literally suck the snot out of your baby. It sounds pretty disgusting and she screams bloody murder when I use it but I swear it works so well to clear her nose that I don't really care. It's better than her fussing while she's breastfeeding because she can't breathe!
The choir retreat was a bit challenging. The beds that were there were all very small and narrow bunk beds that didn't leave much headroom for the bottom bunk. I ended up getting a migraine from sleeping on the mushy padding. Charlotte seemed to enjoy the endless attention. She also seemed to enjoy the sweet potatoes I fed her. She ate the whole jar in one sitting. A couple of days before the retreat she started to discover how loud she could yell and enjoyed practicing her big girl voice while the kids sang solos. It was pretty amusing.
The last few days she's started expanding her yell into baby words. It's fun to listen to her while she's playing with her toys "bobobobo oooo oo bobo yiii!!!" She also likes to experiment with how high she can squeal. She's quite amusing.
On a less happy note, I'm starting to lose the battle against this stupid cold. I had managed to squelch it's evil power over my sinuses a couple weeks ago with the help of umcka and emergen-c, but it's back with a vengeance. I've armed myself with chicken noodle soup, orange juice, more emergen-c, echinacea tea, and many boxes of tissues but this cold is pretty determined. Chucks been a bit stuffed up and I gave in and got the snot sucker by Nose Frida. It's a tube with a mouthpiece that attaches to a chamber with a hole in the end so you can literally suck the snot out of your baby. It sounds pretty disgusting and she screams bloody murder when I use it but I swear it works so well to clear her nose that I don't really care. It's better than her fussing while she's breastfeeding because she can't breathe!
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