Post-Birth Bath's for Mama

With mothers in mind this month, I am posting this for all of our new mothers out there! I know a handful of women that have either just given birth, or are waiting very impatiently to meet their little one. After birth care for the mother is not something that I was told much about when I had my baby. After the marathon of pregnancy and the forty yard dash of childbirth, your body needs some healing. One of the most helpful ways of promoting healing after the many atrocities of a vaginal birth is a 10-20 minute bath with some bath teas. Below are some simple recipes to reduce the aggravation, help circulation and keep you clean. These teas are not for drinking! But a nice cup of chamomile would be soothing to drink while soaking in these wonderfully fragrant concoctions. Keeping the water level low in these baths helps to keep the mixture more potent. For the first week do these baths 1-3 times a day if you can manage between the hourly feedings and changings!

Lavender Infusion

-4 cups of lavender tea: 3 tablespoons of lavender flowers to each cup of boiling water. Steep for 5-10 minutes and strain. Add 2 tablespoons of sea salt to the tea, dissolving well. Allow it to cool slightly, and then poor into the bath. The water should be on the hotter side, but not uncomfortable. I made a large batch of this and kept it in the fridge.

-Add a drop of tea tree oil or patchouli oil to the surface of the water and mix before getting in the bath.

Rosemary Infusion 

-4oz of these mixed herbs: rosemary, sage and garlic and 4 cups water  made in to a tea and strained just like the lavender tea.

-2 TBSP sea salt (sea salt is recommended over table salt)

Calendula and Comfrey Root Infusion (my favorite)

-4oz of these mixed herbs: chamomile flower , calendula, lavender and rose petals in 4 cups water made into a tea and strained just like the lavender tea. Pick and choose which of these herbs you want and have available to you. I used dried comfrey root from the local health store, lavendar flowers, and a drop or two of calendula oil straight in to the bath.

-2 TBSP sea salt (sea salt is recommended over table salt)

Again, please don't drink these teas. Some of these ingredients aren't good for consumption. Make yourself a cup of normal tea or a hot toddy and enjoy the wonder of what you have survived! I hope you had the happiest of Mother's Days and know how wonderful you are for turning yourself inside-out to birth and nurture this new human. 

Schmidt's Natural Deodorant

Another great product for today's active mother from Schmidts Beauty

"Schmidt's Deodorant is made from a signature blend of all natural ingredients that really works. Our product effectively neutralizes underarm odor and absorbs wetness without the use of harmful chemicals."

With the wonderful and warm spring that we have had in Oregon, I've been able to really give this product a try. Our garden is booming and Coral is loving our trips to the park so I have been lucky to have Schmidt's natural deodorant on hand. At the end of each day I have been so pleased that I don't have much of an odor at all!

I have been looking into natural deodorants for a while since I don't want to expose myself to the chemicals that are in conventional products. I have been happy and not-so-happy with a few different natural stick deodorants that come in plastic tubes. When I found Schmidt's, I was interested in trying to "think outside the plastic" as the say and use their baking soda based product that comes in glass.

The glass jar of deodorant comes with this handy little spatula that helps scoop the paste out with. Take a pea size lump and smooth over your underarms. It feels grainy at first but the shea butter in it smooths it out. You can see the amount I put on my hand below and once it's rubbed in, it just has a light powdery surface.

I got to try three varieties: Ylang-Ylang + Calendula, Cedarwood + Juniper and Unscented. I really liked both scents and Schmidt's has just added two new varieties so check them out!

They have generously offered two deordorants to our readers so enter the raffle below and check out their Facebook page. Let them know we sent you!

raffle will run from 5/10-5/17

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Herbolution

I have to say that my experience with Sasha and Veronika at Herbolution has been a delightful experience from start to finish. I was pleased to be able to review two of their many body care items. First I'll point out that they are all Organic, many are vegan, handcrafted in the US and made with recycled and sustainable packaging. In addition to their body care line of products, they make home, office and
fashion items with the same care and attention.

 

I reviewed Herbolutions Baby Floral Water and Baby Balm. As soon as I opened the box that came in the mail I was treated to an herbal experience. I have to admit that I have a weakness for lavender so when each baby product came wrapped in a biodegradable bag with lavender and herbs I was impressed. These whole dried botanicals are food grade and all natural so they are easy to add to a loose tea if you want to have the full experience. They also enclosed a sample of another wonderful sample, a return customer coupon, and other descriptions of their products all printed on sustainable banana paper.

 

 



This is the Baby Floral Water in a glass spray bottle with it's accompanying herbs. My two main uses for this product were bum cleaning, and hair taming. For diaper changing it's great to use on my cloth wipes when it's not too messy of a diaper just to freshen her up and clean any ammonia left on her skin. The lavender scent is wonderful and is paired with a chamomile that is a little too sweet for my taste but I have been known to be picky when it comes to scents. I am certified scent crazy by a receptionist with whom I once worked. I used to sneak into her office down the hall and turn her plug-in air fresheners off when she was away. Usually I could smell spiced apple or Tahitian vanilla for an hour after I left work. We weren't close, she and I.

 



 

Coral has a crazy hair do most days but I hardly notice since mine is usually just a crazy. Here's a picture of Coral's usual hair mess at the local bookstore. While she fits in with the intellectual crowd, she is looking much more dapper with a few spritzes of my Baby Floral Water. Other uses for the spray are as follows:  a light facial toner with soothing properties, hair reviver, linen spray, clothes freshener, air freshener, add 2 Tb to bath tub to enhance the relaxing experience

 

 



The Touch of Nature Baby Balm is so wonderful. It is a light paste that melts in your hands to a gentle and lightly scented moisturizer and protecter that quickly absorbs into your baby's skin. I used it on her bum when chapped and regularly on her legs and arms since it's so dry in our house this time of year. It's also a treat for me to use and my hands are lightly moisturized after using on the baby.

 

 

Sasha and Veronika are generously offering one Baby Balm and one Floral Water Spray to our readers. We will be picking two winners and giving the balm to the first, and the spray the the second!

 

Please check out our friends at Herbolution at any of the following places!

Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/herbolution

Artfire studio: www.artfire.com/users/Herbolution

Facebook : www.facebook.com/Herbolution

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Herbolution

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Herbal First Aid Kit by EcoChic Boutique

Our family is slowing making changes in the items we use around the home so, I was thrilled to be able to review the brand new Herbal First Aid Kit from EcoChic Boutique. The kit comes in a small gauze bag with some band-aids and an instruction sheet:Inside the bag is a handful of very useful items that all work amazingly well!

First up:

CleanWashThis is a natural equivalent to hand sanitizer. You can apply it directly to abrasions or to your hands after exposure to pathogens.
The ingredients are distilled water, witch hazel, colloidal silver, and essential tea tree oil.
Because there isn't any alcohol in this, it takes a bit longer for it to 'evaporate' from your hands, but we chose to use this after all our doctors appointments as my kiddos fought and shared the crud over the past few weeks. Did it work better or just like hand sanitizer? I'm not sure, BUT I definitely felt a lot better using this over the typical hand sanitizer.

Next:
BooBoo StickThis can be applied to minor abrasions, scrapes, bumps and bruises.
It is made up of Apricot Seed Oil with Comfrey Root and Arnica, Bees Wax, Castor Oil and Essential Clove.
I have started using Arnica Gel on our bumps and bruises and it works wonderfully. The BooBoo Stick is a bit cleaner version (compared to a tube of gel) and works just as great in dulling the severity of bumps and bruises.
I had a couple of opportunities to try this out. First, my youngest is a biter (with two big brothers, you have to get attention SOME how, right?! sigh). Well, one morning, Benjamin (my middle son) kept taking toys away from Caedmon (my youngest) after repeated times of me asking him not to. I finally said, "Benjamin, he's going to hit you or bite you...you need to stop taking his toys..." Next thing I know, my 14 month old lunged at Benjamin and sure enough, bit him on the shoulder! ::facesmack::
The second time was when Benjamin bit his lip one evening (I think it happened as he was chewing his lip and sneezed... talented children I have!) but he kept asking me to put something on it. I honestly wasn't sure WHAT to put on it. It only bleed for a few moments, but you could tell it really bugged him. I finally emailed Nicole from EcoChic Boutique and she confirmed that I could most definitely use the BooBoo Stick on his lips (it should be noted this should not be ingested in large quantities - as in more than 1 tube of this!)
Within about 24 hours of application, both times, I started to see healing. Would there have been an infection without applying this? Who knows, but, at least I was able to put something safe on their battle wounds to help speed up the healing process.

After that we have:
KalmSkinThis can be used on rashes, bug bites and any venom bites.
Nicole informed me that in her area, this is highly regarded as a diaper rash cream and it is totally safe for cloth diapers!
The ingredients are: Plantain infused olive oil, bees wax, apricot seed oil, chamomile infused oil and castor oil.
This has worked wonders for us. I've been using it on all these nasty bug bites we have (we call them demon mosquitoes - these evil little critters), as well as my youngest sons eczema.
I honestly didn't even get a chance to try it as diaper cream. But I have it set aside for the first sign of a rash!

Finally:
Kalm TummyThis is a topical remedy only and 3-4 drops are to be applied to the abdominal area in a circular motion.
All herbs have been organically grown - Peppermint infused olive oil, plantain infused olive oil, chamomile infused grape seed oil and castor oil.
We have only had one opportunity to use this (thankfully!) and it worked fairly well as far as I can tell. My middle son was telling me that his tummy hurt one evening and I tried this out. There was no more complaining of a yucky tummy (but I'm not sure if he would have still complained or not).

I kept (oddly enough) hoping for opportunities to try the items (not counting the CleanWash - I about used that bottle up taking care of my sick crew!) on myself since with toddlers and pre-school aged children, it is sometimes difficult to tell if they are still hurting or not, or how well something is working. I was able to try the KalmSkin on my own bug bites and random rashes, and it worked great!

The Herbal First Aid Kit retails for $18 and can be found HERE.

You can find Nicole and EcoChic Boutique on Facebook, Etsy and Hyena Cart, where she also makes and sells a variety of baby carriers, children's items and cloth diapers.

Brushing Teeth

I seen in one of the comments for the Radius tooth brush giveaway a question about how to help encourage teeth brushing in young children who hate to brush. I guess I an pretty lucky in that my son loves to brush his teeth. We usually have to take the brush from him and take him out of the bathroom crying! But on to the question asked:
First I would like to say, I am by no means an expert. With that said, if you have a child who doesn't like to brush their teeth there are some different things you can try.
-Take your little one to the store and let them pick out a tooth brush of their own. I think that when they are able to pick something out by themselves they feel pretty proud and will be more likely to use it. Just make sure you have the right stage brush for your child.
-Make brushing fun. Allow your child to take lead. Let them play with, chew on, and explore the brush. Its a new thing, you move it all over in your mouth, it feels funny, what the craziness is that thing? I think it helps to let the child to explore what the item is. The more familiar they are the more comfortable they will be sticking it in their mouth.
-Teach them. Use your tooth brush and show them how you brush your teeth. Front circles, side circles, tops, bottoms, how ever you brush show them. Let them try it out too!

Here is my experience with my son:
We started brushing my sons teeth shortly after he got his first couple in. He was probably around 9 months. I think most people don't think to brush at that age because they are so little and because they only eat so much. I think this helped with my son liking to brush teeth.

Once E was old enough we let him have to own brush to explore. He was able to chew on it, brush with it, play with it so that it became more of a good item rather than an item that was considered bad. We still would help him with brushing by holding his hand, not the brush, and showing him how to move the brush around and on his teeth getting the spots needed.

Shortly before E turned 2 he started asking a lot of different times to brush. He would hear my husband turn the water on in the bathroom and would run in there asking to brush his teeth.

We would play a fun 'game' with him and ask him to brush in different spots, like the top, front, bottoms, sides etc and he would do it. We also do a copy game where we will brush our own teeth and he will watch and do the same motions.

E loves to brush and will sit on the counter for forever if we let him brushing his teeth. He is still only 2 though and still needs helping making sure he gets all his teeth clean. That is why we have 2-3 tooth brushes just for him. He picks out the brush he wants and uses it. After a minute or two we pick up a different brush of his and help him. He usually does a pretty good time opening his mouth but every now and again he will keep it closed a little bit, I think because it tickles.

We have his first dentist appointment coming up on the 6th. This should be a really interesting experience. He is such a strong willed child and when something is going on that he is unsure of he fights and screams and kicks and you usually have to sit on his legs or hold him in a super tight hug to get him to calm down. I hope that he does well but I doubt it. I might make my hubby take the afternoon off to go with.

We probably would have waited until E was 3 to take him into the dentist but on Dec. 23 he fell in the tub and hit his face on the side. This resulted in a chipped tooth, really badly bruised gums and I think the teeth got pushed up a little bit. Of couse nothing was open from when it happened until the 27th because of the holiday and we had a recheck for his ears on Tuesday so I asked the Pediatrician about it and she recommending taking him in to get it checked out. She also said that she recommends they start seeing a dentist around 2 - 2 1/2 years old. So off we go to the dentist! I will have to let you know what happens, they might need to sand down the chipped tooth to smooth it out.

I would love to hear about your children's experience with brushing their teeth at a young age. Did they love it, hate it? What did you do to help them have a good experience with brushing their teeth?

Radius Tooth Brush Review

I was contacted by Radius Tooth Brush to use and review a couple of their tooth brushes. I was able to pick out 2 brushes that I wanted to try out. So I picked the Intelligent Toothbrush and the Totz Toothbrush.

Here is some information about the design of the brushes:

"The design was revolutionary - nobody had ever thought of using very fine filaments or of using a large head to lower pressure on the gums. The idea of actually making a handle that responded to the right and left orientation of the world's population was regarded as scandalous. This design did not fit into one of those little slots that toothbrushes were sold from - that had been the main determinant

of the shape of a toothbrush for 50 years.

The head was an organic oval shape - the tufts of bristles arranged so that they did not line up in parallel - this meant that they did not repetitively track along the gum line and cause cervical erosion."

In the picture below you see 4 brushes. The two on the left are toddler toothbrushes and the two on the right are adult toothbrushes.
The two that are made for toddlers are an Oral B stage 2 toothbrush which is designed for children 2-4 years old. The Totz Toothbrush is designed for children 18 months and up and is the purple one.
The two on the right are an Oral-B toothbrush and the Intelligent Radius toothbrush.
I took this picture to show the size difference between the different brands.

Below you will find pictures of the Intelligent toothbrush. This brush come with a button on the handle of the brush that you can push and it will set a timer for 2 minutes and will beep every 30 seconds while you brush. The second picture is a close up of the bristles. The head of this brush is quite large and has a lot of bristles in it. The head is replaceable.
Here are the Kids toothbrushes (Purple is the Radius). They are pretty similar in size to each other.
The size of the heads are pretty close, the Totz by Radius is a little wider but not to much. It also has a good amount of bristles on it.
My thoughts on the Radius Toothbrushes:

-I used the Intelligent toothbrush my self. The bristles were pretty soft. I had a hard time adjusting to the size of the head on this brush. I had to learn how to hold my mouth open to fit the head because it was about twice the width of my regular brush. The reasoning behind the wide head on the tooth brush is to help reduce the amount of pressure on the gums.
- I had a hard time figuring out the timer on this brush. I knew to push the button to set it and it would beep every 30 seconds for 22 minutes but on the package it said something about there being a green light on the brush that would show when you needed to change the head. They recommend changing the head every 3 months. I couldn't find a green light on my brush but I think I knew where it should have been coming from.
-One thing that is nice about these brushes is that different parts of the brush are made from recyclable items. They even use recycles money to make some of their brushes!
-My son used the totz brush. Its hard to get the opinion of a 2 year old but I liked to help him brush with this because it was a little wider. It makes it easier to get to the teeth in a 2 year olds mouth. I was able to get more spots brushed because of this.

Over all these are pretty nice brushes. The prices are about average for tooth brushes, maybe a little bit towards the top range of brushes depending on the kind you get.


Would you like to buy a Radius Toothbrush? Check out their site here:


**I was sent 2 toothbrushes to review free of charge. I was not paid to do this review. All opinions are my own and my experiences may differ from yours.