Flouride for the kiddo.

I have wondered since she was around 6 months when I was supposed to brush her teeth with toothpaste that had flouride in it. I have asked my mommy friends and most of them said closer to the age 2 is when they began their babes with flouride. I also asked my pediatrician of course, but sometimes he recommends things that I completely disagree with. (He said as soon as they get teeth.) Also, there is the recommendation on the actual tubes of toothpaste, and it says the age 2. This has been bothering me for awhile now, so I finally decided to scour the internet last night and came up with a couple good articles/ websites that  has helped guide me into a plan of action. The first website is from USA today that discusses how the American Dental Association now recommends we use a rice grain size of fluoride on our children's teeth before the age of two. In fact, they say to start this as soon as your child gets teeth. The change in this decision is based on the huge increase in children's cavities. They also say to start teaching your child to spit out the excess toothpaste so as to prevent fluorosis. Hmm... we'll see about that with a one year old! The other website I found that I really enjoyed was this from dentistry.net that talks about the best 5 toothpastes for children. I noticed Tom's was on the top, and from my own searching at the store I found this was my favorite as well! It has so many natural components and just seems healthier, the best part about the Tom's mentioned on that website was that they sell an Orange-Mango flavor. I'm sure kiddos would love that. With Gracie being allergic to oranges I'm not going to chance that, but I am trying out another flavor here at home this week. I probably won't be brushing her teeth every day with fluoride, but I will start once a week to see how it goes. By the way, I have been brushing her teeth with the children's fluoride free toothpaste since she got teeth (which was around 6 months.) She LOVES to brush her own teeth. In fact, she throws a huge tantrum if I take her toothbrush from her too early, so I let her pack it around and brush for awhile after her bath. Truthfully, I don't mind since it's a good habit plus it makes her teeth feel better since her one year molars are busting through her sensitive gums.

Allergies

There are so many things I have worried about as a new mom, and of course these worries change weekly, daily, heck sometimes even hourly. She is always growing and exploring and doing something new, so of course there is always something she is getting into or trying out for the first time. Although I have come to enjoy her recent independence, it has come with a whole new set of things to watch for. Now that she is one, it's also nice that I can lighten up so much more on what she eats. It's so nice that she can drink cows milk for example, but I'm still limited on what she can chew since she only has two tiny bottom teeth still. For the most part, we have really begun to get into a routine at home with our little miss. That is, until a few weeks ago when she had an allergic reaction at daycare. We thought we identified what it was that was causing the red rash on her face, head and a little on her body, but we weren't 100%. Well, today at daycare we have finally figured it out... the hard way. I checked in through text message and asked for a picture. A few minutes later I get a picture of my sweet girls face all red and a little puffy. It turns out she had a tiny piece of orange and it set her off. We thought it was pineapple, but she had had that before. How stressful is that? I started to think about all the oranges I have eaten in life and how often it's in fruit salads, or as an option at different places. I worry about what would happen if she had a ton, if I didn't give her Benadryl, and what else is she allergic too? For example; is she allergic to smoothies or fruit juices that have orange in them? So much to worry about as a parent, and as stressful as this allergy is, I am keeping it into perspective for myself on just how lucky I am that this is such a small issue to deal with and with  so many other problems that there are with children, I really am lucky. This won't stop me from checking on my little woman all night though... I see as a parent I will never truly sleep restfully again! Regardless, I am feeling so blessed to have this special little girl to call my daughter.

Give me a break!

March was a tough  month for me mentally and physically; I literally couldn't catch a break. Work was nuts, my daughter got super sick, my husband and myself ended up on meds... and then my sickness didn't go away. Back onto meds after a week of hearing loss and them my daughter starts teething hard. More missed sleep... and what do I start to think about? How I have gained three pounds and I really need to get back to eating healthy and why in the world haven't I been working out? I got really hard on myself and made this big plan in my head about getting up early in the mornings to get on my workout bike before I shower and before my daughter gets up. I was super motivated and ready to do this; and then that same night I was up every hour with my daughter and her crying and screaming from those darn teeth. Then I ended up asleep on the floor with her, then the couch, then walking for 45 minutes rocking her. The next morning I hit snooze an unreasonable amount of times and I'm pretty sure I was 15 minutes late to work and you want to know what I realized? That I need to give myself a break.  I'm not Wonder Woman, I can't do it all in one day; that my sleep and sanity is more important than three pounds and fitting just a bit better in my jeans right now. That I already do A LOT in my day and I need to just give myself a break. I know I put a lot of self pressure on myself for what I expect but I also think there is so much pressure in society for moms, working and not, to do it all and look super sexy while doing it. Well, I'm here to say it's not possible unless you have a total nervous breakdown by the end of it. I'm ok that right now my biggest need is my family and my daughter and getting through all these little "things" this month. That I need sleep more and that one day my working out and eating right self will be back.