May 2021 Moms

Product Spotlight: Health and Safety

Happy Monday! Today I'm asking for contributions to discuss generally on the topic of Health and Safety, which admittedly is a pretty broad topic! How do we keep our babies healthy? How do we keep our babies safe? That's like, all of parenthood!

I think in a most immediate sense, let's think about stocking our first aid kits and medicine cabinets: what kind of thermometer do you have for babies? Do you use Infant Tylenol or Advil? If so, when? For a fever, or discomfort, or teething? If the baby is congested, do you use one of those manual bulb snot-extractors or do you swear by the Nose Frida? (And... on the other end... have you tried the Windi?) And speaking of gassy babies, do you use any products for that, like gripe water? How about keeping those sharp little talon nails safe from scratching their face? Do you clip, file, bite, or use one of those motorized kits?

And then there are outlier items that most people may not stock but some people love, and may even be controversial: do you have an owlet monitor? Humidifier/air purifier? Crib-rail covers for baby to chew on? 

The big safety topic down the road is baby-proofing, which we will likely discuss once our babies are out and mobile, but if anyone has pressing advice or product recs to share with FTMs to keep in mind for the future, don't hesitate to speak up!

Prior and upcoming product spotlights

Re: Product Spotlight: Health and Safety

  • One of my favourite baby gifts was a playtex 6 piece health-care kit.   
    https://www.amazon.com/Playtex-6-Piece-Baby-Healthcare-Kit/dp/B01BZNFKKU/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=playtex+healthcare+kit&qid=1610397739&sr=8-1
    It's so convenient to throw in the diaperbag and I use most of the pieces frequently. I haven't used the medicine spoon yet, but medicine dripper was useful when I need to measure very small quantities of a store brand children's liquid acetaminophen when my DS was little. And I use the nail clippers a lot, very convenient.if I don't use it every three days he grows sharp claws. I don't really use the slicone bulb, but sometimes as a chew toy, my DS likes the feel of the silicone a lot. 

    I never used crib rail covers for chewing on, however sometimes I wish I had something because my DS has actually biten off chunks from the top bar of the crib. 
  • Regarding the Owlet, I purchased one for my first baby and was absolutely terrified. We tried using it, but she kicked it off every. single. time. They were, however, very nice about letting me return it. At that point, we had discovered she was such a light sleeper that I was not worried she wouldn't wake up, so I didn't look into an alternative method of monitoring. 


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  • Nothing to contribute in terms of experience but I registered for the frida baby kit thinking it all looked useful. Anyone have experience with those items. 

    DH is terrified of the snotsucker lol
  • Are humidifiers controversial? 😂 we definitely used one when she was stuffed up. 

    We also had one of the healthcare kits. I never understood how to use the suction bulb but we did use a nose frida. I tried the windii once and it for sure worked.... but I felt bad using it 😬

    I always just used a basic rectal thermometer. She really didn’t get sick except maybe once her first year though. We did infant Motrin a handful of times for either fever or teething.

    I my experience the gas drop/gripe water just don’t work. We even tried a fennel extract & nothing ever really helped except pumping her legs to release gas. We had major tummy issues though and I had to cut dairy to resolve, so maybe they work for mild gas 🤷🏻‍♀️
  • @ckmb_1250 I know here humidifiers are not recommended 🤷‍♀️
  • @mimser really?! Like because of sids risk? 

    I know you’re not supposed to have them on full blast in a small room, but I guess I thought they were a basic thing to have.
  • @ckmb_1250 it's more that it's likely to develop bacteria and mold and then it's being shot into the air and could create or worsen respiratory issues in babies and children. They say if you're gonna use it, you should empty, rinse and dry it daily and clean it with vinegar and disinfect with bleach weekly. The fact that very few people will follow this routine is why they don't recommend it.
  • We used the snuza with the older two boys. I'd like to get an owlet this time around, we'll see if Eli approves, lol!

    The nose frida is gross but works splendidly. It's your baby so you'll do whatever you need to do! 
    *Loss 8/2014*
    *Rainbow 8/2015*
    *Expected Rainbows 12/2018*
    *Loss of Twin 5/2018*

  • @mimser ohhh gotcha. That makes sense. My husband has a ridiculous fear of mold so we actually clean it quite often 😂
  • We like the nose frida...easy to use and it works! 

    Big Owelet fans here. DS wore it every night until he was about 9 months, then he would kick it off so we stopped using it. It did start to do funny things toward the end like it would randomly go off because it lost connection but I'm not sure if that was because he was moving more or our WiFi wasn't always great in that house. We loaned it to my BFF and she hasn't said anything so hopefully it's fine! I do need to get it back tho 😂

    We had a forehead/ear thermometer and it doesn't work at all. We also had a regular cheap one and that worked fine for under the arm.

    We use baby tylenol here and only really used it for fevers. Once DS started teething, we used it then too, but he was a really bad teether...high fevers and super fussy the day before a new tooth so we were constantly thinking he was sick.
    Me:29 DH:30
    Married:10/2012
    TTC #1: 12/2017
  • brynn_mamaof4brynn_mamaof4 member
    edited January 2021
    I always recommend a rectall thermometer over any other type. Super easy and accurate! The forehead swipey thermometers always make me nervous they aren’t accurate. I used a rectal thermometer for the first few years honestly. 

    My youngest spikes really really high fevers when she’s sick. It took me a long time to not absolutely panic but I am more comfortable with it now... when she is sick her fevers get as high as 104.6. The first time it happened she was 10 months old. It’s miserable for her :( after calling my dad who is an ER nurse, my best friend who is a family NP and her pedi though they all did a good job of reassuring me when I was first dealing with this. 
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