Humidifiers are an ideal choice for relieving the discomforts of nasal congestion, dry itchy skin, chapped lips, and dry throat.
The moisture that humidifiers add to dry air helps alleviate common nuisances brought on by winter heating, such as static electricity, peeling wallpaper, and cracks in paint and furniture. Many physicians recommend the use of a humidifier to help relieve congestion from the common cold and flu as an alternative to over-the-counter cough and cold medicine.
Do you know however that the blast of humid air you breathe may not contain mist which is clean and safe? It may thin the secretions and ease breathing though.

The mist is produced in 3 ways by humidifier:

• Shaking the water (they call it ultrasonic humidifier)
• Blowing the air (this is called impeller type)
• Boiling the water (this is also known as vaporizer)

Ultrasonic type humidifiers are the newest and whisper-quiet. It uses high frequency sound to break water into mist.
This produces clean air (kills bacteria and mold) however it may not produce the safe air.

Ultrafine mist may also contain pulverized impurities in mineral-ladden tap water.
These little particles when breathed irritate lower breathing passages.
Have you or someone from your family noticed OR complains about such condition? I bet someone must be.. because it is my problem too

You can overcome this by buying an ultrasonic humidifier:

SPT SU-4010 Ultrasonic Dual-Mist Warm/Cool Humidifier with Ion Exchange Filter

Important Tips
If you have a lot of minerals in your tap water, it is recommended to use distilled water, filtered water, or a Crane demineralization filter (HS-3161). Place humidifier on an elevated surface and not on carpet, towel, or sensitive wood furniture.

Cleaning and Storage
Frequently cleaning your humidifier is very important. Crane recommends emptying the water in the basin daily, making sure you pour away from the fan air-outlet. Disinfect the water basin and tank weekly by using a white vinegar and fresh water solution, let sit for 30 minutes, then rinse. For convenience, the Crane Descaler solution HS-1933 is also available. It is important to disinfect and dry completely before storage.

The ultrasonic humidifier with built in particle filter or changeable demineralizing cartridges. example:
Homedics HUM-HDDC4-6CTM Demineralization Cartridges

Another great ultrasonic humidifier is SPT SU-2081B Digital Ultrasonic Humidifier with Hygrostat Sensor, Blue

Crane Cool Mist
Crane 2.3 Gallon COOL Mist humidifier, White and Blue

Second type is Impeller Type Humidifier:
These are not as quiet as ultrasonic humidifiers. And these are likely to harbor bacteria and mold. And potentially spew these germs into the air.
Some of the newer impeller humidifiers come with filters.

Couple of good ones as below:
Vicks Cool Mist Action for Relief of Cold & Flu Symptoms. Vortex Technology – the motor drive impeller draws up water through a pickup tube. Next centrifugal force then throws the water against a screen breaking it up into water vapor and leading it through a vortex path. This produces an ultra-fine mist which is then released into the air.

Vicks 1.5 Gallon Cool Mist Humidifier
1.5 Gallon Capacity for 24 hour operation per filling
Exclusive Protec Dynafilter Air Cleaning Filter
2 Stage Filter System removes dust, pollen, odors and tobacco smoke from room air, removing 93% of particles as small as pollen
Quiet Operation
On-Off Switch
Appreciate if you read A. Triolo’s Review that it’s Loud

Hunter 34357 3-1/2-Gallon CareFree Plus Humidifier with PermaWick Filter

Cool mist humidifier with low maintenance. Hunter Fan’s exclusive Permawick filter that never needs replacement. 3.5 gallon output for up to 1600 sq feet coverage. Antimicrobial properties are incorporated into the plastic parts and wick. Regulated water release system. Dishwasher safe pan and tray. 2 Speed fan.

I would not recommend third type: Rotating drum and furnace mounted humidifiers. These hold pool of stagnant water.

Parents, overall whichever you want to buy, make sure you take regular care of the humidifier.
Clean it as and when needed.
Use proper filters/cartridges.
Make a good one time investment and of course, if you are not happy with one type, go for other one.
Check out the reviews, talk to friends and find out which one they felt better.

FYI.. we bought SPT SU-4010 Ultrasonic Dual-Mist Warm/Cool Humidifier with Ion Exchange Filter

Well, I’m sure, you might have similar or matching routine.. Don’t you?
What is a sleep training? What should be ideal sleep routine? Where all this jazz comes into picture..?
To my knowledge sleep training is simply allowing child to have enough sleep, creating environment that he is taking care of his own sleep. And most importantly following a routine so that it develops into a habit.

Is that important? What all we need to do?
I understand it is important.. Absolutely. Trust me it is important. I’ll let you figure out reasoning behind that.
Make a routine and stick to it. Its not easy.. I know.. specially given the fact that we all have varied interests after office hours.. or sometimes office has extended hours You figure that out..

How it will help?
A well developed sleep routine can have long term impacts on overall growth.
Doesn’t it feel better if we get up early? I typically feel very relaxing as I get early morning and find time for myself.
Hope to implement same routine for my little champ too.

Too much from me now.. Have a great day.

I am a full time mom . I don’t have any troubles breastfeeding my baby throughout the day and night. However I considered bottle feeding or so called formula feeding for couple of reasons. Neil is 2 months and 10 days old today. And it has been a full test of my endurance.  Recently a very nice family friend of mine visited our place to see our cutie pie. As usual, super woman inside me woke up. I was all excited to be hostess for my childhood friend’s family.  Everything was just great, dinner was too good. I was the iron chef . However as soon as they left, my battery was down. Totally exhausted.  That night, I felt I should have started formula for my baby.  I fed my baby that night… however was determined to do some reading and research on formula feeding as well as use of breast pump.

Quickly putting the what I see in each side.

Breast feeding advantages, Why to consider breast feeding your new born

Convenient. No prep work needed. No bottles, no sterilizer.

Very easy to digest. Hence needed frequently

Very nutritional for babies (as per my reading.) It also increases immunity for various infections newborns are susceptible to. Also prevents allergies. Contains Antibodies which can’t be produced in formula. This is quite interesting.  Eg. If mother catches fever or flu, her body produces antibodies to fight against those. And same is prepared in the breast milk. Quite amazing… Please read more on Google. Breast milk also naturally contains many of the vitamins and minerals that a newborn requires.

Although this isn’t one of my favorites, cause I am happy the way I am.. still worth mentioning. Breast feeding will help you lose weight and be in shape again

Challenges with breast feeding:

Mom has to be there in person. No matter what how mom is feeling, she has to be fit, up and running all the time in order to be able to feed the baby. This poses a strong reason for using formula. It’s a huge time and mental commitment. ON the other hand, formula can be prepared by any one, any time.  Well someone might immediately share the word of wisdom about pump and breast milk.  I am yet to check that option. With this option comes all sorts of accessories… breast milk storage bags, breast feeding pump, etc.

Diet of mom: Dear moms, till the birth of your son, you have taken exceptional care of your diet. No spicy food, no high mercury contained fish, no heavy food, carbs etc. Now that you have chosen to breastfeed, you need to continue the good daily eating habits. Any compromises with it, your baby will let you know that. Howz that?

A little initial challenge is baby and mother getting used to routine of breast feeding.  Trust me, if your baby is not latching properly, you might want to give up that. Be persistent. It increases the bonding with your baby.

Well, this is all I know about breast feeding. What’s good about formula or bottle feeding?
First of all, formula is closer to breast milk however stands at no competition for breast milk of a healthy mom. Even formula companies write that on the bottles.  Of course, breast milk contains so many complex substances that it can not be copied completely.  Many of those are not even chemically known.

Formula is easy and handy way to feed a hungry child… especially when you are out in public place. You need not find a place for feeding. Just take out the formula bottle and  baby is ready to eat. How simple. Of course, you need to pay for this comfort. Formulas are of different needs and types.

Baby need not be feed too frequently. Some moms may consider this good. Well, even I was happy when my cutie slept 4 hours straight one night after I gave him formula.  Having put this, I want to convey that I use formula mainly to maintain the habit so that he is taking it when needed.

This was not to check the quality… please don’t misunderstand. It was to check what should be considered in a baby monitor and how to make it operational… Although good friend of us had already shown the demo once to us on how to install it, we couldn’t make it work when he was not around.

The topic was quite interesting as I started looking into more details.  That generated understanding Also I could see that most of the concerns I had were already addressed in one or the other products.

Here is my “Things to Consider When Buying a Baby Monitor” list… Please note: this is not in the order of preference. And your preference can vary.

1.) Budget: What is your budget? We got the monitor as a gift and found it to be quite good and reasonable.

2.) Accuracy of monitoring: A new finding… baby monitor works on some radio frequency. It’s like a one way walkie talkie. You need to tune it to catch frequencies of some wavelength. How does that matter? Well… there are numerous devices in yor home emitting some kind of frequency. And it is easy that those would interfere with baby monitor. And the it will affect is, you would be never sure if your monitor is working as expected or not. You might get false alarm because of interference with other device like TV, wireless telephones etc.

3.) Type and sensitivity of monitor: There are analog and digital baby monitors. Also there are baby movement monitors and baby voice monitors, color monitors and black and white monitors.

Various types are available.

Here is some of the comparison features I have captured about some of the most popular products. Take a look…

Source: http://www.consumersearch.com/baby-monitor-reviews

If you have a house full of electronics, you will likely have trouble finding a baby monitor that doesn’t get interference from wireless networks, cordless phones, microwave ovens and remote-control toys. Although it’s expensive, the Philips Avent SCD510 operates on a 1.9 GHz frequency — eliminating interference from other electronics (Philips guarantees it). Since it’s a digital baby monitor, it also eliminates the chances of accidental eavesdropping. Features include automatic channel switching (between 120 different channels), a walkie-talkie feature, out-of-range and low-battery warnings and sensitivity control (so you can adjust for ambient noise like an air conditioner). We did read a few complaints that the cradles failed to recharge the batteries, and that the volume on the parent unit is too low. However, if you’ve had trouble finding a baby monitor that doesn’t conflict with your other technology, the Philips Avent SCD510 is worth a look

The Sony BabyCall Nursery Monitor NTM-910 costs much less than a digital baby monitor. The catch is that it’s an analog monitor, which means it is subject to interference with other electronics and other baby monitors, and if your neighbor has a similar monitor, they may be able to accidentally eavesdrop. One advantage that the Sony BabyCall Nursery Monitor NTM-910 may have over other analog baby monitors, however, is a 27-channel range that parents say virtually eliminates static and clicking. Another advantage is that the receiver comes with rechargeable batteries as well as a power adaptor. Altogether, if you’re not worried about interference, reviewers concur that the Sony BabyCall Nursery Monitor NTM-910 is the best inexpensive baby monitor. A dual-receiver version is available for about $15 more.

Parents don’t need a video monitor, experts say, but some find them reassuring. However, reviews for video monitors in general aren’t very good. The Summer Infant Day & Night Handheld Video Monitor is an exception, with better reviews than most. The Summer Infant monitor has a color display and 900 MHz audio monitoring; both function at a range of up to 350 feet. The monitor has a belt clip, so you can walk around with it. An additional camera (*Est. $75) is available for monitoring more than one room. Most users of this video monitor say that picture clarity is good enough to justify the price, although a few complain of audio static and interference with other electronics. The Summer Infant Deluxe Day & Night Handheld Color Video Monitor with a larger 2.5-inch screen (*Est. $180) is available, but many parents say the smaller screen is sufficient.

Usually higher number of reviews about the product, the better it is. More appropriately… higher number of positive reviews, the better is the product.

Enjoy… the good night sleep since your baby is now sleeping carefully… please note: baby monitor won’t take of baby when needed. You have to be a mother to do that It can only alarm you about the things you should be alarmed for.

Neil is 8 weeks old and we have started experiencing sleepless nights

Initially I was all enthu in waking up at night, feeding him… I used to listen to moms saying how frustrating it becomes at times.

I also used to laugh at them BUT now I can understand how they must be feeling.

So, HOW DO I MAKE MY BABY SLEEP WELL AT NIGHT?

Can anyone suggest sleep solutions for baby?

I browsed and came up with my own list…

1.) Accept that baby is going to wake up when she is hungry. Of course, you are a mom and you won’t ignore the baby. Well, what’s the point in your hubby sleeping zzzzzzzzzz and you only getting up, feeding him, burping him

Wake him up and hand over your baby to him. Let him feed him formula. Burp him. Have him take care of the baby until it goes to sleep again.. Howz that? So the first tip is actually.. How do I make my baby let me sleep well at night.

2.) Feed well before sleeping. Baby doesn’t wake up hungry and cranky when I follow this.

Some people call it dreamfeed: parent directed, late evening feeding. Dr. Robert Bucknam coined this term.

3.)  Bed time routine: Sit near the baby, talk to him for a while. Give him a sense of feeling that you are around. However avoid the eye contact. A small story telling session or lullaby is good bed time routine. Massage the baby with baby soft oil. Massage combined with story makes him sleep faster.. I am getting some results with this. Highly recommend it.

I had read about people suggesting a warm bath as  bed time routine.. however I am still to digest that idea.

4.) Follow Routine time: This is little tough for us… however we will try slowly to adjust to this. Did you know an overtired baby is impossible to get to sleep? So fix up a routine. Prepare for sleep earlier than you can do normally.

5.) Clear the bed.. remove all toys, distractions from his bed…. including blanket. A nice warm swaddle is good enough. If not, sleep and play dresses are cute too. Try finding something made of natural fibre like cotton. Avoid synthetic fibre. It causes irritation.  Baby’s bed should have only baby in it. Remove everything else…

6.) Keep the room dark. This is no brainer. When it is time to wake up… open the curtain, let the light in.

7.) Don’t avoid naps. Naps are very important for physical and mental development. Don’t make him skip little naps thinking that he will sleep longer at night. Opposite is usually true.

8.) Change the diapers if needed.Baby loves clean diaper and more comfortable with that during the night.

9) Watch out for hints… baby become whiny, rub his eyes or would just try to sleep without paying attention to you. Act on those signals. If he is feeling sleepy, let him sleep. Don’t keep him awake since you are.

10) Stop talking and enjoy the silence when your baby is sleeping. Avoid temptation to wake him up seeing slightest movement from him or seeing his tiny eyes open little bit.  I know this is very tempting to watch sleeping angel and then hug him, kiss him while sleeping.

Have a good night….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I’m super excited.. Father’s Day is here…As I scratch my head for different gifts or gift ideas,I welcome any idea from your end too. Some of the ideas driving me currently.

1.) It’s a wonderful time, summer time.

How about a surprise trip to a place we had been planning sine long.Beach, Book, Boat…Well, not a good idea considering arrival of our sweet little pie.

2.) Grill lover father: Hmmmm…I smell it.

3.) TV and the favorite programs:

Wow… the world cup is here. How about his dream TV mounted on a wall when he comes home this evening That will be fantastic..

4.) nook: The World’s Most Advanced eBook Reader or Amazon Kindle

Well, he is not that much studious however he will certainly love it. HOnestly speaking he will not use it often though

5.) Pocket-Sized Digital Picture Viewers

He has digital frame in office. However a digital picture viewer will certainly be welcome… a nice timepass during his commuter journey to office.. And I bet you, he can view it 24X7, 365 days.

6.)”Love You Dad!” Coffee MugsFather’s Day Personalized Photo Mugs:

I have one such of these.. and I get this every year It is his turn this year

7)Relaxing & Supportive Bed Rests

Great!!! Why I didn’t think of this earlier? This is certainly something he will love.

BlackBerry, iPod, Mac book:

These are his things to buy list of items. A Mac book will be a definite wishful item as long as I get his configuration. This will need some talking though… and to tell you, he is quite smart to figure that out… Hence adding officially to this post Love you honey…

9) “Happy Father’s Day” Cookie Bouquets

10) Custom Photo Mosaic PicturesAdjustable Grill Lights

This will be  on our agenda… so no  need to put as a gift for him. However sharing since this was a nice idea.

Heyyy… so these are my ideas as father’s day gift. What are yours?

Would certainly love to read what you have

Happy father’s day…