Month: May 2017

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How can YOU make money as a stay at home parent?

Great ideas that bring in a small amount of income for me include:

Buy items at yard sales to sell on craigslist. The best advice I ever read about this one is to buy what you personally know is an awesome deal. For me that means kid stuff (I have no knowledge of antiques, baseball cards, etc.) If I can snag a double stroller at a yard sale for ten bucks, chances are I could sell it from craigslist for double that. BOOM ten bucks income for the time to write a craigslist post and snap a few pictures. I don’t like selling things on ebay because it requires me to drive to the post office with my kiddos to mail it in a timely manner, so it’s not worth it to me. Another thing I have knowledge about is lawn mowers. If I see a good lawn mower at a yard sale that looks like an easy fix I may fix it, and sell it on craigslist. What do YOU know the value of, that you could buy and sell?

Watch other kids in your home! It’s illegal to be a full time caregiver without proper licensing, etc. but babysitting does not require a license. This means you can advertise on craigslist about being a last-minute, back-up, emergency, or random hours babysitter. The law states that you need to be licensed to be the caregiver if you are on a set schedule, but if you are a back-up that is not the case and it’s nice to make some extra money without having to commit to doing it every day all day. If someone sees my craigslist ad and calls, I can say absolutely if I have no time commitments and my kids are healthy. I say I am not available if my kids have sport stuff, doctor appointments, etc.. I really wish someone had told me this option a long time ago!

One possibility is cleaning houses on your own schedule. I haven’t personally tried this yet but it would probably work best in the summer. This is because I can get one of the young women in my community to watch my children for 5-6.00/hr while I go make 10-20/hr doing an awesome organization or cleaning job for somebody else. I will update this with my success or failure!

You can also clean offices at night. This allows my husband to watch the kids instead of a daycare. Cleaning offices has by far been the most income per hour that I have done. I started cleaning my husband’s small place of work on the weekend for a few hours and now clean a little bit larger office three evenings a week. I worked for a cleaning company going every weeknight for three hours a night and it was too much for me to do long term. I was able to stick it out through an entire pregnancy up until one week before my 5th was born. I just thought of him as my little work partner 🙂

Recycle aluminum. I remember doing this growing up and my kids used to pick up cans from our apartment parking lot to recycle before we moved to our house. Unfortunately (or not) for us, we don’t drink soda too often and hardly get any cans to recycle for money to make it worth the drive-but maybe this would be a good idea for your situation! Just google a recycle place near you and see if they pay money for certain items.

Yard/bake sale. I regularly declutter and dejunk my house so all the stuff I decide is not worth the space in our house gets put in the yard sale pile/shelf in our garage. I read a great article a few months ago that talked about making the most out of your yard sale through doing a bake sale at the same time. Growing up I usually made big rice krispy treats and sold out at 50 cents each. Make sure your signs are simple and easy to follow. Some people around here set them up the night before so they don’t have it to worry about in the morning.

What else can you do? Maybe you are an animal lover and can advertise feeding and walking dogs while people are on vacation-I’m sure you’re kids would love to do it with you!

Hey how about starting a blog? I don’t expect that I will be getting any income from this blog, but I love writing these posts and I use them as resources myself because I can’t remember everything. It makes me happy knowing that my sharing of these posts may be useful to someone.

PLEASE COMMENT below with any other ideas! Do you make stuff to sell?  How do you make a little extra? We would love you to share!

Make it a great day!

Jexi

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My experiences with common health concerns in tiny kids

Shaken baby syndrome: This IS a real thing and it kills babies. Caused by the baby being shaken causing damage to the brain, bleeding, and a lot of times, death. Remember-crying won’t kill your baby but shaking it can.

 

Ear infection: bacterial infection of the ear causing intense pain as the eardrum bulges and inflames from the infection. Usually it goes along with or follows a cold due to the mucous closing off the ear drum preventing proper drainage. Symptoms include scratching/pulling at an ear due to ear pain, may or may not have a fever. Treatment is usually amoxicillin twice a day for 7-10 days. Tavon is 6 and 56 lbs. He gets 11 oz twice/day (22 oz/day). Ali is 2. She is prescribed 6 oz twice/day (or every 12 hours). Kyler is 8 months and gets 5ml 2x/day. You can use tylenol or ibuprofen to help with the pain while the antibiotic is first being given. Pain should decrease in 1-3 days. We put an ice pack on Tavon’s ear when we were waiting for the doctor office to open as well as propped him up. The added pressure on the liquid in the ear when lying increases pain.

 

Pertussis (Whooping cough): A bacterial disease that spreads easily. This starts out with cold like symptoms for a week or two and a slight cough. Cough increases in intensity, esp at night and has a loud gasp for breath between coughing. May throw up when coughing or have difficulty breathing. Serious illness! Treated with antibiotics.  Possibly hospitalization for babies under 1.

 

Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease: Tavon got this when he just turned 1. I had no idea what he had! Crazy fevers all the time and then these blister things showed up on his feet. I always take my kids in if they have a fever but there was no treatment. It just had to run its course since it’s caused by a virus. If you get this you can still get it again because different viruses cause it so you may be immune to one virus after you get it but get it again from a different virus. Only kids 5yrs and under usually get it. Caleb and I never got it from Tavon. I just gave him tylenol or ibuprofen until he didn’t have fevers anymore. Symptoms last 7-10 days.

 

Yeast Infection: Ember had a yeast infection from the time she was 2 weeks old till she was 2 months old! AWFUL and STUBBORN to get rid of. Yeast is naturally on and in your body but some conditions cause it to overpopulate and grow out of control. The biggest culprit of a yeast outbreak for adults and children is being on antibiotics! Antibiotics kill the bad bacteria as well as your helpful bacteria. Without helpful bacteria, your body gets overrun by yeast. I personally get a yeast infection every time I use antibiotics. Another condition perfect for yeast growth is a baby’s damp bum. Keep your baby bum dry and change diapers often. Yes diapers cost money but if you wait till the diaper is packed full you are encouraging yeast infection. Trust me. Changing more frequently creates more spending on diapers but that is better than money for doctor appointments, medicine and time it takes to get rid of a yeast infection. A diet high in sugary foods and white refined grains is a feast for yeast in your gut. If you want to prevent yeast infection in yourself and your kids, eat veges, fruits, lean proteins and whole grains. I also give everyone a probiotic gummy every day to support their good bacteria. To get rid of Ember’s yeast infection we spent hundreds of dollars on different butt rash ointments, etc. and the one that worked best was Desitin-the maximum zinc oxide one that comes in a PURPLE tube-not the blue one that is cheaper. The desitin just helped keep her bottom dry. The doctors will have you try a cream first called clotrimazole which you can go buy at the store without a prescription. It comes in different strengths from .5 percent to 2 percent. The strongest one is sometimes with shoe inserts and treatments for athletes foot, which is a foot yeast infection. It doesn’t matter if the medicine says cures jock itch or athletes foot. If it is clotrimazole its the same thing and will work for yeast infection. Try putting this on with every diaper change for a day or two before you go to the doctor because that is what they will tell you to do anyways and to come back if that doesn’t work. I usually mix a pea size of clotrimazole cream with a clump of desitin and rub it on really well with each diaper change. If you don’t see improvement in 2 days, time to go to the doctor so you can get a prescription for nystatin ointment. Specify you want the ointment instead of the cream so it is moisture repellant. Use that just like you did the clotimazole cream, or you can rub the nystatin in really well first and put some desitin on top. If a course of that doesn’t totally clear it up, return again to the doctor who might want you to try diflucan so go ahead if they do but the only thing that worked for Ember to totally clear up her nasty yeast infection was two rounds of the oral nystatin. It is not considered a well known treatment for yeast infection but again, it was the only thing that would completely get rid of her newborn yeast infection. Don’t pressure your doctor to go straight for the oral nystatin though because it is hard on their little liver and the other medications will probably work. For adult yeast infections, boric acid suppositories helped take care of my yeast infection along with my BV (see below for more info on that).

 

Thrush: This is a yeast infection that has transferred to your mouth. White clumps in the mouth that may look like cottage cheese. Tavon and I got this when he was 11 months and I thought the white clumps were just chunks of spit up but if I tried wiping them off they bled. His gums bled badly when I brushed his tiny teeth and he would cry so bad. Then when I got it i understood because it hurt to even touch my gums with my finger! Poor baby. Plus I was breastfeeding so he transferred the yeast infection to my nipples which made them itch horribly. I know Tavon was given medicine and I was also given medicine to apply to my nipples to stop the cycle of us passing it back and forth.

 

Bacterial Vaginosis (BV): This is more for moms. After I had Ember I got this really funky smelling vaginal discharge. For me it smelled like ammonia and it was more noticeable after intercourse (sorry for the details, I’m just trying to help you realize that if that happens to you it’s not normal and this is probably what it is). I was given an oral antibiotic to try getting rid of the overload of bacteria taking over down there but after I finished the course, the smell came right back. I was then represcribed the same oral medication along with a vaginal cream that you squeeze into a syringe and put into your cervix like a tampon to squeeze the gel out farther up. Again, it worked but only for as long as the medication lasted. I remember my doctor telling me to look into boric acid suppository which would change my PH to more acidic so that bacteria couldn’t grow as well. I read some articles about it and looked at a bunch of reviews on products through Amazon. I purchased a bottle of 14 boric acid suppositories to try. It’s just a pill you push into your cervix as far as it will go, before bed. It will dissolve through the night. After 3 nights I no longer had BV or my yeast infection (I was also using clotrimazole cream 3x/day). YAAAY

 

Croup: A viral infection that will last 1-2 days and nights. The infection causes the windpipes to swell which interferes with breathing, causes a barking cough, and may give a hoarse voice. Ember was 3 and Kyler 8 months when they were treated in-office for croup by being given steroid crushed up into some liquid ibuprofen. It started out as a cold which added a cough after a few days and the cough made Ember throw up a few times a day it was so intense. They were both gasping loudly for air between coughs. Lasted 2 days, VERY bad at night, only a few hours of sleep so I brought them in because I was worried about whooping cough but after treated for Croup the worst was over for Ember. The doctor said a humidifier would help tremendously with the night coughing because breathing the cool mist calms the swollen windpipes. I brought Kyler back in again because cough was no better. Doc said his lungs sounded like the beginnings of whooping cough or pneumonia, so they prescribed an antibiotic stronger than amoxicillin.

 

Varicella (Chickenpox): The time between exposure to the virus and eruption of symptoms is called the incubation period. For chickenpox, this period is 10 – 20 days. So if you wonder who gave you the chicken pox think back to who you were with 2 weeks ago. The patient often develops fever, headache, swollen glands, and other flu-like symptoms before the typical rash appears.Tavon got chicken pox when he was 7 months old. Poor tiny baby! He still has a scar on his forehead from a big one that he kept scratching at and ripping the scab off. I remember petting his head and seeing a small red dot through his hair on the back of his head. I didn’t think much of it until another one on his head showed up, and another. They just started showing up all over poor little guy! I gave him oatmeal baths to soothe the itching by grinding up the oatmeal myself and dumping into bath water. I also doused each chicken pox with the calamine lotion. I won’t ever forget the smell of that pink stuff. He also went from not being cuddly baby at all to liking cuddles more. Chickenpox is crazy contagious to anyone who has never had it or been vaccinated for it before. Vaccination for chickenpox is usually offered at the 1 yr old checkup. Tavon got it from being snuggled by a 4 yr old girl who had chickenpox but she wasn’t showing symptoms yet so we couldn’t have known.

 

Pinworms: Twenty percent of children in the USA have pinworms at any given time and 1 in 3 don’t know it. First of all, if you have this or ever get this, you get no judgement from me and have my sincere empathy! If you or your children have an itchy anus at night this could be why. Get a flashlight and look for parasites crawling around the butt hole. The best description is strands of cotton only they are moving. Tiny itty bitty worms that come out of the anus at night to lay eggs where there is oxygen. From there the eggs get on your underclothes and transfer to you hands if you touch them or scratch, maybe transfer to the floor if you put your clothes on the floor, transfer to the toilet, transfer to your bed sheets, etc. Eggs cannot be killed by bleach or any type of cleaner. Heat is the best way to cook the sticky eggs around the house, on clothes, etc so wash clothes in hot water and GO TO A DOCTOR FOR A PRESCRIPTION. The eggs can still hatch if swallowed for up to 3 weeks and are invisible to the naked eye so you will need 2 doses of medicine a couple weeks apart. The medicine kills the worms inside you but remember you have also swallowed more eggs and the medicine doesn’t kill those so another dose is needed 2 weeks after the first to kill the worms that the eggs have matured into during that time but before they can reach the large intestine to lay more eggs and start the cycle again. It is doable to get kids to take the medicine. It doesn’t taste good but it isn’t awful so just crush theirs into juice to drink. They say everyone in the household probably has it if one person does so everyone gets treated over 1 yrs old. Wash all bedding and clothing in hot water and steam mop the floors if you can.

 

Circumcision Experience: Tavon was circumcised at the hospital when he was one day old. I chose not to watch as had been recommended by my mother and the doctor. The kind doctor told me that Tavon didn’t even cry. Yeaaaah….right! Dealing with a circumcision AND an umbilical cord can be pretty stressful because when you change the diaper you put ointment on the penis to keep it from rubbing on the diaper and babies want to pull their knees up to their belly, causing the sore penis to touch the hard and sometimes sharp, umbilical cord. The ointment for the penis can get on the umbilical cord, causing it to get goopy when it is supposed to stay as dry as possible. If you choose to circumcise your son, make sure you have ointment, cotton balls or q tips, and gauze on hand before your little one is born. A red penis head after circumcision is expected. With Kyler We got scared from a different symptom though and thought that he was getting an infection on the head of his penis after circumcision because of yellow secretions on the head of his penis that wouldn’t come off with a water rinse but after explaining it to the doctor on the phone, we were told it is a normal sign of healing and that it would subside and go away within a week. The easiest way to keep the foreskin from sticking to the penis head for me was to pull some cotton from a qtip or cotton ball and put it on the base of the penis head every diaper change. Insurances usually don’t pay for circumcision because it is not considered a necessary medical procedure.

 

Umbilical Cords: Once cut after birth these dry up and fall off in 1-2 weeks. I had a freak out the week after Ali was born because of her umbilical cord. It was stuck to her onsie after getting wet from a sweaty nap and when I went to change her diaper I pulled up her onsie, which tugged her umbilical cord and pulled it up slightly, causing it to bleed a few drops. I was worried about her getting an infection so I globbed neosporin on it. I forgot how quickly the umbilical cord could turn soft with any moisture around. I went to change her diaper again to find a goopy smelly umbilical cord that was definitely starting to come off probably prematurely. My mom calmly told me that I should gently wipe off what ointment I could and apply rubbing alcohol to the umbilical cord to get it dried out again. After I applied alcohol with a qtip I called the number to the delivery nurse desk that they had given me upon hospital checkout. They told me the alcohol was the right idea. I just kept putting rubbing alcohol on every once in a while with a square of guaze over the top, held onto her belly with small bandaids or pieces of tape that I had first stuck to my hand and pulled off so they would be too sticky as to hurt her when I pulled them off her belly. When Ember was born she had a herniated belly button which is different than an outie. It’s like her belly button is being pushed up, which goes down to normal after a few weeks. The doctor also clipped the corners of her umbilical cord hardened because it was pretty sharp and kept poking her in the belly. Make sure you have rubbing alcohol and qtips to apply it with before your baby is born.

 

Coming soon:

Reflux:

Pneumonia:

RSV:

UTI: