Karen N

I recently started using bumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers and the washing instructions simply say: "Pre-wash cold. Wash hot (100F/40C) with bumGenius detergent. Extra rinse. No laundry additives. Line dry cover. Tumble dry insert. No fabric softeners. Use 1/4 cup or 60 mL bleach in the hot wash once per month."

So my question is, when I use the bleach once a month, do I use it on the diaper COVERS as well as the inserts? Or just the inserts? Some of my diaper covers have very bright and beautiful colors on them, so I'd hate to ruin them with bleach! I can't find an answer to this on the official bumGenius site...

My doctor told me that I can take extra strength (150 mg) Ranitidine which is better known as Zantac twice a day to fight my pregnancy heartburn. I accidentally bought the 75 mg pills instead. The bottle says not to take more than 2 tablets in 24 hours. But wouldn't taking two 75 mg pills at one time be the same as the extra strength (150 mg)? But that would mean 4 pills in 24 hours. Should I just go buy the other bottle? It seems like the exact same thing, but the bottle tells me not to do it. What do you think? Is it safe to take 4 pills since it will end up being the same amount of mg my doctor approved?

My 18 month old had a moderate reaction to her shots and has had a high fever for 48 hours. The nurse at my doctors office suggested staggering doses of infant tylenol and infant motrin to keep her fever from yo-yoing. I accidentally gave her another dose of Motrin when I meant to give her the tylenol (probably due to sleep deprivation during this whole ordeal). Is she going to be okay? She took the dose 3 hours after the previous dose, when it says to give it every 6-8? How horrible of a mother am I? How bad is this? What can I do?

I'm about 9 weeks pregnant with my second child and I swear I've been feeling Braxton Hicks already. They feel exactly the the Braxton Hicks I felt with my first pregnancy, but much lower because obviously, my uterus isn't very big yet. Am I just making it up? It feels like my pants/underwear suddenly get too tight for about 30 seconds or so and then it goes away. What do you think, is it possible to feel them this early?

Ever since my family and I went on a family vacation a month ago, my toddler (almost 18 months old) has stopped sleeping through the night regularly, whereas she always has been a great sleeper before this. If she goes to bed alright, as she does most nights, she wakes up at 12:30am screaming. I've tried just reassuring her and letting her cry for a few minutes, reassuring her, repeat, repeat, but she screams until she has thrown up in her crib. I finally cave and take her out, and all she wants me to do is hold her, which is NOT typical because my daughter hates to be held any other time of day. I change her diaper, I offer some milk and a snack, everything I can think of, but she will not go back to bed. Most nights she is awake from 12:30 until 3:00 or 3:30am. It is driving me insane! It's been almost 4 weeks of this, so I don't think it's her two year molars (and she has all her other teeth). What is causing this? What can I do to stop it? Is it too late to try the Cry-It-Out method? I don't like letting her cry, because she never cries for no reason, but I can't figure it out! Help!

Almost 2 weeks ago I started doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred to lose the 35 pounds that I've gained during my pregnancy. About Day 5 or Day 6 of working out, I started to notice that I was experiencing some knee pain. I took a day off before working out again, but it keeps getting worse every time I workout. Jumping jacks are so painful that I just can't keep up, and I've given up completely at doing the jump rope. I know my weight puts extra strain on my knees, but that's why I'm working out and doing weight watchers. I do not have access to a car and can't afford a gym membership or to buy my own elliptical. I don't live in an area where I can walk consistently because no sidewalks and winter. What can I do to decrease the amount of pain I have in my knees while doing this particular workout? What do I need to do for my knees to recover? Should I take a few days "off" to let my knees recover? How many? How can I build up strength in my knees? I am committed to losing the weight and am frustrated by this bump in the road. Please help!

Almost 2 weeks ago I started doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred to lose the 35 pounds that I've gained during my pregnancy. About Day 5 or Day 6 of working out, I started to notice that I was experiencing some knee pain. I took a day off before working out again, but it's getting worse. The jumping jacks are so painful that I just can't keep up, and I've given up completely at doing the jump rope. I know my weight puts extra strain on my knees, but that's why I'm working out and doing weight watchers. I do not have access to a car and can't afford a gym membership or to buy my own elliptical. So what can I do to decrease the amount of pain I have in my knees while doing this particular workout? What do I need to do for my knees to recover? How can I build up strength in my knees? I am committed to losing the weight and am frustrated by this bump in the road. Please help!

I am not pregnant yet but am trying to conceive. I currently use Clinique's 3-step acne solutions to treat my acne and it works SO WELL. I thought I read that salicylic acid is not safe during pregnancy, but BabyCenter says that "small amounts applied to the skin — such as a salicylic acid-containing toner used once or twice a day — are considered safe." The Clinique cleansing foam (face wash) contains 2% salicylic acid, the clarifying lotion (toner) contains 1.5% salicylic acid, and the clearing moisturizer (lotion) contains 2.5% benzoyl peroxide. I currently use it twice a day. Do you think this system is safe because of the small amounts?

My periods are still irregular after my daughter's birth almost 15 months ago, since I weened her around 13 months. My husband and I are trying to conceive #2. Based on cervical mucus, I was pretty sure I was about to ovulate or was ovulating so we had unprotected intercourse. I had a twinge near one of my ovaries the next day, which I typically feel when I ovulate, so I was pretty confident that we had sex at the "right" time. Yesterday, which would have been about 11 days past ovulation, I wiped and had bright red blood on the toilet paper. At first my heart sank, but then I remembered implantation bleeding. But a few hours later, I wiped again and had more bright red blood with a small clot in it. Disappointed, I put in a tampon and resolved to try again next month. But when I took the tampon out that night, there was nothing on it. Even today, 12 days past ovulation (or what I thought was ovulation), I have had absolutely nothing, which is not normal for me. Day two of my period is normally my heaviest. Has anyone had bright red blood even with a small clot in it and still been pregnant? It wasn't even enough to get on my pantiliner, but I've read that implantation bleeding is supposed to be pink or brown, not bright red. It makes sense that I implant late, because with my daughter's pregnancy I didn't get a BFP until 6 days after my missed period. I guess I'll know in a few days, but what do you think? Is there still hope? Has anyone experienced this and still been pregnant?

I gave birth to my first daughter 14 months ago. I weaned her just a few weeks ago, so my periods are still not regular (still more than 6 weeks apart). Based on vaginal discharge and twinging near one of my ovaries, I am pretty sure I ovulated on or around May 2 or 3. I had unprotected sex both of those days (ttc #2). Since I don't know when to expect my period, how many days past ovulation can I take a pregnancy test and trust the results? The cheapo test I have in the house says to take it on or after the day I expect my period (not helpful in my case), so I'm assuming it's not a very sensitive one. When do you think I should test? Is 14 dpo too soon?

My husband and I just bought our first home and are redoing the kitchen. We are painting all of the cabinets white, but we are unable to redo the counter tops, which are currently tiled in shades of tan. What color hardware should we use for the white cabinets, while keeping in mind the tan countertops? I found a bronzish hardware that looked good in my head, but then when I put it on the white cabinet, it just looked dirty. I also don't like "gold" colored (or is it brass?) hardware because it looks cheap (in my humble opinion). Other ideas?

My 13 month old daughter has really struggled with constipation for about 4 months now and I don't know what else to try to soften things up. She has a BM about every other day, but they are harder than hard, just HUGE rocks, something I swear a grown adult would pass. They are so painful for her and I don't know what to try to soften things up. She eats a lot of fresh fruit and drinks about 4oz of 100% fruit juice a day to try and keep things soft. But other than that, she's a very picky eater and eats a lot of carbs and dairy, which probably isn't helping. What other things can I try to give her to soften things up a bit? Any sneaky ideas that she will actually tolerate?

My 14 month old daughter and I are ready to wean from breastfeeding. She's been down to only one nursing session a day (first thing in the morning) for a few months now, and she lost interest in the rest of the feedings on her own, I didn't initiate. Now I'm ready to cut out that last feeding. I started nursing her every other day. Now today (Sunday), I haven't nursed her since Wednesday morning. I think I'm just done. But I'm wondering, is it okay to go cold turkey like that? My breasts are definitely fuller, slightly engorged/sore, and they leak easily again (which hasn't happened in months). Do I just deal with it? Or should I have nursed her once every 3 days, then once every 4, etc? When will my milk dry up? Basically, what happens now? Thanks!

I breast fed my daughter since she was born, almost 13 months ago. I had my first postpartum period when she was 7 months old, again at almost 10 months old, and then again 6 weeks after that. It's been another 7 weeks since then and no sign of my next period. My husband and I are using condoms and have been careful, but I took a pregnancy test last week just to be sure and it was negative. I still breastfeed once a day, sometimes only once every other day. We are talking about number 2, but I would have absolutely no idea when I ovulate (or if I even ovulate) because I never get my period! When can I expect things get regular again?

When should I switch my daughter out of her infant car seat? We currently use a rear-facing seat that goes up to 30 pounds. My daughter just turned one year old two weeks ago, but she only weighs 17 pounds. Yet she is so long, over 30 inches, that I'm wondering if it isn't safe for her to be rear-facing much longer. What are the recommended weight/height limits? And what convertible seats do you recommend next for such a thin baby?

My 12 month old daughter has been breastfed up until now, so other than 1 ounce of juice mixed with 1 ounce of water (so 2 ounces total), I haven't had to worry about the amount of liquid she is intaking. She has very suddenly stopped nursing (all except for first thing in the morning) and so now how much other liquids should she be drinking? She is a great eater, but is overall a petite baby (only 17.5 or so pounds). She loves white grape juice, and will drink a little whole milk but not much. How much milk, juice, water should she be getting?

My 11 month old daughter acts like she wants to nurse. She latches on with no problem and goes at it with gusto, but as soon as my milk lets down, she straights arms me and will scream when I try to put her back on the breast. Why would she do this? She very rarely nurses anymore, so I've tried to space out her solids, waiting until after she nurses, but if I'm lucky, she will only nurse 2-3 times a day (4 times on really, REALLY good days). Is this normal? Is she self weening? I feel like such a bad mom but I am getting SO sick of nursing (because she just won't cooperate)! It's been like this for almost 2 months now, so it's not teething! Am I doing something wrong or is she outgrowing it? What are my options, since I'm supposed to breast feed for the first year? She won't take breast milk in a cup... Is it safe to serve her cold breast milk, if she'll drink that? I'm so frustrated!

My daughter was an excellent sleeper up until recently. She used to sleep 11 or 12 hours uninterrupted. Then we had a hard time getting her to eat any solids for her 7th and 8th month, so she started waking up again for a feeding between 3:00-5:00am. She's breastfed. Now she's gained the weight that she needs and she eats great during the day, but I think she's just in the habit of getting that early morning snack. How do I break her of this habit? I've tried going in her room, patting her back, and then walking out for 5 minute intervals, but she screams and screams until I feed her. Do I just need to keep feeding her? I really want my nights back!

My daughter and I have been on WIC since shortly after she was born. I was not working at the time and my husband was just barely below the maximum to qualify, so we just barely made it. I recently got a job. Do I need to report to them that we are now above the maximum requirements, or will they ask me that at my next appointment, or will they allow us to keep the benefits until she turns a year old? I'm not making much, so we still could desperately use the help and I don't want to lose the benefits, but I don't want them to come after me for not reporting my income change. (The unemployment office already tried to fine me for "falsifying" the terms of my lay off, which I didn't... Stupid State of Michigan.)

Also, for any of you on WIC, if I do get to keep my benefits after my next appointment, what are the differences between 6-9 months and 9-12 months, specifically regarding baby food?

Thanks, Mommies!

Hi, mommies out there! My little one is currently 9 months old, still breastfeeding. I got my first postpartum period when she was around 7 months but haven't gotten another once since, which I understand to be completely normal since I'm still breastfeeding. So, if I can't rely on my period to clue me in to pregnancy, how often do I test? I've already taken two pregnancy tests since giving birth, and both times I could have SWORN I was pregnant, haha (but they were both negative). I don't want to keep wasting tests but then again, I don't want to find out I'm pregnant when I get kicked in the ribs. I keep having what I think are pregnancy symptoms, but then again my body can't figure out what is going on right now since I don't have a regular period yet. How often do you think I should test? Breastfeeding mommies, what was the first clue you had if you got pregnant while breastfeeding before your period regulated?