Miracle Earache & Ear Infection Remedy! {Momma's Magic Drops}

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One of a mamma's simple pleasures is the quiet that falls over the house between the kiddos' bed times and momma's bedtime. I don't like that time to be disturbed. By anything.

Especially by the sound of a screeching toddler...

At about 11:45 last night, Little Bear (2 1/2) started screaming like a banshee. My first thought was, of course, bad dream... I ran to his room and he was sitting up in bed clutching his ear. I will concede that he's really not ever sick and has never ever had ear troubles, so he may have been more dramatic than most kids. Either way, the sound of my baby in pain induced a bit of a panic.

... Crap. An ear ache is probably not ER worthy, although his screams are pretty intense. Can I get an OTC drop that will help? What kind of artificial meds are in those drops? ...

I had to do something, but I had no idea what. There were some old homeopathic, glycerine-based ear drops in the medicine cabinet (not sure why, though), but they turned out to be entirely useless. Dude wouldn't even let me hold a warm rag on his ear to soothe it, and I was out of ideas.

As I snuggled my still-bawling little guy, I googled like a maniac. The only remedy I could find that could be made with what I had on hand was garlic and olive oil. I had no expectation of success, but I had to do something.

Apparently, both ingredients are highly antibacterial and garlic is a crazy good anti-inflammatory.

SO, to cut to the chase, Little Bear sat on a chair in the kitchen whimpering, "muh ear, muh ear. muh ear hut" while I made "Momma's Magic Drops" {Seriously, naming not fun things fun names somehow makes the idea less appalling to the little ones...}

I have no pics of the actual process, because I was beyond tired and frazzled by the time we were at this point in the night...

• Put 1/4 cup unrefined olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. 
• Add about 4 cloves of crushed, coarsely chopped garlic. 
• Let it simmer until the garlic pieces start to brown. 
• Remove the garlic and bring to room or body temperature. 
• Use a dropper and drop several drops in the affected ear. 
• Wait several minutes with the bad ear up to let the oil run down into the ear (we sang the ABCs three times slowly while eating chocolate).
• Repeat several times a day until the ear is better.

You can store the oil in a glass container in the refrigerator. When you're ready to use them, fill up the dropper and leave it on the counter to warm up for several minutes.

No exaggeration, within seconds of the drops going in his ear, LB was calmed down. And, by the time we were done singing the ABC's, he was already starting to doze back off. He woke up this morning tired, but without even the slightest indication that his ears were hurting. SUCCESS!!!

For good measure, we still did drops this morning and then two more times during the day.

*HUGE sign of relief*

Do you have another natural DIY remedy to share? Have you tried this one? I can't say how well this will work across the board, but I will for sure try it again if/when LB has an earache again!

Supermom Crib Sheet Trick

I *think* I read about this in a product review comment before Little Bear was born.  Regardless of where the idea came from, it's saved me tons of sanity over the past year and a half!  I've only done it with crib sheets, but I don't see why it wouldn't work on a toddler bed or even a twin-size mattress.

I seriously feel like a supermom when I have to change the sheets and can do it in less than 15 seconds!

What you'll need:

• 4 fitted crib sheets
• 1 mattress protector
• 3 crib pads (mine aren't full-length, but I wish they were)

What you do:

1.  Take the mattress out of the crib, and put the mattress protector on it.

2.  Put a crib sheet over the protector.

3.  Lay a crib pad flat over the sheet.

4.  Layer another sheet over the pad.

5.  Repeat steps 3 & 4 with the remaining pads and sheets.  I use 4 sheets, but you could do more or less, depending on what works best for you.

When you're layering, you'll want to start with the tightest-fitting sheet and work your way out to the loosest-fitting one.  I found that the jersey-type material was stretchier than the sateen or regular cotton sheets.

Now, when your little one wets through a diaper or spills a water cup in the crib, you just have to remove the top sheet & pad, and you're all set to go with clean sheets! 

I promise that when you have a late-night accident, you will really feel like supermom when you can do a sheet change that quickly & easily.  I can't even imagine having to take the mattress out of the crib and start from scratch every time Little Bear had an accident!

Baby Food Pouches - Take II

I finally found time this morning to mix-up a few new batches of pouched baby food.  As a follow-up to the original post, I want to quickly share the new recipes!  This post is less detailed, so if you’re missing anything,  just refer back to the other post.
 1.  I started with a super simple fruit puree:
 - In a blender, combine

• 2 pounds frozen peaches, thawed
• 1 pound frozen berries, thawed
• 1/3 cup chia seeds, milled

 - Turn the blender on medium-high and blend until everything is well-combined.
 - Pour the mixture in a condiment bottle and fill your clean pouches.  Store the excess in plastic zipper bags & freeze!
  2.  Instead of hiding the veggies in a fruit puree, I went with a full-flavored savory blend this time.  If you make this recipe and your kiddo isn’t really into it, this blend can be added to jarred pasta sauce for an extra veggie boost and a super tasty dinner!
 - Heat 2 tablespoons unrefined oil (I used sesame) in a skillet.  Add 4 cloves of crushed garlic.  Sautee until the garlic smells toasty and is slightly browned.
 - In a blender, combine

• 1 pound fresh spinach, lightly steamed (this helps prevent some of the oxidation that makes the puree spoil faster)
• 4 cups pumpkin or squash (frozen, canned, or fresh cooked)
• 4 ounces tomato paste
• 1/3 cup chia seeds, milled
• garlic and oil from the previous step

 - Turn the blender on medium-high and blend until everything is well-combined.
 - Pour the mixture in a condiment bottle and fill your clean pouches.  Store the excess in plastic zipper bags & freeze!
Cost breakdown (will vary by season, store, and location):
Fruit mix – Peaches, $4; Berries, $3; Chia - $1 = $8 = $.67 per 4 ounce pouch

Veggie mix – Spinach, $4; Squash, $3; Garlic, $.25; Oil, $.25; Chia, $1 = $8.50 = $.60 per 4 ounce pouch

Pricey Pouches? Not for This Mama!

I'm not sure if it's is a universal baby/toddler obsession, but Parker is absolutely nuts over baby food pouches.  Although he doesn't eat other baby foods anymore, these pouches are a great way to make sure he's getting enough fruits and veggies, plus they make a super convenient snack.  However, at a buck each on super sale, feeding his addiction is very expensive!
So, I set out to find DIY pouches.  I googled and googled and googled but could not find reusable pouches that fit the bill (Any patent attorneys want to help me out here?  I think I'm sitting on a golden idea...).  Determined not to give in, I decided to try just refilling the disposable pouches - SUCCESS!  Here's how it's done:

Since the Happy Tot spinach, mango & pear pouches are our favorite (Parker loves the flavor and I love 3g protein + 15% DV Iron), I stuck with this for my first recipe.  I used about 2 pounds of organic pears (skin on, seeds out), 1/2 pound of organic baby spinach (slightly steamed to help avoid oxidation and spoilage), 1 bag of frozen organic mango chunks (thawed), 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and 1/3 cup milled chia seeds.  I included chia seeds because (a) I love chia and (b) the Salba that is in the Happy Tot pouches is actually a pricier variety of chia.  To mill whole seeds just put them in your coffee grinder or other small chopper, and run until they resemble the texture of graham cracker crumbs.
Step 1:  Save the empty pouches and lids from whatever brand your little one eats.  As you use them, rinse well and store in a bag in the fridge.  When you've collected several, soak the dirty, empty pouches and lids in a bowl of hot soapy water.  Use a  plastic condiment bottles (also available at any grocery/superstore) to squeeze hot soapy water into each pouch.  Shake the soapy water around on the inside of the pouch to remove any residual baby food bits.  Rinse with clean water until soap bubbles stop running out of the pouches.
Step 2:  Combine all the ingredients in a blender, and turn the blender on medium-high.  Slowly add organic apple juice to get the stuff mixing.  Add more apple juice if the texture seems too thick.

Step 3:  Pour the baby food into the plastic condiment bottles.  Snip the tip of the bottle if the baby food doesn't squeeze out easily.  Any baby food that doesn't fit in the bottles, can be stored in zipper baggies in the freezer.

Step 4:  Put the tip of the condiment bottle into the clean, empty pouches and squeeze.  Replace the lid and store in the fridge.  Makes about 56 ounces of food (14 x 4 oz pouches).

Cost breakdown (will vary by season, store, and location):  Spinach - $2; Pears - $3; Mango - $2.50; Chia - $1 = $8.50 = $.60  per 4 ounce pouch

Not only are you saving tons of money by making these yourself, but you know that the food your little one is eating is as natural and pure as possible!  As an aside, I couldn't believe the color difference between my homemade pouches and the store-bought ones.  They must cook the heck out of the manufactured ones, because the color of mine was a hundred times brighter!