Top 10 to surviving “Tummy Troubles” with Sweet Pea (in no particular order)!!

1. Little Tummy’s Gas Relief Drops – We give these with every feed. It does seem to give her some relief although she does not like the taste of the drops. I have discovered the off brands are way cheaper than the Little Tummy’s brand.

2. Mommy’s Bliss Gripe Water – She can have this 6 times a day. Now that she is eating 7 times a day, she has Gripe Water in every bottle except one. I usually leave it out of the 5pm bottle. We accidentally left it out of her bottles for over a day and it made a HUGE difference. This stuff works for Sweet Pea! I use the Mommy’s Bliss brand because it is more natural.

3. Zantac – We started giving Sweet Pea the Zantac at the beginning of September. We think it helps and since this medicine is so benign, we plan to keep her on it until she is not showing any symptoms anymore.

4. Miracle Blanket & Gumdrop Newborn Paci – I think if you’ve been reading for long, you know full well the Miracle Blanket would be on my list no matter what the circumstances. The best swaddle blanket out there is the Miracle Blanket because it keeps those little arms and hands in the swaddle so they can’t escape and startle her awake. The Miracle Blanket definitely keeps Sweet Pea feeling secure.

Another item that would be on my list no matter the circumstances is this pacifier. The Gumdrop brand is the “mommy’s preferred” brand compared to the “Soothies”. Since both my girls spent their first week in the NICU and the Soothie paci is what they use there, they both just stuck with this paci after leaving the hospital. My pedi says that this type of paci is perfect because it is hard to suck on so once they fall asleep it easily falls out of their mouths. Sucking does bring Sweet Pea relief when she is in a spell.

5. LOTS of bibs, burp clothes and receiving blankets – I laugh at this because with Little Bug I only did her laundry once a week, like I do ours. But with Sweet Pea, she has a load of laundry herself at least every other day from all the spit up burp clothes, bibs and blankets! I have two baskets stashed with these things for easy access in the house – one in the living room and one in our bedroom.

6. Homedics® SoundSpa Sound Machine - This would be on any list as well. I didn’t have this sound machine with Little Bug. I had a CD that played white noise sounds, which was great. Only thing was, I had to have a boom box to play the CD. This sound machine is AWESOME and SO incredibly portable. It can run off batteries or it can be plugged in. It is so small I can toss it in the diaper bag to go. It has 6 sounds and like her sister, Sweet Pea likes the rain sound.

7. Sling – I have several but this one has proven to be a lifesaver if Sweet Pea is in pain and needs to be held upright and I need my hands free to take care of Little Bug. A friend made this for me when Little Bug was born but Little Bug just wasn’t a sling baby. I was about to purchase a Moby Wrap when I remembered I had this sling. Saved some big bucks. This sling is awesome! I have another sling that a friend let me borrow. That one is good if Sweet Pea is awake, pain-free and just wants to be held.

8. Fisher Price Newborn Rock and Play – Sweet Pea naps in this and sleeps at night in this. After trying to prop the cradle up with blankets and a sleep positioner to no avail, a friend told me I could borrow this because her baby (born a month before Sweet Pea) does not use it. This has been a lifesaver.

9. Premixed Similac Allimentum – We heard that sometimes the premixed formula helps babies with sensitive stomachs. When we took Sweet Pea off the Neocate formula, we put her on premixed Similac Allimentum and it does seem to help her. A friend of mine found me an awesome deal on Craigslist this week. A woman was selling her overstock at just $5 a container! (Regular price in the stores is about $10.) She had 36 containers!! Each container lasts about 2 days so that is about 74 days of formula at half-price! HUGE blessing. And a huge blessing to not have to run to the store every week for formula for quite a while!

10. Grandma! – What would I have done without my mom during those first few weeks…and even now? I am glad I don’t have to answer that question. Her help with both Little Bug and Sweet Pea has been invaluable. Also here should be a picture of ALL my family and friends, near and far away, who have supported and helped us in some way throughout this time. If you are reading this and have prayed for us, YOUR picture should be here! Thank you to EVERYONE and thank you MAMA!

- Elaine