My Baby's Bath and Body Essentials

Hi again! I just want to make a review on my baby's bath and body needs. Things that I think are most essential of keeping his skin soft and smooth. 

As a kid once, I had a good experience with Johnsons products since my mom used that for all of us. Well I think that is the only dependable baby product available in the market at that time. Checking out on today's products, Johnsons may be one of the most affordable ones. We now have Pigeon, Chicco, Nivea, Farlin, etc. But then, I still decided to give what I've already tested to my baby. And I was never wrong.

I damp him enough Johnsons baby oil on his chest, feet and back before giving him a bath. This keeps his body warm while taking a bath. When he was born up until his 2nd month, I used Top to Toe Wash also from the same brand. But I noticed that his getting dry scalp. So my pedia adviced me to use Johnsons Baby Shampoo (the original bottle in yellow) and I use Cetaphil Liquid Soap for his body to keep it moisturized, also to keep his body free from red spots or rashes. 

The products I use on my baby: Cetaphil Liquid Soap (available at Watsons 279.75/250ml), Johnsons Baby Powder Original ( SM Baby Company 86.00/300grams), Johnsons Isopropyl Alcohol 70% solution (SM Baby Company  77.00/500ml), Johnsons Baby Top to Toe Wash (SM Baby Company 199.75/500ml), Johnsons Baby Shampoo (SM Baby Company 104.00/200ml), Johnsons Baby Oil Lite (SM Baby Company 73.00/125ml), Johnsons Baby Cologne (SM Baby Company 63.00/125ml)

After bath, I apply some Johnsons Baby Powder on his genitals, butt, underarms, back and his chest. A little amount of Johnsons Baby Cologne as well to keep him smelling fresh. I'm still not using lotion on his skin right now, but will definitely on his 4th month. I will then give him Johnsons Baby Milk Lotion to keep his skin soft and smooth.

Have you ever noticed your baby's dry scalp since they were born? According to researches, that is called "cradle cap" and would go away sometime until their 1st year. So my pedia adviced me to apply a small amount of Mineral Oil (of any brand) on his scalp 5 minutes before taking a bath every day. So I do it using a piece of cotton, but be sure to wash his hair thoroughly with shampoo and water so there will be no oil left. Leaving oil on his scalp will cause clogging of his pores. Well, I found this mineral oil very helpful since I can see improvement on his dry scalp. 

And also, I don't forget to apply some oil on his stomach, scalp and feet by 6:00 pm to keep him warm. I use Aceite Manzanilla for this. It would also prevent babies to get colic. So less crying at night. :)

Helpful Oils I use on my baby: RHEA Aceite Manzanilla (Available at Mercury Drug 32.25/120ml), Apollo Mineral Oil (Watsons 67.00/120ml)

Every baby is a precious gift from God. These tiny people we nourish deserves only the best. As the old Johnsons slogan says, "Ikaw lamang, wala nang iba"...

MOM CARD: A Must-Have To All Moms!

Diapers, clothes, toiletries, feeding bottles, toys, and everything that our baby needs. Where do you buy them? Well, not being a "maarte" kind of mom, but I think my baby deserves only the best that I could ever think of. So I decided to buy everything that I need for my baby only at SM Baby Company. Why? Mainly because they sell most of what I need for my baby and also because they have a MOM Card, like the SM Advantage Card, you earn points every time you use it.

            I got this card on May 2011 before my baby was born, when I was shopping for baby things


How to Avail?
For 500 pesos worth of purchase at SM Baby Company, you can get a card FREE of charge. You just have to show your receipt and fill out a form. And presto! You now have your MOM Card which is good for 3 years.

The good thing about this card is the points you earn. Unlike the SM Advantage Card (which gives you 1 point for every 200 pesos you spend), MOM Card gives you 1 point for every 50 pesos you spend. Like when we purchased our baby's first stroller from Irdy, it costs Php 2,199.75 plus a stroller pad for 599.75 so it earned us 55.99 points. That's a great deal! Earning points is so easy if you will buy all your baby essentials at SM Baby Company. The good thing about this is you can even use this card at SM Dept store, SM Supermarket and Watsons. But I think the points you earn is like the normal point of an SM Advantage card which is 200 = 1, but still very helpful to earn more points right?

So I make sure that everytime I need something for baby, I would desperately run to use my Mom Card. I can use it to purchase anything from Baby Company when I want to redeem my points. Isn't that great?

To all moms, make sure you get this card. It's really a MUST!

Greyam Yale's First Holy Sacrament...BAPTISM

Baptism, the first holy sacrament that all of us Catholics must have. It is said that the Original Sin (which was committed by Adam and Eve) will be washed out once it was given.

From the Date, Church, Food and Sponsors...I did all the planning. I only got a little time to plan since we decided to have our baby's baptism on his 3rd week of life. Why? Simply because we need to head back to the City, hubby wants us to go back home so he can be with him everyday. I gave birth in Pampanga so he can only go there twice a week, when he's off from work.

Date: June 5, 2011 - Baby Yale's 3rd week of life.

Church: Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando, Pampanga - This wasn't actually my first choice, I really wanted him to be baptized at the same church where I was, Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Camp Olivas. But unfortunately, the officiating priest was out of the country. So then, I decided to give him a mass baptism, wherein all babies to be baptized are there and only one priest. But it's fine, I realized that we only spent a little not more than 700 pesos for the church, inclusive of registration, candle, long dress and sponsors. Not bad huh? :)

                My baby's Baptismal Barong Pair bought at SM Baby Company for only Php 299.75

                                                        Yale on his Baptismal White Dress

Our Family Picture

Food: We had 5 different dishes cooked by my mom, one lechon and a little candy corner. I think for the food and drinks, we didn't spend more than 12,000 pesos which is already good for 100 persons. We really didn't want to spend too much on this since we know that we would be spending more on the next couple of months for our baby's check-ups and boosters. But everything went well and the food was great even on a budget.

  Yale's little candy treats that served as giveaways to guests. Hubby took the photo when we were setting up                  

                                Mom's cake gift to Yale, it's a moist chocolate cake, super yummy!

        Too bad, we were too busy with the guest and weren't able to take pictures of the buffet table. :(

Sponsors: Our baby's ninongs and ninangs were composed of our relatives and close friends.Some of them even travelled to Pampanga to be there. We really appreciated everyone who came.

         With the Ninong and Ninangs (mostly Ninangs since the Ninongs were unavailable due to work)

                                               Baby Yale with his gifts. Thank You so much!

We were even surprised that we didn't spend much on this. We only spent around 14-15k pesos. Not bad for a good luncheon reception. I didn't have printed invitations but I just tagged an online invitation to my guests. No personalized giveaways but our little candy corner served as giveaways to guests for them to enjoy. My mom bought a baptismal cake as at Sweet and Fancy as a gift. It was indeed a very special yet simple celebration of our son's Christening. 

Next Big Celebration: Yale's 1st Birthday. I'm already thinking of the concepts and planning now so I still have 10 months to do it. I want everything to be perfect on his Big Day!

Nappy, Nappy, Nappy...What should I use on my Baby?

Hi there fellow moms! After giving birth for the First time, how did you decide on which diaper should you use on your baby? Maybe some moms recommended you branded ones like Huggies, Pampers, Drypers and the like. Or some might have told you to use EQ since it's budget friendly. But did you ever think of deciding on your own? I mean, as a mom? On what you feel is best for your baby?

It was such a dilemma for me as well, like any other moms. Before baby Yale was born, I bought a pack of Huggies Newborn (they come in 24's) costs 202.75 at SM Baby Company. My mom told me that it's the only brand available for newborn, but then we found out weeks later that EQ also have theirs. But still I decided to use Huggies. When I ran out of nappies, I asked hubby to buy another pack for me but unfortunately, there's no available near our place. So instead, he bought Pampers Dry (comes in 19's) costs 199.75. Tried it but I didn't like the smell, it smells like a sanitary napkin. It's thinner than Huggies so I decided to just consume the pack and buy Huggies again. I don't usually stock up nappies because I'm afraid that it won't fit my baby anymore.

On his first month, I shifted to Huggies Small (in 16's) costs 139.75 at SM Baby Company. I prefer to buy there since I got a Mom Card, which earns me points for the things I buy for my baby. But my bad, I wasn't able to stock up much so I need to run to the grocery nearby to buy another pack when I ran out. And again, I wasn't able to find one so I tried EQ Dry Small (travel pack comes in 20's) costs 134.75 at Robinsons Supermarket. I thought I was able to save money since it's 4 diapers more than Huggies for almost the same price. But then, one morning, I noticed that our bed is wet. Oh, no! My baby Yale's diaper just leaked out! So I thought it's EQ DRY??? His nanny even told me that he would always cry whenever he feels that he's wet. I even noticed that he's very irritable when he pooped and diaper sags. So again, I shifted him back to Huggies which makes him more comfy and less worries for me.

If budget is not a problem for us moms, let's not sacrifice our baby's comfort. I still stick to Huggies. It's still the BEST for my baby!

Our Little Angel...GREYAM YALE

The big day is finally here: I'm Gonna Be A Mom!

May 14, 2011 at around 9:30 in the morning, I was induced at Manabat Maternity Hospital, Sto. Tomas, Pampanga. No labor pains for the couple of days and baby was still hanging high, my cervix was approximately only 2cm dilated. So I decided to induce my labor so I can finally see my little baby boy, I was even so excited though my sister-in-law told me that having an induced labor will be very painful compared to natural labor. But still, I decided to have it. At exactly 9:45 in the evening, I gave birth to a very loveable baby boy, weighing 3.2 kgs...Greyam Yale.

It was the biggest day of my life: having a new life. At first, I can't believe that I'm already a mom, 'cause everything went fast. I never even knew that I already gave birth since I had a painless delivery. All I can remember is that I was trying to push my baby out and when I woke up, I was already at my room, very dizzy and thirsty. I can hear my baby crying and all I wanted was to stand up and see him...My precious angel, my little boy.