Sponsored

Baby, Motherhood, New Born, New Mom, Sponsored
How to Keep Your Baby’s Clothes Like-New
- 1:52 pm
- 0 comments
- by Adanna Dill
This post is sponsored by Dreft Laundry Stain Remover! As always, all opinions shared are based on my personal experience.

I should be a bit ashamed to admit this but it’s said that the truth will set you free. While I was pregnant with my first child, my mom came over and packed up all of her clothes and took them home with her and started doing her laundry. Yes, my mom did all of my daughter’s laundry. She didn’t just wash them, she ironed and folded them too. You read ironed correctly! Needless to say, my oldest daughter’s baby clothes were good as new when she grew out of them. By the time my son came around my mom’s schedule had changed and my husband had grown to enjoy doing laundry so he took over the reins and I did the folding. Again, our son’s clothes were in great condition, I even kept a few pieces that the new baby now wears. We agreed since we first started this parenting journey to not go overboard on purchasing baby clothes since they grow out of them so quickly. We’ve focused on keeping the clothes in the best condition possible instead of buying too much. Whether you’re saving clothes because you plan to have more children, you want to donate them or you just want your child’s clothes to look fresh, I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned over the years to keep baby clothes like new:

Follow the care instructions.

The top way to keep your baby’s clothing in like-new condition is to follow the manufacturer’s care instructions on the clothing label. This label will let you know if it should be hand washed, dry cleaned or machine washed and if so the water temperature as well as drying instructions. If the article of clothing doesn’t have a label, you can check out the brand’s website or contact them for care instructions.

Attack stains with Dreft Laundry Stain Remover.

You can’t keep baby clothes like new without a good stain remover! When I think about baby laundry, the Dreft brand pops into my head. It’s been a beloved staple since my mom was doing my first child’s laundry. First of all, Dreft products smell amazing! If you ask any mom she would tell you about that smell.But it’s not just the scent that I love, it’s how well they work. The laundry detergent leaves the baby’s clothes very soft and clean, and the Dreft Laundry Stain Remover works like a charm to get rid of common baby stains.

Babies don’t do much, so first-time parents may be surprised to learn how much baby stains they will encounter from spit up, diaper leaks, and the occasional massive diaper blow-out. These can be the end of your baby’s cute wardrobe if you don’t use a stain remover that works well. I’m not one to use products for adults on my baby’s clothes since those products may harm the flame resistance of children’s sleepwear, so I stick with Dreft Laundry Stain Remover.

I’ve seen it take care of some stains that I initially thought would require me to throw the clothes away. For instance, a few weeks ago the baby’s diaper leaked and dirtied both her clothes and one of my favorite sweaters. I ran down to our building’s laundry room with the soiled garments expecting the worst but Dreft Laundry Stain Remover worked like magic to get the stains off her clothes and my sweater. It’s such a good product that I must have it on hand at all times.

Line your baby’s laundry basket with a soft fabric.

I LOVE baskets! If you follow my Instagram stories you’ve probably realized this but I’m aware that certain materials that baskets are made of can destroy clothes. Some baskets come with fabric liners that protect your clothes but if not, you can use a laundry bag to line yours like I do. I just use a glue gun to attach it to the inside of the basket.

Separate clothes by fabric types.

Another thing I do to keep my baby’s clothes like new is to wash different fabric types separately. This way, rough or heavier fabrics wouldn’t damage more delicate fabrics.

Anyway, these are some of the ways that I’m keeping my baby’s clothes like new. I’m always open to learning tricks from other moms, so please leave your tips below.
Baby, Motherhood, Sponsored
3 Things That Help My Baby Sleep Better
- 5:55 pm
- 0 comments
- by Adanna Dill
I partnered with Newton Crib Mattress for this post. All opinions shared are based on my own experience.

While I was pregnant I wondered when and how the baby would sleep? With two kids, 4 and 7 years old, our home is rarely quiet. I imagined the older kids would wake her up whenever she settled into her sleep as they ran around or banged their toys. I was scared she wouldn’t get enough sleep but fortunately, that hasn’t been our experience. Actually, she adapted to this not-so-quiet life really well and she gets all the sleep she needs. That’s not to say that the kids don’t wake her up sometimes or that there aren’t days when she’s just not interested in sleeping no matter what we do, it’s far from a perfect scenario but she does sleep as much as any other 6-week-old. I wanted to share few things that I believe have helped, I know all kids are different but it’s good to have as any many tools in your mom arsenal as possible, especially to get your baby to sleep.

Putting her down before she falls asleep.

This is my third baby and the first that I put down to sleep while she’s still awake. If you follow my Instagram stories you’ve probably seen this in action a few times. I always rocked my babies to sleep or they would fall asleep while I was nursing them but one day shortly after bringing her home, I placed her down in her crib while she was sleepy to do something and when I got back she was fast asleep. I think she enjoys going to sleep on her own and I prefer it as it’s much easier than putting her down after she’s asleep hoping to not wake her up. Although I thought I would miss out on the closeness of rocking her to sleep, watching her little smiles as she drifts off to dreamland on her own stirs just as much joy.

A good crib mattress makes a big difference.

The first crib mattress I purchased 7 years ago was a major fail! As a first time mom, I researched everything thoroughly including crib mattresses. The one I settled on had good reviews but my daughter hated that mattress and rarely ever slept on it. I knew that a crib mattress needed to be firm but that one was too firm, it was hard. I was actually bummed that I did all of that research and still ended up purchasing a terrible mattress. After that experience, I knew that firmness, safety, and comfort (lots of comfort) are what babies need from a crib mattress so when I first learned about Newton Crib Mattress my interest immediately piqued. I spent a lot of time on their website learning about their mattresses and when my daughter’s finally arrived I was extremely impressed. First of all, these mattresses do not contain any of the toxic materials that are usually found in crib mattresses like glue or latex. It’s completely breathable, with a patented Wovenaire core that’s 90% air and 10% food-grade polymehich, I mean have you ever seen anything like this?

The first time I laid her on this mattress, I could feel the difference from that very first crib mattress and I knew my little lady would enjoy sleeping on it and she does. The cover can be easily unzipped and is washable so I don’t have to worry about leaks (which will be important for the toddler years to come).

A little noise helps.

We live in New York City, in an apartment building with older kids so there is always some degree of noise. What I’ve learned over the years is that if the room where the baby is asleep is too quiet she would wake up easily so there is always a little noise to help her rest well. She seems to like R&B or jazz music and white noise. We do white noise during the night and music sometimes during the day.

These are the three things that help these days but as she grows older and I learn more, I will be sure to share.

What do you do to help your baby sleep better?
Baby, Motherhood, New Mom, Sponsored
Fun Ways to Keep Big Kids Happy While Mom Cares for New Baby
- 10:34 pm
- 0 comments
- by Adanna Dill
Thank you CAPRI SUN for sponsoring this post. You can find CAPRI SUN’s four new drinks with All Natural Ingredients and No Sugar Added* at most grocery retailers nationwide, including local grocery stores, mass merchandisers and club stores

I can’t believe that I am now a mom of THREE kids! It’s fantastic having the baby here and she’s brought us so much joy in the short time she’s been here. Of course, she gets plenty of attention from all of us. My son is always checking on her to make sure she’s okay and her big sister loves holding her. I have to admit that I’m uneasy with one kid getting so much attention, since it’s really important to me that all of my children feel loved so I’ve been really proactive about doing things that would make my older kids happy with the new baby in our home. With so many of you in similar situations, I wanted to share a few things that are working for me so far:

Designate Big Kids Bonding Time.

The baby seems to like to be up when her siblings get home from school so they could dote on her but after she gets her kisses and admiration I shift all of the attention over to them. We chat about their day at school, what they’ve been thinking about or share funny jokes. I’m no comedian but my son loves a good knock, knock joke and I like to cheat by finding new ones on the internet to share with him. If the weather permits, we head outside so they can ride their scooter around the block while I wear the baby. They love showing off all of their skills to the baby, although she can’t understand what’s going on and they’ve both made promises to give her scooter lessons when she gets bigger.

The kids are usually on the lookout for a snack after a long day at school and these days one of CAPRI SUN’s four new drinks made with All Natural ingredients is one of the top choices. It’s really important to me that they’re not consuming too much sugar so I love that the NEW CAPRI SUN Fruit Refreshers, CAPRI SUN Organic, CAPRI SUN 100% Juice and CAPRI SUN Fruit & Veggie Blends have no added sugar*, no high-fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Basically they do not contain all of the things I try to avoid giving my children. It especially makes me so happy to see how much the kids enjoy CAPRI SUN Fruit & Veggie Blends which has ½ cup of fruit and veggie juice per pouch. Actually, all of these varieties pass my standards. The NEW CAPRI SUN Fruit Refresher have less than 50% sugar than average leading fruit juices**. The CAPRI SUN 100% Juice has ¾ cup of fruit juice per pouch and CAPRI SUN Organic pouches are Certified USDA Organic.

Allow them to capture memories.

When we upgraded our camera this summer my daughter was gifted my very first DSLR camera. She’s been using it to take photos of the baby, as well as other family members interacting with the baby. Her brother uses his tablet and smartwatch to take photos and make videos with the baby as well. I think it’s really important for them to capture their own memories from their perspective with the baby and I love to see how much joy that brings them.

Celebrate them.

As I mentioned above, I like to spend some time learning what’s going on in my kids lives. We talk about their progress at school, friendships, projects they’re working on etc. Whenever my kids mention something that I think is worth celebrating like standing up for someone else, being kind, sharing or working to improve themselves in one way or another I love to shine the spotlight on them when we have dinner or any activity where the entire family is together. This is one of my secrets for getting attention off the baby and on the big kids even if it’s just for a few minutes.

I’m sure as the weeks and months go by I will learn more through experience on making the big kids happy while caring for the baby. If you’ve been there before I would love to hear what your family did in the comment section below.

*Not a low-calorie beverage

**Per 6oz, this produce 10g of sugar, leading average fruit juice 20g of sugar

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.