Baby Archives - Persevering Momma

Yumi Baby Food Review – Is It Worth It For Your Family?

September 5, 2020 by Ashley Leave a Comment

My Yumi Baby Food Review

Is fresh, organic baby food worth it?

Yumi baby food is a prepared meal service dedicated to infants and toddlers. They offer new seasonal flavors every week. The reason for the seasonal flavors is because they order their produce weekly from farms and make everything fresh for you. Their food is packaged, sealed, and dated for your convenience. It can even be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Why I Tried Yumi

As a mom of two kids I find my free time to be very limited. I had dreams of making baby food at home to save a little money, but then Covid-19 hit and I just didn’t know what to do. We try to go to the store once every 2 weeks which means I don’t have as much produce in the home and what I do have I try to keep for the 4 year old to eat. I’ve also found it to be hard to find the time to make enough food for the baby with his current appetite and just needed a little help to get us by.

If you don’t know we fought hard with Gideon to get him to eat and gain weight. He had to have timed feeds and we had to give him a higher calorie formula. (He actually still eats the higher calorie formula.) When he turned 6 months old we started to add solids to his diet and that caused a bunch more issues. Once we solved his gastrointestinal issues we learned that he loved solids.

Our now 9 month old baby eats 16-20 ounces of pureed food a day. This means he eats 4-5 jars of baby food a day. I just wasn’t keeping up on making enough food for him that also offered him some variety to expand his palate and dietary needs.

About Yumi

Yumi was started by two women who wanted to be able to provide their children with proper nutrition. Store brand pre-packaged baby foods tend to be filled with added ingredients that make it shelf stable. This means added preservatives and often added sugars to make it more appealing to babies. Babies just don’t need these things and they wanted to provide a service to families that also wanted to offer highly nutritious options for their children.

The Yumi Baby Food Menu

The Yumi Menu consists of a variety of different types of baby food options for each stage of your child’s development. This means they offer foods starting at Stage 1 and going all the way up to Bites and Puffs. Each stage is a little different and offers the recommended options for a variety of different ages.

Stage 1

Stage 1 Foods are made of single ingredient purees. These are smooth and without any real textures to them. They are recommended for ages 5 months or as a first food when you start them with your little one. For instance we used Stage 1 foods starting at 6 months with our son.

Stage 2

Stage 2 foods are a multi-ingredient puree that is also smooth, but often has a little more texture to the food. This option is a little denser and gives the baby a mixed flavor. It is recommended for babies ages 7+ months. I personally prefer these Stage 2 foods over store bought ones as these have a little more added texture and that is a great early introduction to textures when sensory processing issues run in your family like they do in mine.

Stage 3

Stage 3 foods are purees that are multi-ingredient with seeds or grains mixed into them. These foods are recommended for babies age 9+ months old. I just love the cute names of these foods too!

Stage 4

Stage 4 foods are now no longer pureed, but a chunky mix of multiple ingredients that make for a new texture for your baby. This stage helps prep your baby for moving onto finger foods as they get older. This stage is recommended for age 10+ months.

Bites

Bites are cute little bite sized finger foods that are nutrient dense foods for your little ones. Many store bough finger foods offer empty calories with little to no nutritional value to them. These are recommended for ages 11+ months.

Puffs

Puffs are often given as a first finger food to babies because they dissolve/melt in the baby’s mouth and help them to learn to pick up food and to help them work their pinching skills. Options at the store aren’t vast and these puffs offer more variety.

Yumi Packaging

My Yumi packages arrive safely and cold each and every time. They arrive packaged in a box with insultation and two freezer packs. The freezer packs are almost always still completely frozen when they arrive. I was amazed by this the first time I got my box because it shipped from California and arrived in perfect condition.

Each jar is sealed tight with an airtight plastic seal and the seal is dated with a Best By date on it. One of my favorite features is the resealable lid that has a spot for you to write when you opened the jar of food. This is helpful when sampling new foods because you want to have your baby eat the jar within 24 hours of opening the jar.

Yumi Baby Food Taste Test

We jumped into the game with Yumi a little late, but started with some Stage 1 purees at age 9 months because he was a little behind and still trying out many different foods.

Yumi Baby Food Staged Green Beans and Cauliflower

Gideon is a sweet little guy that has had nothing but issues with feeding since birth. At 9 months old we are still packing as many calories as possible into this little guy just so that he stays on his growth curve. We started as simple as possible until we got the okay from his pediatrician, nutritionist, and speech therapist to start introducing the mixed foods.

Gideon has been enjoying his journey into Yumi foods. We are starting to introduce the mixed flavors and will hopefully be trying the Yumi Baby Led Weaning foods and Finger Foods soon. In the meantime Gideon does prefer the less textured foods, but he is slowly adjusting to the more textured foods like the Green Beans. I was actually able to feed a jar to him without a chaser food today! So much progress with this little guy.

The Verdict

The verdict! We are loving everything that is Yumi food. Gideon is enjoying foods that he wouldn’t normally get to try and he is enjoying having fun exploring with them. As you can see in this picture he is even getting a little messy sometimes. This is something I love to see as a mom to children with sensory processing issues. I highly recommend Yumi for you and your little one. Be on the watch for a second post all about the Baby Led Weaning Foods and the Finger Foods.

Get your Yumi Box!

Head on over to Hello Yumi to get your box now. Purchase through my link and get 5 jars for free! I will get points to aid in me getting discounts on their products as well.

Car Seat Safety With Chicco

September 27, 2018 by Ashley Leave a Comment

This is a sponsored post thanks to Chicco for National Baby Car Seat Safety Week.

Over the years so much has changed in regards to safety in vehicles. One thing that is constantly changing is car seat safety for children. There are now many laws and recommendations on how to keep your child safe while traveling in the car.

The new American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendation for keeping children rear facing until they max out on height and weight for their current car seat. I do believe in this philosophy and made sure that my son was rear facing past two years old (while it wasn’t as long as I really wanted I was pleased to have him rear facing until 2.5 years old). No matter what car seat or booster your child is in it is important to make sure that the car seat is installed properly and that your child is buckled in properly as well.

Secure Car Seat Installation

Using LATCH vs Seat Belt

When you installing a car seat in your car you have to choose between two options for the installation; you can use LATCH (LATCH stands for “lower anchors and tethers for children.”) or the seat belt for the installation. Both are great options, but there are a couple things to note. Most car seats only allow LATCH installation for children 40lbs or less which means that you must use the seat belt installation if you child exceeds this limit. Another thing to note is that it is not safe to install the car seat using both the LATCH and seat belts at the same time.

Both of these options are equally safe, but you will want to choose whichever option works the best for your vehicle. This means that you should have a tight install and your seat should be level. If your seat is forward facing you will also need to secure the top tether which means placing it in a seat that has a top tether anchor available. (This is not something that is always set up for every seat in your vehicle. You will want to check your car manual to see where your available top tethers are located.)

The Inch Test

You may have heard people reference the inch test. This test is very important in making sure that your car seat install is done properly. In order to perform the test you will need to install the seat and with your non-dominant hand you will grab the belt path on the seat. You will then give the seat a gentle tug (like that of a firm handshake) and if the seat moves less than an inch then you have a good install. If the seat moves an inch or more then you will want to continue to tighten the seat into place.

Having a seat installed tight enough is very important if you were to get into an accident. This will ensure that your child is the safest and will help to reduce the motion of the seat during an accident.

Getting Help

If you have questions or want hands-on assistance, SafeKids.org can help you find a car seat checkup event in your area or contact a local child passenger safety technician (CPST). You can also get in touch with a nearby CPST via www.nhtsa.gov.

Car Seat Expiration

Car seats often have their expiration dates in similar locations on the seats. I have snapped pictures of the expiration dates on a variety of car seats that we own to show you just where the expiration date is located so that it may make it a bit easier for you to find on your car seat.

Car seat safety — Graco Extend2Fit manufacture label on the back of the seat. Car seat manual states that the seat expires 10 years from date of manufacture. Nice and easy math!

If you are still struggling to find the expiration date on your seat you should check your car seat manual because they will show you where the date is on your seat.

The Chicco MyFit Harness + Booster Car Seat

We have used a variety of different car seats and car seat brands with our son over the years and Chicco is included in that bunch of car seats. My sons newest seat is the Chicco MyFit Harness + Booster Car Seat. This was an upgrade from an old seat that got damaged during our move a couple months ago.

I was unsure about switching to a Harnessed Booster, but he was just turned forward-facing and exceeded the minimum requirements for this seat. I love that this seat is an easy install in my 2016 Ford Escape so that if it needs to be loved it can be without much difficulty. My son also loves the attached cup holders and the arm rests.

Previously in my car we had a Diono Radian with one hanging cup holder that always got detached by my lovely son. It also had no side which was nice for me, but he disliked that he had no arm rest to use. He now has arm rests and two cup holders.

Chicco MyFit Harness + Booster Car Seat shown with the folded (collapsed) cup holder.

One thing that many people like about the Diono is the fact that without the cup holders the car seat is slimmer than others and can fit 3 in a row much easier. This Chicco Seat has cup holders that fold in so that you can save space and fit more seats in one row than you can with other seats. This definitely is a perk for large families. The fact that this seat is also lighter than some seats like the Diono is a huge perk to me because I could barely lift the Diono seat to love it if needed.

Overall I would say that this seat really makes me feel like my son is safe and is accessible for him as well as for me! A huge perk for someone who struggles with car seats on a regular basis.

How do you keep your child safe in the car?

Breaking The Stigma: Disability or Not I Can Cloth Diaper

September 6, 2017 by Ashley Leave a Comment

I was a chicken. I will admit that now. I was terrified of using a cloth diaper on my son for a variety of reasons. Of course a year and a half later I really, really am starting to regret not cloth diapering my son. There are so many things that I have learned about disposable diapers as well as cloth diapers in this last year that I didn’t know before I was a parent.

When you are a soon-to-be parent there is an overwhelming amount of knowledge that you feel you need to learn about and unfortunately there isn’t enough time to learn it all. That is why I want to share this with you all. This is especially for those soon-to-be parents who just can’t decide what the best option is and ultimately go with the easier of the two options like I did.

Why I ran away from cloth diapers before giving them a chance.

The biggest reason I ran away from cloth diapers was because… dun, dun, dun… I was afraid of the mess. I know, know. That is so typical isn’t it? I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to handle the mess that comes with cloth diapering and I felt like I didn’t have the time to learn how to care for cloth diapers before my son was born. (I also didn’t think I would be able to teach hubby how to care for them either; I was nervous enough about him washing the baby’s clothes as it was.)

Should I have been afraid of the mess?

I can’t really say, but I do know that the first two months would have been really hard for me because I was healing from surgery and could barely do the stairs to make it to our laundry room. So, realistically it would have been a real mess. As a parent though I have come to realize that even without cloth diapers I don’t escape the mess so there was no reason to be scared of it.

The fear that brought me to tears was completely different from being afraid of the mess and that was the fear that my disability would make it impossible to cloth diaper. In hindsight I realize that the fear was real, but that it was heightened by the fact that I was hormonal and everything felt way more extreme to me.

Should I have let my disability get in the way?

I shouldn’t have let my disability win; instead I wish I had gone to a cloth diapering class and could have gotten hands on experience with some of the cloth diapers on the market today. There is a wide variety of styles out there that I could have used/tried, but I was too scared of them. I chose to chicken out and go the easy route with disposable diapers.

When you have struggled with clasps, snaps, and some velcro your whole life you really start to doubt your abilities to care for your children and I will admit that I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to use cloth diapers without help from someone else.

Instead I am now saying I can cloth diaper!

My current determination to not let my disability win is why I am trying out a variety of cloth diapers. I want to prove that someone with weak hands who often can’t even button a pair of jeans can use cloth diapers on their children. This is why 1.5 years into being a mom I am deciding to put my foot down and start this new blogging series about cloth diapering with a physical disability.

Beginning Your Cloth Diaper Journey: Where To Start?

August 30, 2017 by Ashley Leave a Comment

What do I REALLY need to start you Cloth Diaper Journey?

I asked myself this a million times and looked at a bunch of different resources and asked a lot of moms the same question because if I was going to start attempting this new cloth diaper journey I wanted to make sure that I did it right. That is why I want to share with you what I have found to be the bare essentials as well as the extras that are optional for you to get your cloth diapering journey started.

Cloth Diaper Necessities

Diapers: Deciding how many cloth diapers you will need for your stash can be a daunting task. Thankfully Smart Bottoms has a cute graphic that they have shared that gives you an idea of how many cloth diapers are needed for various stages of cloth diapering.

Wipes: You have the option of using disposable wipes, cloth wipes, or both. All of these options are good options, but you need to choose the option that works best for you. I find that disposable wipes are much easier and faster to use when in public facilities while cloth wipes can be very helpful at home because it reduces waste and I will be doing laundry anyway. If you do choose to use cloth wipes you will need a cloth wipes solution. You can purchase one or make your own at home.

Diaper Pail/Bucket: I feel that this is a necessity just because it is easier to toss a dirty diaper into a diaper pail or bucket instead of using a wet bag. This gives you the ability to close the stink inside the pail and keep your home feeling and smelling fresh while you have the ease of tossing a diaper in the “trash” just like people do with disposable diapers. I view the cloth diaper pail to be like a Diaper Genie that many people with disposables use.

Pail Liner/Large Wet Bag: Depending on what route you decide to go you will either need a pail liner (or two) or a large wet bag to store your dirty diapers in until wash day. A good pail liner will be a lot like a garbage bag except that these you don’t throw away. They are lined with PUL just like you cloth diapers so that they hold in the wet stuff and keep the smell contained for the most part as well. The difference with using a large wet bag is that you have to unzip and re-zip the bag shut every time you use it. This can feel like extra work, especially when you are changing a tiny baby’s diaper a million times a day.

Small/Travel size wet bag: If you are going out for a day you will want a small or travel sized wet bag in your possession so that you can store your dirty diapers while being on the go. No one wants to lug around a big bag full of dirty diapers. If you only own one of these you then you will need to empty the dirty diapers into the big bag when you get home, but if you have multiple small bags you can leave the dirty diapers in this bag until wash day. The decision is ultimately up to you.

Optional Extras

Extra Inserts: If you are considering doubling up your inserts for overnight diapers then you will want to purchase additional inserts to help you with overnight diapers. I will admit that not all children need to have their diapers stuffed with extra inserts for overnight, but if you think you will need them I would recommend buying them ahead of time.

Diaper Sprayer: The diaper sprayer is not a necessity, but I will admit that this is something that I find to be a very important accessory for any cloth diapering parent. The diaper sprayer helps to spray off the messy poops that won’t just plop into the toilet. We all know that these poops exist even if we are in denial about them. If you decide or buy a diaper sprayer then I also recommend buying the Spray Pal to go with it. The Spray Pal allows you to clip the diaper to it and spray off the diaper without risking getting poop all over your hands.

Diaper Liners: Diaper Liners are also something that isn’t a must-have item because you can do without them, but they are a great addition to a stash if you will be putting your child in daycare or if you are going to have a lot of different people changing diapers. The diaper liners lay as a top layer against baby’s skin and allows for you to easily get poop into the toilet without needing as sprayer (most of the time, some loose poops will escape beyond this layer.)

Tips For Traveling While Cloth Diapering Baby

August 16, 2017 by Ashley Leave a Comment

Que Doomsday music! Dun, dun, dun! Lol. I know that can be what it feels like when you consider travelling while cloth diapering baby. It really doesn’t need to be that frightening. There are a couple of different options that you can consider before you take your little one on a road trip and no I am not going to say “go buy disposables” though you can do that if you so desire.

Cloth Diapering with Liners

Your easiest option (that doesn’t require you to change up your cloth stash) is adding liners to your cloth diapers so that you can easily toss out poop and don’t have to carry that with you in your dirty wet bags. This would really be my first suggestion because this can make it much easier and lighter to carry the dirty diapers. If you happen to have covers that you stuff I would recommend you bringing those because generally you can get away with less covers that take up less space.

You will need to make sure that you have enough wet bags so that if you have to change a poopy diaper and don’t have anywhere to clean it you can stash that one diaper separate until you find a toilet. I would also recommend bringing laundry soap because you are going to want to stop at laundromat at least once if you are going on a trip for a week or more. Bringing the soap with you helps so that you have the right stuff if you can’t find it at a store near you.

gDiapers

The second option would be to go with gDiapers. These are a cover hybrid diaper that can work like a disposable diaper. You can use cloth inserts or you can use disposable inserts that can be torn open and flushed down the toilet or they can be tossed if you are using a toilet that cannot have sanitary products flushed down them. These take up a lot less space and you will have a lot less dirty laundry on your hands.

More often than not moms don’t seem to use these as their every day diaper, though there are moms out there who do, so these would be an investment to use mainly for travelling. If your family travels a lot I would recommend investing in these cloth diapers because they are easier to use and handle while on the road, but if you go on only one trip a year I would say it isn’t worth the monetary investment for you and your family.