Thirty-One Food Allergy Event ~ Last Day to Order & Enter to Win

I have spent a couple weeks showing how I organize my food allergy lifestyle with the fantastic products made by Thirty-One.  Today is the last day to order from our event and to enter to win a duffle bag!  So I thought I would give a quick recap for you.

Thermal Mini Zipper Pouch $12

(fits Epi-Pens & Benedryl)

    

                                 

 The dual-epi fits great in these mini pouches, with room for Benedryl and an inhaler too!  

They are made with slick, water-resistant material.  Easy to keep clean.  Love that!

The Thermal Mini Zipper Pouch is one Thirty-One item that cannot be embroidered.  But for the price, I am willing to make my own label.  Here I just printed a label on the computer and taped it on securely with packing tape.  

Thermal Zipper Pouch $15

(Fits Epi-Pens, Inhaler Chamber, Ice-Pack, & Mini Pouch)

    

                               

If you are out in the heat for extended periods this summer (think the zoo, ball games, parks, water parks, sswimming pools, etc), you can put your Mini Thermal Pouch into the larger Thermal Pouch.  It's about the size of a piece of paper. 

Here I have an ice-pack wrapped in a cloth napkin, next to the epi-pen pouch, all put into the large Thermal Pouch.  This should keep the epi-pens at their safe temperature of 59-86 degrees...preferably the suggested 77 degrees (room temp).

Then you can tuck your large thermal pouch into any other outing bag.  

Keep It Caddy $22

(many patterns available)

This purse-sized tote is perfect for many purposes. 

  

Here is my Keep It Caddy as a picnic bag, with the epi-s in the large pouch with ice.

Here is my Keep It Caddy as a bag for summer essentials....hand wipes, sanitizing wipes, band-aids, bug spray, sunscreen, e-cloth, water bottle, mom snacks, toothbrushes, etc.

Here is my Keep It Caddy as a snack bag...with enough snacks for a month to keep in the car.  

Or if you want something a little larger, I love this next bag too!

Organizing Utility Tote $30

(many patterns available)

This one is about the size of a diaper bag...and MAKES a great diaper bag!

We use this as our soccer bag.  Fits ball, uniform, jackets, umbrella, snacks, 

and water bottles for the whole family with 7 outer pockets. 

Notice the epi-pen pouch fits nicely, too, for hot (or cold) soccer games.

And here's one more of my favorite totes.  

Large Utility Tote $35

This tote is super large and works great for all the swim gear for our family in the summer.  

I can fit beach towels and clothes for all, blown up water wings, goggles, water bottles, flip flops, 

AND the epi-pen pouch.  I think I will throw the sunscreen into that insulated pouch, too, this summer.

You Can Place An Order.  Ends Today.

If you would like to order from Thirty-One, I am hosting a Food Allergy Mom Event .  You can order and pay online and have delivery right to you.    

Click the link below.  Then at the top of that page, click "Place an Order", and you will find the Food Allergy Mom Event to "Shop Now".

If you are ordering $31 and getting a 1/2 price thermal, be sure to place an "S" at the end of the thermal product number to ensure getting the sale price.  

If you are local, you can email me with your order for group delivery to me.  

The Food Allergy Mom Event ends today, May 22, 2013.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Enter to Win a Thirty-One Duffle!

Aaaaaand, we are doing a GIVEAWAY!  You can enter to win this brand new, black Duffle Bag by Thirty-One.  It's perfect for sports or overnights.  I want to keep it, but I better give it away.  :)  

No purchase is necessary to enter.  You can enter once per person.  Must be 18 to enter.  The winner will be notified by email and must respond within 3 days or a new winner will be chosen.  

Name:
Email Address:

Get your own free form like this one.

Milk-Free Find ~ Tofurky Pizza

The whole fam made a trip to the health food store recently, and Miles really wanted to pick up a frozen pizza.  :)  How can we say no?

We are so lucky that such dairy-free products are on the market and growing.  So far Miles had only tried Bold frozen pizzas, but our store was out of them.  So this time we picked up a Tofurky pizza.  Miles picked the Italian Sausage.  That's my boy...I love lots of toppings, too.  

This from the Tofurky website:

"We make our vegetarian products in small batches using only the finest organic and natural ingredients. No preservatives, MSG or other artificial ingredients are added to our products. All of our products are kosher, vegan, and made with organic soybeans and/or organic tofu. We are a family owned and operated company."

The difference in Tofurky and Bold brands is that Tofurky contains wheat and has a more traditional pizza crust.  Since Miles can do wheat, this was fine for him.  

Miles gives Torurky two thumbs up.  I love the smile on his face when he gets to eat store-bought pizza.  

Well worth the nine bucks.  ;)  

Regulating Epi-Pen Temperatures This Summer

Some would say I have an obsessive personality.  When I get my mind on something, I can go a bit overboard with research, crossing all the t's, dotting all the i's, leaving no stone un-turned...

But hey, I figure this kind of personality fits well with being a food allergy parent...being obsessive about reading ingredient lists, being picky about babysitters, insisting on making our own foods, etc, etc.  So hey, I will wear the "obsessive badge" with honor.  :)

My recent obsession was to find a way to keep our epi-pens at room temperature in the upcoming summer heat.  Did you know that epi-pen instructions are to keep them at 77 degrees?  "Excursions permitted 59-86 degrees" and "protect from light".  

Honestly, I have gone 7 years with always keeping the epi-pens in my purse...in an un-insulated case the allergy office gave us.  We always have the epis with us, but we have had them out in summer heat and winter cold without giving the temperature much thought.  

But I'm prepared this summer.  The thermal pouches by Thirty-One got me thinking about the importance of epi-pen temperature regulation, and I've been posting info for all you allergy families.  I've gotten quite a few questions about the thermal pouches so I've experimented even more...to come up with (I think) a great plan for the summer.  

Now if you are just in and out of air-conditioning this summer, I think the epi-pens, Benedryl, and inhaler carried in the Mini Thermal Zipper Pouch ($12) in your purse is just fine.  But if you are out in the heat for an extended time, like at the zoo, the pool, hiking, baseball games, etc...you may want to add an ice pack for your epi's.  But you don't want ice directly on your epi-pens.  That's where I thought it would work well to have the Mini Thermal Pouch tucked into the larger Thermal Zipper Pouch ($15).  

Here I have the epis, Benedryl single serves and tablets, and inhaler in the Mini Thermal Zipper Pouch, next to an ice pack wrapped in cloth, inside a large Thermal Zipper Pouch.  

You can label your pouches with labels and packing tape so they can be found by anyone.  

What I like about these two Thermal Zipper Pouches is that they are thin and can be tucked into any other bags for the summer.  I have swim bags, picnic bags, snack bags, mommy bags, sports bags...all ready to go for this summer.  Maybe I'm obsessed with bags...and organizing...it's a bad combo, LOL.  

Here I have the two pouches nicely tucked in the Thirty-One Keep It Caddy ($22) that I'm using as our picnic bag.  Why do I think utensils in those little front pockets is so dang fun???

And we have our teeth-cleaning gum in one of the side pockets.  

And inside there is room for plates, peanut butter, a sleeve of crackers, dried peas, apple sauce, and Teddy Grahams.  The perfect allergy-friendly picnic lunch...with allergy meds safely held in the thermal pouches right there, too.  

Of course you don't need Thirty-One pouches and bags to keep your epi's safe.  I'm sure there are other thermal items on the market that will work for layering and using ice.  But I think the Thirty-One stuff is very affordable and durable...and cute.  :)  

In May, you can get a thermal item for half price with a $31 order.  If you purchased the $12 Mini Pouch and the $22 Keep It Caddy, you could get the larger Thermal Pouch half off for $7.50.  :)  

You Can Place An Order Through May 22

If you would like to order from Thirty-One, I am hosting a Food Allergy Mom Event .  You can order and pay online and have delivery right to you.    

Click the link below.  Then at the top of that page, click "Place an Order", and you will find the Food Allergy Mom Event to "Shop Now".

If you are ordering $31 and getting a 1/2 price thermal, be sure to place an "S" at the end of the thermal product number to ensure getting the sale price.  

If you are local, you can email me with your order for group delivery to me.  

The Food Allergy Mom Event will end on May 22, 2013.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Enter to Win a Thirty-One Duffle!

Aaaaaand, we are doing a GIVEAWAY!  You can enter to win this brand new, black Duffle Bag by Thirty-One.  It's perfect for sports or overnights.  I want to keep it, but I better give it away.  :)  

No purchase is necessary to enter.  You can enter once per person.  Must be 18 to enter.  The winner will be notified by email and must respond within 3 days or a new winner will be chosen.  

Name: Email Address: Get your own free form like this one. I am linking to Allergy Free Wednesdays.

Dairy-Free Afternoon Snack ~ Apples & Nut Butter

Food allergy or not, wouldn't you agree that there's no better snack than crispy, sweet apples with creamy, salty nut butter?  :)  

If you can't do peanut butter, try Sunbutter.  We love it even though both my boys outgrew peanut as toddlers.  They both tested very high to peanut in their first years, although they had never had it or had a reaction.  We feel blessed that they outgrew this "hard to outgrow food allergy".  If you deal with peanut allergies, I hope you are encouraged that outgrowing CAN happen.  

We did, however, not give our boys peanut until they were over age 3.  We did a lot of Sunbutter!

HERE is Graham's story about outgrowing peanut AND egg allergies.  

HERE is Miles's story about outgrowing his peanut allergy.

If you are nursing and staying away from dairy and chocolate (but not nuts or peanuts), try Justin's chocolate nut butters!  It's a great way to get your chocolate fix without the dairy.  :)  And I won't get started on how much healthier Justin's is than Nutella.  

If you can do peanut butter, our very favorite is Smucker's Natural because there is no sugar but there is salt, yum, yum!  

What else do you eat with nut butter?

Thermal Pouch for Epi-Pens

    

                                 

 Thermal Mini Zipper Pouch $12

(fits Epi-Pens & Benedryl)

I recently heard that the Thermal Mini Zipper Pouch is the perfect fit for our dual epi-pens so I had to check it out.  I contacted my sweet "Thirty-One Girl", Corey, and she kindly let me borrow hers so I could test this out for myself.  Turns out it's true.  The dual-epi fits great...with room for Benedryl and an inhaler too!  

Here I put the dual epi's, Benedryl tablets, Benedryl single-serves, AND our inhaler in the pouch.  It closed just fine.  

I love the Thermal Mini Zipper Pouches for us allergy moms.  

• I often hear allergy parents looking for storage for their epi-pens.
• You can store Benedryl meds right along with your epi-pens, which is essential.
• These pouches are insulated so we don't have to worry about the upcoming summer heat!
• These pouches are cute!  And you can choose from different patterns.  :)
• These pouches are not bulky and will fit right into your purse or child's book bag.
• These pouches are super affordable and better priced than many containers made especially for Epi's.
• This month, you can get THERMAL items for 1/2 off with a $31 purchase!

The Thermal Mini Zipper Pouch is one Thirty-One item that cannot be embroidered.  But for the price, I am willing to make my own label.  Here I just printed a label on the computer and taped it on securely with packing tape.  

The mini pouch is about as big as a hand.  :)

The Mini Thermal Zipper Pouch is about $18 shipped to your door!  While most other insulated Epi holders run $30 plus shipping, that's a great bargain!  

Read about how I use other Thirty-One bags to stay organized as a busy mama.  

You Can Place An Order Through May 22

If you would like to order from Thirty-One, I am hosting a Food Allergy Mom Event .  You can order and pay online and have delivery right to you.    

Click the link below.  Then at the top of that page, click "Place an Order", and you will find the Food Allergy Mom Event to "Shop Now".

The May Special is 1/2 price thermals with every $31 purchase.  If you are ordering $31 and getting a 1/2 price thermal, be sure to place an "S" at the end of the thermal product number to ensure getting the sale price.  

If you are local, you can email me with your order for a group delivery to me.  

The Food Allergy Mom Event will end on May 22, 2013.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Enter to Win a Thirty-One Duffle!

You can enter to win this brand new, black Duffle Bag by Thirty-One.  It's perfect for sports or overnights.  I want to keep it, but I better give it away.  :)  

No purchase is necessary to enter.  You can enter once per person.  Must be 18 to enter.  The winner will be notified by email and must respond within 3 days or a new winner will be chosen.  

Leave name and email below to enter.

Ends May 22 at 11:59 pm PST.

Name:
Email Address:

Dairy-Free Kid Lunch ~ Meat & Cheese Tortilla Roll-Up

This is one of my most favorite things to post, Dairy-Free Kid Lunches!  I hope you are enjoying them, too.  Although, today I didn't use a tray.  Ooooops.  Oh well.....

I have my eyes on some new trays for the boys.  I will share more info on that later.  :)

If lunch bread is getting old at your house, try using tortillas to mix it up.  Here we made lunch meat and cheese roll-ups.  Also, just changing between baby carrots and whole carrots makes a difference to the kiddies.  So keep in mind even those subtle changes that can help keep lunch time fresh and "exciting".  

This lunch includes:

Meat & Cheese Roll-Up

Whole Carrot

Mandarin Oranges

Fritos

Mott's Apple Juice Popsicle

Dairy-Free Unsweetened Almond Milk

After we took the above picture, we remembered to add baby kale.  It's always good to find a way to get in something green.  :)  I buy pre-washed organic greens sometimes because it just makes my life so much easier.  

I asked the boys if they wanted some dressing on their sandwich.  I had some ranch dip made up and some homemade Italian dressing on hand.  But they opted for plain old roll-up's.  You could also do mayo or vegan mayo.  

I figured out that my Wilton silicone muffin cups aren't 100% silicone.  I gave them a little twist, and they turned white.  That means there's plastic filler in them.  Boo.  For now I will use them with cold foods and not baking.  But I'm not sure for how long.  I'm totally on a kitchen revamp right now.  ;)  

Tortillas:  We are starting to prefer the whole wheat ones.  Most are dairy-free but check labels.

Meat:  I used Hormel Natural Lunch Meat that says the starter culture is not derived from milk, Smoked Deli Turkey.  Check labels.

Cheese:  Tofutti cheese squares.  Contain soy.

Fritos:  An interesting dairy-free alternative to potato chips.  I should have offered the ranch dip for these.

Mott's Popsicle:  The ingredients contain Stevia, a natural sugar.  No artificial colors.  Just the packaging is colored, not the popsicles.

Hope your day is sunshiny!  :)  And don't forget to enter to win the Thirty-One Duffle Bag!  

Milk Allergies & Teeth (Part 2)

As promised, here is Part 2 of my thoughts on how milk allergies and tooth health can be kind of tricky.  In Part 1, I gave you a summary of some of the precautions I did and didn't take with Miles's teeth early on.  Now for Part 2 I would like to give you some tips that I have learned along the way...mostly from the mistakes I have made.  I hope these give you some great ideas for building stronger teeth in milk allergy babies and kids.

BRUSH/WIPE BABY TEETH FROM THE START

With the emergence of baby's first tooth, wipe or brush them clean as best you can...especially after meals.  Even if you are just breast-feeding, baby's teeth are still exposed to sugars that can weaken teeth.

DON'T SPREAD MOUTH BACTERIA TO BABIES 
A fellow milk allergy mom shared this reminder with me.  When parents share utensils and food with their kids, kiss babies on the lips, and put their kids' pacifiers in their mouths, they may be transmitting cavity-causing bacteria to their children.  This article says it way better than I can so go take a read if you want more info.  :)     

CLEAN TEETH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT 

I don't mean wake your baby for a 3 am brushing.  But if you nurse in the middle of the night or find yourself giving meds in the middle of the night (like Tylenol or Benedryl), be sure to wipe/brush your child's teeth before laying them back down.  I was not good at this and did a big no-no by giving Graham honey in the middle of the night for coughs...without brushing it off his teeth.  This may be a big part of the teeth problems he has now.  Now I drag him out of bed to brush his teeth after all middle-of-the-night meds.

TAKE YOUR BABY TO THE DENTIST WITH THE FIRST TEETH

Because your baby is dairy-free, do take your child to the dentist when the first teeth emerge so your dentist can tell you if they are coming in weak or strong, and you can build a relationship there early.  If your dentist doesn't want to see one-year-old's, find a dentist who does.  

VISIT THE DENTIST EVERY 6 MONTHS

Graham's first dentist visit at age 3 was fine.  All teeth looked great.  His next appointment should have been six months later, but that fell right at Christmas time.  I got busy and didn't get him back in until 10 months from the first appointment.  That's when he had 15 cavities.  Yes, you read that right, and I'm really embarrassed.  Decay on baby teeth can spread quickly so make sure you are taking them every 6 months.  I still wonder if we could have prevented some problems if I had taken Graham at Christmas time.  Nothing like a good "Mommy Guilt Trip".  

BRUSH FOR YOUR KIDS, 2 TIMES A DAY

We brushed for our kids, but that didn't help.  Did I mention dairy-free?  

Do brush when they wake up and when they go to bed.  Try to brush after lunch/sugary snack time.  If you don't, get the teeth clean somehow...gum or a crunchy veggie.  Or brush with water at least.

We have brushed for Miles up until about now, age 7.  He still gets spot checks and occasional help.  We still brush for Graham, age 5.  Sometimes I let him do the lunchtime brush just to build his skills.  Or we let him brush first and then we brush after.  

Graham's mouth is SO SMALL!  I finally have started lying him back on my lap to see well into his mouth and to make sure I am getting all the right angles.  It's not fair the the dentist can see all the problems, and I can't even though I look everyday.  So I came up with the new, "dentist position" so I hopefully can catch things easier.

ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH
We have found that the boys brush better with electric toothbrushes.  So make the investment into these.  It will be worth it.  My kids love getting toothbrushes at the dentist so we use those as our "out-and-about" toothbrushes.  :)

FLUORIDE

This topic is very controversial now.  Some people won't let their kids get fluoride.  But with our disadvantageous dairy-free diet, I am leaning towards using fluoride as one safety net for strong teeth.  

Drink tap water.  City waters are fortified with fluoride.  My kids drink city water all day long.

Use toothpaste with fluoride.  We have used fluoride toothpaste since my kids were toddlers.  

Do fluoride swish at home, like ACT.  Kids should be about 5-6 before starting and should not swallow ANY of the swish.  Make sure they are able to spit all of it out.  My boys both started ACT at age 5.

Get treatments at the dentist.  This is was a hard one for me because I hate anyone putting anything in Miles's mouth.  We started these treatments too late with him (age 6) because I was dragging my feet.  The milk ingredient you want to look for in dentistry is Recaldent (tooth whitening) in IM paste.  I am also reading about possible nut ingredients in fluoride.  ???  But don't write off fluoride because you are scared.  Take the time to talk to the dentist, get ingredients lists, and research...then make an informed decision so there's no regrets later.  Skipping fluoride blindly like I did may not be the best idea.  

Fluoride tabs are a last-resort for boosting fluoride quickly, internally.  Our general dentist now recommends this for my boys to "catch up" building strong teeth since we skipped fluoride treatments in-office until ages 4 and 6.  Our pediatric dentist isn't so sure.  She doesn't recommend using the tablets since too much fluoride can also be bad for teeth.

Fluoride in water, toothpaste, and ACT swish haven't been enough for us.  I now wish I had done the fluoride treatments in the dentist office early on.  And now I have to decide if the tablets are something we should do.  And we will keep doing the in-office treatments after making sure they are safe each time.  

USE UNSWEETENED DAIRY-FREE MILK

I did not think about the sugars in soy and almond milk until a couple years ago.  My kids loved the vanilla and chocolate milk, and so did I!  But even the "Original" versions of those milks contain sugar.  Try to start your kids off with the unsweetened milks so they don't acquire a taste for the sugary versions.  With proneness to weak teeth, we really have to watch the sugar in our kids' diets.  

One great alternative is unsweetened vanilla milks that are dairy-free....for some fun flavor. 

I also make our own sugar-free chocolate milk by using chocolate stevia in unsweetened milk.  

HAVE YOUR KIDS DRINK GLASSES OF MILK EVERY DAY

Since our pediatrician told us that daily glasses of dairy milk for kids is overrated and fattening, I didn't worry too much about getting dairy-free milk into my kids every day.  I figured I was cooking and baking with it, and they were getting it with cereal sometimes.  Plus, dairy-free milk is so expensive.  So I didn't push a glass of milk with meals like our parents did.  Now I know that the calcium-rich dairy-free milks are essential.  I'm trying to get my boys to drink a couple glasses of unsweetened dairy-free milk each day.  When they are hungry and want a snack, sometimes a glass of milk does the trick to fill up their bellies and get them some calcium.  

GO EASY ON JUICE, EVEN CALCIUM OJ

I remember a dietitian telling us to do calcium enriched orange juice.  So in our toddler years, I did quite a bit of OJ.  You know, toddlers love juice.  And hey, some OJ has added calcium.  So why not?!  But after some time, I decided to stop the juice just because my kids already ate so much fruit.  I really should have stopped the juice because there is so much sugar in it!  Yes, the calcium OJ is good for our dairy-free kids.  But the sugar attacking their weak teeth makes calcium OJ counter-productive.  If I could do it all over again, I would push the glasses of unsweetened dairy-free milk and forego the calcium rich juice.  

Even though I let my kids have OJ for a season, I never let my kids drink juice out of a bottle or go to bed with it, despite what the dentist thought at Graham's horrible 3-year-old visit.  Did I mention dairy-free?  ;)

Juice includes popsicles so be careful with those as well.  Get teeth clean after the kids eat them.  

EAT CANDY AND SWEETS ONCE, QUICKLY, AND BRUSH

My sister is a dentist, and this was one of the best tips I got from her.  Candy, cakes, cookies, chips (all simple carbs) need to be eaten quickly, and teeth need cleaned afterwards.  I have boys who love to graze.  Suckers while out shopping was a huge life-saver.  Miles is a "food saver" who will keep his Teddy Grahams at the table and eat one every hour.  But these systems are not good for teeth, especially weaker dairy-free teeth.  My sister said to have one time a day, in the afternoon, where the boys can have the craziest, sugary snack their little hearts desire.  Let them eat a whole Enjoy Life candy bar, whatever.  But they need to eat them up "fairly quickly" and get to brushing.  When kids lick on suckers or continually eat  carbs all day, the sugar is just sitting and sitting on their teeth, wearing them down slowly and surely.  

STICKY TREATS ARE NOT GOOD

In my healthy mom pursuits, I thought 100% whole fruit leathers were the greatest treat in the world for my kids.  And sweet Miles, he would lick his for an hour before it was gone.  But just like eating candy and simple carbs all day, eating sticky sugar like fruit roll-up's, fruit leathers, fruit snacks, Skittles, Mambas, Star Bursts, jelly beans can be even worse.  Obviously, these stick to teeth and eat enamel.  Definitely make sure you are brushing after these treats if you decide to even use them.  I don't let my kids have the sticky treats anymore unless it's given out at a sports game or by Grandma, lol. 

NATURAL SUGARS ARE JUST AS BAD 

GUILTY!  As we dealt with the cavity drama last year, I told my sister that I don't even give the kids candy much.  And I don't use sugar a lot.  I was totally into fruit for snacks and using honey and maple syrup for sugar in baking.  Yeah, turns out even the healthy sugars break down our teeth.  So much for that grand idea.    

FOLLOW SUGAR WITH CRUNCHY VEGGIES, GUM, OR BRUSHING

I know it's not feasible to follow every snack with tooth brushing.  But do pay attention to what your kids are eating, how long it's taking them, and how you can "clean up their teeth" afterwards.  Some say that chewing up crunchy carrots or broccoli (or sugar snap peas in our case) can at least clean some of the sugar off of teeth.  Our dentists also recommend chewing gum with xylitol for cavity fighting.  For dairy-free people, that means Trident Original gums, Spree gums, and some Glee gums have xylitol.  My boys are big fans of this strategy.  I have gum in the car for when they have a treat, and we can't brush.  Watch the Trident gums, many DO have whitening agents and MILK.  You want the Original flavors.

FLOSS, FLOSS, FLOSS

I once read in a dentist office, "Floss.  It cleans 33% of the tooth surfaces in your mouth".  True.  We got crazy with flossing AFTER the first round of cavities in our kids.  The best thing are those flossing picks.  The kids can floss themselves with these!  I like to supervise to make sure they are doing it right.  But most of the time they get it all.  My kids actually love flossing.  Graham said, "Can I floss two times a day because I really like it".  

Personally, I prefer some brands of floss over others.  I have tight teeth and need a silky floss. Some break and get stuck in my teeth!  I just assume the silky flosses work better for the kids too.  So far we haven't had a problem with the powdery coating on floss (could it contain milk)?  Sometimes I have Miles rinse the flosser in hot water before flossing just to be sure.  

If you have a baby who can't floss themselves, floss for them.  I haven't tried this, but I would think the stick flossers would work well on babies, too.  

My kids have become floss addicts in the past year.  And guess what this year's round of cavities are?  FLOSSING CAVITIES, between the teeth.  This is where I am completely stumped...except to just blame the dairy-free diet for my kids having weak teeth.  Maybe high-calcium and low-sugar this year will help for our next round of dental visits.  

PACK FOR TEETH CLEANING

I now have a travel toothbrushes and toothpaste in my purse.  I take floss everywhere.  I also carry Trident gum along with us.  We are more apt to use the gum over tooth-brushing and flossing while we are out.  But I like to have all of these tools just in case...  

Did you know just brushing with water is better than nothing?  Have a water bottle in your car, and you are set. 

Also, if I leave the boys with Grandma for a bit, I don't hesitate to hand the toothbrushes off to her or to ask her to give the boys gum after they eat a snack.  Everyone around me is starting to learn that I am completely OCD about teeth now.  After thousands of dollars and dozens of cavities, can you blame me?!

Stay tuned for Part 3 to our Milk Allergies and Teeth series coming soon.