A Baby Tip

Ok, this is one of those "why didn't I think of this before?!" things and I'm just going to share it with the world in case it can help any other parents out there. I have no idea why it took me until the third child to figure out this brilliant little trick. Baby Brother was born in February and our house can get quite chilly especially for a little one still trying to get used to the world. To remedy this, I made two little microwaveable heating pads out of old socks and some rice. I put about a cup, maybe a cup and a half of rice (just plain, dry, white rice) into each sock and tied them off like so:

 

When I need to keep baby warm, I just put these little guys in the microwave together for about 45 seconds (we have a powerful microwave - smaller microwaves would take longer). They are so squishy and malleable that when I put them around baby, it almost mimics the sensation of someone holding him. They are also endlessly re-usable. The rice doesn't ever 'wear out'. I have one that I made years ago to keep my feet warm in bed and it still works great. I use them for baby all the time now:

On his Boppy at playtime:

 In his bouncy seat or his swing:

 If I feel like he's cold, I will wrap him up in a light blanket, then grab a bigger, fuzzy blanket and wrap the socks in with him. It has worked wonders for keeping him warm and snuggly and often calms him down when he's fussy.
 One warning with these: you must be extremely careful not to get them too hot and never to put them directly on baby's skin. I test them by resting them on my bare forearm for 15 seconds. If my arm can stand it, it's not too hot. I also make sure that there are at least two layers between his skin and the rice socks - his clothes and a light blanket at minimum.
 So, there you go...economical, homemade heating pads! You can make them any size too. I've grabbed random toddler socks from my orphan sock basket and made tiny ones for pocket hand warmers. They are also endlessly re-usable. The rice doesn't ever 'wear out'. I have one that I made years ago to keep my feet warm in bed and it still works great! There are all kinds of uses for these - go wild (and stay warm)!