Todays Parents Now

Getting a high chair for your baby is one of the things new parents do once the child is able enough to sit up alone. The high chair is ideal for seating him at the dinner table when the rest of the family is having a meal. It makes the family picture complete. If the child is left in its room you’ll be worried about its well-being and won’t be able to enjoy the meal fully. The child too will benefit from attending the dinner table get-together, picking up little bits and pieces of behavior that will be the beginning of its education. The many options available in high chairs may confuse you a bit. We’ll try to remove that confusion here.

The most important consideration in children’s furniture is safety. Make sure the high chair is not likely to topple over easily, especially since the baby is going to do everything in its capacity to make it do so. A low center of gravity and a wide base will make the high chair sufficiently stable.

The second safety feature is a full five-strap harness to restrain the little wonder from flying out of the chair every time your back is turned. A waist-and-crotch safety strap is the very minimum you should consider. Don’t buy a high chair which just relies on the front tray to do the restraining, it’s not good enough.

Babies are apt to spill food or dirty themselves quite often. Choose a high chair with machine-washable cushioning which can be removed, cleaned and fitted back on easily. This will help in maintaining hygiene which is essential to keep your child in good health.

Get toys for the high chair to amuse your baby while you are having your meals. These toys should be attractively colored. Safety is important here too. The toys shouldn’t be easily breakable. The broken edges can hurt the baby quite badly. The toys shouldn’t have points or sharp edges that can hurt the baby. Make sure that the toy is free of any substance which can make your child sick. Babies like to put things into their mouth, and toys are no exception. Get toys that the baby shows interest in.

Get a high chair which has a convenient way to detach or release the front tray or bar. This will simplify getting the baby in and out of the chair. Choose a chair in which the back can be reclined. This way even infants can lie down and enjoy watching the family at meals. It will be a good idea to get high chair with a way to lower and raise the seat to adjust its height according to the situational requirement. A dinner tray which can be washed in the dishwasher is a welcome feature, as is an additional snack tray.

To summarize, don’t consider a chair which is lacking in safety features. After that look for features which will help you maintain hygiene. The other accessories and features depend on your particular requirement and your budget. If this is your first child, get a high chair which is durable enough to be used by the others when they follow in due course of time!

Until recently, drug or alcohol abuse was not very well understood, and unfortunately there was not a lot of ways to help a person suffering from these difficulties. However, today many healthcare providers are now able and willing to furnish treatments and provide counsel to anyone who uses or abuse drugs, alcohol or other form of substance. Do not be embarrassed to confide in your doctor about substance use. Your doctors is concerned about and your baby. We have learned much about drug and alcohol use and the effect on pregnancy in recent years. We now believe the safest approach to drug or alcohol use during pregnancy is no use at all.

It makes sense to solve these problems before pregnancy. By the time you realize you’re pregnant, you may already be 8 or 10 weeks along. You have to realize that your baby goes through some of its most critical developmental stages during the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. The problem that you could be using drugs and not even known that you are pregnant. There are not very many women out there who would take these substances if they knew they were pregnant. So it is a good policy to cease taking any substance you do not need at least 3 months before trying to conceive.

Research into these problems continues, showing that use of drugs or alcohol during pregnancy may affect the IQ of a child, attention span and learning ability. To date, no safe level of these substances has been determined. You must realize that drug use before pregnancy is very serious. Fortunately, there is help and assistance for anyone who uses drugs or substances. Just remember to getting help prior to becoming pregnant and far easier than having to deal with an affected child with birth defects. It is when you start to prepare for a pregnancy that is a perfect time reason for you and your partner to alter your lifestyle if you have issue with drugs.

One common substance abuse is tobacco. We have known for a long time that smoking affects fetal development. Mothers who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have low birth weight babies or babies with intrauterine-growth restriction. Ask for help to stop smoking before you become pregnant. Your doctor should be receptive to this request.

In the past, some believed a small amount of alcohol during pregnancy was okay. Today, we believe no amount of alcohol is safe to drink during pregnancy. The problem is that alcohol crosses through the placenta and has a direct effect on your baby. And you must realize that very heavy consumption while pregnant can likely result in fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or fetal alcohol exposure (FAE).

Cocaine has been shown to affect the baby throughout pregnancy, not just during the first trimester. If you use cocaine during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, you run a higher risk of miscarriage. Cocaine can also cause severe deformities in a fetus. The type of defect it causes depends on the point at which cocaine is used in the pregnancy. Infants born to mothers who use cocaine during pregnancy have been found to have long-term mental deficiencies. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is also more common in these babies. Many babies born to women who use cocaine are stillborn.

The thing is that cocaine adversely affects the expectant mother as well. It is considered to be a stimulant and therefore cause their heart rate and blood pressure to rise. Women that use this drug while pregnant experience a much higher rate of placental abruption, which is the premature separation of the placenta from the uterus. In some parts of the United States, more than 10% of all pregnancy women use cocaine at some time during their pregnancy. Stop using cocaine before you stop using birth control. Damage to the embryo can occur as early as 3 days after conception.

Marijuana is another substance that is dangerous to use while pregnant as it also crosses the placenta and directly enters the system of the new baby. This drug can have very long-lasting effects on babies that are exposed prior to birth. Research has indicated that the using marijuana while pregnant can seriously affect cognitive function, decision-making ability and the future-planning capability in the child. Use can also affect the verbal reasoning and memory of the child. If your partner smokes marijuana, encourage him to stop. One study showed that the risk of SIDS was twice the average for children if their father smoked marijuana. The risk is present if the male smokes before conception. Researchers believe the THC in marijuana may adversely affect sperm and the growing fetus.

Give the best gifts and still have a sane holiday without endless shopping. These tips are sure to come in handy when you are holiday shopping for babies and toddlers this season.

Does this sound familiar to anyone: The past several years have seen a veritable baby boom in your family. You and your siblings or siblings in law seem to have all been drinking the same water because you have all been blessed to become parents in the recent past.

This boom of babies has been most welcome by all, especially the delighted grandparents. As you all moved into parenthood together you have navigated certain new boundaries and still maintained a harmonious and loving family.

The advent of Christmas!

Now the blessed season of Christmas is knocking on your door and a whole new worry emerges. You would love to give a gift to each and everyone of your nieces and nephews from the oldest toddlers to the newest baby. Yet this gift giving bonanza is fraught with certain difficulties.

You and your siblings, while tied by strong family ties are not in the same places financially, in gift giving ideas and shipping distances. These differences make it difficult to know what type of gifts are appreciated or offensive.

The gift issue

All families at some point go through this same type of growing pain when grandbabies begin to arrive. You want to show your love, yet have no desire to be the one who trumps other’s gifts if yours are more expensive or numerous. Worse yet your gifts end up making someone else look like a Holiday Humbug because you arrive with arms laden with gifts and all they have to pass out is hugs and kisses.

Get on the same page

To this end it is time to fill your role as a parent, sibling and as an aunt or uncle and broach the subject openly. Feelings will not be hurt if holiday gift giving plans are discussed openly among parents. This might not be the easiest conversation to begin, but it is much better to talk about it before seasons of gift giving blunders stack up and create hurt or resentment.

Get the ball rolling

To get the subject out into the open can be done any one of a number of ways. It is best to do it at a time when most of the family is gathered together in one place. Making sure as many people have a say in the initial conversation will ensure that no one feels backed into a gift giving corner because they weren’t able to help set the ground rules right from the start.

Shopping for toddlers and babies at Christmas time should be full of fun. Discussing openly gift giving plans with your family will make sure your gifts are received in the same spirit of loving holiday fun.

It’s not uncommon to find some parents who want to use portable cribs as the main crib for their baby’s nursery. The best way to decide is to have a look at the pros and cons first. Although different brands and different models have varying conditions and qualities, there are some general aspects that are worth considering.

Advantages

Using portable baby cribs can be practical depending on some situations. Those who do use portables in this way may have thoroughly valid reasons for dong so.

- Most portable type are actually smaller than standard cribs that are made from wood or metal. This would be a plus for nurseries with small and limited spaces. Space factors are one main reason why some parents use portable cribs.

- Since portable cribs are foldable, they are also easy to transport around the house when a parent needs to be somewhere else and wants to bring along the baby. This feature also makes cribs easy to store when it is no longer in use. You simply have to put it back in its compact case and because it can be stored this way, a sturdy portable crib could be kept well preserved.

- Portable cribs also sometimes have a double function which parents love. Portables need not sit idly in nurseries. They can also be folded and taken to trips so that babies can conveniently join in on the fun.

Disadvantages

It seems that there are many advantages to using portable cribs as main cribs in nurseries. There is however, only one major disadvantage that could over rule every single advantage. This is because the major disadvantage has something to do with safety.

Because most portable cribs are relatively smaller compared to standard cribs, babies could easily outgrow them. Aside from growing tall, babies grow heavy too and become more active. A baby that is about to reach one year old could become too active and start putting too much stress on the structure of a portable crib. In time, a portable crib could begin having frays and damages sooner than standard cribs because of constant and extreme use.

What You Should Do

Since there is no clear law yet that specifically forbids the use of portable cribs in nurseries, you should at least make sure that you regularly check your crib to ensure your baby’s safety.

- Secure Locks- Locks such as those on the portable crib’s changer could eventually become loose through constant use. Once your baby learns to get up, he could also learn to play on the locks, clipping and unclipping them. Once you notice that the locks no longer clip tightly, you should consider shelving your crib.

- Examine the folding Mechanism - Aside from locks, you should also carefully inspect the folding mechanism. Most if not all mechanisms move up in a V before collapsing to ensure safety. It wouldn’t hurt though to frequently check if the mechanism is working as it should.

- Mesh - The mesh is another important part that you shouldn’t disregard. Frayed or loose mesh could either suffocate your baby or entrap her.

This is your first Christmas as the proud Grandparent. There is no greater joy than that of greeting a new baby, except perhaps that joy of greeting a new grandbaby. Grandparenthood is a special club that encourages reckless spoiling of those beloved creatures. There was no true maxim than that of: many a child is spoiled because you can’t spank Grandma.

If this year is your first year celebrating Christmas as a grandparent, congratulations! Not since the magical days spent with your own children will the Holidays seem so full. There are however a few pitfalls that new grandparents are susceptible to. For a joyous celebration that won’t create ill will here are a few tips to follow.

Holiday Gift Giving

This is the season of giving, and it is so much fun to give gifts to a toddler or baby. Baby clothes are so much fun to pick out and wrap. Toys are much more exciting to purchase and watch being unwrapped than the offerings for adults. It is easy to go overboard.

Remember, gifts are often expected at Christmas time, and they are very appreciated but an over abundance of gifts rivaling the collection of Ritchie Rich is not likely to engender the appreciation of the new parents. Try to set a limit for yourself. Your grandbaby does not need every single toy or pair of shoes you lay eyes on.

If you are not sure what the limit should be have an honest conversation with your grandbaby’s parents. When everyone is on the same page from the beginning there is much less chance of hurting feelings or over stepping some unknown boundary.

Special Gifts

When it comes to specific gifts some are just off limits to grandparents. This means that perhaps your daughter-in-law feels it a parental right to purchase her baby girl that all important first doll. Perhaps it is the unknown wish of your child to present his or her own baby with a keepsake quilt.

The problem with these special gifts is not so much the desire to be the one to give it to the baby, but the symbolism behind it. The flip side of the special gift scenario is that of contraband gifts. Perhaps guns or overly frivolous Barbies have been placed on the no-no list by the baby’s parent. As the grandparent you may have no idea what these special or contraband gifts might be.

Again it is time to discuss gift options with your grandbaby’s parents. No grandparent wants to become the stereotypical ‘in-law’. Keeping communication lines open will ensure that Christmas is a time of fun giving and spoiling that leaves everyone with feelings of love and respect.

Perhaps you may think that posting a baby sitter wanted on your window is the best way to get the help you need. But is it? You should think twice though. There are difficulties and disadvantages to looking for a sitter on your own.

Looking for Your Own Sitter

You may prefer to look for your own sitter yourself. This may make you feel like you are in better control of your options. You will also be cutting the cost of fees that sitter agencies and services charge. The advantages of performing your own search may be tempting. There are however, some disadvantages that you should be aware of.

- Time Element - It can take a lot of time for you to find an ideal sitter. This may be well and good if you want to be extra sure that you have the right person. Then again, this may not work out well for you if you want a sitter at the soonest possible time. Waiting for the right one to come along may mean that you would have to postpone whatever you need to do to take care of the kids.

- Scope of the Ad - Good prospects for your baby sitter wanted ad do not come all the time. This is especially true if your ad is only restricted to one area. You may only be advertising in your neighborhood or immediate locality. This may therefore significantly restrict your options.

- The Hassle - Looking for a sitter on your own means doing everything on your own. This includes checking references and performing background checks. This may be a tedious task on your part. It is especially so if you are not very familiar with the certifications and documents that you would need a sitter to get to prove her clean background. Even if you do manage to perform a good background check, there is still the task of carefully assessing sitter skills and capabilities.

- Limited Option - Looking on your own will limit you to just one hired sitter. This may be to your disadvantage. You may need only one sitter but there is no guarantee that your sitter will always be around. Even the best sitters may have to take some time off for important personal and family matters. That would leave you with no replacement sitter.

Sitter Services

Employing the help of an online service is a much-preferred option by most parents. Now you don’t need to manually look for a good sitter. Online services can do that for you. Sitter services list potential sitters in your area. You get to have your pick on ideal candidates. If you pay a higher membership fee, you will also be given access to important sitter information such as character background.

Many sitter services can give you great benefits. They do not however, take away your right to choose and decide. After picking a few prospects from the list in your area, you are given the opportunity to interview your prospects.

If you have a good online service, chances are, you wouldn’t need a baby sitter wanted ad. Everything you need to find a good sitter is at your finger tips.

Death Valley is known for being one of the harshest locations in the USA. It’s hot, it’s barren and it certainly wasn’t the location of the gold mine that was supposedly there and funding the construction of Albert Mussey Johnson’s vacation retreat. There wasn’t a gold mine, even though Johnson had invested in one.

Walter Scott was a miner, a dreamer and apparently a scammer to boot. He convinced Mr. Johnson to invest in the gold mine in Death Valley. It was probably going along just fine (with Scott getting his money from the investment) until Mr. Johnson decided to visit. He thought a tour of the mine would be a good idea. It was hard to do since there wasn’t a mine to see.

Mr. Johnson and his wife liked Walter Scott, even after the knowledge that there was no mine. Mr. Johnson became enamored by Death Valley and with the encouragement of his wife built a vacation retreat. Although the retreat was actually named Death Valley Ranch it became known as Scotty’s Castle.

The rich and famous came to the retreat when it became a tourist attraction. They wanted to see the retreat built by one of California’s richest gold miners. Of course, had he told that it wasn’t from the riches gained from the non-existent mine there wouldn’t have been nearly the attraction to it that there was at the time.

Daily tours are available on the hour of the castle and the living history exhibits and the displays inside the house. These guided tours will help you understand the lifestyle of the Johnson’s.

There is a second tour that you can take while at the castle. It is the tour of the underground area of the castle. It shows you the technology incorporated a the time to produce electricity and see the 1/4 mile underground tunnel system that runs under the house.

Thanks for the National Park Service the castle is maintained for people to visit. Technology from the past and present are both used in the lower level of the castle to keep it functioning as it should. You will enjoy the tour and the history of the castle.

Little girls do love their dolls. They love to play and dress them and take them places, as if they really were their mommies.

I have a daughter that first began her love affair, with a certain doll, when she was only 18 months old. The relationship was a bit rocky at first as my little mommy pulled her baby’s hair and competed with the doll for bottle and binky use. Yet as the weeks passed the love my baby had for her baby grew to complete devotion.

She fondly named the baby doll Bah-Bah-Toe (don’t ask, I don’t know) and they have been inseparable now for several years. The cementing moments of the relationship occurred when Bah-Bah-Toe was given her own dollhouse. At first this was a humble dwelling that consisted of nothing more than a few cardboard boxes stacked and taped together.

At Christmas time that year, when my daughter was 2, the idea of getting her a brand new doll was down right blasphemous. Bah-Bah-Toe reigns supreme. One evening as my husband and I observed our little mommy lovingly reciting a story to her precious baby and tenderly tucking her into one of those cardboard rooms it struck us: Bah-Bah-Toe needs a real house.

Finding the perfect dollhouse for our daughter and her baby was not too difficult but was a decision that required some care. There are so many options out there. The first thing to consider is size. In our case the house needed to be able to inhabit the doll we already had. For those who may still need to populate the new residence the size concern is moot. Yet size is still an issue. Tall dollhouses pose a tipping threat and a climbing temptation for little ones. The last thing you want is the dollhouse to become memorable because of your child’s King Kong impression and the ensuing trip to the ER.

Dollhouses that are overly intricate, ornate or small similarly don’t work for toddlers. Those gorgeous Victorian ones are great, but a toddler will destroy it before the sun sets on Christmas day. Those with fine detail and small furnishings also pose a choking hazard. What a toddler needs is a dollhouse that isn’t too big, and isn’t too small. There are several varieties on the market that your daughter will be thrilled to call her own.

Many dollhouses come with just that: the house. Other brands come with a load of extras including play figures, furniture and clothing for the dolls. Price and your existing collection of accessories is a great way to decide what you need for your daughter’s Christmas wishes to come true. If you have many dolls already, then a house by itself is probably the way to go. For those just beginning their doll collections, a house that comes with extras will have a higher price tag up front, but when you factor in the cost of buying extra pieces separately, it might be the better deal.

Our little mommy has grown so much we hardly recognize the 2 year old who squealed with delight as she tucked a baby named Bah-Bah-Toe into her new house for the first time. Yet she still loves that doll, and her dollhouse where her doll baby lives.

What joy she has gotten from those toys and what a great investment they have been in the growing of her imagination.

You can spend better time with your children by giving them a superb opportunity like camping trips in their busy schedule. Children are more active these days than they were years ago, even requiring planners to keep everything straight. Camping out is helpful in providing time for children involved in many assorted activities to spend with their families.

You may want to begin by having the children help decide the camping out area, it’s important to involve the children with the preparing otherwise it can seem like just another family obligation instead of a opportunity to really have enjoyment and draw together with the rest of the family.

Campsites can be booked months or even years ahead since camping is increasing in popularity, so you should plan well ahead. Have a conversation with your youngsters and find out what they want to do and make a list. Great family activities include stargazing, animal watching, walking, fishing, canoeing, rafting, and of course preparing food.

Be sure to review the elementary first aid and safety rules before you leave to go camping. There is a lot that can happen on a trip and you need to be sure that everyone is equipped. For example there is a great possibility that one of your children can contact infections such as head lice.

Everyone that is coming on the trip should be expecting the unforeseen because numerous things can occur. To be on the safe side, you may opt to do a test in setting up the tent. Also find out various ways to prevent your children from obtaining head lice or other infections. Since you never know how quickly the weather could change, once you get there, the initial thing to do is set up your tent. Particular preparing is the main ingredient for a successful trip.

When you are in camping remember, your number one goal is to have a fantastic time. Part of the experience and fun is that things will not go exactly as you expected. The most pleasurable family camping out memories are made from unplanned or spontaneous moments. Making sure that the entire family is interested very important.

Working together to make a successful trip will leave you feeling like you spent important time in concert. To make sure that everyone has a good time and feels involved let each youngster choose at least one activity that everyone can enjoy. As it will get you to know your youngster’s personality and will make them feel very special to have been involved.

Camping can be a great family outing and is usually a wonderful experience for children. Take time to cautiously plan all the details, but allow yourself some adaptability, too. Be sure to research your options in preventing infections from certain parasites like head lice or certain fungi. To successfully camp with kids, be sure to keep your plans flexible. But, if done correctly, your family excursion will be a great memory for your child.

Merry Christmas and happy first Christmas with a baby or toddler! Children add their own magic to the already intoxicating feelings of the holiday season. As new parents you are trying to create your own family traditions and spoil your toddler just a little bit.

Yet you are not the only persons concerned with your child’s Christmas celebrations. Aunts, uncles, friends, cousins and especially Grandparents will all feel a special desire to be close to your baby at this time of the year. Each person will likely have their own ideas of how the children should be incorporated into the celebration and will want to give your baby holiday blessings and toys!

Holiday and Flu season

Perhaps it is not the first thing that comes to mind when celebrating Christmas with your baby and extended family, but flu season does need to be accounted for. To this end before carting your child to endless dinners and parties it is a good idea to plan a flu avoidance strategy.

Call the host and ask about the health of their family. This is a very understandable question and will not offend. When taking your baby to parties have a supply of hand sanitizer at the ready so that would be admirers don’t have to be sent to the bathroom to wash their hands. Wearing your baby in a sling will reduce the requests to hold your child. This keeps baby close and keeps exposure to germs to a minimum.

Holiday Shopping with baby

The crowds, lines and stiff competition involved in holiday shopping is enough to daunt even the most stout hearted, but is especially tricky with your new precious cargo in tow. To this end a little preparation goes a long way. Feed your baby immediately before leaving the house, or even in the car in the parking lot. This reduces the need to feed in public, and may even put your child into a milk coma, meaning she will sleep blissfully for the duration of the shopping trip.

The diaper bag is an invaluable tool. Stock the diaper bag with several diapers, wipes, a bottle, two or three burp clothes, an extra binky, an extra blanket and an extra outfit for the baby as well as a shirt for you. Many a mom has learned the hard way that any of these items might become necessary during an outing.

Remember babies draw a crowd; even strangers will want a peep. Be gracious, but firm. This is your child and you don’t have to allow any stranger to look at or touch or kiss your baby. Keep the hand sanitizer at the ready. Put your baby in a sling that hides his or her face or in a stroller with the shades drawn. This sends the signal that baby is not to be disturbed without you having to play the bad guy.