How To Get Your Baby To Sleep At Naptime
If you baby is not napping well during her first few months of life, you may want to try to cut back on the time she is awake by 15 minute increments. If she is getting overstimulated, then she will fight sleep and be difficult to get to nap. The way to prevent this is to watch her “sleepy” cues to make sure that you put her down when she is beginning to get sleepy.
Some parents believe that letting their child cry will harm him or her. Fifteen or twenty minutes of crying will not harm your child physically or mentally. Babies will learn to self-soothe and fall asleep by themselves, but only if you let her. It is very important that babies learn to fall asleep by themselves so that they can self-soothe if they awake in the middle of the night. Otherwise, you may have a child that will not sleep through the night for years.
Regular sleep patterns are intermeshed with regular eating patterns, so let us look at the stages of a baby’s life:
Newborn: Your newborn will sleep anywhere from 16 to 20 hours a day, including the naps that he takes between feedings. When your baby has been fed, let him stay awake for a short while and then put him down before he becomes overstimulated.
Two months: At two months and older, your child should be allowed to try to self-soothe during their naptimes and bedtime. Crying is normal when you put your baby down, but it is okay. If he cries for longer than 10-15 minutes, then go in and check on him. Don’t get him up, but pat his bottom or lightly rub his back until he calms down.
3-6 months: At around 3-6 months, your baby will stop taking one of his naps. Usually it is the third nap or late afternoon nap that they do not need as much. He may be a little fussy and may want to take a little nap, but you need to try to keep him up if you want him to go to bed at a decent time and sleep soundly through the night.
16+ months: When your child is between 16-20 months, they usually quit taking the morning nap in favor of a longer nap in the afternoons. Babies this age usually sleep between 10-12 hours a night and take a 2-3 hour afternoon nap.
Ground Rules about Naps:
1. You decide when the nap starts and ends, not the baby.
2. When your baby is older than 4 months old, she will wake up crying if she hasn’t slept enough. She might have a dirty diaper, be in a position that is not comfortable, or cold/hot. Fix the problem and encourage her to go back to sleep. Babies that have enough rest wake up happy, talking, and in a good mood!
Watch Out For Allergies With Baby Laundry!
So you’re having a baby. You think you’ve thought of everything, but at the same time you’re terrified that you’ve missed something. Here’s one thing you may or may not have thought of: laundry. Yes, you know that you will have more, but have you considered the basic differences between your baby’s laundering needs and yours? If you regularly use perfumed detergents, bleach, or fabric softener, your laundering habits may need some reform.
Gone are the days of washing clothes just because they smell. Your baby is going to burp up stuff you’ve never thought of, and your laundry piles are going to skyrocket. This is only one new concern, however, since your baby’s skin is much more sensitive to chemicals than you and your spouses’ grown up skin. Laundering the baby’s clothing in detergents that are free of perfumes and dyes is one quick way to help ensure that your baby does not get unnecessary discomfort from irritating chemicals. There are detergents formulated specifically for babies, but for the most part as long as you stay away from perfume and dye heavy products, your baby should be just fine. There are of course rare cases in which the baby has specific allergies, in which case it is probably best to find one brand that works for your baby’s skin and stick with it. Unfortunately for your baby, this may mean a short trial and error process. As with food allergies, just keep a keen eye out and make sure you seek immediate medical treatment when you are concerned about anything.
Another thing that is important when laundering baby clothing is to make sure that you launder any cloth diapers separately. If you are using cloth diapers, you may think of the obvious reason: these items of clothing are obviously much more soiled than the average baby clothing item. It is best to launder these items twice: once in bleach with a double rinse, and then a second time with just vinegar during the last rinse cycle. This is important because not only is the baby using these items a lot more frequently (so they get a lot more wear), but also they are the closest to the baby’s very sensitive skin. So making sure that cloth diapers are as allergen free as possible is a key factor in keeping your baby comfortable and happy.
The last item on our laundry agenda will keep your laundry service or electric company well fed, and you plenty busy. As your baby quickly outgrows each new item of clothing, and a new one needs to be purchased to replace it, the new items should all be washed before being put on the baby. That includes outerwear and bath accessories, but is especially important for things that you buy a lot of, like undershirts, socks, and onesies. The first couple of months are particularly crucial in determining what kind of laundering ritual is best for your new addition. This is also a time in which you will be getting used to a lot of specifics about your new baby. Make sure no matter how you launder your baby’s clothes, you keep a good eye out for possible allergic reactions and rashes. A comfortable baby is a much happier baby.
Baby Shower Favor Ideas and Tips
Cute Ideas for Baby Shower Favors
Even though guests shouldn’t expect to leave any party with anything, it is always a nice gesture to give parting guests a favor. Here are some instructions for simple and easy baby shower favors that you can make at home. By making the favors yourself, not only can you save money, but the handmade favors can be personalized easily to reflect the tastes of the mom-to-be and the theme of the shower!
Baby Bottles- Even your local dollar store can be a great place to find favor ideas. Plastic baby bottles can be filled with chocolate, candies, Jordan almonds, jelly beans, bath beads or bath salts. Tie some ribbon around the neck with a tag that says “Thank You” with the mom’s and baby’s names on it.
Baby Booties- Filled with candies, wrapped chocolates, gum balls, you can tie these at the tops with ribbons and a tag, much like the baby bottles.
Organza or Net Bags – You can find these in the wedding section of most major craft retailers. Fill with candies, bath salts, chocolates, etc.
Plastic Bottles or Glass Jars- It’s not too hard to find these types of containers. If you don’t see them locally, search online and you can order them in large quantities. Fill them with bath salts, bubble bath, shower gel or even baby powder. You can tie a tag on them that has a cute verse about showering them like they showered the mom-to-be!
Tea Cups- Some baby shower hostesses have purchased tea cups and a flat of flowers and put one flower in each mug for a beautiful favor. A great place to find odds and ends tea cups is at local garage sales and thrift shops. Find some with pretty flowers painted on the sides. You can also fill the tea cups with candle gel and a wick for another fun favor idea.
Flower Pots- With a cute tag telling the recipient to nurture their plant as the new mom will nurture her new baby, you could give guests small flower pots and seed packets or bulbs for tulips or daffodils for them to plant and grow some flowers. If you want to do more, decorate the flower pot with acrylic paints or rub-on sayings or pictures found in the scrapbooking section of craft stores. You can even get a simple foam stamp to decorate them.
Candy Bar Wrappers- You’ve seen those expensive candy bar wrappers you can order, but why not make your own? These are perfect favors for showers that take place after the baby has arrived! Just purchase a large quantity of candy bars from your local warehouse store like Sam’s or Costco and take one wrapper off to measure the size of the wrapper. Now you have a template. Create a wrapper using your favorite software and add special details like the baby’s name, birthday, weight and length and don’t forget to add the parent’s names as the “manufacturer”. For ingredients, try words like “sugar and spice and all things nice,” “love,” “snips, snails and puppy dog tails.”
There are so many ways you can make inexpensive favors that your baby shower guests will really love. Even something as simple as a bar of glycerin soap tied with a pretty ribbon is a nice gift most people will enjoy. Look for sales and clearance items to really save money, but have the look of an expensive gift.
Baby shower favors that you make at home are personal gifts that add a great touch. Not only does it make your guests happy, but it shows the mom-to-be that you care for her friends, too! Have fun making your homemade baby shower favors!
Skin Care Products for your New Baby
As most of you know, a baby’s skin is considerably more sensitive than the average adult. For that reason, it is vitally important that you use natural skin care products for your child. Many skin care products contain chemicals and fragrances that can irritate your new baby’s skin. By knowing which products to avoid, and which products you should use, you can ensure that your little one grows up with healthy beautiful skin.
Weleda Diaper Care Cream is by far one of the best products we have found to date. Weleda was established back in 1921 by physicians and pharmacists under the guidance of Dr. Rudolf Steiner. The main ingredients in their diaper care cream are almond oil, calendula flower, chamomile flower, lanolin, and lavender oil. These ingredients are contained in a base of zinc oxide. This product provides highly effective treatment for painful diaper rash. It is truly one-of-a-kind.
Lavera Baby Toothpaste is yet another excellent product, with absolutely no harmful ingredients. It contains no fluoride, phosphate, or sugar. It is made with all natural silica, which is very effective at cleaning your baby’s new teeth. This toothpaste is also ideal for helping your growing child with learning to brush his or her own teeth, as it is safe to swallow. This product is also certified organic.
Dr. Hauschka’s Sunscreen Spray for Children is an incredible product. It has an SPF of 20, and is ideal for day-to-day use. The wonderful thing about this sunscreen is that it is colored, and allows one to see exactly where it has been applied. It has a pure and natural composition, and is safe for use on all skin types. It is also water resistant, so parents can relax knowing their children have the best sun protection on the beach or in the water. Furthermore, the plant-based nutrients moisturize your little one’s skin while the sun dries it out.
Lavera Baby Shampoo will transform bath time with your baby into an oasis of fun. As with other products from this excellent company, Lavera Baby Shampoo is comprised of all natural ingredients such as organic almond and wheat extract. This tear-free shampoo is perfect for your baby’s sensitive skin, as it helps to maintain the natural moisture balance of your baby’s skin. This gentle, mild-foaming shampoo is perfect for children and adults alike.
Regardless of the products you have chosen to use with your children, it cannot hurt to learn more about the other products that are available on the market. While many companies advertise their products as natural, most of them cannot be considered truly natural. The products mentioned above are just a few of the excellent products we have discovered and had the pleasure to use. We hope you check them out for yourself.
