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I was clueless being a new mother, some of these tips I found were very helpful, some others I created that worked well.
I was clueless being a new mother, some of these tips I found were very helpful, some others I created that worked well.
In baby's room, replace light switch with a dimmer switch, that way when you check on baby at night you aren't fumbling in the dark and won't startle baby with bright lights. Also will help baby differentiate between day and night if you keep it quiet and subdued during nighttime feedings. Or find lowest wattage bulb (25 watt) that will fit a bedside lamp.
Remember that it’s okay to lay a fussy baby down safely in their cribs and let them cry for a few minutes, while you take a break to save your sanity. Sometimes, baby needs a break too, who knows, they may fall asleep after 5 minutes when you come back to check on them.
Buy two waterproof mattress pads for the crib; make up the crib mattress with two sets of bedding. When the top sheet gets wet or soiled, then all you have to do is peel off the sheet and pad and you have clean bedding underneath. This is especially helpful in the middle of the night and also works when your toddler moves to a big bed and has accidents.
To keep bedding cleaner for little babies, use burp pads under their heads, this way you only need to change the burp pads to keep it clean and dry under baby’s face.
Buy at least one dozen pre-folded extra absorbent cloth diapers to use as burp cloths and to dry baby's bottom at each diaper change. You will need around four dozen cloth diapers if you are going to use them as diapers.
Wash infant socks in a lingerie bag to keep them all together.
Keep a small diaper bag (like the free ones from the formula companies) in each vehicle with a couple of diapers, a travel size box of baby wipes or hand wipes and maybe a juice box and a box of crackers. This way when you drive to a park or are anywhere without the big diaper bag, you’re prepared.
Diaper rash (when it's extreme, the red, oozy, owie kind):
Mix equal parts of miconazole nitrate 2% (vaginal yeast cream) and hydrocortisone 1% creams together in palm of hand and spread on baby's diaper rash for no more than 3 days. Usually will clear up in 2 days. (hydrocortisone will 'thin' out layer of skin, so do not over apply and use sparingly.) Also make sure to pat baby's bottom dry after cleaning at each diaper change before putting on any creams, powder or diaper.
In cool weather, use a heating pad to keep baby’s bed warm while you give them their night time feeding; remember to turn off and remove the heating pad when you lay baby back down.
To help absorb extra urine in nighttime diapers (and eliminate nighttime diaper changing), use Diaper Doublers or sanitary pads in diapers.
If using cloth diapers, fill diaper pail with water and about 1 cup of borax, add diapers after rinsing in clean toilet. Or use water and ¼ cup ammonia for soaking to whiten diapers without ‘eating’ them like bleach. In washing machine, add about ½ cup baking soda to rinse water.
Diaper pails (disposables): sprinkle baking soda in bottom or about ½” of kitty litter before adding garbage bag to help control odors.
For soaking dirty cloth diapers between washings, fill diaper pail with ½ cup baking soda and at least two quarts of warm (to dissolve baking soda) water.
To freshen baby’s clothes, add ½ cup of baking soda to laundry along with detergent.
To save breast milk for future feedings, try nursing only one side, then pump other side to save and freeze milk.
For beginner self-feeders: banana chunks are slippery for little hands, try coating them with graham cracker crumbs or wheat germ before giving them to baby, they will be easier to pick up.
To help clear up cradle cap, wash baby’s scalp with Phisoderm.
For brand new parents, most of the time these days, the clothing sizes will fit like this:
0-3 month fits brand new babies
3-6 month fits at 1 1/2 months
6-9 month fits at 3 months
12 month fits at 6 months
18 month fits at 9 months
also to extend wearing time of clothes, try skipping 2T and buy 3T instead; I actually got 2 seasons of use out of these clothes doing this. Or if into 3T, try 4T, they usually are just longer, not especially bigger.
Basic disinfectant solution: ¾ cup bleach to 1 gallon of warm water. Make sure what you’re disinfecting stays wet for at least two minutes, then rinse. (Make sure item will hold up to wetness.)
To quick clean spit up spots on clothing, carpet, upholstery, just use a baby wipe to clean up the mess.
Stain recipe that works especially well on baby stains, even old stains that have gone through multiple washes: pour 5 quarts of very hot water into a bucket and add 1/4 cup powdered Clorox and 2-1/4 cup powdered Cascade automatic dishwasher detergent. Mix and add stained items; let them soak overnight then launder as usual.
To check baby’s temperature by touch; feel the back of their neck, not their forehead, for a better idea if they’re hot.
Keep babies occupied at diapers changes by gluing pictures to both sides of a piece (5”x7”) of heavy cardboard, then use clear packing tape or contact paper over the entire piece; keep at changing table to look at only during diapering times.
Puree fruits and vegetables in the blender and freeze in ice cube trays; when frozen, plop them into a freezer bag, then you can reheat as many as you need for baby’s meals. (Basically any fruit or vegetable, can be pureed and frozen, add fruit juice or breast milk to process the food to the desired consistency. Check with your pediatrician on what foods when.)
Bagels are wonderful for teethers, just stay close to look for any large chunks that might choke baby. Refrigerated bagels don’t disintegrate as easily as room-temperature ones. Look for mini bagels in your bakery section.
Toothbrushes are another idea for gnawing on for teethers.
Use yogurt to hold together dry cereal to make it easier for self-feeders using a spoon.
To help stop fussing at dressing time and to also teach right and left, sing “Hokey Pokey” (“Put your left foot in, put your left foot in and shake it all about…”); when all done dressing you can then pick baby up and finish this version of Hokey Pokey by turning yourselves around with a little jump at the end.
To get baby to eat at meals, we sang a version of “Silver Bells and Cockle Shells”
Joshua, Joshua,
How does your garden grow?
With strawberries and raspberries (use their favorite foods)
And peas and green beans,
How does your garden grow?!
You can sing a different verse for everyone in the family using their favorite foods.
How tall will baby be?
How tall will baby be?
Boys: add 5 inches to Mom’s height, add that number to Dad’s height, then divide by 2.
Girls: subtract 5 inches from Dad’s height, add that number to Mom’s height, then divide by 2.
To encourage little ones to drink from a cup after their 1st birthday, I recommend staying away from spill-proof cups. Try using the regular sippy cups so that they get used to drinking, not sucking.
If your toddler/preschooler doesn’t want to eat at meals, try cutting down or eliminating snacks.
Set up the bottom shelf in the fridge with items your youngster can help themselves to whenever they want (fruit, carrot sticks, juice, etc.)
Toddlers love to dip their food, be creative in finding ways they can dip their meals.
The best bibs are made by Bumkins; they’re 100% polyester, are ‘water-proof’, have a crumb catcher and Velcro around the neck. You can find them at Right Start & Amazon. You only need about 3 – 6 of these, they never wear out!
"Instant Bib" - Tie each end of a shoelace to mini binder clips, then tuck it into your diaper bag so you can turn any napkin into a bib on the spot.
If your toddler or preschooler has diarrhea or is vomiting, try the BRAT diet: Bananas, Rice, Applesauce & Toast.
If you are nursing – don’t stop!, but if you’re not, try eliminating dairy for 1 or 2 days and substitute white grape juice or water. Little sips all day long will help guard against dehydration.
Using “stain remover sticks” on clothing stains when you put the clothing into the laundry basket will help on laundry day. I have found that bananas are really bad stain makers. Baby formula stains seem to always reappear over time; breast milk does not leave reappearing stains.
Babies don’t really need a daily bath, this may dry out their skin. Try just rinsing their hands and face before bed, and bathe every couple of days will work most of the time.
To keep water out of kid’s eyes in the bathtub, put swim goggles on them.
Routines work! You will eventually figure one out what works for you and baby, usually around age 4 months. It will make you and your baby much happier.
White House card for newborn’s (also over 80th birthday, and 50th anniversaries) send request six weeks before the occasion to:
White House Greetings Office
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Homemade baby wipes:
Homemade baby wipes:
2 1/2 cups water
2 T. baby oil
2 T. baby bath
Bounty or Viva paper towels (work best)
Mix water, oil, and baby bath well and pour over paper towels.
Version 1: Cut roll of paper towels in half and place each half in an airtight container; cover with above mixture.
Version 2: Cut roll in half and separate the sheets, folding them in half into an airtight container. Pour above mixture over folded paper towels.
Sleep
Sleep
3-5 years: 10 to 13 hours
5 to 12 years: 9 to 11 hours
adolescents: 8 to 10 hours
Battling Fatigue by Kay Miller
Want your child to accomplish great things? A good night's sleep might be more important to his development -- and your sanity -- than that long list of fitness and enrichment activities.
Dawn and Jeff Ellerd were exhausted and at their wits' end when they sought help from child development specialist Mary Sheedy Kurcinka three years ago.
The Ellerds' 2-year-old daughter, Kate, was having roiling meltdowns from the time she awoke to bedtime. She wouldn't nap. Dinners were a nightmare, ending in tears. Bedtime started with screaming fits. Worst of all, she awoke in the middle of the night, crying inconsolably.
"Life was so out of control," Dawn said. "We didn't know minute to minute what would set her off."
Tell me about your day, Kurcinka asked the Ellerds, of St. Paul: What time does Kate wake up? When is breakfast? What is your bedtime routine?
The toddler wasn't misbehaving. She was exhausted.
"Our kids aren't getting enough sleep. And it is creating misery for the children, for their families, and, quite honestly, for any adult who works with them," said Kurcinka, author of "Sleepless in America" (HarperCollins Publishers, 2006, $24.95).
We're in the midst of a national epidemic of sleepy kids whose fatigue is contributing to hyperactivity, distraction, forgetfulness, learning problems, illness, accidents and impulsive or disruptive behavior in children of all ages, said Kurcinka, whose work draws on current sleep research showing:
• Forty percent of infants and toddlers nationwide are sleep-deprived.
• Preschoolers sleeping less than 10 hours a day are 86 percent more likely to have accidents that require emergency-room treatment.
• Sixty percent of schoolchildren surveyed in 2004 by the National Sleep Foundation said they were fatigued during the day.
• Fifteen to 25 percent of children with hyperactive behavior could experience improved behavior if their habitual snoring and other sleep disorders were treated.
As with her other two books -- "Raising Your Spirited Child" and "Kids, Parents, and Power Struggles" -- Kurcinka's work in sleeplessness grew out of the Early Childhood and Family Education classes she taught in Minnesota. Although the Eagan author now conducts parenting clinics nationwide, she still teaches a weekly class at the Jewish Community Center in St. Paul and regularly consults with families in their homes.
"Sixty to 70 percent of the time when we get kids getting the amount of sleep that they need, these behavior problems disappear," Kurcinka said.
All wired up and on the go
Part of the problem is our wired, always-on-the-go culture. Teens are constantly on the computer, playing video games and instant-messaging friends until late. Artificial light can trick the brain into thinking it's daytime, Kurcinka said.
We have DVDs in our cars and karate for 3-year-olds. Parents involve their kids earlier in more activities, believing that it stimulates their brains and enhances achievement. Too often, all of that comes at the expense of sleep.
After one of her workshops, Kurcinka was approached by a mother who was worried about her 11-year-old. He was explosive at school and didn't get homework in on time. The mom was about to have him evaluated for behavior issues.
Then Kurcinka learned that the boy had a hockey practice that began at 9:30 p.m. three nights a week, meaning he didn't get to sleep until midnight.
Adolescents need 8½ to 9½ hours a sleep a night, she said, but get fewer than 7 hours on average as demands in school, sports and other activities clash with natural shifts in their body clocks. At puberty, levels of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin rise more slowly, peaking at 10 p.m. or 11 p.m., and stay in the body longer in the morning.
"We are beginning to recognize that 7:20 a.m. start times for high school are like you and I having a meeting at 4 in the morning -- the kids are still physically asleep," Kurcinka said.
Ditto for adolescents who stay up late cramming for a test. They actually would perform better if they studied early in the evening and got a full night's sleep. That's because knowledge moves from short-term to long-term memory during sleep.
"Sleep debt is cumulative. If an adolescent is shorted just one hour of sleep every night, by the end of the week he's missed almost a night's worth of sleep."
Behavior is a major tip-off
How can parents tell if fatigue is the problem? Behavior is a major tip-off. Tired kids have more trouble controlling their bodies. They trip, become clumsier and have trouble with impulse control.
"Parents will say, 'Well, I don't think he needs sleep because I put him to bed and he doesn't fall asleep.' The fact is he can't fall asleep because he's so overtired."
Every child has a window of time in which he or she falls asleep easily. When more sensitive children miss that window by as little as 15 minutes, they get a second wind. Adrenaline and other hormones flood their systems to keep them going. The result: frenzied, wired behavior. They run around. They scream. They pick fights.
"Parents ask me when their kids should give up their naps. But naps are important for preschoolers to keep their energy through the day," Kurcinka said. "If they've been in a preschool program in the morning, that nap is important to put into long-term memory what they learned in the morning."
Fatigued children find it hard to concentrate. They require more help from adults in sticking to tasks. Social interactions become harder because they lose patience, can't remember the rules and find it hard to consider others' feelings.
Volatile brew in the household.
Temperament is another important part of the equation. Some children can fall asleep in the midst of noisy chaos. Sensitive children like Kate, however, cannot shut out all the stimuli to switch from an alert stage to sleep. Add sleepy parents -- adults need 8¼ hours of sleep a day, but Americans average just 6 hours and 54 minutes -- and you have a volatile brew in the household.
Every child has slightly different sleep needs, Kurcinka said. The trick is helping children manage time, tension and temperament.
"A good night's sleep begins in the morning," Kurcinka said. She helped the Ellerds create a daytime schedule with a regular wake time, morning exercise (outside if possible), a specific lunchtime and siesta afterward.
If Kate fought napping in her room, she could cuddle on the couch with her mom. Shades were drawn. Lights were dimmed. TV and videos were turned off. If she resisted sleeping, she could read quietly. After 45 minutes, the nap was over.
Kurcinka recommended an earlier dinner and bath time. Body temperature normally drops through the day, preparing it for sleep. Anything that raises body temperature -- including digesting food -- would make it harder for Kate to sleep.
The goal was a calming, ritual bedtime that signaled Kate's brain that it was time to relax. The Ellerds repainted her vibrant blue room a calming pale yellow. They removed toys and books, leaving a few favorite stuffed animals.
Kate, now 5, was always smart, spunky and inquisitive. Once she was getting enough sleep, she became delightfully empathetic and flexible. The resulting calm may be part of the reason her brother Sam, now 3½, is so mellow. It certainly helps now that the Ellerds are caring for newborn son Dominick, born Feb. 1.
"This change was a huge gift on many levels for our family," Dawn said. "It gave us a sense of control when we felt we didn't have any. It brought sanity back into our lives."
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