Today’s Tip - Your infant should be comfortable at 68F in one layer of clothing.

We were afraid our baby would be cold in our house, so we dressed him up in warm jumpers, almost as if he were going outside. Turns out, it’s unecessary. A newborn is just as comfortable as you are in one layer of clothing at 68F, so dress him accordingly. Otherwise he may sweat, overheat or get dehydrated. Save the snowsuits and warm fuzzy hats and mittens for trips outside into the snow.

Parenting, Temperature

Today’s Tip - If you have a pet, watch them and play with them.

Our dog couldn’t have reacted better when we brought our newborn home. She’s motherly, protective, and very gentle around the baby. Even so, she’s extremely needy and attention starved, and whenever we leave her home alone now she chews up something different - dirty diapers (gross), bottles, jumpers, paper, etc.

We have to send her into her crate whenever we leave, and I’m sure to watch her carefully around the baby. Even the most well behaved pet can do something out of character. Some things you can do to lessen the effects of jealousy when you bring home a child to a pet include:
- Play with your pet first when you come home
- Interact with your pet while you’re attending to your infant
- Encourage pet and child play, but supervise it. Praise the pet frequently

Parenting,
Pets,

Today’s Tip - Bathe your infant once every two days until they start crawling.

Before babies start moving around, they really can’t get that dirty. They’ll still sweat, come in contact with dirt on you and on the floor during tummy time. A bath every other day should be sufficient, and be sure to keep their bottoms clean every time you change a diaper.

To bathe your child, start with the eyes, wiping away from the nose with clean sections of a washcloth, no soap. Then, wipe the face and outside of the ears. The insides should clean themselves naturally. Soap up his scalp, and then move down to the torso, neck, arms and hands. Be sure to tilt his head back, get under his armpits, behind his ears and in all the little folds. Wash his back, then legs. Then, soap up his bottom and front, and rinse him off.

Don’t worry if he seems to hate his bath. Some babies do, and some infants love it from the beginning.

Parenting,
Bath,
Cleanliness

Today’s Tip - Take all the pictures and video you can.

Sometimes you might think you’re going to wear out the lens in your digital camera, or that you’ll run out of tape for your camcorder. Don’t. It may seem like you’ll never forget it now, but three or four years down the road, you might have completely forgotten how your baby used that blanket as a cape, or how he and the dog would lie on their backs and stare at each other for hours. Get it all, and then when they move off to go to college, you’ll be wishing you had more than the thousands of pictures and days of video footage.

Parenting, Memories, Photo

Today’s Tip - Don’t just rinse bottles, pacifiers, toys and hands. Wash them.

It may look clean, but your infant’s immune system says otherwise. While they’re developing, be especially careful with things that go in their mouth. Either boil water or throw things in the dishwasher if they hit the ground or come in contact with a pet. If people are going to be handling your baby, make sure they aren’t sick, and ask them to wash their hands. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Parenting, Clean, Health

Today’s Tip - Prepare for your return to the work force

Whether you’re male or female, going back to work after your infant is born is tough. You’ll both probably go through some seperation anxiety, and you don’t need to feel like a bad employee if you call home or call your day care to make sure everything is OK. Once your baby is old enough to know you’re leaving him, make sure he knows your coming back. Focus on the fun he’ll have at day care or at home, not the fact that you’ll be apart. Reassure him that you’ll be back to pick him up, and don’t get into the habit of long goodbyes. Pretty soon he’ll assimilate to his day care providers and the other kids, and you’ll only need to check in once or twice to make sure all is well.

Parenting, Day, Care

Today’s Tip - Give your baby plenty of tummy time as soon as the cord stump falls off

Finally, the cord stump is gone, the cirumsion has healed…your baby is ready to start crawling! Maybe not yet, but daily tummy time is essential to developing your infant’s motor skills. With SIDS looming large on everyone’s mind, babies won’t get any time on their stomach unless you supervise it. So when their on their bellies, watch them. Play with them. Make learning to hold their head up a fun time. Don’t worry if they struggle or don’t seem to get it. Try try again. And, after all, if they never try something, how will they learn?

Parenting, Infant, Development

Today’s Tip - Don’t cut or pull the cord stump off…no matter what!

Congratulations! Your infants cord stump just fell off. Scrapbook it and save it for when he’s 18.

But before that, make sure you don’t preempt the moment by pulling the stump off, no matter how ready you think it is. Our baby’s stump was hanging by the thread of all threads today, but we still didn’t cut or pull it off because we didn’t want to risk infection or a blood flow we couldn’t handle. Check out my previous post on cord stump care

If this happens to you, clean your child’s belly button with rubbing alcohol, and then put him in a shirt that let’s the stump, belly button and connecting thread dry. It should fall off in a day. If it hangs for more than two weeks, or if it’s attached past 6 weeks, you should call your pediatrician.

Parenting, Infant, Health

Today’s Tip - Make time for yourself

Do whatever you need to do and maintain your sanity. Take a nap, read a book, watch a movie, go out with friends - do whatever relaxes you. You’re not a bad parent for wanting time to yourself. You’re human. And if every second of every day is focused on your child, you’ll find yourself burned out and bitter.

I make sure to give my spouse the opportunity to take a couple hours off each day, and she has no problem watching our son if I need to get out of the house for a bit. It’s made being new parents easier, and we’re happier parents for it.

Parenting, Health

Today’s Tip - Make your plans for child care as early as possible

If you plan on sending your child to some form of day care, you should figure out the specifics early on so that you don’t find yourself in a bind later. Some child care facilities won’t take infants, some will fill up and not have openings, and the one you want may cost more than you budgeted for. Look into all these things before you even have the baby and you’ll be well prepared to go back to work when you want, and on your terms.

Questions parents should ask when choosing child care -
-Late pick-up/drop-off policy
-Are parents allowed to visit during the day
-Are they sensitive to breastfeeding parents
-What holidays are they closed? Do they have alternative arrangements for those days
-What’s their policy on sick children
-How are children grouped? By age?
-Is diversity encouraged?
-Are developmental and social needs looked after?
-Rates
-Sanitation
-How many children per caregiver?
-Are they licensed child care providers?
-Are they sensitive to seperation anxiety of children and parents?

Parenting, Child, Day, Care