Today’s first time parenting tip - Get some rugs or blankets to put down on hardwood floors

Your baby is pulling up onto his knees, pushing way up on his arms, cruising along furniture, jumping around in his exersaucer…he’s becoming quite an active baby probably.

You’re going to notice a sharp increase in the number of knocks to the head he takes. Either falling over from crawling, crawling or walking into walls, and sometimes even just dropping his head right into the floor.

Most of them will be harmless, nothing worth even crying over. In fact, if you don’t act upset when you hear him bump his head, he probably won’t even notice. But if you have all hardwood floors, he could hurt himself, even falling over from a sitting position.

It’s a good idea to cover the corners of walls he might run into with corner guards or foam to protect him. And another good idea is to put down a cheap rug or even a thick blanket. It’s just one more layer of padding to protect that little noggin of his and make the process of learning to be upright a little bit safer.

Parenting, Safety, Motion, Babyproof

Today’s first time parenting poll - Do you give your baby “desserts” (baby food or otherwise) or do you not introduced sweets for as long as possible?

Just wanted to get other parents feedback on when they start giving children treats like chocolate, cake or what-have-you. Gerber makes various “desserts” like Hawaiian Delight and Apple Cobbler, and I’ve seen some parents giving their one-year old Faygo pop.

Hit the comment button to sound off!

Parenting, Food, Sweet, Dessert

Today’s first time parenting tip - For solo-play, put babies in a play yard, not a play pen

What’s the difference, you ask? Pinched fingers, skin and a choking hazard, that’s what. We all probably remember those accordion-style play pens that expand out to a large area with diamond shaped sides. They allow for lots of room, but they end up being a hazard, especially for babies that can stand, cruise and walk. They can lose their balance very easily and end up wedging they’re neck in between the diamonds.

If anyone knows of a safe solution to the big playpen, feel free to let me know. As a replacement, travel play yards are great for keeping your baby in check outside, at houses other than your own, etc. With a few toys they’re nice little contained play areas, and they let a baby that is able to stand to practice pulling himself up and cruising fairly safely.

Parenting, Play, Pen, Yard, Safety

Today’s first time parenting tip - Work meat into your baby’s diet

Now that your baby is over seven months old, they’ve more than likely tried all the fruits and vegetables out there. So what’s next? You can start giving them solid foods that they can gum, and you could also begin to introduce meats into their diet.

You’ve got two options when it comes to meat. You can go for the Gerber 3rd Foods, which combine meat and some other vegetables into one jar that you can feed your baby. Or, you can purchase a grinder to mash up the food you prepare for yourself.

If you go the jarred route, it’s pretty straightforward. Make sure you try the same new meat for at least three to five days, and watch for any allergic reactions. You also want to pay attention to what veggies they’re paired with, to make sure you aren’t introducing two new things at once.

If you go the ground route, you should follow the same rules as above. Also make sure you grind up your baby’s food before you add any salt or seasoning to your own food. Spices and salt could be harmful to your babies digestive system, or could give him unneccessary sodium. They don’t really need it at this age, so they’re no reason to include it.

And lastly, if you decide to go the vegetarian route, that’s completely OK too. I don’t know much about going vegan, so I’ll do some research and come back with an tip that’s geared toward giving your baby what he needs of veggies and fruits.

Parenting, Food, Solid, Meat, Meal

Today’s first time parenting tip - Cover edges and corners with foam or some other child safe material

Once your baby starts pulling himself up on his crib, tables, furniture, etc., he’ll also start to do something else. Fall. And you don’t want him knocking his head on anything sharp or hard that’ll cut him or damage his insides.

You can mitigate this by covering corners and edges with foam piping. It’s pretty inexpensive and all you have to do is cut a slit down one side of it and it’ll fit right over any edge. Grab some corner guards for square tables and furnitue and you should be good to go. You can put some double sided tape on the foam piping, otherwise you’ll be constantly knocking it off or he’ll pull it off.

Parenting, Safety, Baby, Proof, Stand

Today’s first time parenting tip - If you set up a trust, put a responsible adult in charge

If you’re drawing up a will and setting up a trust to maek sure everything is taken care of if you and your spouse happen to pass away, you’ll need to decide who controls the trust in your stead. Some people make give control to the child, some give it to someone else.

I’d recommend giving control to someone you trust, who is good with money, and will look out for the best interests of the child. If you passed away and your child was 3, there’s no possible way they could make informed or even remotely smart decisions regarding money.

Better to have someone else manage your assets until your child or children are 18 or even older if you’d like. That way they’re more able and better equipped to use the money. It’ll also help the guardian of your children deal with large expenses or costs associated with raising your children without having to worry about running out because your fifteen year old bought an expensive car with the trust money.

Parenting, Trust, Money, Will, Assets

Today’s first time parenting tip - Gradually introduce table foods and snacks to your baby’s diet

Once your baby gets up in the 7-8 month range, they’re probably ready for foods they can gum or that will break up when they get wet in they’re mouth. The key is to closely supervise them and introduce food a little bit at a time, so they don’t take a huge handful of pancakes and shove them into their mouth.

Mashed up fruit, small pieces of whole wheat bread and crackers that dissolve quickly are all excellent first choices. Once he gets proficient at eating and swallowing, you can let him experiment with feeding himself and start introducing other foods like cheerios.

Parenting, Solid, Food, Feeding, Table

Today’s first time parenting tip - Stay away from toys with long pieces of cloth or string

Most toys today are made with shorter, more pliable strings or ropes, like pull toys for instance. Some older ones aren’t nearly so kid friendly, with strings or pieces of cloth that can get up to two or three feet in length.

This is a problem for any active baby because they could roll around and end up strangling themselves with the cord. And things like this aren’t easy to unwind either. They’ll get tangled and impossible to unwind, and nearly unbreakable too. And when your baby’s airway is cut off, you’re not exactly going to be in the calmest of moods.

Look for toys with shorter strings or cords on them, so that there’s very little chance they can get tangled up in it. And if you’ve got a toy with a long string, trim it back to a decent length before letting your baby play with it.

Parenting, Toy, Safety, Choking, Hazard

Today’s first time parenting tip - Let your baby play with things that aren’t toys

It seems that no matter how many toys we put out for our son, he always seems to gravitate towards things that he shouldn’t be playing with. Our paychecks, the breast pump, cords, etc. Or if we’re in the kitchen, he sees us getting into cupboards and then he wants to get into them too.

To satisfy this, keep some things around that aren’t necessarily toys, but they’re things that are OK for him to have. We’ve had him playing with things like a pringles can, one of our shirts, a study piece of cardboard. Use your judgement, since some things are obviously unsafe, like paper with staples in it, cords or heavy objects.

Parenting, Play, Toy, Ordinary, Item

Today’s First Time Parenting Tip - Track your baby’s milestones to make sure they’re developing correctly

Its important to make sure that your infant doesn’t have any developmental problems, but if he or she seems slow in one area, don’t worry about it too much unless they’re way behind or your pediatrician seems concerned. Everyone loves to compare their accomplishments to others, but the fact is some babies are fast in verbal development, but slow in the physical department, or vice versa. If you’re worried about it, ask your pediatrician. At the end of the seventh month, your infant should be able to:

• Feed self a cracker
• Make a wet razzing sound

Probably will be able to:

• Bear some weight on legs when held upright
• Sit without support
• Object if you try to take a toy away
• Work to get a toy out of reach
• Pass a cube or other object from one hand to another
• Look for a dropped object
• Rake a raisin and pick it up in his fist
• Turn in the direction of a voice
• Babble
• Play peek-a-boo

They might also be able to stand holding on to someone or something, pull up to standing position from sitting, get into sitting position from stomach, pick up tiny object with any part of thumb and finger, say mama or dada indiscriminantly, play patty-cake, pick up a tiny object with thumb and finger or walk holding onto furniture.

Taken from What to Expect the First Year

Parenting, Verbal, Physical, Development, Emotional