Remember the 72-hour diet I blogged about for when your baby has the stomach flu? The first 24-hours involve giving your baby Pedialyte or Gatorade exclusively to help them stay hydrated while they get through the worst of the vomiting/diarhea.

An important thing to remember if your baby is vomiting - anything you put in will probably come back out. More than likely, on your carpet, furniture and clothes.

Pedialyte makes a clear, unflavored versions of their products. See where I’m going with this?

You can make things easier on yourself if you buy the clear version of Pedialyte. Sure, there will still be a sticky, disgusting mess, but you won’t have to be reminded of it for another few years by a big stain in the middle of your floor.

We gave my son purple Pedialyte and red Gatorade while he was vomiting, and we’ve got the stains on our floor to prove it. Just another thing to keep in mind when you’re out shopping for your baby’s diet while he’s sick.

The 1st birthday party gifts introduced us to some fantastic new books that my son loves to flip through by himself and have his mom and dad read to him.

If you haven’t heard of them and want to read something besides I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly twelve times a day, check these out.

• Bear Snores On - A brown bear slumbers in his cold, dark cave while all the other animals in the forest have a party. This one is a TON of fun to read and act out, especially when the bear finally wakes up.
• Baby Einstein Alphabooks - A book for every single letter of the alphabet. Each one has three words and pictures associated with the letter. My son loves to go through all of them and open them himself. It’s a great way to teach the alphabet, we work on the same five letters every day for memory. And then he has fun surprising himself when we go through the rest of them for fun!
• Baby Cakes - This one always gets my son moving when we sing it to him. It’s a catchy rhyme that you can easily act out and get them to play along with as your baby’s toes, nose, hug them tight and laugh out loud.

My son’s favorite fruit is bananas. But whenever we cut them up for him, the pieces are always sticky and slippery. He gets them all over his clothes and hands, and has trouble picking them up to boot.

Here’s a way you can make the pieces a less messy and easier to pick up.

Pick a banana that’s just become ripe. It’ll have a little greenish tint at the top and the rest of the banana will be all yellow, with no brown discolorations.

Cut the banana into discs that are about half the width of your pinky finger. With your index finger and your thumb, pinch the center of each disc. The banana piece should break into thirds naturally. The edges of these pieces will be much less sticky and slippery than if you cut across the fruit strata with a knife.

Enjoy!

If you made a short list of the things my son is absolutely obsessed with doing right now, it might include the following:

• Play with our computer and the cords
• Try to climb in the fridge when it’s open
• Stand in the kitty litter box
• Rock the floor lamp back and forth

Fun stuff huh? My guess is, your toddler has his own list of things he’d love to do if only you’d let him. Teaching them the word “no” becomes critical as kids get bigger and are able to get into more and more dangerous or harmful activities.

How do you do it? There’s no one way to teach your baby the word “no”, but here are some tactics you can try:

• Keep your cool. Your kid won’t know what “no” means right away, and if he listens to you 25% of the time right now, you’re ahead. Be patient. Getting mad or frustrated will only make it worse.
• Distract. Once you’ve got them away from the bad behavior, discourage them going back to it by giving them an alternative. If your toddler feels ignored or bored, they might act out or do something they aren’t supposed to for attention or for lack of something else.
• Praise obedience. If they do what you want them to, shower them with praise. It’ll encourage them for next time, and they’ll feel like you saying “no” isn’t a punishment, it’s an opportunity to do something good.
• Don’t say “no.” We’re teaching my son body parts, and “nose” sounds a lot like “no.” Sometimes when we want him to stop something, he just puts his finger up his nose. Try saying “Don’t” instead, and it may lessen their confusion.
• Lead by example. If you don’t want your baby to jump over the couch, you shouldn’t either. Anything you do, they will imitate.
• Give them a chance to respond. If your kid isn’t in danger, they are just doing something you don’t approve of, say no and give them an opportunity to stop themselves. If they don’t immediately go over, stop them and say no again. The key is to match the word no with their action.
• Don’t laugh. Sometimes toddlers do silly things that are hilarious, even though they shouldn’t be doing them. My son figured out how to climb onto his high chair tray. Funny yes. Safe, no. If they think the word no is a game, they’ll play it every chance they get. It’s O.K. to have a sense of humor, but most of the time you should be consistent and have a serious reaction.

Got any tips to share on teaching your kid the word no?

So it’s almost spring time and you’ve got lots of those one-piece, super warm PJs all stocked up from the winter. It’s still cold out, but your toddler is quickly filling out all the warm pajamas you have on hand.

You don’t want to buy all new ones, he’ll only use them for a month or so. You can’t put him in lighter PJs, he’ll be too chilly.

So how do you make the too-small sleepwear last just a little bit longer?

I found we could squeeze an extra month or two out of pajamas our son was getting too big for by cutting off the feet of his one-piece zip-ups. He’s not crammed into his clothes and they’re still plenty warm for winter sleeping.

Of course, this ruins any chance of passing down these clothes or donating them to a charity. You might just want to do it to a couple pairs. Keep or give away the rest and de-feet a handful of PJs so your baby can sleep comfortably while Jack Frost is still hanging around.

I don’t get it. At least seven times a day, my son needs his diaper changed. At least seven times a day, he cries, fights, struggles and tries to be anywhere in the world but getting his Pampers swapped.

Chances are, the days of playing peek-a-boo behind the diaper are long-gone if you’ve got a toddler. So how do you keep them from squirming and putting up a fight?

I’ve adopted the “distraction” technique. I find something else for him to focus on, and he seems to be fine with laying on his back. Here are some things you can try:

• Tag team him. It’s always easier if you get someone else to make faces and hold the squirming baby while you get that diaper changed as fast as possible.
• Give him a toy to hold.
• Give him a book to read.
• Sing a song. Our day care sings “Row your boat” to our son, and now he can actually sing along and make the motions.
• Give him something to eat. If he’s hungry AND needs a change, we’re in trouble. I give him a bottle or a cup to sip from and he’s occupied.
• Let him hold his clothes.
• Strap him in. Some changing tables come with a strap that’s meant to keep kids still. This will probably make him scream more, but you won’t have to worry about your baby falling off the table.
• Give him a mirror. Babies are so vain. Exploit this liberally.
• Turn on the radio. The new noise might be enough to distract his attention while you change him.
• Potty train him. If your toddler is old enough, screaming and thrashing on the table might be a sign he’s ready to do it himself.

It’s springtime here in the States, and that means it’s perfect walking weather. My son is also getting to the age where he’s starting to get confident about his skills as a pedestrian.

What a coincidence! Good weather + walking toddler = lots of walks.

There are a lot of benefits to walking, for both you and your baby. Namely, the exercise. Exercise doesn’t have to be a half hour of intense weight lifting. Ten minutes on a walk is better than ten minutes on the couch.

You can just go outside, enjoy the weather and each other’s company. You can also use it as a learning experience too. Show your toddler all the new and exciting things in the world that they missed while you were inside sipping hot cocoa during the winter.

Here are some things you can do on walks right outside your front door

• Discover the park down the street all over again
• Try to find as many animals and plants as you can
• Go to a restaurant you’ve never tried before and get take out
• Walk to the convenience store and look at all the colors
• Head to the library or a bookstore and read a book
• Play with your dog
• Go on a scavenger hunt for things like a red car or a man wearing a pair of sunglasses. Don’t go home until you’ve found everything
• Play catch

No matter how fussy my son is inside, once he gets out of doors he’s happy as a clam because there’s so many new, fun things for him to discover.

Yes. I’m a Michigan State fan. Go Green!

Someone is always snubbed
Parenting is all about compromises. You want to read a book, your baby wants to play. One set of grandparents wants to see him this weekend, but you’re spending the day at the beach. Learn how to strike a fair balance in your family life, and you’ll be in for exciting times.

In the beginning, it’s all about survival
Chances are, you had expectations about how things would go initially. Boy, were you wrong! Raising a child is full of surprises and upsets. Just roll with the punches and learn from what happens for next year.

No matter what, there’s always a storyline
Even though things may seem random and unconnected, they also have a habit of coming together in ways that make it much more dramatic. A daily struggle with getting your baby to try solid foods becomes the triumph of all triumphs when they finally take their first gulp.

There’s always a buzzer beater
Whether it’s you just catching your baby before he falls or barely making it to the doctor on time because you had so much to pack, your life will be full of rushed excitement.

Leave it all on the floor
Parenting is tough work, day in and day out. You’ve got to give it your all, because that’s what your baby deserves. This also applies to the amount of food, milk and toys that’ll be all over your house on a regular basis.

Things never end up the way you planned
You’ll have tons of wins where you didn’t expect it, and maybe some disappointments along the way too. But at the end of the day, it’s all one big, exciting journey. After it all, you’ve got that happy feeling in the center of your stomach and you can’t wait for it to happen all over again.

I don’t usually post about products on this blog. In general, I also tend to ignore the dearth of USB-related products out there (USB Beer Cooler, USB Light Saber, etc.)

But this Amber Alert Child ID Kit from Kingston caught my eye. You’ll probably never have to use it. But if your child gets kidnapped and it helps your find them, it’s well worth the $29.95.

Here’s how it works. You plug the password protected, encrypted 512MB USB Flash drive into your computer. (You set up all the security, but it sounds more intimidating than it is.)

The drive has a wizard that makes it all easy to set up:

You fill it our for your kid and after fifteen, twenty minutes you’ve got all the important information in one spot. Pretty useful in it’s own right if they stopped there.

But they also integrated it with the Amber Alert system, which is a network that springs into action when a child is reported missing.

You could definitely put together your own DIY Child ID kit with a USB drive and an excel spreadsheet. (If you don’t spring for this, you should probably do that anyway).

Props to Engadget for finding this one

My son is starting to discover different parts of his body - whenever he’s shirtless he’ll pat his stomach whenever we say “Where’s your belly?.”

I’m starting to notice he’s learning about faces too. He knows eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc. But we’re running into a slight problem. Instead of just pointing to the body part, he’ll jam his finger right into eye sockets, nostrils and mouth.

So how do you fix it?

Here’s an idea. When you’re showing your baby body parts, always lay your hand over the body part. Rather than teach them to point, teach them to cover up their eyes, nose or mouths.

Then, when they go show off to other babies, you or your pets, hopefully they’ll just cover up stuff on the face. They won’t be hurting anyone and you’re teaching them to be sensitive in certain situations.

How do you deal with a baby that always pokes and prods at sensitive body parts?