Do you sometimes feel like it is just impossible to run a few errands with your baby?  It can be overwhelming at first to simply go to the grocery store or even out to eat like you used to.  Here are a few tips to help you with your outtings with your little one. 

Let’s start with the grocery store, the quick in and out runs you made before you had a baby are long gone, but this doesn’t mean you have to make it an errand to dread.  Everyone has to do go to the grocery store and you can still do this with your baby.  Start small, instead of hauling the baby to the store for hour long, $150 shopping event, take her to pick up milk, bread, and what you need for dinner.  Your confidence will rise and your baby will get used to the routine.  As time goes on, start your trips by grabbing the essentials first in case you don’t make it through every aisle.  Timing is also important, try going on the weekday mornings if possible, when your baby is well rested and fed.  If you work, try for the same early hour on the weekends.  Try parking near the carts corral and not the store, so you can get loaded up and settled without feeling rushed.  Try to remember an extra layer for your baby, it can be extremely cold in grocery stores even when it is 90 degrees outside.  And lastly, don’t even think about the self checkout lanes.  Take advantages of the store’s services, bagging your groceries, pushing the cart to your car, and putting the bags in your trunk. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes it can be difficult to get your children to understand the effects that sun can have on them, but it so important to teach your children how to be sun smart.  By teaching them, the will have a lower risk of skin cancer.  Many people today wish they had been more cautious while in the sun in the earlier years. 

One idea on how help your child learn about being sun smart is to consider sun safety to be like a seat belt.  You wouldn’t explain a car accident or gingivitis to your young child, but you still get her to let you buckle her into her car seat and brush her teeth.   If you make sun protection part of your routine of non- negotiable things that you do in order to stay safe, your child will be more accepting. Read the rest of this entry »

Nearly all of us have nightmares from time to time, but these often terrifying dreams can be especially difficult for children. It is very typical for kids to want to be near their parents after having a nightmare of scary dream. When your child comes to you in the middle of the night after being frightened by a nightmare, it is usually best not to have him sleep in your room for the rest of the night. Offering to let your son or daughter sleep in your bed can send a message that you don’t believe he or she can feel safe alone. Generally speaking, the best thing you can do is to comfort your child and let him know that you believe he can overcome his fears.

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Figuring out the best way to say good bye to your baby’s pacifier and bottle can sometimes be a dreaded or difficult task.  Here are a few ideas of how to go about weaning your baby from their “ba-ba” and paci. 

Toddlers who drink from a bottle for too long can tend to consume more milk than necessary.  This can cause your baby to have little appetite for the variety of solid food they need to eat, or they may be consuming too many calories from the liquid.  When kids drink from a bottle, the milk pools around their teeth and can create a major cavity risk. 

Between 12 and 15 months is a good time to wean your baby from the their “ba-ba.”  This is when babies can drink well enough from a sippy cup and should go completely bottle free.  If you wait more than 18 months, the bottle will have become a habit rather than a necessity and your child will cling to it even harder. Read the rest of this entry »

Just about everyone can remember getting yelled at as a child for sitting too close to the television. Our moms assured us that failure to heed her advice would ruin our eyes. I don’t know about you, but many years later and I can still see just fine.

According to the American Optometric Association, children can’t harm their eyes by sitting with their faces practically smushing the tv screen. Whatching too closely can, however, cause eyestrain which can cause headaches. While this may cause some short-term discomfort, no long term damage is done.

Talking with your children about family money issues and the family budget can be a difficult conversation. Parents are often afraid of scaring their children by making them think that the family is having money issues, but it can be difficult for younger children to grasp the concept of finite money anyways.

Younger children will ask for anything and everything that interests them. They see the commercials for a new toy, but their young minds do not truly understand the real cost of buying it. It is highly recommended to begin having regular conversations about money while your children are still young. Although the concepts won’t fully register with them, it is helpful to consistently frame their wants in terms of the costs. Try explaining that instead of spending $50 on a new game, you need to buy groceries with the $50. This can help younger kids realize the trade-off and it gives them a feel for what needs your family can satisfy for the same amount of money. Try to keep a positive tone to your money conversations and keep your patience if your child doesn’t seem to understand.

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Getting your baby to sleep can be a very stressful task at times.  You want nothing more than to make sure your baby gets the amount of sleep that he needs.  When a baby won’t sleep, especially at night, it can take a toll on the parents as well.  Lack of sleep can lead to losses in concentration and lower productivity.  Your performance at work can become effected and it can make it very hard to get through the day.  It is important to overcome any baby sleeping problems as fast as you can.

Your baby’s feedings has an effect on his sleeping patterns.   If you feed your child until he goes to sleep, he will soon begin to realize that you feed him at bedtime.  This will then become something your baby expects before they go to sleep including each waking throughout the night as well.  Try feeding your baby, then have playtime for a little while before you put your baby down for a nap.  This will help the baby not depend on a feeding to go to sleep. 

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One of the most common problems that parents face during the toddler stage of a child’s life is biting. If your toddler is having an issue with biting, it will often take a lot of work and patience to curb the behavior. There is always some sort of reason that your child is biting and finding out the root issue is critical to stopping the habit. Losing patience or becoming angry with your child is not helpful, as this can often lead to your child becoming stubborn about the behavior.

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Parents often get concerned anytime their child doesn’t seem to be developing at the same rate as others in his or her age group. One area where this is often seen is with children that have trouble learning to talk. Some children will be talking up a storm at 18 months, while others may not start talking until after their second birthday.

If your child is approaching age two and still isn’t talking, don’t panic. As parents, it is important that you work with your child to analyze the situation and try to ensure there is not a real developmental problem causing the slow speech development.

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It can be overwhelming when you head out to find your new baby the right car seat.  There is certain criteria to look for when shopping for that perfect car seat.  What really matters is to choose the car seat that bests fits your vehicle, your budget, and your baby.  Here are some ideas to follow when you are looking to purchase a new car seat. 

Safety is one of the biggest factors.  All car seats must pass the same federal crash tests.  Proper installation is the key to a car seat.  Some car seats have extra features such as clicking in when locked or not-twisting straps.  These features might also add peace of mind that you know you little one is locked in properly.  But remember even the cheapest car seat with no extra features have been through the same  basic crash tests. 

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