Archive for September, 2009

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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