Cloth Diapers, Disposable Diapers and Diaper Bags

Choosing your nursery theme is an exciting and fun task for most prospective parents, as it means your baby is almost here. You may be choosing a theme for a baby boy or a baby girl, or perhaps you are going for gender neutral. Either way, most people want to choose a theme that will last.

Gender Neutral Themes

There are a few reasons a gender neutral theme can be your friend. Firstly, however certain your sonographer may have been that you will be giving birth to a boy, sometimes mistakes are made.  This is not very common, and probably not something most people will make plans around, but it bears considering.

There are other reasons to go gender neutral though, from choosing a theme that will survive from one baby to the next, to choosing a theme that your little one will still like when she or he gets older.

Good gender neutral themes are often based on animals, birds or fish. They can also be based on stories or disney characters, such as Winnie The Pooh (both classic or Disney versions are popular).

Choosing a Theme for Babyhood Through First Grade

Some people have a nursery that they use for all their babies, moving them up and out when they get older. In this case, you only have to worry about a theme that will suit for babyhood. But if you plan to keep your child in the same room as they get older, you will want to consider what is appealing for an older child as well.

Tips for Lasting Appeal

• Use easily replaceable items to dress up the nursery, while keeping the main decor simple. Eg have matching lamp, blankets and diaper hanger, while keeping away from using themed wall paper or curtains.
• Character themes tend to age less well then more generic themes, like moon and stars. As your child grows he will likely feel the character theme becomes too “babyish”.
• Newborns only see sharp contrasts, whereas older children see all the colours of the rainbow including more subtle shades, so choosing things like mobiles or wall posters with high contrast colours, or in black and white, will be particularly useful in the first few weeks, and can be removed later.

You can read more about all aspects of baby and toddler sleep, from how to teach your baby to sleep through the night, to how to swaddle your newborn, to popular boy’s nursery themes, at Happy Babies Sleeping.

It seems that when someone we know has a baby, we buy gifts for the baby and the new mother, but we often forget about the father. I must admit that I had never really given much thought to it, until my brother and his wife had their first child. I of course bought a gift for my new nephew and my sister in law, but I wanted to do something for my brother as well. This was his first child and I wanted to help him celebrate this special occasion.

It didn’t take long of me shopping around before I realized that there really wasn’t anything out their for new fathers. It seemed that even the greeting cards were all geared toward the mother. I knew then that if I wanted to get my brother a gift, I was going to have to get a lot more creative. I decided to hit the mall and see if anything inspired me. I was walking past an engraving store when that inspiration hit. I didn’t find anything I wanted to buy him in that store, but now I knew exactly what I would have to do. I would have to find a customizable gift for my brother.

I went home and started searching online for customizable gifts for men when I found photo cufflinks. These cufflinks allowed me to customize them using a photograph. I though what better way for my brother to show off his new son at work then to literally be wearing his photo on his sleeve. I searched through every picture I had of my new nephew until I found the perfect one, and then I placed my order. It was so easy, I simply uploaded the image and within a few days I had my photo cufflinks.

My brother loved the gift. My brother and his wife have since had two more children, and I have given him a pair of photo cufflinks to commemorate each of their births. I even gave a pair to my husband to commemorate the birth of our son. If you know someone who has recently had a child, don’t leave the father out of the gift giving celebrations. Help him to celebrate the birth of his child by giving him a pair of photo cufflinks. This really is a wonderful way to include the whole family in the celebration of their child’s birth.

When our toddler hit the 21 month mark she started to learn how she could climb out of her cot. We have a cot bed for her, which can be converted down to a child’s bed when appropriate. I knew it was time for the change when I found my daughter half way out with a leg over the highest end of the cot. The very next day she was having a nap and from downstairs we heard a loud thud followed by a lot of crying. So, out with the tools and the cot was no more.

The problem was that when we put our girl into her bed for the first night she hated it. She refused to lay in it and just would not settle. Having spent a few minutes comforting her by stroking her hair and singing a nursery rhyme or two I left her room again. Within seconds she was up and crying for me not to leave.  I went back and tried to settle her for a while and when she had dropped off to sleep I crept out. As I got to the door her radar went off, her head popped up and we were back to square one.

After a few days of endless crying, wailing and protesting we were at the end of our tether. We thought we could do this on our own but we were so wrong. We eventually called our health visitor and asked her how to get a toddler to sleep. A home visit was arranged and we got a list of questions together. What was making our situation worse was her new 3 month old baby sister, who needs our attention now too.

The Direct Approach – This approach is not for the faint hearted. It should take just 7 days or so and uses ‘planned ignoring’ to force your child to settle themselves. It is a difficult process but worth it in the end as you will see from our results. To use the direct approach you put your child to bed after their bedtime routine. Say to them something similar to the following: “Stay in bed, do not get out of bed. Do not call out or cry; if you do I will not come back. If you sleep in your bed all night you will get a surprise in the morning.”  Say goodnight then leave right away and do not return, no matter how much your child protests and cries.

See what I mean about being difficult? It tugs at your heart strings to leave them like that but it’s a kind of tough love thing. For the first few days they may cry for some time, even hours. As the days go by your child should begin to cry less and less; they may even take themselves back to bed (if they are like my little girl and fell asleep at the door every night).

The Gentle Approach – This approach is a little more kind. Having gone through the bedtime routine you settle your child in bed, say the same things to them about staying in bed and being good. Then, after they have cried for 2 minutes you may return to settle them again. Stay for just 1 minute then leave. If they cry you may return after 4 minutes, stay for a minute then leave. Each time you double the length of time you leave them before returning.

This approach is probably better suited to parents who may feel uncomfortable leaving their child in such circumstances. It also takes a little longer than the direct approach; around 10 – 14 days.

The Results – As I said earlier, our daughter was probably affected by the introduction of her baby sister so it took us a little longer to crack this. It took around 10 or 12 days but what we have now is fantastic! The first few nights involved our daughter holding a vigil at the baby gate to her room, crying, calling out and so on. This continued one night from 7:00pm until gone 01:00am. When she eventually fell asleep at the door we were able to pick her up and put her in bed until morning.

Gradually she would cry for less time each night but still sit at the door until she fell asleep. One night it just happened. I put her to bed with her favourite cuddly dog, gave the dog a kiss, gave her a kiss and asked her to settle her dog. She gave him a kiss and just laid there. I walked out, closed her door and the next we knew it was 07:20am and she was awake.

There is no doubt that these methods both work; one takes less time, the other is little kinder. However, remember one thing – you are not alone. Most parents go through this at some point but will no doubt be tearing their hair out at first. To find out more visit totsandtoddlers.net, where I have written about this in more detail along with some tips on how to manage new bedtime routines.

The months before the arrival of a new baby are both exciting and busy. Parents have many preparations to make. The following is a list of things to do before the baby travels home.

1. Get siblings used to the idea of a new brother or sister. Early in the pregnancy, it is important for parents to tell their other children about the baby. Siblings need time to ask questions about the new baby and figure out how it will affect them. In addition, if parents allow siblings to help in the preparations, they will feel more included in the process.

2. Send out a baby announcement to friends and relatives. Parents often want to share the joy they feel about the baby with their loved ones. Furthermore, a baby announcement gives relatives and friends who live far away an opportunity to congratulate the parents and perhaps send a gift.

3. Purchase furniture for the nursery. If parents have other children they may not need a whole new set of baby furniture. However, if this is their first child they will need a crib and a changing table. Other appealing pieces of furniture include a rocking chair, bookshelves, and a dresser for baby clothing. Certainly, parents should determine what furniture they need for the nursery, make a list, and then begin searching.

4. Purchase clothing and diapers. In many cases, friends or family will host a baby shower for the mother-to-be. At the shower, she will likely receive a lot of the necessary clothing items for her baby. Before the baby arrives, parents should make sure they have the proper baby clothing for the season. For instance, if the baby is born in the winter, then a sweater or appropriate coat is necessary. Making a list of items is very helpful for anxious parents who don’t want to forget anything. Especially diapers!

5. Purchase a car seat for the baby. This is an important step for parents to remember because they will need it when leaving the hospital with their new baby. It’s helpful for parents to begin shopping early so they can have an idea of their options as well as make sure it is properly installed in their car. Also, it’s a good idea for parents to become familiar with using the car seat so that when the baby arrives they’ll feel comfortable with how the seat works.