Stack the Deck

If there is one thing common with most babies it's their unpredictability. When they are first learning to sit upright on their own, they may get the sudden urge to go head first right into the ground. To make the impact more forgiving, try layering a few blankets on the carpet and avoid playing on wood or stone floors during this time.  No matter how close you watch them they seem to find ways to constantly surprise us so be preapred. We even made a half circle perimeter with another bunched up blanket.

Oat Soak

With dry weather we've found it beneficial to baby's skin to throw a handfull of oats into his bath. No, not directly but in a small section of womens nylons cut into 4" pieces and tied off the ends. Squeeze and release the bag a few times before placing baby in. It's helped tremendously during the cold winter chapping.

Silence is golden

Sometimes the hardest thing to do with a new baby is to get them to sleep so when you finally do get them into bed the key is to keep them there undisturbed. How many times have you put them down, backed away and slowly closed the door only to have the hinge squeak or door make enough of a noise to wake your baby. Be sure to oil the door hinges and try cutting some felt pads in half and putting them in door jams and on cabinet doors to soften the sounds that might ordinarily startle your little ones.

Better Together

Nobody ever said raising a baby would be easy because it's not. Whether it's growth spurts, teething, gas or any of the other million reasons a baby cries, it always helps to have some help from your partner, friends or family members. Nothing is more wearing then the constant crying of your helpless little one so it's good to be able to hand them off to somebody fresh. Many times walking your baby around is the most soothing thing for them but when you've been doing it all day it's more challenging. Hopefully somebody is available to help you through this challenging yet rewarding time. Stay strong.

Sleep Easy

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Of all of the baby sleepwear we have we keep going back to these super affordable baby gowns and have even ordered more because we like them almost as much as baby loves spitting up on them. They give you easy access for quick diaper changes and keep baby warm through the night. The only challenge like most baby clothes is getting them on your baby.

Don't tempt fate

When it comes time to change your babies diaper, quickness is the key to dryness. Prepare your new diaper, wipes, creams/ointments before hand. Before leaving the hospital, the nurse asked to watch me change our new son's diaper. This would not have been a problem except that with a fresh circumcision there was a new step of adding petroleum jelly to a gauze pad distracted me as he lay naked on the bed. The lack of sleep didn't help my decision making either as we watched our son pee directly into his own left eye. Lauren has always warned me to cover him with a wash cloth and even suggested having his new diaper underneath his old one just in case the cool breeze inspires a little yellow rain. Stay dry.

Suck it up!

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Many people cringe at the thought of cloth diapers but as our friend Rex suggested, they make great burp rags. They're designed to hold much more than a normal rag but can easily be washed with other clothes. These rated pretty bad as diapers but great as burpies.

Sore Subject

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Many mothers with newborns share a common bond through pain, sore nipples. Of course, before anything you should consult a Lactation Specialist but while waiting for our appointment we have found these to be quite helpful in reducing the pain.

The Medela Contact Nipple Shield shouldn't be used for every feeding but mixing it into some of the feeding cycles may relieve some of the pains from improper latching.

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This Lanolin cream "Tender Care" by Medela is safe for baby and provides great relief for dry and cracked nipples. These are not intended as a solution to sore nipples but merely some relief until you are able to consult a professional.

Simple Swaddle

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As effective as swaddling has been in soothing our baby, it's durability has been challenged by our little Whodini. No matter how snug the swaddle, he has managed to wiggle free almost every time. Luckily somebody had given us one of these Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe's but it made its way to the bottom of a drawer waiting to be rediscovered. What a find it was when we ran out of the regular swaddling blankets. Now we can easily swaddle him in seconds and know the Velcro support will keep him snug.

Babies Best Friend

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Our good friends the Dewitt's gave us one of these Fisher-Price Newborn Rock 'n Play Sleeper for our baby shower and we had no idea how great of a gift it would turn out to be. They loved it so much that they buy it for every pair of expecting parents as a gift. We have been using it since we brought young baby home from the hospital and it was an instant hit. Just be sure to get him in the calm state when introducing it to him. You can't just drop him in and expect it to do the soothing of the parents but it will help tremendously.

Comfort and safety

One of the most relaxing things for a expecting mother can be a nice quiet bath so enjoy them while you can. While expecting it is recommended that you don't heat the water over 100˚ or you might end up with a cooked baby.

Baby Loves Cake

1 Egg Short - Cake

Did you know that you can use milk in a pinch when you run out of eggs? We recently learned this when trying to make a cake and found ourselves one egg short of the three egg minimum to the cake party. Thank Google we found a quick and easy solution, milk. We went a little heavy (150ml) but the cake was sooooo moist, a little too moist for delicate frosting but a quick lathering is all baby needed.

Baby Steps: Preperation

The days are counting down before you bring baby home from the hospital. The first few months you don't have to worry about too many things around your house but you may not have the time to consider safety preparation. Why not get it out of the way beforehand so you can save the future you some unnecessary stress. The main things to consider are softening corners and electrical hazards. Children can be reckless once they take to their feet and will quickly exploit all of all the precautions you didn't take so beware. Corner Pads are essential in starting your safety project. A full speed child and hard objects can be a terrible combination if left unprotected. Next consider the cabinets and plugs. Tiny fingers like to find their ways into tiny holes in the wall that could give your child a rude awakening so be sure to use Socket Covers. Lower cabinets tend to have some of the deadliest things in our households so use Cabinet Latches to keep them away from your little explorers.

As you go on, you will find many other things that you will need to look out for but as long as you pay attention to what your child is doing and you should be fine. It's when we stop to do something "Real quick" that babies find away to scare us half to death. Here are some things we've added in our preparation project.

Freeze Fresh

How many times have you bought tons of fresh fruits to try to eat healthier only to throw most of it away because you couldn't finish it on time? Next time you stock up on fruits try setting aside what you think will eat and freeze the rest for smoothies later. You may want to pre-slice bigger fruits like peaches before freezing to make it easier on your blender. Smoothies are a great way to get plenty of vitamins into your body. Experiment with different fruits and use different yogurts and juices for more variety in flavor. Trader Joe's has a great selection of frozen fruits at affordable prices but always keep an eye out for fruit sales at your local grocery store.

*When freezing bunches of fruit in freezer bags it might help to keep separating the fruit before it is entirely frozen to avoid a huge fruitcicle.

Baby Steps

The birth of our son is just a few months away. In anticipation of his arrival we have had to make adjustments to our budgets but still find room for us to still enjoy life. Nobody is ever truly ready to begin parenthood but when you start down that path there are a few things to help ease you into the financial impact of having a baby in economically challenged times.

The first is to start slowly. You don't go running into a dark forest with no flashlight so stay calm. Work with your partners to develop a strategy on building a budget. Factor in things like reduced income due to maternity leave (disability), the cost of diapers and the all important grocery list. You can save hundreds of dollars at the grocery store if you time it right. Make meal plans so you only buy things you are going to use. Plan meals that have similar ingredients and make extra portions at dinner to take for lunch the next day. You can look at your life and find ways to streamline your life which doesn't hurt as a basic life skill.

Good luck