Discovering the world of babies

How dull this world would be had we no babies to tend! Imagine the monotony of sounds without their contagious giggles, pitiful cries, and puzzling babbles. Oh how awful it would be without their incredible innocence or their charming naughtiness, what with their ways that can open a whole new world of perspective for us adults. But whether for you babies are powerful tiny persons or cherubs sent from above, there is a wealth of things to know about these little humans (just when you thought you knew them all!). Do you know that daily naps are vital not only to aid their physical growth? Daily naps are recommended, for without them babies will become hyperactive or fussier as the day wears on. Babies are indeed energetic but they do need breaks, you know. So send them to snooze, regularly! Oh, you know that already? How about the reason why toys come in attractive colors? Why playpens have soft, dangling items on them that infants can’t help but stare at for long? What’s going on as they see these bright colors and hear these chimes? Speaking of toys, what does the Lion Mark symbol that you see attached to some toys signify? How are these different from the ones without the mark? There are toys that are specified for 0 to 6 months babies only and toys for 6 to 12 months, but would you know which is for which if there weren’t any age advice stamped on them? Why bother to care when they grow to reach that age sooner than you’d realize, anyway? Do you know how to make bath time fun for them, instead of torture? What bathing strategies should you employ for the newborn? How about for a toddler who can easily jump out of the tub and splash water all over (reminds you of Calvin and his Hobbes, right?). What should you feed these babies? What should you have them wear? These topics seem basic but would you not like to know the recent findings about nutrition? The recent trends and developments in baby clothing to give them ultimate comfort and protection? In traveling, when is it safe to have a baby on the front passenger seat? Is it okay to use an infant carrier as a car seat? What tests should you do to make certain a baby will be secure in the car, whether on front or on the rear seat? How can you avoid baby bottle tooth decay? Why do babies pull their ears – could it be related to teething or to ear infection? What is an exersaucer? When and how should you toilet-train them? What novelty gift ideas are available so you can have something truly helpful for your mom-to-be friend? If you do not know the answers to these questions, or know only a little, or would want to know more apart from the above topics, it’s time to discover these babies’ info! Parents, parents-to-be, nannies, those whose careers are related to babies and practically anyone can benefit from the knowledge about babies. For the love of them, for the love from them… discover babies now!

How to hire the perfect baby sitter or the child care conundrum

Child Care is often at the forefront of many parents' minds. Because there are occasions when everyone needs to leave the home, and it is important to have a support network in place that can be called upon to assist if the need arises. Often, the people who are called for child minding are family members, which works great in general. However, family are not always available to help; and so it is important to have a network available outside of that. This is where hired childcare professionals, or baby sitters can step in to assist. (If you have a very young child then check out babyaids for more resources to help you) There are certain things that should be considered when choosing a baby sitter. First and foremost, the baby sitter should be credible -- meaning that he or she should have a good record with past employers. Second is that certain character traits and characteristics should be present in the baby sitter. For example, they should have at least a general knowledge of how to run a household. And being sensible about it, common sense is a good asset here! Ask yourself the question, 'Do I want this person in charge of MY child?'. If the answer is anything other then a definite YES. Move on. You can always get another babysitter. And of course he or she should be patient when it comes to dealing with kids because that is really the bulk of his or her work. Most parents prefer to be hands-on with their kids. Raising kids is a difficult job, but still parents want to do it themselves because they feel like it is the only way to make sure that they can properly train their children to grow up in the way that ideally they would want them to be. And also, children are fun! Why should the babysitter get all the joy, fun and abundance that looking after children can bring? However some parents have no choice because both of them have to work to fend for the family so either they leave their kids with other family members, friendly neighbors or else hire babysitters to help out. This is not neccessarily an ideal solution. But sometimes it is the only option. A baby sitter is often a stranger (at least at first), so careful thought should be given by the family about this decision from the time they say yes to the idea, to the actual choosing of the baby sitter. It is also advisable to ask around people who have past experiences with baby sitters and child care so that you can have an idea how to set your criteria and how to actually find and eventually hire someone that will suit you. Mothers groups and baby clinics can also be a good source of advice in this area. After the initial research you are now ready to do interviews for possible prospects. During the interview, you should not only concentrate on the resume or the answers but you should more importantly, watch out for the body language because this will tell you a lot about the person. How comfortable they feel with you, but also with your child. Ask routine questions but also come up with questions that will make you get to know more about the morals or the personality of the one applying. You don't want to come home to an impromptu party they decided to organise at you house! ;) Finally, after choosing a baby sitter, make sure that you do some advance preparations like giving the babysitter a tour of the places in the house where he or she will be working, machines he or she will be operating, list of numbers to call in case of emergencies and talk to him or her about any special instructions you might want to give. Also, set down the family policies with him or her on specific behaviour, acceptable punishments for naughty behaviour etc. These are simple things, but making it clear at the beginning will mean that you don't have any future problems. Hiring a baby sitter allows parents to have a greater focus on their jobs. But during the first days of the baby sitters tenure at your home, one of the parents should watch how the baby sitter is during active duty even for just a few hours. This is a sort of transition time and it is also a way of still being involved with your kids despite the fact that you already have a baby sitter. There are many good babysitters around and hopefully you will find the right one for your family and child care needs. Finding good childcare will not only free up your time and give you more flexibility, it will also add a very valuable team member to your family in the form of a baby sitter. So it is worth persisting and finding that special someone to take care of the people you LOVE.

Spit ups baby problem or laundry problem

Copyright 2006 Mike Patrick Jr, MD You've had your baby home a month or so, and he's a cutie--no doubt about it. There's one problem though, a problem you hadn't considered before he arrived: He pukes all the time! And it's not just a little urp. We're talking over your shoulder and through his nose kind of stuff. You're embarrassed to let others hold him. Aunt Betty, the one who always knows best, thinks your baby needs to see a specialist right away, and your neighbor tells you she knows someone who knows someone who had a spitty baby who choked and died in her sleep. You start making middle-of-the-night nursery runs to check your baby's breathing. The baby monitor is turned up so loud you can hear its electric hum, and you promise yourself once more that in the morning you really are going to call the doctor and ask to see a specialist. In the meantime, your baby is asleep. There's no unusual sound on the monitor, and no vomit in the crib. Your baby is fine, but the situation is driving you crazy. So is this spitting-up okay? Or is it a problem? Most of the time, baby spit-up is a temporary form of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). It's a condition caused by a loose valve on top of the stomach. From a mechanical point of view, the stomach is pretty simple. Food goes in, mixes with acidic digestive juice, and gets churned. Then the stomach gives a great big squeeze, forcing food into the small intestine. For many, this is the problem stage. When the stomach squeezes, the valve on the bottom is supposed to open, and the valve on top is supposed to stay closed. But in babies with GERD, the valve on top also pops open, so food goes both ways--up and down. Unfortunately, GERD is not the only cause of infant vomiting. There are life threatening causes as well. Bowel obstruction. Infection. Metabolic disease (such as PKU). So how do you tell the difference? Well, you don't do it alone. You find a doctor you trust and you let her decide. Here are some questions she'll ask: Is the spit-up projectile? Bowel obstructions create a great deal of pressure. These babies have very forceful vomiting, often across the room. Is there blood or bile in the vomit? These are serious signs. Blood may indicate erosions or high blood pressure in the GI tract, and bile is common with obstruction. Does your baby choke on the spit-ups? We're talking more than a little red-in-the-face gag here. If your baby is having pauses in breathing or is dusky blue in the face, you should seek medical help immediately. While severe reflux can cause this problem, heart defects, blood infections and meningitis can too. Is your baby gaining weight appropriately? Severe reflux can cause weight loss, but your doctor will want to eliminate other possibilities. Your answers to these questions, along with physical exam findings, will determine the next step. If there is a reason to suspect a cause other than reflux, some testing is likely. The most common test is the "upper GI." Your baby drinks a bottle of barium, and the radiologist takes x-rays. The barium lights up, showing the structure of the intestinal tract. If all goes well, your baby will have a little spit-up action during the exam. The radiologist will see the reflux as it occurs, and you'll have your culprit. On the other hand, your baby might not cooperate. He might not show any reflux during the test even when reflux really is the cause of the problem. Don't worry; it won't be the last time he refuses to show off for you. Other tests are possible, but only a handful of babies need them. For most, reflux can be diagnosed on the basis of the history and physical alone. It's like my grandma used to say: If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. So let's say we establish that your baby has reflux. What's next? How do you make it go away? After all, that's the question that brought you in. Well, you might not like the answer. The answer is you do nothing, unless the reflux is causing a problem. Dirty laundry doesn't count here. We're talking constant fussiness or breathing difficulty or weight loss. For fussiness, something to reduce stomach acid usually does the trick--antacids and Zantac are good examples. Your baby will still spit up, but at least he'll smile at Aunt Betty as he soils her blouse. Babies with breathing problems or weight loss are a more difficult bunch. They need reduction of their vomiting. You can start by decreasing feed volume. Refluxing infants tolerate 2 ounces every 2 hours better than 4 ounces every 4 hours. Also, try to keep your baby upright during and after feedings. This allows gravity to keep milk in the bottom portion of the stomach. Your doctor may have you add rice cereal to the milk. Not Rice Krispies. Rice baby cereal. Don't laugh. I've seen it done. Thicker milk stays down better, but it comes with a price--weight gain. Sometimes these simple measures aren't enough. Your baby may need medicine and possibly surgery to stop the vomiting. This is reserved for the most severe cases of reflux. Medicine and surgery may have side effects and unexpected results, so it's best to make sure their potential benefit outweighs the risk of consequences. Your doctor will help you decide. For most babies, reflux treatment is not necessary. These are the babies without projectile vomiting. There is no blood or bile in their spit-ups. They aren't choking. They have no breathing difficulty. No weight loss. No extreme fussiness. It's okay to let their milk fly over the shoulder or out the nose. It's even okay if it soils Aunt Betty's blouse. What you have there is not a baby problem. It's a laundry problem--and that's something Aunt Betty knows all about.