When you bring your baby home from the hospital most parents choose to have he or she spend his first several weeks in the bed room with them.  It is just easier.  In the beginning they wake so frequently and need to eat and be changed so often it just saves time to have the baby right near the caregivers.

Some parents choose to have their new baby sleep in a pack and play (a play yard), a co-sleeper, or a cradle.  Still others opt to bring the full size crib into their room.  Each choice has advantages and disadvantages.  It really depends on what works best for the family at the time.  Remember, you can change your mind if it is not working.

Traditionally, cradles are associated with newborn babies.  There is even a lullaby about them (which when you think about it is pretty scary- a cradle falling out of a tree? Definitely nightmare material).  Anyhow, cradles are a wonderful option because they are smaller and the small confined space can make a baby more comfortable than a big expanse.   Remember, newborns are pretty accustomed to cramped quarters.  At this point, familiarity breeds contentment.  Babies are soothed by familiar things, rocking, touch, warmth, swaddling all help a baby feel secure.  Cradles, though, are only to be used until a baby is three months old or so.  Typically, when the baby starts moving around more it is time to switch sleeping arraignments.

A baby grows from a newborn to a baby to a kid in what seems like the blink of an eye.  Of course, some days seem like they last for years, but the years seem to fly by.  When I brought my first daughter home she was so painfully tiny.  She was a preemie so she was even smaller than most.  I held her and I looked at the 0-3 month clothes and honestly could not picture her being large enough to fit in them.  Now she is a fifty pound seven year old, so obviously she grew to fit those clothes.

One of the biggest milestones that parents look forward to is potty training.  Honestly, looking back, it is almost easier to have a child in diapers than dealing with the potty.  When a 2 year old says they have to  go they have to go NOW.  Not in five minutes.  You have to worry about finding a decent bathroom, because kids are apt to touch everything.

At home it is easier to train a child if you have a little potty for him or her to sit on.  In addition to having less of a risk of falling off, it is easier for a child to master the skills necessary to have toilet independence if there is no climbing involved.  Also, actually producing is easier on a chair designed for kids’ smaller bodies.

Learn from my numerous mistakes in selecting a potty chair though.  Kids do not need a fancy potty chair- really it does not matter that much.   If you can avoid getting a potty that has a drawer that you pull out dump and rinse.  Trust me, if it falls of the tracks and spills it is a pain to clean up, if it splashes when you are pulling it, it is just gross.  Go for a life out container or a one piece design.

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Taking your Child’s Temperature

Kids get sick.  It is what they do. Children are fantastic at sharing germs when they cannot seem to share anything else.  There are few things as stressful to a new parent as their baby’s first cold or fever.  My pediatrician has been victim to several phone calls at all hours from me trying to make sure my children were ok.

While a fever in a newborn three months or younger warrants an urgent visit to a doctor, most of the time fevers in babies are just passing illnesses that do more harm to the parents with stress and worry.  Never the less, you as a parent will need to know how to accurately take your infant’s temperature so you will be able to report to your pediatrician.

Seeing as telling your newborn to hold the thermometer on his or her tongue will most likely not be very useful you will need to use other strategies for getting a reading.  Rectal temperatures are usually the most accurate way of getting a number, but they are not exactly pleasant for anyone involved and a parent needs to be careful not to insert the thermometer too far.  Other ways of taking a babies temperature include axillary (under the arm), an ear scan, or a forehead scan.  There are thermometers available that have interchangeable probes so you can use it more than one way.  Remember though, that once a probe is used for a rectal temperature, it should never be used as an oral thermometer again.

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Dressing your baby

Baby clothes are just so cute aren’t they? They are so small and just adorable.  I think you’d have to have a heart of stone to not love them.  The moment I learned I was pregnant I was considering what clothes I would buy my new baby.

I would caution new parents not to go too crazy buying the super cute newborn clothes.  This is for a few reasons: first, new babies grow notoriously fast.  Some newborns do not wear newborn clothes at all, but start in size 0-3 months.

Second, if the families are anything like mine, there will be no need, as my mother bought more clothes than my child could ever wear.  Lastly, if you are finding out the babies gender or not, consider some unisex clothes, ultrasounds can be interpreted incorrectly my first daughter, was supposed to be a boy.

One item that you will need is a hat.  Babies are used to being kept warm inside mama, so learning to control their own temperature can take some time.   The JJ Cole Bundle me hats look so cozy and super soft that I almost want to wear one.   It does not hurt that they are also absolutely adorable.

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Baby Bath Time

Giving my kids baths was always great fun for me.  After I got over the sheer terror of it and they were old enough to like it.

When your baby first comes home he or she will probably still have his or her umbilical cord stump on- which means a reprieve.  No full on baths until it has dried up and fallen off, only sponge baths.  Soon enough though the cord will fall off and your baby will develop a funky smell from milk dribbles and similar.  It will be time for a bath.  Any parent in their right mind is a little overwhelmed about the first bath.  It is a lot to do! Babies are so slippery when they are wet! Water can be dangerous! What do you do?

First, take a deep breath and get everything together that you’ll need.  Never leave a baby alone in water.  Ever.  Even for a moment.  So get everything ready first.  You will need a towel (I grab two, just in case), a wash cloth the baby bath tub, baby wash, baby lotion, a fresh diaper, fresh clothes, and the baby.

I like to run a super hot shower for a few minutes before I give my newborn a bath, it warms up the bathroom.  New born babies are not so good at regulating body temperature yet, so they get cold fast.  When you fill the baby bath tub the first few times add less water than you think you’ll need.  Test the water first; you do not want it too hot or to cold.

When bathing your baby use one hand to help him or her stay up in the water.  Use the other hand for washing.  The parts that I typically really pay attention too are the baby’s diaper area and the area around his or her neck with all of the little creases.  They get dribbles in there and it can get messy fast.  Typically, doing a quick bath is enough.  Then get him/her dried off, lotioned up and dressed again so he or she does not get to cold.

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