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.

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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In the bathroom

• Adjust your water heater temperature to 120F degrees.  Babies love to grab the bathtub faucet and will scald themselves.
• Never leave water standing in the bath, a sink, or even a bucket. Drowning is the third most common cause of accidental deaths of young children, and babies can drown in practically no water at all. Especially if the child falls and is knocked unconscious by their efforts. Check out this great toy storage for any bathtub. It has holes to allow water to drain and spots on top to hold all your baby needs for quick clean up at bathtime.
• Keep medication and cosmetics high up.  Babies love to investigate and their mouth is the first place it goes.
• Make sure there’s nothing your baby can climb up on to raid the medicine cabinet.
• Keep shavers and hair dryers unplugged and out of reach.  Even if you like to take a bath, put your razor up high because a baby could climb in an empty bath or shower and grab your razor.
• No electrical appliances near bathtub.
• Use a bath mat or stick-on safety strips to reduce the risk of slipping in the bathtub.

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As your baby begins to grow they will quickly begin to move around the house. Some babies will crawl, some will roll, while others will scoot. Whatever way your baby chooses to get around, you now need to start looking for dangers that may harm your baby. It is best to start in the areas most used by your baby such as the family room, living room, toy room, and kitchen. Your baby will most often be where you are.  Although accidents are often inevitable, it is best to do everything you can to prevent them.

One of the best ways to see what could possibly harm a baby is to act like a baby.  Get down on all fours and look around. Look up, look down, and all around. Here are a few basics to remember:

If your baby touches it, throws it, or eats it will it damage the baby or the item in anyway? This includes break-able items such as glass, ceramics, candles, decorations. Also watch heaters and fans that can cut little fingers. There are several thousand different kinds of poisonous plants also, so get those up off the floor if possible.

• If it falls, will it hurt baby? Could the baby easily knock it over by climbing on it? Can your baby use it to climb up to things he’s not supposed to reach? It won’t be long before your baby is into everything and on top of even more. Things such as bookshelves, tables, irons, and ironing boards can easily be knocked over by a child. Blinds, curtains, and their cords can also be dangerous for choking.  Decorations and fireplace covers can also be dangerous for a child.  My child once knocked over a vase-shaped large plant holder with a hole at the bottom that got stuck on his head at about 6 months old.  Needless to say he wasn’t happy.
• Strollers can be a source of danger also. Having too many bags or too much stuff could easily tip a stroller backwards. Check out this diaper bag that is meant to go on strollers. If you have a jogging stroller, be sure to read all the instructions so that all the wheels are locked properly for all the proper activities. The stroller can also tip forward, especially if you hit a bump of any kind. This could then dump your child onto the ground if they aren’t properly secured. Check out this great single stroller and double stroller with harness and all-terrain capability.
• Stairs are always dangerous. It is best for your child to learn to go up and down them while being closely supervised by their parents or other adult. To maintain this control install a safety gate at the bottom and top of every stairway.
• Get a fire extinguisher and put smoke alarms in every bedroom.
• Pad the corners of low tables, chairs, fireplace hearths.
• These safety locks are also meant to safeguard your child from doorstops. Doorstops easy come off the wall and have a pad that could be swallowed.