A-Z of having a Happy Baby

Between the late night feedings and the constant diaper changes, many new moms are too busy (and exhausted!) to read an entire book on parenting. Don't worry, we have everything you need to know to make baby happy from A to Z.

 

ADVICE: Everyone will offer baby tips galore. Take advice you like, but trust your own instincts, and don’t feel bad about ignoring bad advice; just smile and nod.


BABY CARRIER: A baby carrier means you can wash dishes, call a pal, or make a sandwich with your babe in tow.


COLD CABBAGE: Many note that the mixture of cabbage enzymes and cold can reduce breast swelling and pain. Take a cold leaf and place it in your nursing bra for instant relief. 


DIET: If you’re breastfeeding you need an extra 200 calories per day, or about two healthy snacks.


EXERCISE: Exercise will help you relax, shed your baby weight and offers long-term energy. After your health care provider says it’s safe, you can work out for an hour or more, on most days of the week.


FRIENDS: We all need mama pals. Look up mama groups locally or join an online group, such as our Fisher-Price message groups.


GREEN CLEANING: Green cleaning is a baby issue. Your baby doesn’t need exposure to toxic chemicals around the house. Click here to check out some eco-friendly and green cleaning options.


HOLDING: Babies who are held often cry less and are content; which believe me, will brighten your day.


INFANT SEAT INSPECTION: Get a free child seat safety inspection. Many local fire stations will inspect your car seat or can refer you to someplace that can.


JUGGLING: You can’t juggle it all. Have your partner, your mother, or a friend help with chores, baby holding, and grocery shopping.


KEEPING MEMORIES: Take a few minutes weekly and jot down baby memories and thoughts in a journal. You’ll love to look back at the first day she smiled, sat-up, and rolled over.


LAUGHTER: Peekaboo, singing, silly faces, and puppets are great ways to encourage baby laughter.

MANUAL: A really good baby and child health manual is Taking Care of Your Child.


NAPS: Sure it’d be nice to get the laundry done at some point this century, but you’ll be a better mama with more sleep, so snooze when your baby does.


OUTSTANDING BABY PHOTOS:  Learn to take them or find someone who can give you a hand.


PUMP AND DUMP: Alcohol is fine while breastfeeding, but be sure to pump and dump your next serving of breastmilk since alcohol can pass through your breastmilk to your baby.

QUIET TIME: You don’t need to entertain your baby 24/7. This may, in fact, annoy her, making her fussy. Be sure the two of you have some downtime each day.


READING: Your newborn may not understand a story, but she’ll love story togetherness time. 


SWADDLING:  Learn to swaddle like a pro. Most babies love swaddling because it makes them feel all cozy and secure. Mamas love swaddling, because it can often lull a baby right to sleep. Click here to find out how to swaddle like a pro.

TUMMY TIME: All babies need tummy time. Tummy time helps your baby to develop important motor skills and gives her a new view of her world. Even if your baby fusses at first, still aim for tummy time twice a day, for five to ten minutes


UNIVERSE SHIFT: After you have your baby, you may feel overwhelmed, tired, and like your life will never be the same; it won’t be. Most of the time your new life, while different, will be better, because your amazing baby will be a part of it. However, if you feel excessive anxiety or depression, call your health care provider


VULTURES: Vultures are people who swoop in and try to pick up your baby without washing their hand. She’s your baby and you make the rules, so don’t feel bad about asking people to scrub up before cuddling your little one.


WATER: Water is very important for breastfeeding mamas. Aim for at least eight glasses a day to avoid dehydration.


XOXOXO: No matter what you hear, you can never spoil a baby with too many hugs and kisses. Feel free to pile on the love.


YUCK FACTOR: The baby yuck factor is icky, but trust me, dealing with baby poop, spit-up, and snot will get easier.


ZOO EXCURSION: Your local zoo or park is the perfect mama-baby outing; miles of wide walking paths for strollers, bathrooms , and best of all, no one minds a crying baby at the zoo. 

Source: SheKnows

Royal Step Stool:

You’ll love training your little prince or princess with the Royal Potty because it has a reward system built right in, and plays different tunes - a musical reward for your child’s potty progress.

The royal potty can also be used attached to a regular toilet seat, complete with royal tunes

20 ways to soothe a crying baby

A 10-pound mass of human creates a lot of noise, and new parents feel pretty inadequate when they can't stop the crying. There's help! 

1. Stay calm.

The best thing parents can do when their infant is crying is to stay calm. An increase in your stress level will increase your baby's. Remain calm and your baby might follow suit

2. Check Baby's diaper.

A wet or soiled diaper is one of the most common reasons for a baby's tears. Even if you have recently changed your baby's diaper, it's still a good idea to check again. Check Baby's diaper first before trying other calming methods, and change as needed.

3. Check Baby's temperature.

Feel the back of your baby's neck to see if she is too hot or too cold. Add or remove layers accordingly.

4. Feed Baby.

Most babies cry when they are hungry. Try offering the breast or bottle to soothe your little one.

Sometimes breastfeeding mothers worry that they will overfeed their babies because their babies seem to want to eat so often. Experts say it is normal for breastfeeding babies to eat often, as breast milk is quickly absorbed.

5. Ease gas pain.

If Baby starts crying after a feeding, he may have a gas bubble. Try patting his back, bending his knees toward his chest or rubbing his back while he lies on your lap to release the gas.

Successful burping is a skill most parents come to pride themselves on, but it's also one of the oddest things a person could have imagined doing before becoming a parent.

6. Distract Baby.

It's surprising how often this method works. Parents who've tried this suggest making faces or blowing raspberries to take your baby's mind off the reason for his tears. Try our 2-in-1 projection mobile unit to distract baby with Light show and Music.

7. Snuggle.

Sometimes, all a baby needs is love. Take a few moments to snuggle with your little one. Give him kisses and hugs, hold him close and tell him how much you love him.

8. Change the way you hold Baby.

Some little ones like to be held over the shoulder, some prefer the football hold and still others like to be held facing out. Experiment to learn what your infant likes best.

9. Sing or hum.

Soft, gentle songs sung by a familiar voice will often calm Baby's cries. Even if the singer is not particularly gifted, give this tip a try. Humming also offers a soothing vibratory sensation.

10. Gently rock or bounce.

Rocking in a chair or baby swing often helps to calm a baby, but pay attention to your child's cues. For some little ones, the motion can actually be over-stimulating.

Some experts recommend a gentle bounce with Baby. Hold Baby against your chest, facing you in an upright position, and bend slightly at the knees. This movement imitates the gentle motion Baby experiences in the womb. 

Dancing also helps; a slow, repetitive motion can lull Baby into a peaceful state. The warmth of a loved one's body and the snuggling that goes along with the dance are added benefits.

11. Undress Baby.

Sometimes the reason for Baby's discomfort lies beneath the surface. For this reason, experts suggest undressing your baby completely and looking to see if you can spot a physical problem. Snaps can pinch little legs and diaper tape can stick to tender skin.

12. Give a bath.

Warmth and water offer many calming benefits. A few drops of lavender oil in the bath can also help Baby relax. 

13. Skin-to-skin contact.

Studies have shown that holding Baby right against your body, with chests and abdomens touching, not only calms babies but also enhances the maternal-infant bond.

14. Massage Baby.

Lay your bare baby on a warm, firm surface in a frog-like position, and then gently rub her back, aiming toward the lower back. Don't rub too lightly, though, or you could tickle her and make her even fussier. This method can be so effective that Baby falls asleep. If this happens, be sure to turn her over to her back so she can sleep safely.

15. Pacify Baby.

Although the use of pacifiers is controversial in some circles, many babies find comfort in sucking. If your baby doesn't need to be fed, but does need to suck, offer one and see how he reacts.

 16. Reduce external stimulation.

Babies sometimes cry because there is too much going on for their little minds to process. Try dimming the lights, removing toys and reducing noise levels.

17. Swaddle Baby.

Wrapping your baby tightly in a warm, soft blanket can help her calm down. Because babies don't realize that the flailing arms they see are their own, they may become frightened by them. Swaddling reduces anxiety and returns them to a womb-like state.

18. Go for a stroll.

Fresh air and sunshine can help Mom and Baby feel better. Break out the stroller or the baby sling and take a walk around the block.

19. Use white noise.

A tool used by many parents of inconsolable babies is "white noise." Any continuous mechanical sound can help calm a baby and put him to sleep. Vacuums, hair dryers and fans are examples. If you find a noise that works for Baby, make a recording of it for your safety and sanity.

20. Know when to surrender.

Even the most calm and patient parent can reach her breaking point when dealing with an extremely fussy baby. Knowing your limits will help protect you and your baby. When you find yourself feeling overly frustrated, lay Baby in his crib and close the door. Take a few moments to calm down and remind yourself that this stage will not last forever. If necessary, call a friend, family member or babysitter for respite.

Cradle Swing 'n Glider from Fisher-Price

This gear offers moms many different motions to soothe baby.

Two different directions to glide your baby to sleep, a side to side cradle swing, and a traditional motion of front to back swinging motion.

The items will easily transition between modes, and will inlcude and AC adaptor along with battery power.The swing will have six speeds, 8 songs, 2 position recline, and toy mobile to entertain baby and a heard support.

Make Chappati & Toast Holi-Style!

Round up your little ones and try this fun and tasty treat this Holi!

Materials

• 2-6 tablespoons milk
• 3 Different colors of food coloring
• Small containers for mixing food color & milk
• New paintbrush
• White bread
• Toaster
• Butter

Instructions

• Mix the milk with a few drops of green food coloring in seperate containers in the ratio 2 tablespoon milk : few drops of food color.
• Help your child paint designs or anything colorful on the bread, Holi style!
• Toast the bread and butter it.
• Eat it as it is, or use the toast to make a Healthy Holi sandwich!

This technique can be used on Chapati as well. 

• Seperate flour into few portions of flour before mixing to make dough and add few drops of different food color mixed into 1 teaspoon curd to each portion of flour and make into dough as you would normally. 
• Take small amount of each colored dough to make one dough ball to make one chappati.
• Roll this ball into a chappati with rolling pin
• Cook as you would any chappati.
• Voila! you will get colorful chappati Holi-style!
• Serve hot.

In-Line Skates from Fisher-Price

Fashionable skates allow kids to build confidence as they learn to in-line skate. Training wheels allow for stability as a child progresses through the learning process. Training wheels are removable after the child has mastered skating, leaving a fashionable looking inline skate. Will have one Boy and one Barbie skate in each casepack.

 

6 blackberry apps for moms

Moms are always busy taking care of the house, family members and as well as managing her office. They obviously want a helping hand to do their job in a perfect manner. It has become easier for the moms to do certain things with the blackberry apps for moms. Blackberry app developers have launched several blackberry apps for moms to help them in many ways. The list of apps for moms seems to be never ending and each app has got unique features of its own. Let’s take a look into some very handy and useful blackberry apps for moms.

TrackMe [free]
TrackMe is a blackberry application designed to keep mums up to date about the work the family members are performing. Be it sports, internet, recepies, TV or anything, your mom can just refresh the app to get all the live updates wherever and whenever she wants to.

Igallery [free]
Igallery is an application that transforms your blackberry device into a digital photo frame with animation effects. The application is just awesome to make your mom remember the golden moments of her life. Make a collection of your old photographs and just put them up on this application.

OurGroceries [free]
Designed to keep the grocery list of the family up to date. All the family members can install this app on their blackberry devices and then sync their devices. This will allow anyone to update the list and it will be updated and notified instantly to the other members. Then, who so ever is near the grocery store can pick up the wanted groceries. This is really helpful in making a grocery list instantly and informing everyone about the updates.

Drivesafe.ly[free] & Drivesafe.ly Pro [$19.99 USD]
A security blackberry application that will help to keep mom’s safe while they are driving. The blackberry app will read the texts, emails and calls that she receives on her demand. The clear voice quality and good audibility of the app makes it easier for her to attend to her texts and emails while being on a safe side with her hands on steering and eyes on road.

Spark Recipes [free]
A mobile cookbook blackberry application for moms. It is a treasure of recipes with more than 2,00,000 recipes for mums to choose from and make. This is ideal for new moms who aren’t a connoisseur when it comes to cooking. The cookbook can be accessed anytime and she can make anything that the family members would like to have.

Total Pregant [$3.99 USD]
A personal guide blackberry application for moms-to-be. It helps you track the number of days you are pregant, gives you weekly information about the baby and your body, helps you pre-plan and plan for your new baby, record contraction history, graphs your weight to your waist, records number of times the baby kicks you, tracks doctor's appointments and much more which you can share on facebook and twitter.

Ocean Wonders Select-a-show :

 The base looks like a starfish and has 2 musical selection buttons: one for classical lullabies and one for ocean sounds. There's also a volume switch on the front (off/low/high). On the back, mom can choose between 2 projection scenes. For the youngest baby, there is a simple scene with a large fish in the center and some smaller fish in a circle around it. Once baby's vision develops, mom can select the colorful, busier fish scene to hold baby's attention. The projection and music play for 12 minutes.

Great Ways to Meet New Mom Friends

Who knew you'd be so desperate to make new friends, just because you became a mom? It's not that your old friends aren't still amazing. But if they don't have kids, there's a good chance they're not into discussing spit-up and diaper rash all afternoon. Having friends who have "been there" in this crazy world of momdom is a lifesaver, and here's where you can pick them up!

The Park or Playground
Even if your kid is too young to hold her head up, there are moms galore hanging around the sandbox that are just as friend-hungry as you!

Child-Birthing Class
Make friends with fellow mamas-to-be as you learn to huff, puff and push out that baby at Lamaze, prenatal yoga or child-care classes.

Mommy-and-Me Classes
There are tons of classes for new moms, like baby massage, baby sign language or Music Together. As your babies roll and drool, you and your mom classmates can bond while singing "Old Mac Donald" eight zillion times.

Baby Stores
Ever wonder where ALL the new moms are? At the baby store—where else!? Walk around and check them all out. It's like picking someone up at the grocery store—mommy-style!

Parenting Support Group
Your local mom's club or parenting group, the hospital where you delivered, your local YMCA or even your pediatrician's office may host support and activity groups for new mamas. If they dont have one ask them to help you out by starting one. They will be happy to.

Ladies Who Lunch
A local new moms' luncheon (with the babies = good) or mom's night out (without the babies = better!)

Work Out
Look for a postpartum exercise class (like Stroller Strides), where you can tighten up, bring the kids along for the ride and gossip with the girls all at the same time.

Start or Join a Playgroup
Join a local playgroup. If you can't find one that's already up and running, start your own with a few cool moms in your 'hood. And why not make it crafty? Bond with other moms and make adorable stuff for your babe at the same time. If you can't find one to join, just create your own!

Public Restrooms
While it sounds totally gross, nothing says instant bonding like a matching pair of soggy diapers. We've met some of our best friends in the women's room at the mall!

Online Support
You're sure to meet new friends right here on our fabulous fan page.

After you meet someone, make sure you get their number! Make up some Mommy Visiting Cards with your contact info on them so you don't have to fumble around your over-crowded diaper bag for a pen and gum wrapper to write on!

Stack around Choo choo station

This choo choo takes building to a whole new level with fun songs, lights and peek-a-boo train car action. Four pop up blocks go along for the ride and are included with the train. Baby can stack the blocks on any of the four building surfaces atop the train. The large handle allows baby to easily grab and push the train along. When they do, the rear train car comes to life with a pop up action where the building bumps and the blocks when stacked, pop into motion.

Delicious Apple Sauce Recipe

When baby starts to eat solids, at around 6 months, mixing up a bowl of rice cereal and breast milk is easy and just the right thing at the right time. But after 6 months, baby needs more nutrition ... and I have a few tips for choosing baby's first foods!

-As you choose first foods, remember: You are setting up baby's taste buds for life, so start it right. Babies will naturally like fruit because they're used to milk, which is very sweet, so consider using vegetable purees at the start, too. You can even mix them right into baby's cereal.

-Choose bright, colorful, naturally grown foods like carrots, spinach, broccoli and apples.

-Making your own baby food is as easy as chopping, steaming and blending foods into purees. If you have a blender or a mixie, you're already in business, but if you want convenience and power in one, I love the Baby Chef Ultimate Baby Food Maker. Always make sure that the mixie is clean of masalas. I recommend that you get a separate jar for baby. 

-To help you remember which foods baby likes best, keep a little Post-it Note on the fridge and every time you feed baby, write down the kind of puree with a smiley or sad face next to it. It's also fun to look back at when your child is older. When they refuse to eat their veggies, you can say, "Look! You used to love peas!"

Try this easy applesauce recipe for starters!

Delicious Split Applesauce

Ingredients:

Makes about 3/4 cup.

1 medium apple, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

Water

Directions:

1. Place apple pieces into small saucepan with just enough water to cover the apple chunks.

2. On medium heat, simmer the apples for 6 to 8 minutes. Remove apples from heat before they look like mush. Overcooking the apples can result in flavorless applesauce.

3. Pour soft apples into the blender with the apple water from the pan.

4. Puree until very smooth, adding more water if necessary. (As with all hot foods, be very careful when blending, and open the blender slowly with a towel when you're finished.)

5. Cool, mix in a little rice cereal and breast milk or formula, and serve.

For older children: Blend for less time for a chunkier texture and add 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon or 1/8 teaspoon of cardamom, for a new flavor introduction.

What was or will be your baby's first food, after milk?

Hit Reply below and tell us!

Activity Chain from Fisher-Price

Teaches basic counting. Colourful rings with no sharp edges encourages baby to make different patterns.

Helps baby grasp things better.