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Little-Known Ways To Save Money When You Have A Baby

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:41:22 +0000

If you are a new parent, there are a number of things that you have to prepare yourself for. One thing that is extremely important that you have to learn right off the bat, is how to budget your expenses for baby products. This includes everything from clothing to diapers, and everything in between. If you have never taken the time to actually look at the prices of many baby products, you will be shocked to find out how expensive some of these items are, including the big-ticket ones such as car seats and strollers. Conventional wisdom has always been that you set aside a big portion of your baby budget to get a high quality car seat, as this will usually be most important purchase you make for your newborn baby.

However, you will soon discover that this is not even close to being one of your biggest expenses as time goes along. As my wife and I quickly learned, it is the ongoing expenses that can really add up over the course of your baby’s first year and beyond. These can include monthly cost for such things as diapers, clothing and formula. If you are not careful and frugal when you are buying these items, you can literally spend hundreds of dollars needlessly. I’m sure you have been given advice about taking secondhand baby products from friends and family members who offer these items to you, and this can be a great way to save. However, such items as diapers and formula almost always have to be bought new. My wife and I found that the best way to save on items like this is to find them for sale on such places as eBay, and to join baby reward programs with your local stores.

As an example, my wife found the exact formula that we gave our baby at well over half the price being sold by a reputable eBay dealer. She bought a two month supply for only $179, and it regularly sold in retail stores for close to $480. Another way I found to really save big on baby products, is to buy closeout models. You can usually buy car seats, strollers, etc. from the previous year, at significantly reduced prices.

But one of the best ways to save a boatload of money, is to simply buy clothing for your baby as needed. This is where most parents blow a majority of their money, and their babies usually will grow out of the clothing before it is used, costing them hundreds of dollars. One way around this is to simply keep the tags on all of the clothing, and the outfits that were never used, can then be exchanged for bigger sizes.

There are all kinds of deals that you can find out there on baby products, but you simply have to look around for them, and be willing to take the time to find these bargains. I can assure you that it will be well worth your time and effort, as my wife and I have literally saved thousands of dollars over the years doing this.

Don’t Be Intimidated To Breastfeed In Public

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:40:43 +0000

Before my wife had our baby, I never knew that there was such a controversy over breast feeding in public. However, all of this changed when ever my daughter was born and my wife started to breastfeed while we were in restaurants or at the mall. At first we got some odd and disparaging looks from people, and a few people even made some comments to us as well. This despite the fact that my wife was using a cover-up, to help hide the fact that she was feeding our baby. This of course got me pretty hot under the collar, and I have to admit that I took a great interest in why so many people felt that breast-feeding was so inappropriate out in public.

This prompted me to do a lot of research on the subject and I found that there are some extremely adamant viewpoints on both sides, but while my opinion is biased, I have to say that I feel that people who are against breast-feeding in public, really have a weak argument. First of all, this isn’t an issue like secondhand smoke that can affect others, and whenever a woman is breast-feeding, this is not actually harming anyone’s health. In fact, it is quite the opposite and is a big part of helping to nurture a new life. Most of the arguments against breast-feeding in public truly have no merit or actual facts behind them. The people who feel this way honestly lack common sense, and feel that they have the right to tell others what they should and should not be doing.

If you have faced the same issues as my wife and I when it comes to breast-feeding in public, I simply can’t stress enough that you continue to do what you feel is right for you and your baby. Don’t feel like you have to take along a bottle of breast milk for her, simply because you are too embarrassed or worried about the scorn of others if you feed in public. This is your decision and yours alone. Allowing others to tell you that it is a disgusting act, or one that is offensive, is inherently wrong. As you will quickly learn whenever you have a baby, you will constantly be having others tell you what to do, and giving you advice. In the end, you have to have the strength and backbone to do what you feel is right, and not to allow others opinions to affect what you do for your baby.

Are All New Parents Incompetent?

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:40:16 +0000

Several months after my daughter was first born I asked my wife how we were doing such a good job of raising a happy and healthy baby, since we were so incompetent. She of course laughed and understood that I was just joking around, because we both had grown quite wary of others telling us how to raise our baby. This is something that almost every new parent can’t escape from, unless you have no friends or family to speak of. Before I even took my daughter out of the hospital, I already had a number of people telling me how to put her in her car seat, what to do for her when we got home, and I even had my uncle yell at me because I had her in the sun for almost 5 seconds as I was walking to the car.

If you are a new parent then I’m sure you can relate to what I am saying, and it really is quite frustrating to deal with at first. However, I always tried to keep in mind that all of our friends and family had the best interests of our baby at heart, and they just wanted to be as helpful as possible. The problem is that they assume they are the only ones giving you advice, and when you have dozens of people offering up their own helpful suggestions, it really starts to become quite agitating and make you feel like you are incompetent. Of course, the worst thing you can do is to take offense or scold someone, but a certain point you have to let people know that you appreciate their advice, but are going to do things your own way.

This of course doesn’t mean that you won’t get some very helpful advice along the way, as my wife and I got some very wonderful tips from many of our closest friends and parents, which really helped us in the first few months. There is simply no way we were going to be able to know everything we needed to raise our baby, and I think this is the main reason why so many people were endlessly throwing their advice at us on a daily basis.

The best way to handle this situation is to just be humble and try to understand the position of the people who are giving you their suggestions. As I mentioned earlier, there will come a time when you have to let others know that you are doing a fine job of raising your baby, and while you appreciate the advice, you do have the situation under control. Some people may take offense, but most will understand your position and hopefully ease up on all of the advice they are giving you.

Baby Bath Time Tips For New Parents

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:38:48 +0000

When you become a parent you will have an assortment of questions that you think are quite silly, but in reality are really quite necessary for you to know the answer to. My wife and I felt foolish whenever we had to ask our midwife how often we were supposed to bathe our newborn baby. She of course did not make us feel silly about asking this question and told us that it should be done every other day, since it was the winter time (it can be done daily in the summer). What we did not expect, was that bathing your baby can be quite a daunting task at first when you aren’t sure of what to do. However, practice makes perfect and it became a routine task that was done quite easily as our baby began to grow.

Tips For Bathing Your Baby The First Time

The first thing you will want to do is get a baby tub, as bathing your newborn in a full size bathtub is a big no-no. You will want to also pick up some baby shampoo and non-allergenic bathwash as well. I recommend buying the Aveeno baby wash, as this is the one we found to be the most gentle, but there are a number of other quality brands out there that you may like better. As for the shampoo we went with the old standard of the Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo.

Once you have the bath products that you need, next up is of course bathing your baby. The most important thing is to make sure that the baby tub is not filled all of the way, and that you use lukewarm water. Always be sure to test the water before you put your baby in the tub, to ensure that it is not too hot or too cold. You will then want to start a routine of how you wash your baby, so that you never miss a spot. I preferred to start with my daughters face, and then I would work my way down slowly making sure that I got in all of her little creases and crevices. You want to pay particular attention to not only her private parts, but between her toes, and most especially her neck. Most babies have a roll of fat around their necks, and you have to make sure this area is properly cleaned each and every time, as it can’t chafe quite easily in become infected if it is not cleaned well.

You will then want to lean your baby forward and allow her to rest on your arm, so you can wash her back and bottom. You also want to take this opportunity to wash behind her ears at this time, as it is much easier to clean them when your baby is in this position, as opposed to when she is sitting back. Finally, you will want to wash her hair, and then rinse her off from head to toe with lukewarm water.

Please note that the most important part of bathing your baby is putting her into the tub and taking her out of the tub. You will always want to support her head as you are placing her into the tub, and gently ease her into it. Whenever you are taking her out of the tub, use great care as she can be quite slippery, and be sure to grab her under the arms, as this provides the surest grip possible.

Be sure to dry your baby well, paying particular attention to all of the creases, between her toes and especially under her neck. You can then apply some lotion to your baby, to help keep her skin moist.

A New Parent’s Worst Nightmare – Cradle Cap!

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:38:08 +0000

When your baby is first born she will perfect to you in every way, even if she has flaws like many babies do. There are any number of scars or imperfections that you may discover on your baby, but nothing is quite as unnerving as when cradle cap first appears. When my daughter was born I was well aware of this problem and the fact that it would most likely happen to her at some point in the first few months of her life. I had taken the time to read up on the condition and thought I was fully prepared for whenever it would happen. I read all of the advice about not letting the appearance of cradle cap upset me, and I was fully determined to stick to my guns and treat it casually when the time came.

However that all changed whenever my daughter got it around six weeks. It started out as just a few little flakes on her scalp, but got progressively worse as the weeks went on. It became so bad that it was actually starting to upset me more than I had anticipated. We had gone through a bout of acne with our daughter as well, and it only lasted for about a week, so it did not bother me nearly as much as the cradle cap did. I can tell you now that this is something that is not easily cured in most babies, and while there are a number of things that you can do to try and get rid of it, the best cure is patience.

The first thing we tried was using baby oil on our daughter’s scalp, and then we would painstakingly comb out the oil and the flakes. However, this just ended up making the matter worse it seemed. We then tried using olive oil, but the results were about the same. Eventually, we decided to just comb out the cradle crap without using any type of ointments or oil. We would do this every day, just to get out the loose flakes that were on our daughters scalp. It definitely tested our patience, as the condition lasted for over a month before it finally cleared up.

The chances that your baby will end up with cradle cap are actually pretty high, so if you are a new parent and you’re reading this article, you will have to prepare yourself for this eventuality. I can almost guarantee you that it will more than likely bother you, more than you can imagine right now. However, it does go away after time, and the best cure as I mentioned earlier is a lot of patience and faith that the condition will clear up on its own.

Why You Should Think Twice About Co Sleeping

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:37:36 +0000

Before my daughter was born my wife and I had a number of discussions about whether or not we were going to have our newborn sleeping in the bedroom with us. My wife was staunchly against this and I felt like it was something that was extremely important to do, at least for the first few weeks after our baby was born. I had done a lot of reading about co-sleeping and the risks associated with it. Therefore, I did not want our baby to sleep in the same bed with us because of the high risks of suffocation or other potential accidents that could happen. However, I did want her crib to be in the same room as us so that we could monitor her and ensure that everything was okay.

This turned out to be a huge mistake and I was totally unprepared for how difficult it was to sleep in the same room as a newborn baby. If you are expecting a baby for the very first time and have never heard a newborn sleep, let me tell you, it is quite the experience! The very first night our daughter slept in our bedroom, she made choking and gagging noises the entire night, that had us popping up out of the bed every couple of minutes to make sure she wasn’t gagging or suffocating to death. On one particular night after my daughter finally went to asleep peacefully, my wife and I eventually fell into a pretty deep sleep for a couple of hours. In the middle of the night, my daughter suddenly started making her choking noises again and I literally jumped straight out of the bed to make sure she was okay. This was an extremely startling experience and the next day we decided to move her into another bedroom and to just use a monitor.

What we found out from our doctor and others we knew who had babies is that it is perfectly normal for newborns to make these types of noises. As a new parent, the most important thing is that you get an ample amount of sleep. I understand perfectly well about the concerns you may have about ensuring your baby is safe, but I can assure you that the best thing you can do for yourself and your newborn is to have him or her sleeping in another room. Trust me when I tell you, that you don’t want to find out the hard way like I did, that sleeping in the same room with a newborn is a miserable experience.

Tips For Establishing A Sleeping Routine For Your Baby

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:37:04 +0000

The most difficult thing about having a newborn baby is the fact that you will be running on fumes for the first month or two. Babies basically do three things when they are first born: sleep, eat, and poop. Your newborn baby is not going to have much of a personality and this can really be a trying time as his only instincts are going to be about survival. He is learning to adapt to a new and frightening world and you are going to have to learn to adapt with him. This means that if your baby decides to wake up every hour or two to eat that you will be at his mercy. This is why the running joke about parents with newborns lacking sleep, has a lot of merit to it.

However, as your baby approaches three or four months old, this is an ideal time to start getting him in on a sleeping schedule. With our daughter, my wife and I put her on a set routine, which is extremely important if you want your baby to sleep until the morning. It doesn’t necessarily matter what your routine is, it just has to be a specific sequence of events that you do every night, before you put your baby to bed. In my daughter’s case, we would always bathe her, then feed her around eight o’clock every night. We would then change her diaper and put her into her sleeper for the night. This kind of set routine helps your baby to understand the difference between night and day.

Remember, you may have to have your baby on this routine for awhile before she adapts to it. It could take anywhere from several days to a few weeks or more. It is all dependent upon your baby and how quickly she adapts to everything, before she can start distinguishing between night and day.

Keep in mind that a baby’s sleep schedule is never going to be linear, and there will be times that she’s going to start waking up in the middle of the night again. This could be because she is practicing a new milestone such as rolling over, or perhaps she is going through a growth spurt and is hungry. It is important to note that these interruptions usually do not last more than a couple of weeks at most, and it is important that you stick with your routine when these instances do occur. Eventually if you stick to your routine, your baby will get back onto her normal sleeping schedule again.

The Dangers Of Water Intoxication In Babies

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:36:33 +0000

It is virtually impossible to know everything you need to learn about your baby whenever he or she is first born. As a parent your education is an ongoing one, as your baby develops and grows, you are also following suit. Your baby is becoming much more aware of the world around him, and growing stronger each and every day. In turn, you are becoming more educated about your baby and your role as a parent. Unfortunately, you will never get quite comfortable with this role, as there is always something new to learn and responsibilities that you must incur. I almost discovered this the hard way a few weeks after my daughter was born, when I was introduced to the danger of water intoxication in babies.

I thought that I was fully prepared to be a father and I had read up as much as I possibly could about raising a baby, and I was pretty confident that I had the necessary education to raise my newborn daughter. While I do admit that I was quite ahead of the curve as compared to most new fathers, I almost made a grave mistake one day when I was mixing my daughter’s formula. She had run out of formula and my wife was at lunch with some of her friends, so I had my daughter for the afternoon. It was the first time I was mixing formula and I didn’t know that you had to carefully follow the instructions on the can. I ended up adding too much water to the formula, which as I was about to find out, could’ve been a grave mistake.

Thankfully, my wife came home early from lunch that day, and when I told her how I mixed the formula, she gave me a stern look and explain to me how water can be deadly to babies, which I of course did not know. Ever since that day I have done a great deal of research on water intoxication in babies and can tell you that it is something all parents must be aware of whenever they are raising a baby.

As a parent you must be fully aware of the fact that your baby’s digestive system is immature whenever she is born, and it can only handle such things as properly mixed formula and breast milk. You should never under any circumstances give your baby any water, unless you are instructed to do so by your physician. It does not take much water to intoxicate a baby and be deadly to her. Not until your baby is beyond six months old, can she have water. Also, learn from my mistake and if you are giving your baby formula and have to mix it, always be sure to follow the instructions to a T. and use the proper amount of water.

While water is going to be a big part of helping your child develop and grow as she gets older, it is vital to stress that giving it to a baby during the first six months of her life can cause her to become seriously ill, or even die.

The Big Decision All Expectant Parents Agonize Over

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:36:00 +0000

Whenever I found out that my wife was pregnant, it was easily the best moment of my life and the wave of emotions I felt was something I can never truly put into words. Of course after these wonderful feelings started to dissipate, there were a number of important things that my wife and I had to do and learn, to prepare for the coming of our baby. We had to buy baby clothes and products, schedule doctors appointments, and also learn all about babies on the fly. However, all of this responsibility that was now thrust upon our shoulders meant we had to make a number of extremely tough decisions over the next nine months and beyond.

One of the hardest choices we had to make was when our midwife asked us if we wanted to learn the sex of our baby. She had just made an ultrasound appointment for us, and we had two weeks to decide if we wanted to know if our baby was going to be a boy or a girl. This was an issue that I had been thinking about long before our midwife asked us, but I never actually sat down and spoke to my wife about it. This was an agonizing decision and we eventually decided that we wanted to know what our baby was going to be. Unfortunately, the baby did not cooperate with the ultrasound technician, and she couldn’t tell us what the sex of our baby actually was.

Eventually, we had to go back for another ultrasound appointment, and found out that we were in fact having a baby girl. This made things much easier for us to make decisions regarding the clothing we had to buy for her and how to decorate the nursery.

For us it was a logical decision to find out what the sex of our baby was going to be before she was born. For others they want to be surprised on the day that their baby is born. There is no right or wrong decision in this matter, and it is a personal decision that is entirely up to each couple. However, there are of course some pros and cons to making this decision.

If for instance, you know the sex of your baby, it makes it much easier to buy things for him or her. This also makes it easier for people who will be attending your baby shower, to buy gifts, assuming that you have the shower before the baby is actually born. I can tell you from experience, that there is also a peace of mind in knowing if you are going to have a boy or a girl.

Others want to be surprised on the day that their child is born, which is why they opt to wait. This is perfectly understandable and if you can wait this long, it is a wonderful surprise for any couple. Of course on the downside, you will be quite limited in the things that you can buy for your baby, which makes it more difficult to get things ready. However, there will be plenty of time to buy these items after the birth of your baby.

It is important to remember that no matter which decision you make, the result is going to be the same; a beautiful baby that is going to dramatically change your life forever!

Importance Of Installing A Car Seat Safely

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:35:16 +0000

I made a few bad decisions whenever my daughter was first born, but the one that I look back on the most and get upset about is the way I installed her car seat. My wife and I got a free infant seat from her work and I put it in a few weeks before my daughter was born. It was not a very difficult seat to install, or at least this is what I thought, after reading the instructions. This is basically why I decided to do it myself, and not get help from anybody else who had more experience than me. I felt like the seat was very secure and really thought nothing about it. I had a number of other things on my mind, including the birth of my baby, so I obviously was not thinking clearly.

Thankfully, one day while we were visiting some of my wife’s friends, who had children of their own, they noticed that our car seat was not installed properly. I was horrified to find out that it was not nearly as secure as it was supposed to be, and that my baby was at risk for almost 3 months because of my negligence. Our friends showed us the proper way to install the car seat, and it was a much different process than what I had done. There was a significant difference between how easily the seat moved when I installed it, and how it barely budged after our friend was done helping me install it.

I am writing this article today because I do not want other new parents to make the same mistake I did and to put your baby’s life at risk, simply because you don’t understand how to properly install a car seat. There is no shame in not knowing how to put in the seats, as very few people actually know the proper procedure. In fact, statistics show that over two thirds of all car seats are not installed properly. This means that a majority of babies on the road are at great risk of injury or death if they are ever in an accident. However, this doesn’t have to be the case for you and your baby. By simply reading this article you now know more than many new parents, and you have no excuse not to have your car seat put in the right way by certified technicians.

In the US, there are many inspection stations all around the country that will help you put your car seat in securely. You can find these inspection stations either online or by calling your local fire or police station to see if they offer this service. Having this done takes less than an hour, and I can assure you will be the best thing you ever do for your baby.