Your Baby’s Growth And Development

Unlike us who struggle to keep up with our work duties during the day and can sit back, watch TV and really relax only during the night you little baby is not governed by the fascist rules of night and day. They will sleep whenever they feel like it, wherever they feel like it, and however long they want to. On an average, babies sleep close to 17 hours a day. A whopping nine hours more than what we can just about manage. However, unlike us they don’t nap for long stretches of time, most of their sleeping spells extend only up to 2-3 hours. When they do wake up they expect to be fed or changed and in case you forget to meet those expectations they’ll create a ruckus just to remind you.

To help your baby’s routine get more conventional, in terms of it’s sleeping/feeding time etc. you can take a number of steps. To make sure he/she learns that nighttime is the time to sleep and daytime the time to stay up and throw tantrums, put your baby in a room that is too bright during the day to fall asleep in. However be careful to not put your baby in direct sunlight. At night either shift your baby to a room that is cold and dark, or use the same room but just curtain it up and switch on the ac to make it cozy enough for your him/her to fall asleep. You can also put your baby in a sort of routine just to condition him/her to what comes before getting to sleep. Give him/her a warm bath or feed her or play soothing music right before putting him/her to bed everyday.

Every child is born with certain reflexes. If you touch his cheek with the tip of your hand or your breast he will turn towards the tip and open his mouth, if you put your finger in his palm he will grasp it etc. These reflexes disappear after the few initial months after his/her birth and are duly replaced by more voluntary actions.

Although a large variety of baby food is available in the market today nothing is as high in nutrients as the mothers milk. The antidotes found in a mother’s milk protects the child against infections and makes his/her immune system stronger.

After birth the babies weight undergoes rapid change. Within a matter of six months it becomes twice it’s birth weight. In the next six months it’s weight shoots up to around triple the weight at its birth. Once it crosses the one-year mark it’s growth pattern settles down and continues at a comparatively lower speed. At one years of age any average child is about 30 inches in length and 20 pounds in weight. At two these figures become about 33 and 26 respectively.

At three months of age, your child will love to study faces and try and grasp toys and moving objects of interest hanging over its head. He/she will also respond to voices and sounds and volume. By six months most babies will be able to stand and sit with some assistance. At nine months of age, your baby will be sitting alone and will also be able to pull herself/himself on furniture (provided their strength matches their weight). Their babble will now start taking a concrete shape and fingers will come handy in pointing and of course eating little pieces of food.

By the time your baby is 1 she will probably learn to walk on her own and also crawl up over more difficult terrain, like the stairs or over the crib or play pen. She will also show greater preference for one hand over the other, and will tend to do most of her movements with the preferred hand. They will also learn to recognize faces and thereby be afraid of strangers and will express love and affection.

Working Out With Baby

Decades ago, conventional wisdom led women to believe that they were extremely fragile during pregnancy. This meant halting all physical activities such as exercise and basically becoming a couch potato. Thankfully, today women know better than that.

Exercise does wonders during pregnancy, because it greatly improves your overall health and wellbeing. It boosts mood, enhances the quality of sleep, reduces pregnancy aches and pains, and prepares you for childbirth by strengthening muscles and building endurance. This is especially important because during pregnancy and childbirth, a woman’s body is subjected to a great deal of stress. Exercise also makes it much easier to get back in shape after your baby’s born, and helps ease constipation, backache, fatigue, varicose veins, circulation problems and other health issues related to pregnancy.

The most recommended exercises for pregnant women are walking, swimming, yoga, stretching, and low-impact aerobics. Pelvic exercises called Kegel exercises are also beneficial to the expectant mother, helping to strengthen the pelvic floor. The pelvic floor muscles support the uterus, bowel, and bladder; these body parts are put under pressure during pregnancy and childbirth.

Before beginning an exercise regimen during pregnancy, it is important for women to first consult your healthcare provider. This is to eliminate any possible medical conditions such as preterm rupture of membranes, pregnancy-induced hypertension, preterm labor, persistent second- or third-trimester bleeding, poor fetal growth, incompetent cervix or multiple-birth pregnancy which may preclude a pregnant woman from exercising. Women must also take care not to become overheated or dehydrated while exercising. An increase in core body temperatures in early pregnancy can cause fetal defects, and dehydration in late pregnancy is associated with premature labor. This can be avoided by drinking plenty of fluids and wearing loose, comfortable clothes. You must wear a brassiere providing full support to the breasts and shoes that provide cushioning for your foot or joints. A warm-up and cool-down phase should be included in any exercise regime, with an emphasis to gentle stretching to prevent muscle strain, muscle cramps and joint injuries. Knee joints are more prone to injury because of the pregnancy hormone relaxin, which softens ligaments and tendons. Avoid exercises on your back after the first trimester or whenever you feel dizzy, lightheaded or nauseated because the weight of your uterus puts pressure on the vein responsible for returning blood from the lower body to the heart.

If you already had an exercise regimen prior to becoming pregnant, you can probably still work out at the same level during pregnancy, as long as your body is comfortable and your doctor gives his blessing. Generally, extremely vigorous physical activity is not recommended during pregnancy. This includes contact sports, such as football and basketball; adventure sports, such as water skiing and scuba diving; and sports that carry a high risk of trauma, such as horseback riding and downhill skiing. The best way to gauge if you are overdoing the exercise is if you experience symptoms such as chest pains and vaginal bleeding or uterine contractions. This is your cue to stop exercising immediately and seek medical advice.

Many hospitals and fitness centers are now offering exercise classes especially for pregnant women, which allow participants not only the opportunity to exercise but to be in the company of others like themselves. This lets them share their aches and pains with someone who really understands how they feel, therefore building the wide support system which is important to women. The way you feel and the way you look during pregnancy and as a new mother depend on how you take care of yourself during pregnancy regarding diet and exercise. By eating a sensible diet and by exercising on a regular basis, you can maintain or improve your fitness and health during this time when there are extra demands on your body.

Why A Child Is Cute

We find every child a cute child. We enjoy looking at the children, love playing with them and share their happiness and innocence with joy. Why? Is it only because the child is a lovely child in looks? That is not true. We mainly enjoy being with children and love them because they are honest. We love children because of their innocence. We love children because we are sure that child will not judge us and that we can be totally free with the children without any fear.

Let us examine our relationship with grown ups. With most of our friends and acquaintances, we are guarded in our approach. We think before speaking. We try to hide most of our true feelings and try to act in a way that we believe will maintain a make believe relationship. How many times, have you thought of shouting at someone, but have refrained from doing so? How many times have you wished to laugh at someone’s dressing sense but have stopped that laughter? How many times have you really wanted to tell someone few things but stopped midway worried that it may spoil the relationship? Please think about the artificial way in which we relate with grown up people. We do all this because we are unsure of ourselves. We are unsure about the other person’s reaction and intelligence and we are unsure about the relationship.

With a child nothing of this kind exists. We are free to express ourselves in as many ways as we wish, without any reservations. That is why we love children and call them cute.

What You Can Expect From 7 To 9-Months-Old Babies

Now that your little angel has reached 7 months old. Time goes by so fast that you don’t realize your baby is now able to sit upright without your support or even her own hands. Wow, that must be an incredible feeling seeing her grow so instantly.

For parents of 7 to 9-months-old babies, what else can you find in their physical growths? Well, every baby is not the same. One may have earlier development from the others.

For example, your friend’s baby was able to start crawling when he was 8 months old, while yours could do it when she was seven and a half months.

On the other hand, the first baby started teething when he was 6 months old, whereas yours did it when she was 9 months.

So, you really need not to be anxious about your baby’s development. She will reach the stage.

What you need to pay attention to is your baby’s developmental milestone. This means she should be able to do certain things at particular ages.

It’s best for you to make some notes on your baby’s growth, such as writing all her new skills in an online diary. If you do not want to miss any of your baby’s growths, writing the journal will be very exciting.

Adding up cute photos when new things happen will also be a wonderful endeavor. Later on, you’ll thank yourself for keeping the memories online as you can see it anytime anywhere. Add up the joy by sharing the site to friends and families.

Now let’s go back to the previous topic. If you’re a first-time parent, you probably still have a little idea about your baby’s development.

Below is a milestone you can use as your guideline. If your baby isn’t on her track or doesn’t reach many of the stages mentioned here, you may consult it with your baby’s pediatrician.

Here are some of the milestones for 7 to 9-months-old baby:

1. Sitting upright without support
2. Crawling
3. Teething
4. Babbling
5. Passing things from hand to hand
6. Standing up by holding onto something
7. Waving hands
8. Clapping hands
9. Turning heads when someone calls her
10. Holding her bottles
11. Picking objects up with pincer (thumb-finger) grasp
12. Testing your responses to her behavior
13. Able to distinguish people she knows and strangers
14. Cruising while holding onto the wall or other furniture

The older your baby, the more skills she may have. If your baby is not able to do some of these things, don’t worry too much. It does not mean a problem. She’ll reach the phase in the perfect time, soon.

What To Do When Your Baby Won’t Wear Clothes!

A lot of time and energy goes into clothing your baby during the first year. From the color debate, to the rapid speed at which most infants outgrow their clothing, new parents have their plates full with keeping their babies clean, comfortable and clothed. So what do you do when all of a sudden, the baby doesn’t want to wear any clothes at all? How do you deal with the exhibitionist stage of your toddler?

At about fourteen months, your baby will most likely want to romp around in the buff. This is completely normal, and in fact could help a little bit with potty training. Obviously, however, it can be a bit troublesome when trying to introduce social norms, and of course when having company without children over for coffee or lunch. So how does a new parent deal with a naked toddler?

The best thing to do is not discourage this behavior entirely. Set limits about where and when your toddler can be naked and enforce them. It is tedious, but repeatedly re-dressing your toddler may be the best way to get the message across. Keep an especially close eye on your toddler in public. Not just because of the obvious, but because you don’t want to lose expensive items like shoes or jackets.

Setting a “naked time” where your child is free to roam around the house for an hour or so a day is a good way to set limits on acceptable behavior. Make sure this time is a time when you can be around to monitor them very closely and make sure that they don’t hurt their more exposed areas. Also, it’s probably best if naked time is a time when your home doesn’t see a lot of traffic. Your toddler may be comfortable with their naked time, but friends and neighbors may not be.

Use your child’s newfound freedom to encourage them to choose their own clothing. Let your toddler dress him or herself a couple of times a week as a special treat. Soon they might like to get dressed as much as they enjoy disrobing. Make getting dressed fun, and stress the importance of where and when it is okay to take off your clothes. This way your child begins to understand the important role that clothing plays in the day-to-day life of grown ups.

The most important thing to remember is not to let your discipline about clothing become about your child’s body. It is easy to make your child feel ashamed of their naked body, even if it is not intended. This kind of discomfort can go a long way in determining how your child feels about their body in the long term, right up into adulthood. Making play dates for right before or after naked time can be a good way to demonstrate for your child the difference between private time and public time, and let them begin making their own boundaries in their mind. This time in their life is a lot about exploration. So even though you’ve been there, it’s important to let them figure out some stuff on their own.

What To Buy For Baby

A growing number of ingenious gift givers have discovered a special kind of present for new babies and their families.

It’s a contribution to help them collect and store the newborn stem cells in their baby’s umbilical cord blood. Banked cord blood provides a unique opportunity to protect that child or another family member’s future health. It’s one of the most valuable gifts anyone can give.

Doctors use the newborn stem cells in cord blood to treat over 75 serious illnesses, such as leukemia, sickle-cell anemia, and other serious blood and immune disorders. As medical research evolves, so will stem cell therapies, with new treatments expected for heart disease, diabetes, brain damage, cerebral palsy, stroke, and other age-related conditions, offering families more and more uses for banked cord blood.

Currently, scientists believe, stem cells similar to those found in cord blood can develop into replacement cells for damaged organs. Clinical trials recently revealed that stem cells can heal heart tissue damaged after a heart attack or repair damaged areas of the liver. Unlocking that amazing potential could generate new therapies for diseases only treated with traditional medical therapies in the past.

Newborn stem cells derived from cord blood are a noncontroversial source of stem cells. They only come from a live birth, have similar characteristics to embryonic stem cells, and are currently emerging as a viable research alternative to embryonic cells.

Newborn stem cells are easy to obtain and immediately available if needed. They are unique because they do not have to match the recipient as closely as bone marrow, offer less chance of being rejected, and can be used by siblings, the child’s mother and other relatives, in many circumstances where bone marrow cells cannot.

There is, however, only one opportunity with each child to collect and store cord blood-right after birth. The procedure is quick, easy, painless, and completely safe for mother and baby.

Families that bank cord blood have peace of mind knowing that related stem cells are immediately available if ever needed. So when you’re considering what to get a loved one’s latest addition, you may care to think about giving a gift that will last a lifetime.

What Do You Do When Baby Outgrows His Clothes?

You’ve recently had a baby. It’s been a few months now, and the baby has outgrown virtually two full wardrobes. Sure it’s expensive, but there’s a whole other issue at hand. What is a mother to do with all of this extra baby clothes?

There are a number of ways to deal with this problem. First of all, there is the donation route. If you don’t have close friends with similar aged babies, you can put aside certain things for when they do, or in the event that you have another. The rest of the clothes can go to the Goodwill or Salvation Army. These are also a great place to find gently used baby clothes for incredible savings.

Special occasion attire like baby’s coming home outfit, first Christmas, and Baptism can be saved in a special place for passing on to a next generation. A great way to do this is by creating a memory box. Get a small trunk at a craft store and decorate it however you’d like. Fill it with small mementos like the baby’s hospital bracelet, first outfit and blanket. As the baby gets older you will have more things to add to it. This is a great way to preserve memories that your child may not have the foresight to think of now, but will appreciate very much later.

Using material from old baby clothes to make new baby clothes is a great way to save money and get a little more use out of the items that your child quickly outgrows. Making t-shirts into cute patchwork dresses, and pants into shorts are some quick fixes to pinch pennies.

Another way to use up material from old baby clothes is to make stuffed animals. Do you have a favorite t-shirt of your baby’s that his or her little arms just don’t quite fit right in anymore? Using the material to make a little stuffed bear is a great way to preserve that memory for yourself and pass something very special on to your baby. The same thing can be done, if a hobby persists, with socks and jeans as well. Soon all of your friends will be begging for little stuffed dolls made out of your baby’s old clothing.

If you are in fact creatively inclined, another great way to reincarnate your baby’s clothes is by creating a memory quilt. Save bits and pieces of your baby’s clothing and use it to create a full sized patchwork quilt for when your baby gets their own big bed. That kind of sentimental value also makes a great gift for a graduation or a wedding (if you can wait that long to show off your handy work).

If you’re planning on having another child, you have a built in way to get rid of all of the extra clothes. You can put away the clothes that your baby grows out of in a storage area. Just make sure you launder everything when it comes back out for round two. Sure, it stinks to get hand-me-downs, but it is unlikely your infant will notice, let alone care.

What do you buy a new born baby?

So your friends have had a baby, and you’re wondering what to get them for a gift. Well, you’ve come to the right place. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking – you might not like all of them, but hopefully there will be something here that appeals to you.

The first, and most obvious, candidate for a baby gift has to be clothes. Many people are reluctant to buy clothes in advance of the birth because they’re not sure what gender the baby is going to be, but don’t let that put you off – white clothes are nice-looking and gender-neutral. It will depend on where you live, but the best baby clothes tend to be soft, fluffy things that can keep the baby cosy and warm. Do realise, however, that clothes aren’t exactly an original gift, and the couple might already be snowed under with them.

Toys are another favourite, although it can be difficult to know what to get. Things like mobiles and other brightly coloured things that the baby can swipe at tend to be a good choice, as are rattles and soft toys that make noises. You will probably win more points with the parents by getting more educational baby toys, such as those with shapes or animal noises, instead of ones that just seem cool.

If you want to think more unconventionally, though, there are plenty of things to consider. Why not buy (or contribute towards) a cot, or a pushchair? Why not start a savings fund for the baby, with a decent chunk of money to get it started? Or you could buy nappies, or bath stuff, or whatever – take a look at the baby section in any shop to get plenty of ideas.

One last idea: with all this focus on things for the baby, maybe the parents are feeling a little left out, with no presents for them and no money or time left to treat themselves for a good long while. A nice thing to do is to get a present for the parents, as it will probably be the only thing they get for themselves, and they’ll be pleased that someone thought of them.

What Do I Feed My Baby?

For the first four to six months of your baby’s life, his or her diet consists solely of milk, whether from breast or bottle. When it comes time to start feeding your baby solid food, many experts give conflicting advice about what the right types of food to feed your baby. Some of these experts are of course, right in your own family. Grandma, Aunt Bessie, your sister, and others will all want to help you out by telling you what is best. What they may not understand is that recommendations may have changed since they were the mother of a new baby.

Dr. Ronald Kleinman, chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Massachusetts General Hospital, recalls nutritional guidelines that differ greatly from today’s recommendations. “Several generations ago, doctors were quite dogmatic in establishing the order of what came first, next, and next. For example, the pediatrician would say, ‘First, rice cereal. Then, peas. Then, introduce a yellow vegetable.’ There wasn’t any rhyme or reason to that dogmatism.”

Without that strict guideline though, it’s easy for parents to be confused about which approach to take. What type of food is the best to start with? How much should my baby eat each day? What types of food are bad or harmful to my baby? What if he’s allergic to something I feed him? There are also a lot of myths to confuse you even more.

Let’s explore some myths and facts about your baby’s diet;

Myth: The first food that your baby is fed must be rice cereal. Rice cereal is a great place to start, but not the only potential first food you feed your baby. Almost any soft, hypoallergenic food can be fed to your baby as their first food. Mashed sweet potatoes and applesauce are two examples.

Myth: You should not feed your baby meat as a first food. As long as the food is soft or mashed and is hypoallergenic, your baby should be able to eat it.

Fact: You need to allow some time after each new food you introduce to see if it causes an allergic reaction in your baby. Food allergies can cause reactions varying in severity from mild to serious, including anaphylactic shock. However, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI) reports that only eight percent of children under age six have adverse reactions to ingested foods, and that only two to five percent have confirmed food allergies. People often confuse reactions to food with food allergies. For example, if a child has a stomach bug, he may be lactose intolerant for a week. That is a negative reaction, but not an allergy. “There is a host of adverse reactions to foods, and allergies are a subset of those,” says Dr. Kleinman.

Fact; Your baby has a higher chance of being allergic to certain foods more than others, such as peanut butter, peanuts, egg whites, shellfish, fish, and tree nuts like walnuts and cashews. If your family is prone to food allergies you need to wait until your baby is at least three years old before introducing them to these foods. Even if your family is not prone to food allergies, there is no reason to start your baby on peanuts before age three.

Myth; If a baby refuses a food a few times, that means that she doesn’t like it. “There’s a lot of good research to show that children are notoriously stubborn about new foods,” says Dr. Kleinman. It’s often necessary to introduce the unpalatable food multiple times.

Leann Birch, head of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State, published a study on food preferences in children. In it, she found that parents must present a food six to eight times before a baby will accept it. Don’t force it, but don’t give up easily, either. You really do know more about nutrients, vitamins, and calories than your baby does, and he’s counting on you to persist.

Fact; As your baby begins to eat solid foods their motor skills will become more efficient and they will be able to begin feeding themselves. If you wish to speed the process along, start out by offering your baby finger foods after they have been on solid food for awhile, such as pieces of toasted oat bread, small pieces of well-cooked sweet potato, banana slices, or small chunks of avocado.

Myth; Commercial baby food is preferable to table food. Parents tend to believe that there’s something special about commercially made baby food. That’s a myth; in fact, most of the regular food on your table every night is probably just fine for your infant to eat. By pureeing food in a blender for your baby, you control exactly what your infant eats. “None of the baby food manufacturers have been found to be completely honest or accurate about what is in their products,” warns Dr. Charles Shubin, director of Pediatrics at Mercy Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Fact; You need to be extra careful when preparing food for infants and small babies. Practice good food hygiene. Wash your hands, scrub bowls and utensils thoroughly, keep food hot or cold as indicated, and cook food thoroughly. Make sure you keep the portions you feed your baby small enough for them to digest. Fruit needs to be stewed and strained to a creamy consistency to start out with, then you can move on to chunky, then bite sized pieces as you progress.

Myth; Parents should only offer a small varieties of bland foods. When your baby is 6 months old it’s okay to introduce food that has more flavor. Remember, what you enjoyed while you were pregnant may have given the baby for a taste for it as well. Babies learn flavor preferences from the adult feeding the baby.

Myth; It doesn’t matter what I eat, as long as my baby eats healthy. Babies and children learn by example. If all you eat is fried chicken and ice cream, they will want to only eat fried chicken and ice cream. If you do not want your child to be obese, set an example and eat healthy, so they will learn to eat healthy.

Weird Celebrity Baby Names

Celebrities seem to be competing for the wierdest baby names. Among the social elite, you’ll find names like Apple, Banjo, Cosima, and Daisy Boo. As always, Americans
seem to be following suit. Walk into the classroom and you don’t see the same Jack and Jill’s of yesteryear. Today’s names are often made unique by alternate spellings, combinations of two names, and even made up names.

Here are some of the weird celebrity baby names you might see on Hollywood.

Weird Celebrity Baby Names :

Fifi Trixibelle (Paula Yates and Bob Geldof)
Moon Unit (Frank and Gail Zappa)
Apple (Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin)
Satchel (Mia Farrow and Woody Allen)
Peaches (Paula Yates and Bob Geldof)
Tiger Lily Heavenly Hirani (Paula Yates and Michael Hutchence)
Maddox (adopted by Angelina Jolie)
River (Arlyn and John Phoenix)
Dweezil (Frank/Gail Zappa)
Brooklyn (Victoria/David Beckham)
Zowie (Angie and David Bowie)
Phoenix Chi (Mel C and Jimmy Gulzar)
Banjo (Patrick and Rachel Griffiths)
Chester (Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks)
Cosima (Nigella Lawson)
Daisy Boo (Jamie Oliver)
Dexter (Diane Keaton)
Maddox (Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton)
Racer, Rebel, Rocket (Robert Rodriguez)
Willow (Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith)
Zola (Eddie Murphy)