Baby Is Not Sleeping Through the Night? Enjoying the Moment

August 22, 2013 by

Having a little bundle of joy excites you more than anything. However, just a few days after having that blissful moment of joy reality sinks in. You face the heap of laundry, washing the dishes, and cleaning he house along with the long resounding cry of your beloved little angel. On top of this, is being able to get little to no sleep at all. So your baby is not sleeping through the night? It might seem awful right now, but try to enjoy this moment. Seriously!

According to experts, some babies will be able to adjust and sleep soundly by the time they reach third month. So more parents at this stage get to sleep through the night. A perfect recharge to face another day! What if your child still isn’t outgrown this phase? One inspiring story for moms struggling in this phase actually gave me hope that everything will get better. The blog simply says “Let It Be“. The name of the post really says it all.

“Equally, when you seek out the 15% of parents whose child never sleeps, it feels good – we are not alone! You too are up every few hours with a teething/nocturnal/wide-awake child. At 3am I know that maybe 5 of my friends are up too, we may as well have a conference call (and a coffee).”

Yes, this too shall pass. Well, enjoy it while it lasts because before you know it, your little bundle of joy will go off to college. Well maybe that’s still a ways off, but you get the point! If your baby is not sleeping through the night, take the time you will spend awake as some bonus time together. One day you’ll long for that.

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How Young is Too Young to Use an iPad?

January 4, 2013 by

With tablets becoming even more popular after this holiday season I think it is time to wonder, are these things really good for young kids? Sure, they have a ton of educational apps and those are all great. They can also help to give overwhelmed parents a break by letting the kids be safely occupied. However, how young is too young to be using an iPad? Adults in the world today are seemingly addicted to their screens. Whether it’s a laptop, smartphone, or tablet it seems that everybody is always on some sort of device. Does this mean that children will be raised on these devices? I love the educational value of things like the iPad, but I wonder if there are also negatives people are overlooking.

I read a story about why your 2 year old doesn’t need an iPad and realized a negative aspect of kids using devices like these. The blog post was about how a mom let her 2 year old use her iPad for fun one afternoon. It went great and her daughter became an instant fan of the iPad. However, the next few days her daughter wanted no part of any other game, only the iPad. This sort of technology addiction could be dangerous. Is there a way to limit young children’s use of the iPad or do parents have to hide iPads from them until they are older? These are all things I wonder about with this new technology.

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Keeping Fit with a Newborn Baby Around is Possible

January 4, 2013 by

It is tough to be a new parent. Babies all have strange sleeping schedules and need plenty of attention. This can cause a gigantic lack of sleep, as we all know. I read about a mom who is still keeping up with her workouts even though her baby is only 11 weeks old. Her and her husband have been working to get their daughter to sleep in a more regular fashion.

This post called, “Sleep, Workouts and More New Mom Things”, talks all about the author Nicole’s attempts to get her baby to sleep and also her new workouts. She has been doing 30 minute video workouts while her baby naps. I respect her work ethic so much, and I felt that sharing the link to her story might be able to motivate some moms and dads out there who have fallen out of their workout routine.

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Did Western Society Create the Difficulty of Sleep Training?

January 2, 2013 by

I know there has and probably always will be an argument over things like co-sleeping in the realm of parenting. I’m not here to take sides, but to offer up an interesting article that I found. The article titled, “Sleep Training: It’s a First World Problem”, made a couple of good points that I thought were worth sharing. The post talks about how co-sleeping is a normal thing in many societies where families live in smaller houses or even huts. It also draws evidence from history of co-sleeping in families. The article is pretty one sided in support of co-sleeping, but to be fair I gave you a heads up. If this is something that interests you then go ahead and check it out!

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How to Get Your Baby to Sleep While Traveling for the Holidays

December 19, 2012 by

A big concern for many parents with a toddler or baby around this time of the year is keeping their sleep pattern regular throughout the holidays. Traveling or having family over for the holidays can definitely disrupt your babies sleep schedule. Whether they miss their afternoon nap or just can’t seem to fall asleep at night, it can make for some serious problems. Strive for normalcy, as that is what they are used to, but if all else fails just go with your instincts. If a typical nap time is missed, substitute a different one later.

A post titled, “Holidays, Travel, and Baby’s Sleep” had some great pointers for just this issue. The last thing anybody wants is to spend all night up with a baby, and then deal with a travel day the next day with a cranky baby. One of their best bits of advice was to bring a dark towel or sheet with you when you travel. Babies used light and dark cues often in their sleeping patterns, and turning an otherwise bright room dark with a sheet or towel could mean a successful nap.

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Is It Better to Be a Parent at an Older Age?

December 12, 2012 by

Parents are becoming older than they used to be. Studies are showing that the average age of parents has risen recently. There are clear positives and negatives to this trend that I want to get into. Having older parents can mean more experienced parents. Older people (typically) are more financially stable, more patient, and have likely thought the decision to have kids through for many years. They also have probably been living in one spot for an extended period of time. The negatives to older parents have been coming up in studies lately. There have been developmental disorders with children born to older mothers. Older parents also means an increased risk that they might die in their child’s early years.

Overall, I think that having older parents is better. They are more responsible and stable individuals. To read more about this discussion check out a story titled, “The Case Against Older Parenting”.

Do you think it is a good thing that the average age of parents has gotten older?

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Parenting Tip: Paying It Forward with Your Toddler

December 11, 2012 by

Doesn’t it seem like every time you want your toddler to be quiet, they think it’s the best time to start crying or otherwise needing attention? It’s Murphy’s Law and it’s part of being a parent, and also part of life. However I read a post today that I think could help a lot of parents. “A Little Special Time in the Morning” is a post I read on Super-Protective Factor. The author has a different outlook on how to get your baby to calm down when you need to do chores or other business.

If it seems as though your child wants attention the most when you don’t have time to give it to them, you might want to try this “Special Time” technique. If you have something to do later in your day, take ten minutes to sit with your child and follow them as they do whatever they are doing. Even if they don’t directly interact with you, they will note the presence and feel wanted. After about ten minutes try getting up to go do your chore or get some work done, and gauge their reaction. Chances are they will be more okay with the fact that you aren’t paying full attention to them now because you did just a few minutes earlier. It’s worth a shot!

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Hanging Out With a First Time Parent: What Not to Say

December 4, 2012 by

Being a first time parent is the hardest parenting gig out there. You have only vague ideas of what you are supposed to do, and mostly have to trust your instincts which can occasionally be wrong. Learning from mistakes is key, and a lot of patience is needed. You will probably also develop new, super-human sleep cycles that you never thought you were capable of before. All of these things are part of the job description so to speak.

I recently read about 10 things to avoid saying to a first time parent on Hellobee. I never realized before that saying some of things they mention on this list might come off as annoying or rude. An example would be saying, “I’m so tired”, because let’s face it you probably aren’t more tired than they are. It’s just little things like this that you don’t think about during every day conversation.

What was the last thing you wanted to hear as a first time parent?

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Baby Steps: Remember to Baby Proof Your Home

November 28, 2012 by

New parents are often unprepared for the things their child will do. For instance the first time a child learns to move on their own can be a really exciting event. Parents are typically happy and proud at moments like the first time their baby crawls. Things might be forgotten though like is there a gate in front of the staircase or are there covers over all the electrical outlets.

A blog called Tim and Olive recently posted about their baby and how she recently began crawling. They were not ready for their child’s free movements around the house and had to make some quick adjustments. The post I read, “Dear Baby, Please Don’t Walk Yet” was really great. They blogged about how quickly their baby’s crawling changed their lives, and wondered how much more drastic the change will be when she is walking. Many parents are excited for their children to learn how to walk, but maybe they shouldn’t be! It certainly makes things a lot easier to control.

What are some of the most important things to baby proof when your child is learning to walk/crawl?

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Parental Leave: More Dad’s are Taking Time Off When Kids are Born

November 16, 2012 by

We are used to living in a world where a woman has a child and she goes on maternity leave. The world has been slowly changing its ways though and parental leave has become more common. Parental leave can be taken by a mother or father. The number of fathers going on parental leave is growing and I think this is tremendous. This is a societal norm that is slowly changing, and I think it is for the better.

Learn more about parental leave here: Dad’s Parental Leave

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