Getting ready to bring your new baby home?
Congratulations!
Now… where are they going to sleep?
You’ve probably heard that there are some definite advantages to holding off on putting baby to sleep in a full-sized crib.
So how do you choose between pack ‘n plays, cradles, bassinets, and more?
In this article, we’ll talk about the differences and similarities between a bassinet vs a cradle, and if one is safer or better than the other.
Of all the decisions you need to make when you have a new baby, you’d think where they sleep would be an easy one.
But nope.
There’s:
And more to choose from.
Which one is the best, the safest, the most convenient?
In this article, I’m going to break down the main differences between pack ‘n plays vs bassinets.
I love my daughter’s daycare.
I love the teachers, the kids, the other parents. I love how much she learns there.
There’s just one problem.
I can not handle the amount of artwork she brings home.
That picture above? That’s just a small fraction of what we have (that’s not already stored, hung up, or thrown away), and our daughter isn’t even 4-years-old at this writing. She brings home 2-4 new pieces of art every single day.
So what’s the best way to deal with children’s artwork storage? What are some creative ideas that really work?
If you’re anything like me, you really dread taking your kid or toddler to the doctor.
It’s not that you don’t want them to feel better when they’re sick!
It’s just that, when they have run of the mill cold symptoms, coughs, etc., there’s often not much the doctor can do. And you usually have to take a half day off of work, have your child miss school, and more just to hear that they should rest and drink fluids.
So you turn to at-home remedies.
If your child or toddler has a nagging coughing, you might be wondering: Can kids have cough drops?
When daylight savings time hit recently (turning the clock back), we suddenly found ourselves waking up at horrifyingly early hours with our 3-year-old.
She’d start yelling on the baby monitor, or worse, charging down the stairs, between 5 and 6am.
It was still dark out.
Desperate for something that might help us keep our toddler from waking up too early, I started looking into sleep trainers, alarm clocks, and wake-up lights.
I was a little skeptical at first, and I didn’t want to spend $50+ on something I wasn’t sure would work. So I wound up getting the budget-friendly and relatively simple OK to Wake clock from Mirari.
When you’ve got a baby on the way, there are SO many things to buy.
You’ll also need to get a really reliable and safe car seat.
So how much should you set aside in the budget for a car seat? How much does a child car seat cost on average?
There’s no concrete age when kids and toddlers can start showering alone.
But most experts agree that somewhere around 5 or 6-years-old is when they’ll start getting close.
(That’s also about the time they might start wanting more privacy.)
You’ll have to be sure they can handle the responsibility, and really drill them on the safety rules!
But when your child is still a baby or younger toddler, they still need you to wash them. There may be times when you just can’t bathe them in a bathtub for whatever reason, so it makes sense to clean up in the shower.
How do you bathe a toddler or baby in a shower? (Without them screaming the entire time, and actually getting them clean!)
Baby on the way?
Better get to baby-proofing the house!
Beyond setting up the nursery, this is one of the most involved and time-consuming aspects of getting your home ready for a baby.
Seriously, you’d be amazed at how many things need attention and could be dangerous if not addressed.
There’s the TV and TV stand. Electrical outlets. Doors. You name it.
Then, of course, there’s your kitchen and kitchen cabinets. You can drill some simple hardware directly into the cabinets themselves, but there are lots of good reasons you might not want to do that.
So how do you baby-proof your kitchen cabinets without drilling?
Toddlers.
They can be pretty gross sometimes, right?
They tend to get snot everywhere, never cover their mouths when they cough, and accumulate massive amounts of dirt under their fingernails.
And if you ever look inside a toddler’s ear, you’ll likely be pretty horrified!
Yes, even their ears can get surprisingly filthy.
But do you need to clean a toddler’s ears? Is it safe? What’s the best way to clean a toddler’s ears?
Ah, the baby stage.
When your child can barely move, hold their head up, or roll over on their own.
Those are the days!
Unfortunately, they don’t last long. And soon your baby will grow into a toddler that’s forever trying to hurt, injure, or maim himself.
Crawling out of the crib is one of their favorite ways to do it! And sometimes they figure it out way faster than you’d expect.
What do you do when your toddler starts climbing out of his crib, but he’s NOT ready for a toddler bed?