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Disciplining your child is never easy. You probably know from experience and mistakes how important it is to be consistent, firm and to always follow through with designated disciplinary consequences. But when there are two parents involved, it’s crucial they are both on the same page and apply discipline consistently regardless of marital status.

Parents should agree on how to discipline their children. To become reliable to children, both parents must be consistent in dealing with similar situations. In a situation where the parents are separated or divorced, disagreeing with each other over upbringing can create a confusing situation for children. They should make a concerted effort to keep their child’s best interests at heart and sit down with their child and line out the rules and expectations and the consequences for violating those rules. Both should agree that the intended discipline is fair, and apply it consistently in a firm yet fair manner in each home.

In addition, if there are disagreements regarding discipline or other parenting issues, they are best resolved when the child is not present. If the child senses discord, they may attempt to manipulate the situation to their advantage.

When teaching good behavior, parents should “practice what they preach.” Children learn values and beliefs more by examples adults set than by verbal instructions. Screaming at a child to be quiet or paddling a child for hitting is hypocritical and ineffective. Decide what is important and what parental response to use to teach your child. It would be more effective to calmly tell your child to be quiet or use “time-out” when a child is physically aggressive.

And remember what works now may not work later down the road. Situations may dictate a different approach, and time and maturity may demand a child’s rule be modified or abolished altogether. Sometimes your common sense will help you decide when bedtime rules should be modified or table manners relaxed. Some rules will be the same, others will be modified or abolished, and new ones will be introduced. But regardless of the situation, parents should always present a unified front and work together and not against each other in providing effective discipline for their child.

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A new mom will quickly learn when baby is telling her that he is tired or hungry. Baby will also tell you when he is about to soil his diaper – or ‘eliminate’ in the jargon. The signs are usually a grunting and moving into a certain position. My son used to get this far away look on his face and he would be very noisy so that everyone around him knew what was on the way!

Many moms in America are now practicing ‘elimination communication’ whereby they watch baby for signs that he is ready to ‘eliminate’ and then dangle him over the toilet or a potty. The technique does require virtually constant observation of the baby but apparently baby soon learns the procedure and knows that if he grunts hard enough it saves him having to sit around with a diaper full of you-know-what!

The savings achieved through having to buy far fewer diapers are considerable, and of course you would be doing your bit to help the environment.

Potty training at the ‘traditional’ age of around 2-3 can be a real battle and a scary time for a kid. My daughter stubbornly refused to use either a potty or the toilet for weeks and finally succumbed only when we bribed her with the promise of a new dolly! Starting much earlier would spare you both but the technique does require constant attention and, for this reason, some experts ‘pooh-pooh’ the idea (sorry!) of starting potty training so early. Heather Welford of the National Childbirth Trust believes most parents will be too busy to watch baby all day and says ‘I think it will always be something practiced by a minority of parents doing it for ideological reasons such as being closer to the baby or to help save the environment’. Two good reasons I would have thought.

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One of the most important decisions you will make once you find you are pregnant is that of picking the perfect baby name. Everyone has their own idea of what a great name is, sometimes it is as simple as whatever is currently fashionable as per the top 10 names for the country in the year that the baby is born, sometimes it’s a family name that honors a favorite relative, and sometimes it’s just a name that the mother (or father) really likes.

The baby name chosen will occasionally carry certain cultural significance. This happens often in the case of popular baby names as they are fashionable for a certain period of time and then the trend changes and so you can put babies with those names into a certain decade. Television, and to a lesser extent movies, can influence these trends as certain television shows have characters with names which are “different” and which parents like so this is added to the list of potential baby names. There are exceptions to this however, as there are some baby names which are timeless and have been handed down generation to generation throughout the family.

Whether or not to choose the baby name before the baby is born is a matter for personal preference. There are parents who decide what their baby’s name will be from the moment they have the pregnancy confirmed – and in some cases, they know what baby names they will choose before they are even pregnant! Then there are other parents who wait until the baby is born before naming it. Sometimes this is because they can’t agree on a name, or because they haven’t found one they like, or sometimes just because they want to wait to see how the baby looks before naming it.

Once the baby is born, there’s still time to pick the perfect baby name for your baby. Even if the name was decided months before the birth, it’s possible that having seen the baby, the name will change. When you see your baby for the first time, and hold it in your arms, you may decide that the name chosen doesn’t seem to fit with the baby you are looking at. Maybe the baby has more delicate features than the robust name chosen suggests, or vice versa. It’s also possible that there was someone instrumental in bringing the baby into the world that you want to honor by naming your baby after them – and this won’t be known until after the birth occurs.

Take time to choose the perfect name for your baby, and don’t be afraid to change your mind at the last minute if you feel it’s not quite appropriate, after all the baby is going to wear that name a long time!

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Q. How often should I nurse a newborn infant?

A. No fewer than 8 times per day, depending on how long he gives you at night. If he can go 4 hours, youll probably see two feedings in between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. If you tank him up right before you go to bed, you may only have one.

Q. How often should I nurse an older baby?

A. Depending on your childs age, you should be on a 3-4 hour routine during the day. Remember, as your child gets older, the frequency of nursing sessions will drop off, but he will be eating more at each session. If you are committed to nursing past 6 months of age, its not recommended that you drop below 5 feedings per day. If you believe your milk supply is waning and you dont want to stop breastfeeding, add a feeding or two to your daily routine in order to increase your milk supply

Q. How do I drop a feeding as my baby grows?

A. The most common changes are moms who want to switch from a 3 to a 3.5 hour routine or a 3.5 to a 4 hour routine, babies who are ready to drop their middle of the night feeding, or parents who are ready to stop the late-night feeding.

Most often youll know when your baby is ready to switch by a change in his sleep patterns. A baby on a 3 hour routine typically takes 3 naps per day (morning, afternoon, late afternoon) and the switchover to a 3.5 hour routine will see a shortening of one of those naps or the dropping of the last nap of the day. Babies are generally ready for this switch by about 12 weeks of age.

Dropping the middle of the night feeding is most often accomplished by the baby himself between 7-14 weeks of age. Youll know your baby is ready when he doesnt wake you up until 6:00 a.m. or so, and youll probably wake in a panic that morning, realizing you werent beckoned in the middle of the night. He will require more food during the day from this point on, and your breasts will likely be overly full for several days, but its all good!

Stopping the late night feeding is typically the trickiest to do. Many parents are reluctant to drop it, thinking that if they do, their baby will wake in the middle of the night, starving. If you think he cannot drop the feeding completely, back it up in 15-minute increments until you arrive at your desired time. If his last two feedings of the day are closer than your flexible schedule says it should be, dont worry. Its a temporary fix, and thats what flexibility is all about. The routine serves you, not the other way around!

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Hi everyone!! I guess youre looking for some tips on how to buy crib bedding of the net. This article is for parents that are looking for a bargain or just want to save some money. Finding crib bedding on the net is very easy, but finding the best bargains can take some more time. Most parents will just use their favourite search engine and think that the websites that show up on the first page are the top websites to buy mini crib bedding from. This is not so!! These are the websites that have done the most work to get their websites in the top positions within the search engines.

More than likely youre not going to get the best bargains with these sites. Yes you can keep going through the search engines rankings and you will get a good idea of the price ranges on offer. But buying anything over the net can be a daunting experience. I know how people feel about handing over credit card information especially over the web. I feel the same way too but I done my research on it and Personally I just use pay pal as a method of payment, if the site Im looking at doesnt provide pay pal as a payment option, I move on until I find what I want with a pay pal payment option.

I just want to let you know you can use your credit card without the chance of someone going to steal your personal information. Im not saying other payment systems arent good, its just personally I have found most websites have a pay pal payment option. You just type in your user name and password and its done.

Ok back to mini crib bedding and how to find that bargain. One method I use is check out blogs [this goes on everything Im trying to buy cheap or purchase over the net] you can find great sites that other parents have found and recommended. This can be especially good if youre after someone to custom build your crib bedding. If you social bookmark type in your keywords on your favourite book marking site and see what turns up. Use different search engines. Take note of the websites you have been to and compeer prices.

Then if you find something do some more checking. The site I use is ripoffreport.com its just basically a site I use for free to find out if anyone isnt happy with the service or product they purchased. If your been ripped off or would just like to tell everyone how bad some sites are with there services then this is the site to do it. If the site or product your looking at doesnt turn anything up theres a pretty good chance that is legit and has a good reputation. [Another great site to check before buying anything on the net].

And of course theres eBay and Amazon you can really pick up great bargains from these sites. If you do happen to buy your crib bedding from these sites please discard the mattress and get a brand new one. Many experts in the field have tracked Sids back to second hand mattresses so just get rid of it!!!
Make sure you sanitize the crib really well when you first receive it just to be sure.

Great Bargains on mini crib bedding can be found on the net if you are prepared to look around and do a bit research. It doesnt just include mini crib bedding. It gos for anything you can purchase on the net. Surfing blogs can provide a lot of good information on baby products and safety. Most baby blogs are just from your average mum sharing their babies experience with you. There are experts that have their own blogs as well they tend to give you all sorts of information from crib bedding to baby food and baby toys. I have provided this information so parents can check out all sorts of products and sites so they can make an informed decision when it comes to there childs health and safety.

Using the technics above you should be able to shop with confidence for just about anything on the net. Finding a bargain is quiet easy once you know how.

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We watch our children grow right before our very eyes. It seems like yesterday they were a baby learning to crawl, walk, and feed themselves, and now they’re in school, involved in activities, making friends, and learning to be more and more independent. Parents before us have said that from the time they’re born, we are constantly learning to let go. As a result, our parenting strategies have to change. As our child grows, develops, learns, and matures, so does our parenting role.

As your child has grown, you undoubtedly have discovered they have their own unique personality and temperament. You’ve probably unconsciously redeveloped your parenting skills around the individual needs of your child. And no two children are exactly alike, and therefore, neither should your parenting style. Some children may need more guidance and feel more unsure of themselves, so we’ve become used to having to guide, lead, show and encourage that child consistently through their childhood while still trying to encourage independence and give praise in order to build their self esteem and confidence level. Yet another child may be very intrinsically motivated and very willful and not need a great deal of guidance or leadership from you. While you encourage their independence, it’s also important that you also encourage their ability to ask for help when needed and continue to praise good deeds, actions, and traits.

The most important tools we have in order to successfully adjust our parenting skills are our eyes and our ears. We have to see what’s going on with our child and we have to hear what they are telling us. It’s important that we encourage our child to be their own individual while still being available to them at whatever level or degree they need us to be. Sometimes it’s situation-specific as well. A child may not need us to be as directly involved with their schooling to ensure their overall academic success, but they may need us to be more involved in their social life as they may be feeling a bit shaky or scared when it comes to making new friends or meeting new people.

So the bottom line is this: as your child grows and changes, so should your parenting skills. Keep your eyes and ears open and communicate honestly and openly with your child, and you’ll both mature gracefully.

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We all know as parents that discussing and negotiating the rules with our children is never easy. Children are all very different, and what might need to be a rule for one, may not even be an issue for another. That being said, there are many parameters that we set as parents that are the hard and fast rules – those with no ‘wiggle room.’ Those are the rules set forth to protect our child’s health, safety and well-being. These rules and their consequences should be very clearly defined and it should be understood by all involved that they are there for a very important reason and that they are ‘all or nothing.’

Rules that keep our children safe are of the utmost importance. These could include everything from teaching youngsters not to touch the hot stove to teaching your school aged child the importance of obeying the laws while riding their bicycle. Children need to understand these rules are to be followed to the letter and there is no room for negotiation here.

For adolescents and teenagers, such rules should include expectations about drinking, the use of illegal drugs, or safe defensive driving. These rules are also imperative to a child’s health, well-being and safety. There should be no room for experimentation or relaxing the rules in specific social situations.

There are rules that can be fairly and equitably negotiated with your children as well. Rules regarding how many hours per week can be spent on video game playing, what time a child is expected home for dinner, what time each night homework is to be completed, or how late a teenager is allowed to stay out on weekend nights are all rules that can be discussed openly and honestly between you and your child. These should also be consistent, however. Don’t’ allow 11 p.m. one weekend night and then tell your teenager 9:30 the following weekend night when going out with the same group of friends. If your teenager broke the 11 p.m. curfew the weekend before, the consequence of losing the privilege of going out that weekend should be strictly enforced. Don’t bend the rule just because your teenager seems genuinely sorry and promises never to do it again. Consequences should be consistent, fair, and always followed through.

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In today’s busy world, work, household chores and social activities all put a strain on your time with your child. But as you well know, it’s imperative that you spend quality time together. It helps strengthen the bond between parent and child, and lets your child know you can be trusted and counted on. Children who spend quality time with their parents often do better in school, and excel in extracurricular activities, hobbies or sports. And though it can be ’scheduled’ to a degree, it’s something that happens when you least expect it. Therefore it’s important that you do spend as much time as possible with your child in a relaxed atmosphere and do things together that you both enjoy.

But you’re asking yourself, “Where am I going to find the time? My schedule’s crazy enough as it is!” Well, for something as important as your child, you need to start digging around in that crazy schedule and find the time. Prioritizing is the key.

Here’s some helpful suggestions on how to make the most of your time and find quality time where you least expect it.

Look at your household chore list and decide which ones can be left undone or be done imperfectly in order to make more family time. You might also want to consider leaving certain things until after your child has gone to bed to make the most of your time together.

Turn some of your everyday routines together count. Sing some favorite silly songs on the way to daycare, or make that drive to and from school a great opportunity to discuss what’s happening in your child’s life.

If you have more than one child, realize that each of them needs your individual attention. You may really have to juggle things around to make this happen, but try to be flexible and creative when spending time with each of your kids. And no matter what, don’t skip those individual times with each child. By doing so you show them they’re lower down on the priority list than the dry cleaning or the grocery shopping.

Children thrive on stability and routines, so plan your quality times so that they can take place regularly. Maybe you can walk the dog together on weekend morning, take a shopping excursion together, have a scheduled night each week for a sit-down dinner together, or make a trip to the park.

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How To Hire The Perfect Baby Sitter! Or The Child Care Conundrum!

Child Care is often at the forefront of many parents’ minds. Because there are occasions when everyone needs to leave the home, and it is important to have a support network in place that can be called upon to assist if the need arises. Often, the people who are called for child minding are family members, which works great in general. However, family are not always available to help; and so it is important to have a network available outside of that. This is where hired childcare professionals, or baby sitters can step in to assist. (If you have a very young child then check out http://www.babyaids.com for more resources to help you)

There are certain things that should be considered when choosing a baby sitter. First and foremost, the baby sitter should be credible — meaning that he or she should have a good record with past employers. Second is that certain character traits and characteristics should be present in the baby sitter. For example, they should have at least a general knowledge of how to run a household. And being sensible about it, common sense is a good asset here! Ask yourself the question, ‘Do I want this person in charge of MY child?’. If the answer is anything other then a definite YES. Move on. You can always get another babysitter.

And of course he or she should be patient when it comes to dealing with kids because that is really the bulk of his or her work.

Most parents prefer to be hands-on with their kids. Raising kids is a difficult job, but still parents want to do it themselves because they feel like it is the only way to make sure that they can properly train their children to grow up in the way that ideally they would want them to be. And also, children are fun! Why should the babysitter get all the joy, fun and abundance that looking after children can bring?

However some parents have no choice because both of them have to work to fend for the family so either they leave their kids with other family members, friendly neighbors or else hire babysitters to help out. This is not neccessarily an ideal solution. But sometimes it is the only option.

A baby sitter is often a stranger (at least at first), so careful thought should be given by the family about this decision from the time they say yes to the idea, to the actual choosing of the baby sitter.

It is also advisable to ask around people who have past experiences with baby sitters and child care so that you can have an idea how to set your criteria and how to actually find and eventually hire someone that will suit you. Mothers groups and baby clinics can also be a good source of advice in this area.

After the initial research you are now ready to do interviews for possible prospects. During the interview, you should not only concentrate on the resume or the answers but you should more importantly, watch out for the body language because this will tell you a lot about the person. How comfortable they feel with you, but also with your child. Ask routine questions but also come up with questions that will make you get to know more about the morals or the personality of the one applying. You don’t want to come home to an impromptu party they decided to organise at you house!

Finally, after choosing a baby sitter, make sure that you do some advance preparations like giving the babysitter a tour of the places in the house where he or she will be working, machines he or she will be operating, list of numbers to call in case of emergencies and talk to him or her about any special instructions you might want to give. Also, set down the family policies with him or her on specific behaviour, acceptable punishments for naughty behaviour etc. These are simple things, but making it clear at the beginning will mean that you don’t have any future problems.

Hiring a baby sitter allows parents to have a greater focus on their jobs. But during the first days of the baby sitters tenure at your home, one of the parents should watch how the baby sitter is during active duty even for just a few hours. This is a sort of transition time and it is also a way of still being involved with your kids despite the fact that you already have a baby sitter. There are many good babysitters around and hopefully you will find the right one for your family and child care needs. Finding good childcare will not only free up your time and give you more flexibility, it will also add a very valuable team member to your family in the form of a baby sitter. So it is worth persisting and finding that special someone to take care of the people you LOVE.

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If you baby is not napping well during her first few months of life, you may want to try to cut back on the time she is awake by 15 minute increments. If she is getting overstimulated, then she will fight sleep and be difficult to get to nap. The way to prevent this is to watch her sleepy cues to make sure that you put her down when she is beginning to get sleepy.

Some parents believe that letting their child cry will harm him or her. Fifteen or twenty minutes of crying will not harm your child physically or mentally. Babies will learn to self-soothe and fall asleep by themselves, but only if you let her. It is very important that babies learn to fall asleep by themselves so that they can self-soothe if they awake in the middle of the night. Otherwise, you may have a child that will not sleep through the night for years.

Regular sleep patterns are intermeshed with regular eating patterns, so let us look at the stages of a babys life:

Newborn: Your newborn will sleep anywhere from 16 to 20 hours a day, including the naps that he takes between feedings. When your baby has been fed, let him stay awake for a short while and then put him down before he becomes overstimulated.

Two months: At two months and older, your child should be allowed to try to self-soothe during their naptimes and bedtime. Crying is normal when you put your baby down, but it is okay. If he cries for longer than 10-15 minutes, then go in and check on him. Dont get him up, but pat his bottom or lightly rub his back until he calms down.

3-6 months: At around 3-6 months, your baby will stop taking one of his naps. Usually it is the third nap or late afternoon nap that they do not need as much. He may be a little fussy and may want to take a little nap, but you need to try to keep him up if you want him to go to bed at a decent time and sleep soundly through the night.

16+ months: When your child is between 16-20 months, they usually quit taking the morning nap in favor of a longer nap in the afternoons. Babies this age usually sleep between 10-12 hours a night and take a 2-3 hour afternoon nap.

Ground Rules about Naps:

1. You decide when the nap starts and ends, not the baby.

2. When your baby is older than 4 months old, she will wake up crying if she hasnt slept enough. She might have a dirty diaper, be in a position that is not comfortable, or cold/hot. Fix the problem and encourage her to go back to sleep. Babies that have enough rest wake up happy, talking, and in a good mood!

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