B
aby Tips from Zachary’s Mom:
Use cloth diapers as often as possible – they are incredibly cost efficient (my service, Yankee Doodle Diaper, charges only $10 a week for pick up and delivery!)
Make sure that all of your crib sheets fit safely and suitably.
Encourage, not discourage, children to introduce themselves to your family pets. Cats, though sometimes not fond of small children, are wonderful playmates for children – not only are they a good size for children, soft and playful, but cats have a great non-violent/frightening way of letting small children know when enough is enough. You may be surprised!
Be sure to include plants in your child’s room! Not only are they beautiful, but they can provide a certain amount of air-cleaning and humidity necessary to all children’s rooms! Be sure, however, that the plants are non-toxic. A salesman in your florist or home center shop should be able to help you.
Steer away from "replacement-parents" such as video-tapes and t.v. shows. While frequently helpful in a child’s development, a child a) needs interaction to learn and b) needs time away from the t.v. – we’re couch potatoes – why should they be? I also avoid programs like the Teletubbies (in fact, all TB products are banned from the house!) Teletubbies, while cute, are not so great for children’s language skills – since the TB’s lack consonants in their speech, your child may not develop consonants in their speech if that’s all the language skill exposure they are given. It is also not always the best idea to encourage children to get deeply invested in commercial ventures – soon you’ll be tripping over expensive toys your child will soon outgrow!
When selecting automated toys that include sound, be sure that there are either sound controls or the volume is not too loud – you don’t want to blast your babies’ eardrums before they have that chance as teenagers!
When in the car or doing housework, try and put on a classical or folk radio station instead of modern rock – infants seem to really seem to enjoy those genre and it calms them down!
You’ve heard it a million times before, but read to your children at night!