Or, subscribe via email
Supporting
It seems that every child goes through a phase where they are afraid of the dark. Some children have only a mild fear while others progress into full blown night terrors. How you deal with your child’s fear of the dark will depend a lot on your child, your parenting style, and the type of fear you are dealing with. My youngest brother suffered from night terrors when he was little. The poor little guy would wake up terrified from nightmares. Getting him to go to sleep involved a well crafted routine that included “beating up” the monsters and staging all his stuffed animals on his bed so that they would protect him throughout the night.
Sometimes those bedtime battles are more than just a way to stay up a little later, sometimes they are the result of a fear your child has developed. If your child is suffering from a fear of the dark, or monsters under the bed, it can be a challenging coming up with the best way to help them get over their fear. Here are a few tips for helping your child battle this nighttime fear. Continue reading
The Great Expectation book series is growing with the addition of their latest book, Great Expectations: Best Baby Gear. Sandy Jones and Marcie Jones have added to their growing collections of pregnancy and parenting books with this book all about baby gear, “the latest, safest and best-quality products for your baby”.
I’ve read and enjoyed one of their previous books, in fact I just gave a copy of it to my brother and his girlfriend who are expecting their first baby, Great Expectations: Baby’s First Year.
This new edition to the series is similar to the others in that it is laid out well, easy to read, and full of pretty useful information. The book covers everything from cribs, to carseats, to baby toys, to breast pumps and much more. Each chapter is dedicated to a different baby product and provides details about the product, what to look for, when to buy the product (ie before baby is born or wait until after), and examples of a few of the “best” products on the market. The “best” products reviewed in each chapter include the price, the pros/cons of the product, and some product details (including pictures).
I’m currently in the market for a convertible carseat so I enjoyed the chapter on carseats. I found the checklist helpful as well as the product details on the “best” carseats chosen for this book. I did think some quotes from real moms would have been helpful in each section. It is always nice to not only hear what the authors think but also what moms are thinking too.
If you’re wondering, like I was, where the information came from for this book, according to their press release they included their own hands-on experience, written reviews from 1,000 parents, consumer safety reports, and findings from medical studies.
Overall, it is a good book. I think it would make a great gift for new parents, maybe a shower gift or a “congrats your expecting” gift. A lot of the information contained in the book can be found by doing your own research on the internet, however, sometimes it is nice to have all the work done for you.
I’ve added a couple of new skills to my repertoire over the last little while including”human jungle gym” and “chaser of little munchkins who like to get into everything”. It is amazing how my job as mom changes daily. As my daughter learns ever more new and exciting things I have to adapt my skills and quickly learn some new ones in order to keep up with her.
As I say every time I write about my baby, I can’t believe she is already 9 (almost 10) months old already. Where has the time gone?
My daughter is now crawling all over the place. She looks so adorable doing her little army crawl. It is amazing how quickly she can get some where when she really wants something, especially if it isn’t a baby toy! We’ve done a little baby proofing around here. The usually plug covers and removing of things at her level that seem a little dangerous. As the weeks and months go by I’m sure we’ll have to do a lot more. I really should put those little lock thingys on the cupboards before she figures out how to open them.
Just when we started getting used to the whole crawling thing she has added some new skills. She is know getting from crawling to sitting by herself (and visa versa) and pulling herself up on things. She hasn’t pulled herself up on the couch yet, but she does pull herself up in her crib and on the entertainment center. Today she pulled herself up on the edge of the bathtub! When I play on the floor with her she loves to climb all over me (human jungle gym!). Before we know it she’ll be using the furniture to walk around, yikes. My baby is growing up so fast.
I am still breastfeeding. My plan is to breastfeed until she is a year old and then slowly wean from there. She certainly loves breastfeeding so I’m not to sure how that will go. I’ll have to keep you posted and share my tips and tricks when the time comes. She isn’t the greatest eater of solids but she does OK. She likes finger foods, Gerber Puffs are her all time favorite. I’m sure she would eat Gerber Puffs for every meal if we let her. She also loves fresh peaches. I’ll let her bite a piece off the peach when I’m eating one and she just loves that.
Life around here is so much fun with our little girl around. She brings great joy and entertainment every day. It is so much fun to see the world through her eyes and watch her explore new surroundings. She is a total mama’s girl but she loves to see other people (as long as they don’t try to hold her) Her new favorite thing is to ride around in the front of the shopping cart waving and saying “HI” to everyone we meet.