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For first time moms bringing home their brand new little baby presents a lot of challenges. Figuring out what your baby needs based on their different cries, learning how to breastfeed, finding the right balance of sleep. It is all new and it takes time for you to get to know the ins and outs of motherhood; the ins and outs of your baby. One of the big challenges is figuring out what works to calm your baby when all their needs have been met. Sometimes babies just cry, every baby has their fuss time. Over the first days and weeks of being home with your baby you will slowly figure out when your baby’s fuss time is and what works best to calm them. It will feel so good that first time you are able to calm your crying baby and they lay resting peacefully.
Here are a few calming tricks you can try when your baby is fussy:
- Lay your baby on your chest and let him or her hear your heartbeat.
- Play soft music as you rock your baby.
- Talk or sing to your baby in a soothing voice. They are used to hearing your voice from inside the womb and it is very calming to them.
- Babies love a rocking or swinging motion. Try using a rocking chair or a baby swing to sooth your fussy little one.
- Take the baby for a walk in the stroller, in a sling, or for a drive in the car. Movement is very soothing to babies.
Don’t worry, you’ll figure out the tricks that work best with your baby and you’ll be an old pro at calming him or her down before you know it. It can be frustrating, tiring, upsetting to have a baby crying for no reason. If it becomes too much for you to handle take a break, get your spouse to take a turn at trying to calm him or her. This phase does pass.
If you are worried about your baby’s crying or worried about your reactions to the crying be sure to talk to your child’s pediatrician or your doctor.
Have you joined the Million Baby Crawl? Maya joined today.
So, what is the Million Baby Crawl you might ask. Well…
The Million Baby Crawl is being organized by Seventh Generation, creators of household products that are environmentally friendly and free of dangerous toxins, to support the Toxic Chemical Reform Act, a bill before Congress. This bill will take quick action on eliminating the most dangerous chemicals from household products, require full disclosure of the health and environmental impact of all chemicals and support science to ensure products are safe for those most vulnerable, our babies.
By becoming part of the Million Baby Crawl you can help tell congress that you support this bill and want to see major changes in the household products market to ensure that the products we use everyday, those that our children are exposed to are safe.
Join the crawl today, make your voice heard.
Fall has always been my favorite season. Since moving here to St. Louis it has become even better because not only do I get all the usual fall fun, but I usually get great (read fairly warm) weather too. Some of my favorite things about fall include; watching the leaves change color, apple picking (and then making yummy apple crisp with the apples we’ve picked), picking out the perfect pumpkin and then carving it, and decorating the house for Halloween and then Thanksgiving. There are so many fun things to do in the fall. I even love raking the leaves, especially when you get to jump in the big pile of leaves afterwards!
This past week we have done a bunch of fun fall activities with Maya. She has loved it.
We went apple and pumpkin picking this past weekend which was so much fun.
We went to the St. Louis Zoo for Boo at the Zoo and for their Spooktacular Trick-or-Treating event. Maya loved getting all dressed up in her kitty costume!
We carved our pumpkin. At first Maya didn’t want to help, but ended up having a blast playing with the gross insides of the pumpkin. She was very pleased with the end product.
The only thing we haven’t done yet is rake leaves and let Maya jump in them. We don’t have quite enough fallen leaves in our yard yet. Maybe later this week or next we’ll have enough (and they’ll be dry) and we’ll be able to check another fun fall activity off our list.
Before Maya was diagnosed with a peanut and tree-nut allergy I didn’t give any thought to what kids with nut allergies did on Halloween. Trick-or-treating is a big part of Halloween and probably the part kids most look forward too. Going around the neighborhood in their costume collecting candy from all the neighbors is what people most associate with Halloween. However, if you have a child with a nut allergy the candy part of Halloween can become a bit scary. A lot of what ends up in your child’s trick-or-treat bag will either contain nuts or present a cross contamination risk. You don’t want to have to take that joy of trick-or-treating away from your child. They go through enough in life because of their nut allergy that makes them feel different, this doesn’t need to be one of them.
Making Halloween safe for your nut allergy child doesn’t have to be difficult, it just requires a little forethought on your part and a little imagination to make your child feel special and not left out.
If you are comfortable it is perfectly safe to continue to let your child trick-or-treating with his or her brothers and sisters and friends. Set specific ground rules and make them apply to all your children. Such as, no one is to eat, unwrap, play with anything they get in their trick-or-treat bag until they get home and you have a chance to examine it all (this rule should apply regardless of whether your child has a nut allergy or not). Once your child gets home take their trick-or-treat bag and go through it. Remove all candy that contains or may contain nuts. Many parents with nut allergy kids do an exchange, for everything they take away they replace it with something that is safe. You could also just have a trick-or-treat bag pre-made for them them and when they come home exchange they bag they have for the new safe bag.
There is plenty of Halloween candy that is safe for nut allergy kids. Here is a list of a few I could think of (be sure to always read the label as some manufacturers may change their processes at any time):
- Skittles (all varieties)
- Most jelly beans
- Anything made by Haribo
- Hershey Kisses (except the peanut butter and almond varieties)
- Full size Hershey Milk Chocolate and Krackle bars
- Milk Duds
- Hershey Kissables (great M&M alternative)
- Rolos
- Many Wonka products including; nerds, bottle caps, runts, gob stoppers, pixy stix and tart n tiny.
- Smarties (rockets for my Canadian readers
) - Laffy Taffy
- Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops
- Lifesaver Gummies
- Whoopers (except the peanut butter variety)
- Sweet Tarts
- Sunmaid chocolate-covered raisins
- Twizzlers
- York Peppermint Patties
- Red Vines
- Jolly Ranchers
- Starburst
- Candy Corn
To name just a few
You will likely have to spend a bit more time in the candy aisle than most people because you’ll have to read labels carefully. Luckily there are lots of options so you will be able to find several things to hand out for Halloween and to give to your child as an alternative.
Our plan this year, since Maya is still so young, is just to let her to a little trick-or-treating on our street and just keep what is safe. She doesn’t need a lot of candy, so I figure what she is left with should work out just fine. Once she is older I plan on doing the exchange with her by taking what isn’t safe and replacing it with something that is.
What tricks do you use to keep your nut allergy child safe on Halloween?
Halloween is just around the corner. I feel like summer just ended and already we are in the midst of fall and trick-or-treating time is upon us. I like Halloween. All the decorations, seeing all the adorable kids in their costumes, giving out candy on Halloween night. As parents we want our kids to have a great time, enjoy themselves, but stay safe all at the same time.
Halloween is a time for kids to dress up and have a great time trick-or-treating with their friends. A time for them to use their imaginations, have fun and enjoy being a kid. What kid doesn’t love Halloween? As parents we play an important role in making sure our kids have a safe and happy Halloween. It is our job to help them use their creativity to pick out a great costume while making sure that costume is safe and appropriate. It is our job to teach them about the important safety tips that will keep them safe and healthy as they venture out for some trick-or-treating.
As your kids get ready to celebrate Halloween in a few days here are a few important safety tips to keep in mind.
- Make sure your child’s costume is safe. Masks can be dangerous as your child can’t see well out of them. If they will be wearing a mask make sure the eye holes are big enough for good visibility. Also, be sure there aren’t any long pieces hanging down around their feet that could pose a trip hazard.
- Teach your child about appropriate Halloween behavior including; what houses are okay to visit, stranger rules, staying in a group, etc.
- Always have a responsible adult available to accompany your children out trick-or-treating. They may feel like they are old enough to go out on their own, but having an adult present helps keep them safe.
- Explain to your child that he or she should not eat any of the candy they collect until they have brought it home and allowed you to examine it.
- Consider the weather in your area. If it is cold where you are make sure your children are dressed appropriately.
- Set guidelines for how long they are allowed to stay out, how many homes they can visit, etc.
The most important thing is to make sure your child understands the rules and what will make this a safe and happy Halloween. Let them enjoy themselves while keeping a careful eye on them to ensure they are safe.