anZel/Arden

Archive for the ‘Tips’ Category

word of wisdom

‘Don’t do it once, if you don’t want to do it again’

have i gone too far?

So my dad taught me this trick about objects that kids shouldn’t touch. When my lovely niece was just a wee child, she once asked to play with a knife. My dad wanted to let her know that it wasn’t a toy. But we all know the power of a child’s curiosity! So, he gently poked her with the sharp end of the knife and told her that it was “dangerous” and wasn’t something that she would ever want to play with.

anZel showed the same curiosity about knives lately. He has seen us cut fruits with it. Naturally he would want to be part of this action. So I did the same thing that my dad did. When I asked again if he wanted the knife, he gladly said no. Yesterday, I had to use a knife to cut his pears (a plastic spoon won’t do the job, mum!). He seemed to remember that knives weren’t all that great but wasn’t sure. So he asked for it again. I hold up the knife and asked if he really wanted to play with it. He was puzzled. Then he curled his lips and tears filled his eyes. He reached both of his hands out to me asking for a hug. I felt so bad. I hugged him and he kept padding my back.

Talk to the baby everyday

According to many researches, babies develop their hearing relatively early:

“Auditory sense is present in the infant 24 weeks before birth [14 weeks after conception]. This involves brain functioning and memory patterns.” M. Clemens, “5th International Congress Psychosomatic,” OB & GYN, Rome: Medical Tribune, Mar. 22, 1978, p. 7

Recent technology allowed a tiny microphone to be placed by the fetus’s head and “We heard almost everything, from people talking 12 feet away, to a door opening in the room, to a cart going down the hall with the door closed. The clarity was incredible. It was easy to tell who was talking.”

The results showed the fetus hears everything we do, only 10 decibels less. Their earliest response to sound was at 26 weeks. Is Noise an Intrauterine Threat, Phelan & Satt, by R. McGuire, Med. Tribune, Nov. 30, 1989

I’ve heard (not sure from where) that if you talk to the baby every day, the baby will recognize the voice of the parents after he’s born.

Not sure how true that is, but given that I started talking to the baby/fetus almost every day already, I might as well continue. It doesn’t hurt anything I don’t think.

Keeping the baby up during the day

Beeber heard from a coworker that in order to ensure the baby’s asleep at night, she will tap on her stomach to try to wake the baby up during the day. The coworker can feel the baby waking up and stretches after tapping. She will keep the baby up for like 6 or so hours and at night the baby will be sound asleep through the night. Also, after the baby’s born, she will sleep through the night as well.

There’s quite a few articles out there, such as Newborn sleep and My baby is up all night and sleeps all day, that talks about newborn infants being night owls.

During the later part of pregnancy, each baby develops her own sleep/wakefulness rhythm. You can get a good idea of what this rhythm is by the baby’s activity patterns. Some babies will tend to be fairly quiet during the day — lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking motion as Mom moves about her daily activities. These same babies often begin doing gymnastics in Mom’s belly about the time things get quiet at night. Other babies tend to be active while Mom is active during the day and to be quieter at night. Whatever your baby’s pattern before birth, it is likely that she will continue the same rhythm in the period shortly after birth.

However, I can’t find anything that talks about waking up the baby during pregnancy. Has anyone heard anything or had experience regarding this?

Don’t put your child in the car seat with bulky coats

Someone on the pregnancy.org forums gave this great tip!

someone mentioned easy to adjust harnesses which makes it easy to adjust them when the baby is wearing a bulky coat… please take your baby’s bulky coats off in the car. In a crash, the coat will compress and your baby could fly out of the seat and coat.

Some more discussions here, here and here.

Car-safety.org has this:

Q57: Can my child wear a winter coat in their carseat?

Generally, no. For safety, the harness straps must remain tight on the child’s shoulders regardless of any clothing. You can put a blanket over the child, OUTSIDE the harness straps or put your child’s coat on backwards after they are in the seat. For infants in cold weather, an aftermarket “cozy” that zips over the infant carrier rather than fitting under the child is another solution.