Bringing Your New Baby Home

By Sharon Rose:

     I've been there before and remember all too well what it's like. Preparing to bring your new baby home from the hospital starts before you deliver your little bundle of joy.

Tips for Bringing Baby Home:

1. Prepare a nursery for the baby or a sleeping area that is well ventilated, climate appropriate, and safe.
2. It is required by law to transport your baby by car in a car seat. Purchase the car seat in advance of delivery and read installation instructions so you or your partner is prepared to install it when you are ready to bring baby home.
3. Go out and purchase personal hygiene and any personal toiletry items you will need for yourself when you return home from delivery. If you will breast feed don't forget breast-feeding bra, pads to protect clothing (insert in bra) and ointment to keep breast nipples supple and avoid dry and cracking skin.
4. If you had a baby shower you may have plenty of cute little clothes and toys for baby, but do make sure you also have baby bottles with nipples, baby bottle and rubber nipple brushes to clean them, and a baby monitor. Take time before you deliver to get needed items in place to avoid you or your partner having to run out to the store in the first week of bringing baby home.
5. Pack a bag for the hospital before your contractions start or your water breaks. You will probably still be wearing maternity clothes so pack a maternity outfit to wear home, or something loose fitting.
6. Send all large items home, like flowers or gifts, the day before you are to depart for home, after our new baby has been born. The day baby goes home will be much more relaxed.
7. Before you leave the hospital ask for a phone number for the maternity ward. Connect with a nurse or get the name of one and her work shift that you can call back and ask questions of once you have returned home.
8. Schedule baby's first appointment before you leave the hospital. You are usually asked to bring our newborn baby back for a well baby check-up 2 to 4 days after you give birth if you leave the hospital within 48 hours.
9. Plan to dress baby in something comfortable to wear home from the hospital. Resist the temptation to dress baby up in a frilly dress or any other cumbersome clothes. A pretty blanket can be enough to make baby look special on the trip home.
10. Have guidelines for visitors once baby gets home. Feel good about protecting baby. You may want to wait a few days before allowing visitors other than helpers, such as grandparents. Restrict anyone who appears to be sick, even if they say its allergies. Our baby is not well equipped to fight off contagious disease. Direct anyone touching the baby, baby's clothing, or bedding to wash his or her hands. Make hand washing a frequent practice.
Giving our baby a "calm" welcome home is so important. It sets the tone for a great beginning for a great life. Go to http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_center/newborn_care/bringing_baby_home.html for more information.

Bringing Your Baby Home
kidshealth.org
Whether your baby comes home from the hospital right away, arrives later, or comes through an adoption agency, homecoming is a major event.



Copyright, Bringing Your New Baby Home, Sharon Rose, Parents Want to Know 101, October 9, 2011, all righs reserved.

Father Absence Is Preventable

By Sharon Rose


      Parents Want to Know 101 has an important message for Fathers. The Pew Research Center, a bi-partisan think tank, based in Washington, D. C., has a new research analysis of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) which shows that more than one-in-four fathers with children 18 years or younger now live apart from their children.  Of these fathers, 11% live apart from some of their children and 16% live apart from all of their children.  In 1960 only 11% of all children in the United States lived apart from their fathers.  By 2010, it had risen to 27%.  Fathers living apart from their children have greatly risen over the years, but we believe that father absence is preventable.

·          Yes, there are many studies of the family, think tanks who analyze these studies and sociologists who theorize our cultural mores and the role of the father in the family. However, it is our opinion that these analysis, ideologies, and theories probably have one thing missing; the heart of a father with a natural commitment to love a child. That’s all that is needed for a good start.  Although, much more will be needed to take the journey and have a successful finish.  A voluntary motive to carry out an action, such as good parenting, must include more than love. With a natural inclination to love a child, plus the support of parenting skills education, the existence of a good and even great father can grow and develop.  The challenge is made easier if the man who is to father has, himself, had a caring and loving child rearing with strong, positive role models to show him the way.  Only the man will know if he should seek healing in this area.  Loving a child can come natural, but parenting requires learning good parenting skills through education. Fathers must not only be a part of the class, but move to the front of the class.

 

·         Where can fathers start? Who can they go to? Even fathers need a village to parent, and your village could include: your own parents, physician and counselor, pastor, teachers, family, and friends. Accept that, parenting is an area of your life that professional advice, programs, and readings should take priority over friends’ opinions. The internet, also, provides a wealth of information that will allow fathers to seek information in private. Just learn to separate the good from the bad.  The National Fatherhood Initiative provides valuable information for fathers at www.fatherhood.org.  View the video of Troy’s story.  It is poignant and profound, and a real life story of a man’s war within himself to parent his child.  It is the story of Troy and his journey from being a father who dropped out of fatherhood to his achievement of becoming a great Dad. Troy’s story may not be your story, but within it you can find invaluable lessons and see what having a father means, through a child’s eyes.  For new Dads they offer the New Dad’s Pocket Guide.  Parenting is all about protecting, providing for, teaching, (discipline is also teaching) and learning good parenting skills. The New Dad’s Pocket Guide gives new Dads all the information they need to get started: Key health and safety information, creating a safe nursery, child proofing the home, bonding with baby from day one, showing affection, being a role model, and more. Even though this guide was designed for new Dads, all Dads can benefit from reading it. We believe that fathers have an extremely important role in child-rearing, whether they live in the household or outside of the household.  We believe father absence is preventable, don't you?     
     
      Note:  To view Troy' Story at http://www.fatherhood.org/ type Troy's Story or video on Troy into the search engine on their website.

   
    

Research Findings at: www.pewresearch.org

Reading Sources for Fathers: 

The Joy of Fatherhood: The First Twelve Months Expanded 2^nd Edition by, Marcus Jacob Goldman, MD, 2000.

Dad’s Pregnant, Too, by Harlan Cohen, 2008.

Fatherhood, by Bill Cosby, 1986.

Throwaway Dads: The Myths and Barriers That Keep Men from Being the Fathers They Want to Be, by Ross D. Parke and Armin Brott, 1999.

Daddy’s Home at Last, by Mike Singletary, NFL, with Russ Pate, 1991.

The First Part Last, by Angela Johnson, 2004.  Youth Fiction, Subject: teenage fatherhood.

New Dad’s Pocket Guide, The National Fatherhood Initiative, internet.

Parents Want to Know 101, Blog by Sharon Rose, www.parentswanttoknow101.blogspot.com.   



Copyright, Father Absence is Preventable, Sharon Rose, Parents Want to Know 101, September 11, 2011, all rights reserved.             

Starting Your Baby on Solid Food

By Sharon Rose


      Starting our precious babies on solid foods is a big step. It is the milestone that will lay the foundation for healthy eating habits. Always consult with your pediatrician, first, regarding starting solid food. Babies are usually ready to start eating solid food between 4 to 6 months of age. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends starting babies on solid food at 6 months of age. However, some pediatricians are recommending, to their patients, starting solid food at 4 months. Parents Want to Know 101 feels the best way to determine if your baby is ready for solid food is to go by the milestones your baby has accomplished and not by the calendar age of the baby.

Signs of Readiness for Solid Food:

1. Baby can hold head up.
2. Baby sits well in a high chair.
3. Baby makes chewing motions.
4. Baby has significant weight gain; at least, double birth weight.
5. Baby shows an interest in food; such as, grabbing at your food.
6. Baby is teething.
7. Baby can close mouth around a spoon.
8. The tongue reflex that would push food out of mouth is no longer
    present

      Another way to determine if you should start solid food, and what solid foods should be started, has to do with, how prone to allergy the baby may be. Look at factors, such as: history of allergy in the family, and has the child had an allergy indicator like eczema. If there is a strong history of allergy in the family you may want to wait longer to introduce solid food, and be cautious and informed on what and what not to introduce.

     Most babies start a cereal/grain first; usually iron fortified rice cereal. When served it should be well diluted with the milk the baby is on; one teaspoon of cereal to 4 to 5 teaspoons of baby’s milk. However, it is okay to start a fruit first, such as banana, a fruit babies tend to be least allergic to. Introduce foods one at a time, at least, 4 days between each one to make sure your baby is not allergic.

      So, there is no right way, or best time to start your baby on solid food (between the ages of 4 to 6 months); it has more to do with your baby’s development, which is likely different from another baby’s. To find out more on how to introduce solid foods and dairy to your baby’s diet go to the American Academy of Pediatrics website, www.healthychildren.org.

      Remember, always consult with your pediatrician, first, before starting your baby on solid food, and go from there.



Copyright, Starting Your Baby on Solid Food, Sharon Rose, Parents Want to Know 101, September 7, 2011, all rights reserved.

Exclusions apply.

http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000613802029897&pubid=21000000000515435
http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_impression?lid=41000613802029897&pubid=21000000000515435

Keeping Up with....Developmental Milestones

                     Your 2 to 3 year old is developing good hand-eye coordination.
                         


By Sharon Rose

       Parents want to know all they can about milestones their child is expected to make from the time they are born. Milestones, such as: emotional and social, movements, hand and finger skills, cognitive, hearing and speech, vision, and language. So much to observe and keep a record of. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) designed an internet, interactive tool to help parents with this. Take a look at the early years and milestones your child should be on track with at www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones. Use the interactive milestone link on this page. Each step is important.



Copyright, Keeping Up with....Developmental Milestones, Sharon Rose, Parents Want to Know 101, September 7, 2011, all rights reserved.


Credits: Model, Aidan, photographer, Sharon Rose, March 2009, all rights reserved.  Cannot be used without permission of photographer, under penalty of law. Contact: srgjones@gmail.com