Home invasion tips

Sofia, Kevin and I are about to move into our first house together. Kevin and I are extremely excited but we are also worried about the safety factor of it all. Sofia, as I mentioned in an earlier post, is crawling and starting to stand up on her own, so we have had to safety proof everything in our apartment. A house is a lot bigger than an apartment and we are going to now have to safety proof things such as the staircases, which in our new home there is two. So what do we do and how do we know exactly what to childproof without going overboard. My answer is of course to go to Babies "r" Us. In the display near the information desk there is a check list of things that you need to childproof. Obviously, Kevin and I got the basic such as the sockets and the door locks, but we don't have the fireplace safety net or the gates for the staircases.

My tip or suggestion is to go grab one of these check list sheets and go through it with your spouse or partner and make sure that you get all angles to ensure that your precious little angel is safe at all times. You don't want to be taking any trips to the emergency room quite yet!

Link to health and safety at Babies "R" Us:
http://www.toysrus.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=2255984&cp=2255957.2273443

Check the safety recall

One of the things that scares me the most being a mom is that the toys I buy or gadets, such as the play pins, etc., will be on the recall list. I check it all the time and you'd be quite suprised at how many items make the list. I check the list everytime I go to Babies "r" Us. If you look at the information desk there will be a display near there that has all types of information from classes you can register for to recalls; they have this at every Babies "r" Us. The last time I check I found out that the car seat my husband and I bought, but haven't used, was on the list. Since we hadn't use the car seats yet since Sofia was still in her infant seat, I was able to return them and buy a different brand. However, it still scares me to think that I was going to place my precious baby in a recalled car seat. Safety is the most important factor if you have a child so I highly recommend that you look up the toy that you think might have been recalled by checking out certain websites, such as the one listed below, or that you periodically check the list at your local Babies "r" Us.

Find the nearest Babies "r" Us by going to http://www.babiesrus.com/

Also check for recalls at

http://www.babycenter.com/product-recall-finder

Next exciting new mom tip!

Record everything! I am so serious because as your child gets older it is fun to look back and see how much they have changed and sometimes pictures just do not do justice. All the time during holiday season my husband and I take a look back at some of our parents videos of us when we were young and silly. It's always fun to do with our families and I know that we'll have great laughs sharing our memories of Sofia Rose with her when she gets older. Today, I broke out the video camera and my husband and I were on the floor in stitches. She was being so silly in front of the camera. It was like she knew that she was being filmed. Sofia was laughing and talking and crawling around like a mad woman on the go. Also, this is something that you can capture with your video camera that you cannot with a picture.

You never know, you could wind up being on America's Funniest Home Video!

Below is a link to best buys where my in-laws got my video camera. It's a great one and I highly recommend it to others.

http://www.techforless.com/cgi-bin/tech4less/HDR-HC5?mv_pc=dealtime

More mommy tips

Sofia Rose is just now really starting to get the hang of the whole crawling thing. Someone suggest that I go to a place like Babies "r" Us to get these knee pads so that her little knees won't get all scratched up. I went and got some the other day and they're great. Before Sofia was a little scared about crawling on the hardwood floors because they hurt her knees, but now nothing will stop her. Not sure if that is a good thing or bad, just joking! We love watching her crawl around. So, if you have a little one at home and even if you don't have hardwood floors, but you just don't want her or his skin to get tough at the knees then go to the link below and find out where the closet store to you is and pick up a pack.

Another quick reminder about babies crawling is that they put everything it their mouths so be careful about watching them play. Sometimes you think you have picked up everything that is harmful, but then you turn around and they grabbed something that you did not even see. So be very cautious. Never leave them unattended!

www.babiesrus.com

Mom tips!

My daughter is 7-months old now and it's crazy how fast she is growing. Lately though, she has been fighting sleeping. Before she would just fall asleep in any position at any time, but those days are far and few between now. It's like she doesn't want to miss a thing. I know she is tired because she gets fussy and starts constantly rubbing her eyes, but I did not know how to get her to sleep without "crying it out". I talked to my husband's cousin and here is what she told me to do:

Buy a big exercise ball if you don't already have one
Swaddle the baby tightly, but so she or he is comfortable
Then bounce her or him on the ball until the fall asleep and put them to bed


I am telling you that your baby will love this and you will too! It works almost 100% of the time and if it does not work then there is something else wrong. I was very hesitant, but I am glad I tried it. It's a sanity saver!

Here are some helpful links for this tip...

learn about how to swaddle your baby at http://parenting.ivillage.com/newborn/ncare/0,,lz_7jfg8805,00.html

Buy a exercise ball at
http://bigfitness.com/resbal.html?gclid=CJ2H0Ke0lI8CFQGRPAodxCv1gA