Best Parenting World

Time has flown. Your little bundle of joy has been a part of your home for more than four weeks now. The new dad and mum are now more relaxed, confident, and really enjoy their new responsibilities (at least most of the time). Here are a few pointers on what to expect in baby’s second month.

Semblance of order

Baby is no longer attached to mom’s breast all the time. A feed every 2-3 hours usually keeps her satisfied.

Spitting of milk after a feed is normal. Make sure you burp your baby after every feed.

Your two month-old baby most probably now sleeps 3-4 hours between nighttime feedings. She has definite waking hours during the day, which means mom and dad too can work out a routine.

She knows you!

In baby’s second month, she focuses her eyes better, and can follow an object in an arc about six to eight inches from her face. She does not actually recognize your face, but definitely knows your touch, scent and voice. When you coo to her or talk in gentle soothing tones, she starts to make babbling sounds in response.

When it comes to naming their baby, people tend to fall into two broad categories: those who want a unique name for their child and those who feel fine selecting a common name. Naturally, there are pros and cons to both choices. Let’s first look at unique names.

An uncommon baby name will give your child a unique stamp for the rest of his or her life. People will be certain to remember the moment they met your child. An unconventional name will make a wonderful conversation starter, especially if there is an interesting story behind it. Your child may even grow to take great pride in their unique and thoughtful name.

On the other hand, this unique name may be the cause of ridicule, especially as your baby goes through school. Not all people will appreciate the individuality of an uncommon name. Perhaps your child will rue the lifelong attention directed at them at every introduction. Your child may even chose to go by another name to blend in with their peers.

Having a baby is one of the most amazing things than any couple can possibly do. The parents look at their child and see a little living, breathing miracle. Therefore it is only right that the occasion is celebrated.

Choosing the right gift for a baby shower is a tricky task but if done correctly can give the baby a great start to its life. The most important thing is to try and understand the parents mentality when choosing a baby gift for their newborn.

What do your friends or loved ones think?

The most important thing when choosing a baby gift is to find something that meets the parents happiness at having this wonderful thing in their lives and that matches their ideals for raising the child.

If you don’t know these things right now there are a number of tricks you can use to find out:

• The parents, especially the mum, will be only too happy to talk about their baby and how they plan to raise it. Try and pick up ideas and suggestions.
• Observe the way they are preparing for the baby. Things such as the decoration of the babies room etc. are all good clues.

Are you an expectant parent anxiously waiting for that little package of joy? Yet, you and your spouse are still looking for that perfect name? Well…fret no more! The list of the top 100 baby names may be the answer to your prayers.

Searching for your baby’s name is loads of fun! Whether you’re seeking a name for your soon-to-be baby boy or baby girl, you and your spouse should be curious about what names in the top 100 are currently hot.

What is particularly interesting is tracking the popularity of baby names over the decades. In looking through baby name lists from 1880 to the present, some amusing patterns emerge, particularly in regards to baby names for girls.

For example, in Victorian times, Biblical names such as Mary, Sarah and Ruth were very popular for baby girls. There were also many baby names that are now considered very old-fashioned like Martha, Alice, Bertha and Minnie.

From the 1920s to the 1950s certain baby names rose in popularity. These included names such as Susan, Debbie, Patricia, and Linda. All of these baby names have since waned, to be replaced, by the 1980s, with fancier names such as Jennifer, Jessica and Nicole.

From birth to one year your baby will go from crying to cooing to talking. Those are amazing milestones for your baby to accomplishment in such a short period of time as he develops his speech and language skills.

Keep in mind that these stages of your baby’s development are broad and that no baby will fall exactly within the timeframe of these expected milestones.

One month: Your baby will understand speech long before he begins to speak. From birth he will look at your face and listen to your voice. He will make a small range of noises that will start to mean something to you, such as his way of exhibiting hunger or pain. These noises will include crying and certain sounds that your baby makes while he is breathing. When your baby is feeding he will make sucking noises and sound of contentment.

Your baby’s cry is an important way for him to communicate. Crying lays the foundation for speech as your baby learns to control the air that comes from his lungs and learns how to use his vocal cords. Crying is your baby’s way of telling you that he is hungry, upset, or cold. By listening carefully to your baby and responding to his cries you are letting him know that he is important. This is how your baby first learns to communicate with you.

Growth charts are tools your pediatrician can use to keep track of your child’s physical growth. During each checkup, the doctor will measure your baby’s length, weight, and head circumference. The doctor can then compare the measurements for your baby to a chart of national averages for infants of the same age and sex.

The result is that the doctor will be able to tell you what percentile your baby is in when compared to average baby growth around the nation. For example, if your doctor tells you your 4-month-old is in the 86th percentile for weight, that means 86 percent of the two-month-olds in your country weigh less, and that 14 percent weigh more. A baby that is at the 50th percentile in either height or weight is right at the national average.

Typically, parents seem to worry quite a bit about these percentages, and that worrying is usually needlessly blown out of proportion. There are many factors that come into play when determining where your baby’s statistics will fall in the percentile chart.

It is very important to remember that no two babies are the same and that every child, due to body chemistry, heredity, diet, and many other factors will grow at their own pace.

Your baby’s first year is filled with many challenges and new experiences for everyone in your family. One of the many things that your baby is going to be learning in his first year is the ability to socialize and get along with others. The first place that your baby is going to learn to socialize with others is within your own family. You should also be exposing your baby to playmates and other people outside your immediate family. This is so that he can learn communication and interaction skills at as young an age as possible.

No matter how young your baby is, it is never too soon to let your baby enjoy social activities. The earlier you start to teach social skills to your baby the better his social skills will be when he is older. You should be considering getting out with your baby a couple of times a week so that you are both interacting with other parents and babies.

Your baby won’t really "play" with other babies. Babies will, however, be very interested in watching the other babies and at times may interact with them by hitting, touching, or grabbing them. Babies won’t participate in a "playing" activity until they are toddlers. What your baby gains by being exposed to other babies is the stimulation of being around other babies.

Just two months ago, a group of mothers from three generations (Gen Y, Gen X and Baby Boomer demographics) shared their buying habits with retailers and manufacturers on purchasing childrens bedroom furniture and baby products. This occurred at the fifth annual Kids Today conference in Bonita Springs Florida.

Author and entrepreneur Maria Bailey, an executive in the fields of publishing, marketing, and business development, was the keynote speaker at the conference and a moderator for the panel. Maria Bailey has worked for numerous companies, including Automation USA, AutoNation, Discovery Zone, The Miami Herald, Broward Community College, and McDonald’s. Her experience as an executive and the mother of four young children led her to specialize in assisting mothers in balancing their home and work lives. Bailey explained the importance of marketing to mothers of different ages.

Even though there were some differences there were also many similarities. One baby boomer said she found information from other mothers quite useful. She tried shopping for childrens beds and other bedroom sets for her boys baby nursery at a baby boutique or a shop for kid furniture and found it was above her budget. She registered for designer baby bedding at one baby boutique but this particular parent found that shopping at a consignment shop for her boys bedroom furniture was the way to go.

If you are thinking of hiring a nanny, no doubt you plan to choose her very carefully. We have all watched some of these scaring videos showing nannies bullying the children they were expected to take care of. Of course, to choose a woman who will not ill-treat your kid is the first point to consider. Fortunately, most nannies meet this requirement. So, which other points to come to?

I am not going to give you advice about things I know nothing about, or no more than any other mother. For medical advice, ask your doctor; for religious advice, ask your preacher; but for educational advice, ask a teacher. Do the math:

• One needs about a thousand hours to learn something.
• The nanny is going to spend hundreds of hours with your beloved baby.
• So: your baby is going to learn a lot from the nanny.

It is difficult to calculate how much time young children need to learn whatever. What we know for sure is that they learn almost continuously, from any source of knowledge that they are exposed to. Give your kid a source of knowledge that will provide him with a lifelong benefit. Hire a Polish nanny!

With you or without you, your baby will be learning from the moment she is born and starts to take in her new surroundings. Every sight and sound will be a part of her learning process; she will observe everything you do and listen to every word you say. And as the months pass, she will eventually start to copy. Fully conscious teaching, with books and other articles of learning, will come much later on; but of course, it is entirely up to you.

With our baby daughter, Saffron, I started reading her a bed time story at about six months old. She could not understand fully, but it gave her exposure to books, and the comfort of a bed time routine, with my voice and sounds, and the pictures in the book. It did not matter that every evening it was Goldilocks and the Three Bears, or one of the other old favourites in the book. Here in the Philippines there are not many books of children’s stories in the stores.