High Chair Solution

Parenthacks.com posted this little gem of a tip on how to use those giant wooden highchairs at restaurants. Currently I use my own highchair - a handy little thing that clips onto the side and is amazingly sturdy. Every once in a while though, the table is a bit to thick to hold the chair… so I revert to this great tip. Thanks Kat!

This falls under one of those “I can’t believe I didn’t realize this sooner” moments for me, but if it saves another frustrated new mommy from making a scene at a restaurant, I’ll share!

Many times, when using (or trying to…) those wooden high chairs at a restaurant, I couldn’t understand how freakishly small the last kid must have been to allow the straps to actually buckle together. Something had to be amiss, but what?

FINALLY, I saw another mom pull the straps straight up through the opening at the back of the chair… NOT up around the sides like I was doing, and had seen waitresses and others also do when trying to help me figure out why the straps that had been long enough for everyone else weren’t long enough to go around my kid’s lap.

An added bonus is that having the straps come from behind your kid leaves much less wiggle room than the other way, preventing the all-too-common (at least, with us) mid-dinner escape.

Capture Childhood with a Signature Keepsake

Pictures are great for creating flat reproductions of moments in your child’s life. Birthday parties, first steps, family gatherings - these are all great ways of capturing special moments. But wouldn’t it be great if you could have a more tangible keepsake of your child? Good-Parenting.net has done a review of several businesses that create dolls with such detail you’ll swear your looking at a 3d photo of your child.

…MyTwin allows parents to capture a child’s beauty in a doll that looks as if it is the child’s twin. Parents can either upload or mail in a photo of their child, and then choose hair, eye coloring, skin tone, clothing, and all the characteristics that match their child; these features will be placed onto the doll. For instance, if a child has freckles, these speckles will be added to the doll’s face….

Kid’s Clothing Tips

Kids go through clothes fast. Not only do children grow like weeds, but they’re also messy people who like to stain everything in sight with food and art supplies. Some Moms surrender and let their kids run around in these stained articles, while others would never think to let their child out of the house with a mere speck on their shirt. Buying clothes for kids can get expensive so follow these tips to save some cash on your kid’s duds.

1. Buy black. Not that you want little Susie to look like a goth-in-training, but black clothes hide any stain (besides bleach) you can throw their way. If black is too extreme for your taste, get dark colors and stock up on stain stick just in case.

2. Don’t buy pajamas or playclothes. Kids look adorable in the character-emblazoned pajamas on the market but they can be pricey. Instead, dress your children in comfortable clothing that has stains or holes in them. They can also wear these items as playclothes and spare their school and special occasion clothing from damage.

3. For girls, buy leggings. Leggings are very inexpensive, stylish, and versitile. They come in many colors, but of course, black is the most practical. They can be worn in any weather and grow with your child since they are stretchy.

4. Consider buying at thrift or consignment stores or off the clearance rack. Kid’s clothes really are disposable so don’t invest a lot of money on any one item. Let siblings wear hand-me-downs.

5. Buy cheap shoes. Children’s feet grow incredibly fast and will only fit in shoes for a short period of time.

6. Buy clothing as large as possible without the articles falling off your child’s body. Most kids can fit into clothes that are one size larger than their age. They will be able to grow into these items, thus getting more wear out of them.

Shake Up Storytime

Do you have a baby who is less than enthralled with storytime? Perhaps your child is more fascinated by the mechanics of turning pages than the content on them. You can use these tips from Parenting.com to add a little excitement to your routine and keep your baby interested throughout story time:

Create your own plot for the book.
Cover up the pictures and ask “Where’s the bunny?”
Substitute your child’s name for one of the characters in the book.
Let your children play with the books, it’s ok to have a little fun stacking books or turning pages.

How to Pick Your Preschool

All kids, if able should attend some form of preschool before entering kindergarten. This allows your child to learn social skills with other kids before the big K. It can be a little mind numbing looking at all of the ads and choices for which Preschool is best for your child. Parenting.Savvy-Cafe.com has some great info on what qualties to look for in your preschool teacher candidates. Ask questions of potential providers to find out which is the perfect match for you and your child.

Does the teacher have the ability to inspire a love of learning?
Do children have a chance to play and develop social skills?
Do they have opportunites to do crafts and other creative activities?
Is the teacher prepared for your meeting? Prepared for class?
Can the teacher mediate disputes between children?

Use your iPhone as a Parenting Tool

The iPhone is such a versatile device that it should be included in your purse as the ultimate parenting tool. At least that’s according to Mommy Poppins. In one of her latest articles, Mommy Poppins describes how no parent should be without this Swiss Army Knife of mobile units. From cell phone usage to kid distractor, this device comes in handy in a multitude of different situations:

Ooh, and the last reason the iPhone is the ultimate gadget for parents: the thing is basically indestructible — just don’t let them “hide” it in the toilet.

Smart Air Travel with Kids

Even though the big travel season has past, it won’t be long before the spring and summer travel periods are upon us. If you planning on flying anywhere you may want to follow these tips from the Transportation Security Administration.

TIPS Before you reach the airport

Please allow yourself and your family extra time to get through security - especially when traveling with younger children.

Call your airline or travel agent for their recommended check-in times for your departure airport.

Talk to your children before you come to the airport and let them know that it’s against the law to make threats such as, “I have a bomb in my bag.” Threats made jokingly (even by a child) can delay the entire family and could result in fines.

TIPS at the airport

Speak to your children again about the screening process so that they will not be frightened or surprised. Remind them not to joke about threats such as bombs or explosives.

Tell your children that their bags (backpack, dolls, etc.) will be put in the X-ray machine and will come out at the other end and be returned to them.

Let your children know that a Security Officer may ask to see their shoes, but that they will get these back as well.

You may want to consider asking for a private screening if you are traveling with more than one child.

Activities to do with Toddlers

Toddlers have a habit of either being intensely interested in something or completely uninterrested. There is no in between. To top it all off, toddlers can be into one thing one day and the next day it’s old news. That’s why it’s important to have a wide range of age appropriate activites ready such as these from BlissfullyDomestic.com:

1. Playdough
2. Coloring
3. Lacing Shapes.
4. Milk Jug Play.
5. Cutting.
6. Sensory table.

Set Boundaries on After School Activities

There are so many activities these days for our children to participate in. While most of us believe we should provide as many opportunities as possible for our children it is possible to go overboard. So how do we draw lines and set boundaries while providing the best opportunities? BusyMomsOnline has put together a great method of setting priorities with the whole family in mind when scheduling after school activities.

* Make the family the priority. Yes, its true that as children go through their school years they will find more and more extra-curricular activities they would like to be involved in. Instead of allowing them to be involved in them all, tell them you expect them to be home to eat with the family. Your family is more important than any school activity.

How common is bed wetting?

My husband and I are currently potty training our 3 year old. We’ve been fairly successful and except for naps and nighttime we consider him potty trained. I was curious how long it takes for a child to be completely potty trained and as I searched the web I was shocked at how old most children are before they stop bedwetting. Good-parenting.net had some helpful suggestions on dealing with bed wetting and how to be successful without all of the stress.

It is tempting to ban any drinking way before bedtime, although this will not teach them to control their bladder through the night. Try limiting, but not cutting out completely.

Best Literary Books for Your Preschooler

It’s easy to find books for preschoolers. Great artists and favorite subjects will draw your children to books. But while children may end up judging a book by it’s cover, moms can head over to SimpleMom.net for a list of literary books geared towards preschoolers. Our favorite from the list? A Judith Viorst classic:

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Both you and your kids will identify with Alexander, who’s having a day when nothing goes right. Good for kids who get frustrated when things don’t go their way.

Cheap Paper - Oh the Possibilities!

It’s a little known fact that you can go to your local newspaper and ask for end rolls of paper. End rolls are the bits of paper that are left after a newspaper has completed its print run. These oversized pieces of paper are perfect for kids crafts! The Simple Dollar has a list of fun-filled activities using end rolls that you can use for parties, playdates, or rainy days.

Paper mache
With so much paper, you’ve got a perfect opportunity to learn the basics of sculpting and to make some interesting items (like a pinata). All you need is the newspaper cut in strips, a good-sized balloon, some paste, and some paint to paint up the finished product. Just coat the strips in paper mache paste, put them around the inflated balloon leaving one end just open enough so that you can put goodies inside, allow the sculpture to dry for a few days, then pop the balloon and put goodies inside. Then, put paper mache over the opening and allow that to dry. Paint it up and you’ve got yourself a homemade pinata. You can also sculpt other things with paper mache with some creativity - try a Viking helmet, for example.

How to Get Help for a Developmentaly Delayed Child

A mom’s instinct can be spot on, especially when it comes to her children. If you feel that your child might be developmentally delayed there are several resources you should know about. BlissfullyDomestic.com provides 5 tips it’s important to know when you want to know if your child is behind:

…Begin with your pediatrician or family doctor. They can help evaluate if there is a problem and refer to necessary resources for assistance. If your pediatrician or family doctor has brushed you and your concerns off, try another doctor in the practice or find a new doctor through mom referrals and your insurance directory, if you have insurance.

New Moms: The Beginning

We all remember the excitement and joy of finding out we were going to become new mothers. For many of us though, it also came with trepidation and uncertainty. What exactly was going on in there? Directory M Articles has a great no nonsense week-by-week guide to your pregnancy.

In anticipation of delivery, the baby positions itself with the head down towards the pelvis and sheds lanugo hairs. At any point between week 35 and 40, your little one will let you know he’s ready to make a grand entrance and give you your first glimpse at 40 weeks of amazing development.

Teach Your Child to Hold a Pencil

My son lonves to draw. But when he draws he uses his whole fist and moves his arm to make pictures. He’s recently been trying to color within the lines and I thought it would be helpful to find some activities that increase his fine motor skill development. I searched around and found some tips on teaching pencil holding from Parenting.com. Thanks gals!

Easy pieces
Instead of tossing those broken crayons, let your child color with them. He’ll have to hold the smaller pieces the way he would a pencil rather than with the closed-fist grip he uses on whole crayons.

Prepare for a Successful Playdate

Playdates can be great fun for your child, but they run the risk of getting out of control. Surfnetparents.com offers 5 tips on how to prepare for a playdate to reduce the potential for problems. Here’s my favorite:

Tip #3: Put away special toys

Every child has a toy or two that they just love more than anything else in the world and would die first before letting anyone else play with it. It’s best just to put those toys away for the duration of the playdate as they will most likely only cause problems between the two children. You may have to sit down with your child and talk with them about why you’re putting the toy away, but for a successful playdate you want the children to learn how to take turns and share, which most likely won’t happen if their favorite toys are still out.

Attachment Parenting

I had two very different experiences with my sons through their infancy. My first, despite my best efforts, was destined to be his dad’s best friend from the begining. He would only bottle feed, he slept in his own room from day one, and spent all day with dad being happy as a clam. My second son was destined to be a mama’s boy - he breastfed, we co-slept, and he still gets sad every time I leave for work. My experience has led me to believe that attachment parenting doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can pick and choose which works best for you and for each of your children. HelpParent shares this sentiment and breaks down attachment parenting into different activities you can do with your young child:

Belief in the language value of your baby’s cry - This means accepting that when your baby cries, she’s trying to tell you something. Each of her cries are communication that you’ll want to respond to. Babies don’t “manipulate”. They communicate the only way they know how. Even if you can’t solve the problem and your baby cries in your arms, your arms are the best place for her to be.

5 Things to Do With a Cardboard Box

The folks over at HelpParent have put together a list of 5 classic things to do with a cardboard box. I challenge you to see if you can make the box survive through all 5 different iterations:

1) House. Cut a door and some windows. Make them flap open and closed instead of just cutting out the holes. Make little curtains out of scrap material or even just napkins. Paint a window box under the window and cut out paper flowers to glue on. Put the dress-up clothes inside the house. Add kitchen supplies. You can get kid’s kitchen-ware, or just pass on some plastic bowls and wooden spoons.

2) Make a grocery store. Instead of buying play food, start saving up used containers from your kitchen. Empty cereal boxes, yogurt containers, plastic jars like from peanut butter, the box the butter sticks came in, plastic baby food containers, etc. all add up pretty quickly to a great grocery store. Make play money.

3) Post office. Save all that junk mail, old magazines and newspapers, envelopes and scrap paper, and put it to good use!

4) Theater. Perhaps when you’re done with the other set-ups, you can cut down more of one wall to make a nice theater. Let your child dress up. Write plays together and act them out. Make hand or finger puppets from material scraps or paper bags. If you’re out of ideas for what to act out, play off of your child’s favorite shows. Act out an episode and make up new endings.

5) If you’re done with all the walls, cut the whole box down so that there’s just the bottom and foot high walls all around. This makes a great place to contain messier art projects, so let your child let loose! Put scissors, glue, paper, crayons, chalk, beads, cotton balls, string, glitter, etc. in the box, and let your child know that anything goes as long as it stays in the box.

The Loss of a Lovey

The loss of a lovey can be devastating. For the child it’s as if the world has just fallen apart. For the parent who wasn’t prepared it can be nights of inconsolable crying. Parenting.com has some suggestions for helping both parent and child overcome the loss of a lovey:

Let her know it’s ok to feel bad.
Help her to say goodbye.
Let her choose another friend.

Family Dinner Night

What a great family New Years resolution - have a Family Dinner Night. From prep to clean up, engage every member of the family in some quality bonding time. Newsweek tells us why this activity is an education for kids as well:

Cooking is a chance to teach kids more than just basic knife skills. “It’s a real education in life,” says Annabel Karmel, author of the new “Mom and Me Cookbook.” Would-be chefs learn how to follow instructions, how to tell time, how to take risks even how to solve complex math problems.

When Playdates Go Wrong

It’s always fun for children to have friends over to play. But sometimes one of them chooses not to share, or doesn’t take turns, and soon you have a full scale playdate meltdown. How can you keep the peace between kids? Parenting.com had these tips to share:

Give them a gentle reminder. Just telling kids to keep their voices down can sometimes defuse tensions.

Sit them down. Tell them they need to work out a plan for playing nicely.

Distract them. They may be bored or hungry, so let them come up with a project they can work on together. Or offer a snack — food usually helps.

Run ‘em around. If they’re antsy — and the weather allows — send them outside to blow off that extra energy.

Organize Your Child’s Artwork

When my son came home from daycare with his first piece of artwork we hung it on the refrigerator with pride. We did the same for his next 10 pieces of art. After that, there was no more room on the refrigerator and we had to look elsewhere. OrganizedFamilies.com has the ultimate solution for displaying your child’s treasures and keeping fresh supplies close at hand. Gather the following supplies then head over for instrucitons on how to create the ultimate solution to artwork organization.

* 1 large and 1 small portfolio per “crafty” person
* A sturdy magazine rack that sits low to the ground to stand the portfolios up in
* 1 cork board
* Either a book shelf with colourful bins or a plastic dresser with various sized drawers
* A work table beside your supplies is preferable but not necessary if there is no room to put it. The kitchen table works well as long the supplies are returned to the cabinet after each use.
* Labels!

Handling Scissors

When it’s time to hand the scissors across the craft table to your child it’s important to remember several safety tips.

To start, give your child kid-size, blunt-tip scissors that open and close easily. Place his thumb through the round top hole, his index finger under the bottom oval hole, and his middle and ring fingers through that bottom hole. Have him pretend the blades are an alligator’s mouth biting the paper as they open and shut — and tell him to keep his other fingers out of the way.

Head over to Parenting.com for a list of fun activities your child can do to improve his/her new skills.

10 Toys for Under $15

Parenting.com has put together a list of 10 great toys for babies and toddlers. The best thing about this list? Everything is fairly cheap and kid tested so you know it will bring hours of smiles to their faces. Head over to the article to find out if the Twist and Shout, the High Chair Helper or the Sweat Pea should be on your child wish list this holiday.

The Art of Shoelace Tieing

I can only imagine how hard it will be to get my son to tie his own shoelaces. Even now he balks at getting his shoes and socks on - and they’re velcro! I was glad to stumble upon this tip at ezinearticles.com:

A great method to use to teach you child is by telling them the bunny story. It goes like this: Make two bunny ears, the bunny runs around the tree, the bunny jumps in a hole, close it up tight!

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