“Ask The Expert” With Dr. Karen Hill-Scott 09/30/2010

Hi Parents – I know that many of you have asked some great questions on Facebook and Twitter. There was one question that really caught my attention because it comes up in almost every family at some point during their children’s lives.

Marissa Neilson wrote, “If I were to get my daughter (8-months) a pet that she can grow up with, what would be the best pet? (one that if she beats on it a little it will still be fine, not attack, etc.). Thanks!”

A very popular question, Marissa! So many parents wonder about the right way to introduce pets into a growing family. I would recommend that if you want your daughter to have a pet, wait until she expresses an interest in animals and asks for a pet that she can help take care of and co-own with you. It will benefit the family in the end as she will be more attached to the pet and careful about accidentally provoking or hurting the animal. If YOU want a pet (which means another baby to take care of) then here are a few points to keep in mind.

1. Start by researching the kinds of animals you love and how each of these animals interacts with infants and young children.

2. Expose your child to animals through your social relationships with other pet owners or by visiting a pet foster care program where you don’t have the responsibility of permanent ownership.

3. Observe your baby’s reactions to the animals you like. If there is a lot of fear and withdrawal now, pet ownership is a project that can be postponed until your child is older.

4. Be mindful of possible allergies your child might have to certain animals, especially furry ones.

5. Your pet, your child, and your family will truly benefit from training the animal. Lots of accidents occur because the pet and the child have not had the training to live together as friends. And by the way, good pet training is not cruel to your animal. Many types of pets want to earn your approval for appropriate behavior and being trained increases pet and owner safety.

Best of luck with your decision! Most of all be fair to yourself, your baby, and the animal by seriously exploring your options. Pets add endless joy to our lives, and our gratitude to the animals is to choose the right pet at the right time before adding one to the family.

Thanks to everyone for their questions. Look out for our next Q&A session on Facebook and Twitter when another question will be selected and I’ll always provide very practical solutions based on research and experience. I welcome feedback and look forward to “chatting” again soon.

Best Wishes,
Dr. Karen Hill-Scott

Discovering The Colors Of Fall With Your Baby 09/24/2010

Happy Fall everyone! Now is a wonderful time to bundle your baby up and head outdoors to explore all of the colors and new experiences that this season has to offer. Plan a strolling adventure with your little guy to discover all of the fun of fall together. You can get your him psyched for your adventure by looking at pictures of the season at home first. Watch Baby Monet- Discovering the seasons together. Describe the colorful leaves, new critters and sounds that you are about to experience. Prepare your little adventurer with his own special leaf sack to bring along and print a few photos of colored leaves and head on a mission to find leaves that match the photos.

Once you get outside of course the #1 thing to take advantage of are the beautiful autumn leaves. A natural rainbow to share with your little sidekick is right at your fingertips. As you walk hand in hand help your baby collect as many different colored and shaped leaves as you can find and save them to explore later at home. If he needs a hand bring along a sticky lint roller brush that he can use to roll on the ground and “magically” collect leaves. Keep your eye out for big pine cones as well. I’ll explain why later. If your baby is too young for his own adventure, not to worry you can still make your fall walk fun. Just grab his stroller and get ready to play tour guide. You can enjoy a relaxing walk and spend the afternoon explaining all of the new changes that are happening with the fall season.

If you want to stay close to home you can make your fall adventure productive and even more fun by getting your little guy’s help with raking. Head to your front yard and make the biggest pile that you can together. Let your inner child loose and jump in it together. Not only will you be having a blast, but you will be discovering new textures as well.

After your fall adventure go home and take time to explore each shape, color and texture of your collection together. Feel the scratchy texture and smooth lines on each leaf, you can show the similarities in the lines of the leaf with the lines on your palm. Look around your living room and grab examples of household items that match the bright red, yellow, and orange of the leaves. If your baby is old enough have him show off his stuff and tell you what color leaf you are exploring and pick out other examples around the house. Now you have a table full of leaves…what do you do? With a little creativity you and your baby are in for an afternoon of fun. Here are a couple quick ideas to bring the fall indoors with fun projects that you can do together.

Happy Leaves
You can use your toddler’s new collection as a canvas for painting. Lay out a mat and spread out the leaves. Grab 2 paint brushes along with non-toxic tempera paints (any color will do) and get painting. You and your little artist can paint faces or you can make a leaf extra special by personalizing with his name. Let dry overnight and you will have super special leaves to remember your day of fall adventure.

My Tree
Your toddler can make their own tree with their new leaves with a little help from you. Take a light colored sheet of construction paper and draw a tree trunk, try your best. You can then let your toddler pick leaves and tell you where he wants them to go. You take the lead and with non toxic glue stick them on the paper until you’ve made your toddler’s special tree.

Yummy Pine Cones
Tis the season to channel your inner Martha Stewart with fall crafts. While on your adventure you hopefully found a few nicely sized pine cones. When home set up a work place for you and your helper. Take the pine cones and spread peanut butter over them. It doesn’t have to be pretty, just try to get as much to stick as possible. Next, put out a shallow plate and spread birdseed across the plate. Let your toddler get a little messy as he rolls the pine cones in the seed. Voila easy bird feeder! Place the homemade feeders in a tree near a window where you and your lil guy can sit inside and see who’s coming along to nibble on your tasty treat.

Indoors and outdoors this fall there are so many fun ways for you and your baby to bond, be active and get discovering.

Happy Fall!

Guest Blogger Spotlight: Love at First Sight by Mommyfriend 09/21/2010

This month we welcome the fabulous Mommyfriend as our guest blogger. She is sharing a very relatable first for many parents, that first moment when you see your older child lock eyes and become instantly bonded with their little baby sibling. It’s a feeling of joy that is forever in your heart and we are so glad to share Mommyfriend’s experience.

Love at First Sight
By: Mommyfriend

The baby of our family, known as “Little BooBoo” will be turning 3 years old this month. As we prepare to celebrate him, I’m reminded of the day I became a believer in love at first sight.

From the moment we told our only son that he was about to become a big brother, he was ready. He was ready to be the big brother to a baby sister whom he decided would be named “Cinderella”. I asked him how he would feel if he ended up with a little brother instead and with a serious face and an even more serious tone, he muttered, “I would not be happy about that at all.”

When it came time to break the news to our son that a baby boy would be joining our family, he was notably disappointed; after all, he had big plans for Cinderella. He eventually admitted that he didn’t want a baby brother because he didn’t want to share his toys. He was an only child and big changes were coming; he could feel it.

That September we welcomed Little BooBoo into our family. As my eldest son walked cautiously into the delivery room, I noticed he looked different; taller, older. He spoke sweetly and softly while his baby brother slept. He took hold of his baby brother’s tiny hand and said, “You’re my brother now.” Little BooBoo kicked his little legs and woke, opening his bright eyes. My proud eldest noticed that his new brother looked just like him and began to tell him all about the swing in the backyard and the green bike he would let him ride. Sleepy Little BooBoo tried to focus as he responded to his big brother’s voice but he soon drifted back to sleep, after all, it had been a pretty exciting day.

In the early days of his infancy, Little BooBoo was always calmed by his big brother’s voice as he would talk to him about cartoons and dinosaurs. As he grew, he would eagerly focus on his big brother’s voice and attempt to mimic his speech. All that brotherly tender loving care led Little BooBoo to say his big brother’s name as his first word!

With each new milestone Little BooBoo reached, we all celebrated but none more than his big brother. It was as if each new discovery bridged the age gap between them that much more.

While Little BooBoo may not have been the Cinderella ending my eldest was hoping for, his baby brother proved to be the happily ever after he never expected. The story of Little BooBoo’s birth as baby brother remains a family favorite, told time and time again. But their story isn’t over yet, in fact it’s just beginning.

You can check out more by Mommyfriend at her blog. Share your children’s first meeting story with us on Facebook.

Playground Chatter: Soothing Babies Through Music 09/17/2010

We’ve recently heard from our community with their tips for dealing with baby’s tantrums and wanted to chime in with one of our top tips. We find that music is one of the most tried and true ways to soothe your baby’s mood at almost any time. Classical music specifically has been found extremely effective to calm a fussy baby. You probably remember Mozart, Beethoven and Bach from music class years ago but bet you never thought these guys would become your right hand men in calming your baby when you need help most.

Keep in mind that for nine months your baby was kept warm and peaceful in your womb. Now all of a sudden she’s out in this new, unknown world. Music can be key for easing the transition into this new life. Many genres, especially classical have steady beats that mimic your heartbeat and trigger a calming effect. In the middle of a tantrum play slow, soft classical music and you will notice your baby’s breathing to slow and become deeper. After a few minutes her overall attitude will begin to become more relaxed. She’ll be reacting to the steady pattern, rhythm and repetition of the song. It’s been said that babies can tell the difference between talking and singing so if you begin to sing along to the music that she is hearing your baby may be able to recognize that music is a special treat from you. And of course one of the simplest benefits that music brings is that when your baby is calming and that relaxing tune is playing you will start to find your stress level drop, so it’s a win win!

Music is a quick fix for calming tantrums, but is also a great for helping to establish a routine. If you take a few minutes every day to introduce your baby to music you will create a mood of serenity and set a routine that lets baby know that it’s relaxing time. You’ll notice over time that your baby will calm at the sound of the record as she’ll begin to associate peaceful times with the soft music. If you have a baby that is getting antsy at night this is a great technique to begin about an hour before bedtime. Your baby will begin to associate the soft chords with bedtime and drift off to sleep making nighttime a bit easier for you.

If you are looking for suggestions on what to play for your little one, we must say that we recommend our classical CDs and lullabies which we’ve crafted with the goal of calming and soothing your baby. The Baby Einstein Classical Music Collection is a collection of classical tunes from Bach, Beethoven and Mozart re-orchestrated for your little girl’s little ears. They are great to have handy in your baby’s room, in the car for those long trips and on your iPod for baby to have anywhere in the go.

So next time your baby seems fussy and there is no relief in sight try popping in a classical CD and enjoy the simple melodies and soft sounds together. Pretty soon you may find it’s a special treat for you too!

Together Time Tuesday: Celebrate National Read A Book Day 09/07/2010

Summer’s over, the kids are on their way back to school and it’s just you and your little one. What better way to spend a relaxing Together Time Tuesday than reading to your baby? Reading now will benefit you both in countless ways from creating a sweet bonding routine to engaging her curiosity and exposing her to words, sounds and colors. We have a few tips for making reading fun for both of you while planting the seeds for a future bookworm all from your comfy couch.

Put 100% into it
You see the biggest A-list actors transform themselves into wacky cartoon characters with voices that have your baby simply fascinated on the big screen. Take a cue and become your own cartoon alter ego at home. Get into character, find your quirky voice . . . dig deep. You know that you have one just dying to be let loose!  Be sure to switch up your wacky voices, use different volumes, and get as expressive as you can. Take a few dramatic pauses to keep your baby’s attention. This is a great activity that you can use to show your baby different emotions.

Make it a Family Affair
Reading can be a fun trip down memory lane for you and your family. Did you recently rediscover your favorite childhood book, the one your mom read to you, or the one that you read to your older children? What a perfect way to share something special to you with your baby! Gather your family around for story time and let everyone be involved. Ask your older children to show off their stuff as they read their favorite baby book to your little one, or let grandma step in and read to you and baby. You can all read a book together by taking different roles. It’s a fantastic way for your whole family to bond and baby to know how much she is really loved. It’s also important to note that babies love repetition, so you can each take turns reading that family favorite over and over.

Entice All of the Senses
If you are just beginning to build your baby library opt for books with brightly colored illustrations and interactive features. Your baby girl will love bright sparkly things from the beginning (that never changes). Anything that she can touch or new images to look at will keep her engaged longer and make your job a bit easier. Fellow parents really like the Baby Einstein Mirror Me and The Colors Flip Flap book. As you introduce books you will see that your baby will begin discovering these new books with all of her senses. Encourage her to grab the book, and feel the soft pages. Help her to look closely at the pictures by taking time to point at them and explain what is happening. If there are sounds in the book remember that repetition is a good thing, so even if you are tired of hearing that pig oink, make the sound one more time and she’ll be a happy camper. You may find your baby trying to see how books taste by sneaking a nibble. Keep an eye on her, but remember that this is her way of using all of her senses to figure out what these mysterious new things are.

Keep in mind that this reading thing is all new to your baby so read slowly and often and you will create a new activity sure to become one of your favorites for years to come!

Baby Einstein at the Click of your Mouse 09/01/2010

Hey moms and dads,

We wanted to let our new blog readers know that there’s even more Baby Einstein available online. Check out our official YouTube channel with your little one for clips of your favorite programs, fun videos, wacky puppets, tips and more. You can preview DVDs that you may not have seen yet and share videos with fellow parents to friends. So check it out and prepare for a few giggles out of you and baby!