Everyone knows how good yoga can be for adults but I think a lot of people don't consider the fact that it's great for babies too. I bought two great books about yoga when Tyler was born; Your Happy Baby and Itsy Bitsy Yoga. Both books had great yoga poses for babies ages newborn up to toddler. A couple of my favorites for younger babies were Tailor Pose Swing, Tiger in a Tree Swing, and Divine Drops. All three of these poses would quiet Tyler if he was fussy....Divine Drops were magic and Tiger in a Tree Swing was the first time Tyler actually giggled.
Divine Drops: Stand with your feet about 24 inches apart like you are going to do a squat. Hold your baby against your chest facing outward, drop quickly into a wide squat, on the next inhalation rise back up into the starting position. This almost guarantees giggles or at least stopping any crying.
Tiger in a Tree Swing: Feed one of your arms up through your baby's legs and place your hand over her belly. Support her around the upper chest with your other hand, allowing her head to rest comfortably on your forearm. Swing your baby back and forth in a rocking motion. Tyler LOVED this one and got him giggling every time!!!
You can find both these books online or in bookstores.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Kids & Pets
Needless to say my husband and I are “animal people”. With three dogs and a parrot I guess we couldn’t be considered anything else. We are very lucky that our dogs are all “people animals” as well. They love to be around people, especially kids. Since some of our friends had kids before we did, we got to witness our dogs first hand with those children. They were always well behaved and when they had had enough they just left for their crates. Still, of course one of our concerns was how the dogs would behave with our son when we brought him home. Experts say prepare your dogs for the shock since they are the “first babies” (although in reality your husband was the first “baby”) by bringing home blankets or clothes from the hospital that have been with the baby so they can get used to their smell. Do not allow the dogs into the baby’s room for the first however many months. Make them sit at the door while you go in so they get used to hearing the baby noises. All of which are great ideas and I do suggest trying them.
However, there is also another reality. The fact that when your husband goes home from the hospital, while you and baby are still there, it’s probably just to shower, get clean clothes and then hurry right back. I know in the flurry of everything going on, not once did we remember to send baby clothes/blankets home with him for the dogs. At that point they were the furthest thing from our mind. In an instant, they went from “babies” to “dogs”.
When we brought our son home we had all intentions of not allowing the dogs into his room. Now remember our dogs have been professionally trained and are very well behaved but they are still three high strung hunting dogs who want to be with us no matter where we are and that included the baby’s room. The first time in there we had them sit at the door. Within a few seconds they had snuck in to see what was going on. We took them back out and made them sit. What we noticed was that the more we made them sit outside the room the more nervous they got. Here was this new baby, with new smells, and made new noises they weren’t used to. You think three hunting dogs don’t want to check that out? Plus when you’re figuring out your new baby the last thing on your mind is dog obedience (I’m sure Brenda cringes as she reads this). So before long all three dogs were allowed in the room and able to poke their wet noses around our son. So much for no dogs in the baby room.
A rule we ALWAYS DO follow is watching our dogs when they are with our son. It takes only seconds for something bad to happen. Lucky for us our son can hang from their ears if he wants and they won’t so much as grunt but you never what an animal will do. So we have tried to teach him to pet nice, give hugs and respect the dogs from the beginning.
However, there is also another reality. The fact that when your husband goes home from the hospital, while you and baby are still there, it’s probably just to shower, get clean clothes and then hurry right back. I know in the flurry of everything going on, not once did we remember to send baby clothes/blankets home with him for the dogs. At that point they were the furthest thing from our mind. In an instant, they went from “babies” to “dogs”.
When we brought our son home we had all intentions of not allowing the dogs into his room. Now remember our dogs have been professionally trained and are very well behaved but they are still three high strung hunting dogs who want to be with us no matter where we are and that included the baby’s room. The first time in there we had them sit at the door. Within a few seconds they had snuck in to see what was going on. We took them back out and made them sit. What we noticed was that the more we made them sit outside the room the more nervous they got. Here was this new baby, with new smells, and made new noises they weren’t used to. You think three hunting dogs don’t want to check that out? Plus when you’re figuring out your new baby the last thing on your mind is dog obedience (I’m sure Brenda cringes as she reads this). So before long all three dogs were allowed in the room and able to poke their wet noses around our son. So much for no dogs in the baby room.
A rule we ALWAYS DO follow is watching our dogs when they are with our son. It takes only seconds for something bad to happen. Lucky for us our son can hang from their ears if he wants and they won’t so much as grunt but you never what an animal will do. So we have tried to teach him to pet nice, give hugs and respect the dogs from the beginning.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Coughs Blow.....
So inevitably Ty caught a cold this year already and it moved right into a cough. Now that OTC cough meds have been proven unsafe for toddlers I was at a loss as to what the heck to do. I knew it had to run its course but what mom enjoys hearing her child hack like a 20 year smoker? AARRGGHHH….so I busted out a few books to see what I could do to at least help. Apparently onion has anti-inflammatory properties and garlic is considered “nature’s antibiotic”…so since I am cooking challenged I asked my husband to figure out how to get our toddler to eat a garlic/onion mixture. HA!!! Being the culinary genius he is, he sautéed them together and threw them into a homemade tomato pasta sauce….aaaaahhhh smart move Bobby Flay!!!!
The next move was a little meaner. Hot lemon water helps thin mucus and relaxes spasms. So I fixed some freshly squeezed lemon in water with a little honey. Needless to say Ty gave the bitter beer face when he discovered the new concoction had been slipped into his sippy. Unfortunately, he refused to drink much of that.
I grabbed a bottle of (alcohol free mind you….good for the kids…BAD for mommy!!!) echinacea and goldenroot combo liquid. Echinacea has immune-enhancing properties so I figured it couldn’t hurt to give him a little of that.
Of course we all know Vitamin-C is good for us in any situation (especially when attacked by a cold) so I have been slipping Emergen-C into his sippy as well. Now this stuff goes over like it was Kool-Aid….probably cause I have the “tropical flavor”. J YEAH!!!
Needless to say this has all helped…or at least in my overly concerned, need to know I did something mind it did. He is on the road to recovery after however many days of hacking away and this mommy feels that she did her job!!!!!!!
The next move was a little meaner. Hot lemon water helps thin mucus and relaxes spasms. So I fixed some freshly squeezed lemon in water with a little honey. Needless to say Ty gave the bitter beer face when he discovered the new concoction had been slipped into his sippy. Unfortunately, he refused to drink much of that.
I grabbed a bottle of (alcohol free mind you….good for the kids…BAD for mommy!!!) echinacea and goldenroot combo liquid. Echinacea has immune-enhancing properties so I figured it couldn’t hurt to give him a little of that.
Of course we all know Vitamin-C is good for us in any situation (especially when attacked by a cold) so I have been slipping Emergen-C into his sippy as well. Now this stuff goes over like it was Kool-Aid….probably cause I have the “tropical flavor”. J YEAH!!!
Needless to say this has all helped…or at least in my overly concerned, need to know I did something mind it did. He is on the road to recovery after however many days of hacking away and this mommy feels that she did her job!!!!!!!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Toddler Tips
One of the best tips I have read (I am sorry I don't remember who to give the credit to) was to tell your child to keep YOU within his/her eyesight at all times. Something so common sense but yet I didn't think to explain it that way. I would say to stay where Mommy can see you. Well, can she really KNOW where I can see her? So, now when we are out and about I tell her to stay where she can see Mommy. I do have to remind her, but at some point it should sink in.....hopefully!
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