Bringing home a newborn is exhilarating and overwhelming. If you’re preparing for the birth of your child, knowing a few tricks beforehand might make things a bit easier.

Sterilize Everything
Before the baby comes, you’ll want to have everything sterilized – bottles, pacifiers, and clothing. Prewash all blankets, burp clothes, sheets, mattress pads, clothing, and even your own clothing since baby will be snuggled close to you, in a very mild detergent.

All items that go in baby’s mouth such as bottles and pacifiers must be boiled for about five minutes before use. That can be a long wait if you forget until your baby is hungry and waiting. Better to have what you need ready and waiting when you get home.

Learn to Swaddle
When you’re at the hospital, watch the nurses closely. Babies love to be swaddled, so learn from the experts how to wrap your baby up like a little burrito. It’s counterintuitive, but often the tighter they are swaddled, the more comfortable babies are. This might be the most important trick you learn at the hospital next to breastfeeding.

Read a Parenting Book
Parenting books should be read before you’re actually a parent. This will clue you in to sleep routines and healthy practices you can use the moment you come home. Don’t worry if you fail to grasp it all the first time, however – you’ll be reading that book again many times.

The warm months of summer are perfect for travel – especially to the beach. Or perhaps you’d rather travel somewhere a bit cooler than home. Regardless, traveling with a little one can be a bit challenging. If you’re packing up your young family this summer, be sure you know the best ways to survive the trip so you can enjoy your vacation.

Better Too Early Than Too Late
It’s far better to spend an extra hour at the airport than push yourself on timing. Everything takes longer with a baby, and if you’re running late your toddler will most certainly have an accident and your infant will need to nurse. Leave yourself plenty of time to accommodate the unexpected as well as the expected.

Check Your Bags
It might seem simpler to bring bags onboard a plane to save time, but you’re not going to save much time and you’ll need your hands. So check as much as you can and leave out just the essentials – this makes your load through the airport lighter and gives you more freedom of movement when your little one dashes away into a crowd.

Bring Your Stroller to the Gate
You can roll your stroller right up to the gate, so why wouldn’t you? Even if your baby is fine walking or being held getting on the plane, she might be sleeping when you get off – having your stroller waiting for you might be a life (or back) saver.

It’s a double-edged sword. Mothers beg fathers to take an equal role in childcare duties only to panic when Daddy doesn’t do thing “right.” But is the man’s way wrong? It depends, of course on whether or not he’s following the basics you decided on together in regard to parenting decisions. If he’s simply implementing the rules and playing the way he wants, it’s no need for concern- it’s manly parenting.

It’s a Man’s World
Women are terrific nurturers. Something about a baby and the smell of clean baby skin makes us want to wrap the child tightly and snuggle up close to him for hours on end. So when we hand him off to his father for a few minutes, come back and see Dad has him unwrapped, sprawled on the floor singing bar songs together, it’s no wonder you might be a bit disconcerted.

Different, but Okay
But for the most part, dads aren’t doing anything wrong. He’s just doing things according to his instincts – and men do have instincts when it comes to babies. They are just different from Mommy instincts. Let them play and let him sing – just remind him to edit the words a bit as Junior grows. (Babies can understand words much, much sooner than you realize). Then, sit back and enjoy the show – you might even learn a few new tricks of the trade.

You might have thought that the unusual names for Hollywood children were fading away, at least a bit, but it seems you’re wrong. It’s been a while since Apple and Suri were in the news, but the birth of Sunday, on a Monday no less, has brought the celebrity name game back into the headlines.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, the very attractive Australian power couple, delivered their first child together in the early hours of Monday, July 7. Shortly after her birth, the excited parents announced her name to the press, fans and the world. This little six pound wonder is named Sunday Rose Kidman Urban. It’s quite a moniker for such a wee little thing.

Perhaps Sunday’s name isn’t as different as it might first appear. Her middle name at least is surprisingly common in Hollywood. Children of Michelle Pfeiffer, Teri Hatcher, Ewan McGregor, Sylvester Stallone and Eric Clapton all have Rose as a middle name, and having both last names is usually a show of equality in the marriage.

Sunday’s first name is just one of the unusual names still appearing in Hollywood. Sunday might be usual to us as a name, but in Africa it was traditional to name the daughter of the family Sunday, and this might have played into the decision. Regardless of the rationale, Sunday will be well loved and not alone in the world of celebrity baby names.

If you have an independent child, you know how frustrating it can be to try and carry, hold, or help your baby with anything. Even if he can’t yet do it himself, he will try and forcefully shun any and all assistance. Handling an independent child is tricky at times, but you can make it easier on yourself:

Use the Power of the Distraction
If you’re trying to get a child dressed and he wants very much to climb off the bed, use distraction. Keep a favorite toy for just this occasion so that he has something else to focus on. Free him from the confinement as quickly as possible and keep the toy for next time – that will help it stay special.

Bribery
Once your child is old enough to understand, there is nothing more powerful than a good bribe (or threat, but we like to be positive.) If he wants to go for a ride in the car, he has to hold still and get his shoes on. If he wants to stay up and watch a show, he has to let you help him get dressed, etc…

Patience
If all else fails, add time to your day to deal with independent spurts. It might take an extra ten or fifteen minutes to get out the door, but you’ll go out with a satisfied, albeit unusually dressed, child.

If it’s too hot for outside play and the same old toys are looking rather boring, break out the craft box.

Finger Painting
Finger painting is fun all the time, but if you finger paint with something like chocolate syrup and strawberry syrup the fun is ever so much more delicious (and messy.) Or you can use shaving cream to create fabulous designs on wax or parchment paper.

Modeling Clay
Introduce your child to modeling clay along with some handy cookie cutters. Help him roll out the dough and then cut out shapes. He can use the dough again and again and when he finds a shape he likes, let it dry into an ornament for his room.

Macaroni Necklaces
Grab a box of very large penne or rigatoni noodles and some plastic string. (Use plastic because it doesn’t fray like yarn does.) Tie one of the noodles to the end of the yarn to keep the rest of the noodles in line and then let your child practice fine motor skills by stringing the rest of the necklace. You can even paint the noodles before or after stringing them if you’d like.

Pregnant moms are plagued with random symptoms that aren’t always in the medical books. Other moms can collaborate, however, about how uncomfortable pregnancy can be and how you’re always caught off guard by a pregnancy-caused sensation that you simply weren’t expecting.

Charley Horse
For many women, leg cramps and muscle spasms in their calves and feet occur thanks to the pressure and weight those poor legs carry. These usually unexpectedly happen in the middle of the night when you’re suddenly awakened by an intense cramping in your legs you can’t get rid of. You must simply wait it out. To help the spasms increase your potassium intake naturally with a banana a day and plenty of stretches to loosen the muscle.

Constipation
It’s not mentioned much around the lunch table, but more women than not get severe constipation during pregnancy. You can’t use much to help, but a brisk walk, plenty of water and some delicious fruit and vegetables might help clear the system.

Forgetfulness
At first you might think your mind is simply too full to remember all the details you used to, but soon you realize that somehow or another you simply don’t remember well anymore. It’s frustrating, but work on a system of lists and reminders and you’ll get through it.

Looking to start (or finish) potty training? Most toddlers are motivated by nice, tangible rewards no matter how much you were hoping to get by on praise and loving support. If you’re in need of cheap, easy rewards, look no further:

Stickers
Toddlers love stickers and you can get so many for so little money. Give your child a sticker to wear each time she uses the potty or put one on a special chart to keep track of her successes. (There is no need to track her failures, of course.)

Candy
If you’re okay with the idea, a small piece of candy such as a Skittle or M&M makes a nice reward for a job well done. A toddler doesn’t exist who doesn’t salivate after some kind of candy.

Toys
If you make a chart and check off a certain number of boxes, you might reward your child with a small toy at the end of the day. Visit the local dollar store or look in the “junk” section of the toy store to find toys less than a dollar that will help keep everyone motivated.

Special Treats
Much like candy, you can use anything for a motivation if it is special enough. Junior sized popsicles might be a good idea during the summer, especially sugar free ones. You can also use popcorn, fruit snacks or any other item that is a special treat to your child.

It happens to every new mom. You are so excited about the pregnancy you go a bit overboard with your planning and buying. Of course you should plan and prepare for the newborn, but many of the large baby stores seem to insist you need everything the moment your first contraction hits. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Newborn Essentials
There are most definitely newborn essentials such as a place to sleep, blankets, diapers, bottles, formula (if necessary), a breast pump, and much more. There are even some items that aren’t necessary, but still nice to have around such as stroller travel systems and swings. Other items, however, can easily wait until you actually know what parenting is all about. You might be surprised how your preferences change.

Skip This (For Now)
The Exesaucer – Your baby doesn’t need it until she’s at least four months old and has great head control. Skip it for now or leave it in the box to save on storage space until you need it.

The High Chair – Even reclining highchairs swallow up newborns. Keep the highchair in the garage or just put off buying one for a few months. Your baby won’t start eating solids until close to six months, although she might like the high view a bit earlier than that.

Baby Proofing – Baby gates, outlet covers and cabinet locks are completely essential – once your baby can move, that is.

Convertible Carseat – Unless you’ve opted to skip the bucket carseat, which is a great idea for some families, you can put this one off for almost six months to a year. It will just collect dust in the garage until then.

Jogging Stroller – You’re not allowed to jog for at least a few weeks, and most jogging strollers are for babies who can sit with assistance. Unless yours has a space for a newborn carrier, skip it until your baby’s neck can handle the pace.