There is a huge trend right now among celebrities and the rest of us to keep our babies and baby gear earth-friendly. Naturally this is a trend we should all jump on in hopes of it outlasting trendiest and heading into practicality.

More and more parents are switching to earth-friendly materials such as organic cotton and other natural fibers in clothing, baby blankets, bedding and even diaper bags. If you’re looking for some earth baby tips, try these on for size:

Go Organic – Not only is organic baby food, clothing and products better for your baby, it’s better for the environment, too.

Take a Walk – If your destination is within walking distance, why would you bother driving? Grab a stroller or backpack and take a stroll to your destination with baby. Not only will she love to be outside, you’ll love the exercise and the gas you saved.

Try Cloth Diapers – Traditional diapers don’t biodegrade very well meaning your old diapers might still be hanging out in a landfill somewhere. Using cloth diapers helps eliminate that much more waste and might also help your child potty train more quickly – what parent doesn’t want that?

The Fourth of July is such a fun holiday for families and children, but it can also be one of the most dangerous. The many hazards of the day including open bodies of water, firecrackers, cooking grills, strangers and parents distracted by friends, neighbors and alcohol contribute to the potential hazards. That being said, this Fourth of July might very well be your most enjoyable one yet – if you play it safe.

Fireworks
Toddlers love everything about fireworks, except maybe the noise and the late hour. It’s probably worth it to keep your young one up past her normal bedtime to enjoy the big fireworks, but be very careful with fireworks at your home. Not only are firecrackers and sparklers illegal in many areas, they are unsafe for almost everyone who uses them.

Sparklers are a childhood favorite, as are bottle rockets, but toddlers are too young for either. If older children are using any sort of firecracker in your area, keep your child well away from the action and be sure the other child’s parent is actively supervising. The biggest danger of fireworks is how unpredictable they can be. Stick to the large fireworks which are much too far away to be anything but loud and beautiful.

Other Dangers
Most other Fourth of July dangers are areas you are normally vigilant in. You don’t normally let your toddler run by the swimming pool and playing by a smoking grill is a bad idea any day of the year. Don’t let down your guard at any time and help keep other children who might be influencing your child in line.

You might also consider limiting or eliminating your use of alcohol this year as you’ll need your full wits about you with so much going on. Alcohol can make a party more fun, but it can also make the situation more dangerous. Be safe and have fun!

A study was recently performed in the United Kingdom that has very applicable meaning around the world. The study by Oxford University found that grandparents who are actively involved in a child’s life have an incredibly important role that can increase a child’s security and well being.

For a grandparent to have such a profound impact on a child, the older adult must take an active role. That means she’s not just loving on her grandchildren, but she’s showing that love by taking them to the neighborhood swimming pool, taking Junior to soccer practice on occasion and cheering the loudest at the weekend games.

The study found what most parents already know. When two parents are working, there are gaps in how much the parents can do with the children. Active grandparents fill these gaps making the child extra secure in the amount of love and support he has from all the caring adults in his life.

Even children whose parents divorce fair much better both in the short run and long run as they have a soft layer of protection in the form of their grandparents. Further, grandparents are vital as children age. Older children and adolescences are more prone to tell their thoughts and feelings to grandparents than their parents.

If you have active grandparents living nearby, count your blessings many times over.

When new babies come home, many new parents are clueless as to how they will survive the feedings around the clock and the constant needs of that new baby. Sleepless nights and incessant demands from a seven pound child can be exhausting, but you can survive.

Take Turns
If baby is waking every two hours, take turns feeding the baby so the other parent can get some sleep. If mom is breastfeeding, dad can feed a bottle of expressed milk during one feeding or just bring the baby to mom and change the diaper after the feeding letting more stay in bed at least.

Nap
New babies sleep around the clock, and so should you. Dishes and vacuuming will wait. When baby naps, you nap, too. Then when baby is awake take care of chores while wearing her close to your chest or letting her watch you in action.

Stay Comfortable
Nobody expects you to be dressed and primped for the day with a young baby. Invest in some good loungewear and wear it to bed and up around the house. Stay comfortable so you don’t waste any time changing clothes to nap. Loungewear is also easy to wash following exploding diapers or spit-up.

Unfortunately pregnant women tend to swell toward the end of the day, particularly at the end of their pregnancies. This swelling might be indicative of a condition called preeclampsia, but if your doctor tells you your swelling is the more typical kind related to general pregnancy, you likely want to find a way to return your ankles and face to their previously svelte size.

Drink Water
It seems counterintuitive, but drinking water will help your body release some of the stored water that might be causing your swelling. If your body feels it needs more water, it hangs on to what is already in the system causing swelling (and water weight.) Give your body what it needs, which is more than eight glasses, by the way, and watch some of your swelling disappear.

Skip Sodium
Nothing keeps water and swelling around like salt. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables and keep salt to a healthy minimum.

Exercise
A good walk will move blood around the body and help to dispel toxins and stored fluids that might be causing your swelling. You might swell more after exercising, but given the chance, your body will level off shortly after.

Prop Your Feet Up
During the day and every chance you have, elevate your feet. Fluids including water and extra blood settle in your feet making your ankles swell and your shoes feel tight. Prop those feet up to get fluids circulating again.

Taking baby out often means feeding baby while on the go. Depending on the stage and age of your baby, the way you feed your baby might be as simple as pulling out a bottle or as complicated as a four course meal.

Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding moms have the easiest means of feeding baby on the go. A few minutes in a car or nursing room or a quiet bench away from the action can give baby a chance to fill up, often followed by a little nap.

Bottle Feeding
When bottle feeding, you can bring cold bottles with ready made formula that may have to be heated or one you made right before leaving the house. Bottles that are already prepared should be used in less than 1-2 hours, however. A can of ready-made formula poured into a waiting bottle can create a meal or a formula dispenser with pre-measured formula shaken into a bottle with water is an easy way to make a meal on the run.

Solids
Once a child starts eating solids, you’ll need a bit more than a bottle or breast. Every outing that will span a meal will include jars or containers of baby food, a spoon, a bib and a change of clothes. You might also bring a highchair cover or wipes to keep eating conditions sanitary.

Finger Foods
Life becomes a bit easier once a baby is comfortably eating finger foods. Tear off or cut small pieces of your own meal for baby and supplement with foods brought from home. In a matter of months your little one will be capable of grabbing and chewing a real meal (so long as you cut it up for him first.)

Celebrity moms are getting more down to earth with their baby names and their baby gear. Sure there are still thousand dollar prams marching down the street, or in the case of the Lopez twins, two matching prams, but many celebrities are becoming more focused on what baby needs to feel comfortable – no matter the price tag. In this case, that often means the price tag is lower than you might think.

Slings and Carriers
Celebrities, like any new moms, find that carrying baby close is the easiest way to get things done and keep baby comfortable. Gently wrapping slings and carriers are being spotted more and more with young babies.

Practical Strollers
No matter the brand, more practical strollers are being seen rather than bulky prams. A well designed stroller will take a child through the toddler years and many celebrities are keeping it simple with basic designs and simple color schemes.

Diaper Bags
Designer label or not, a diaper bag is necessary with a baby of any age. Large bulky bags that hold all that baby needs in dark colors are seen everywhere. Even large purses with an extra diaper and sippy cup inside are meeting the needs of many celebrity moms.

If anyone deserves a present this Father’s Day, it’s the father of your adorable baby. After all, that baby wouldn’t be here without him – even if he still changes diapers with great reluctance. This year, give the Daddy in your life something extra special – a personalized gift from his baby.

Personalized Gifts
Any one can buy candy or a card, but making something personalized is much more meaningful. Even very young babies can contribute to Dad’s gift this year with help from you, so get creative and make something truly special.

Mementos
Moms aren’t the only ones who love pictures and keepsakes. Buy a little jersey for Dad’s favorite team or a junior fishing set and take baby to the local photographer. Get some shots and then frame the print in a suitable manly frame. Dad can bring his personalized picture to the office or just put it somewhere special in the house. If you don the team jersey and pose up with your baby, that might make the picture even more special.

A classic memento is a handprint or footprint of your little one on inside a card or in plaster. Write dad a meaningful message inside a card you’ve created and then “sign” it with baby’s handprint. Make the message from you or the baby. Either way it will have a lot more meaning than something the card store created.

If there was ever a good parental debate, the pacifier deserves recognition. Some parents feel the pacifier is a lifesaver when it comes to a baby with a high need to suck, while others feel pacifiers deter breastfeeding or create unhealthy sleep habits. So do you need a pacifier?

Yes! – A pacifier is recommended to help reduce the risk of SIDS in young babies. Sucking on a pacifier keeps baby in a lighter state of sleep helping to keep her safe.

Yes! – A pacifier can help a baby with a strong suck reflex feel satisfied when she’s not really hungry.

Yes! – A pacifier can satisfy the urge to suck that is extremely relaxing for babies helping her to fall asleep and comfort herself.

No! – A pacifier uses a different form of sucking which might confuse babies learning to breastfeed.

No! – A pacifier can become a crutch for older babies who need to learn more natural ways to self-comfort.

No! – A pacifier can cause poor sleep if baby can’t sleep without it and can’t replace it herself when it falls out in the middle of the night.

A first tooth is very exciting for parents, but baby isn’t always so thrilled. Babies react differently to teething with some showing almost no outside symptoms other than a tooth that appears virtually overnight while others have drawn out misery waiting on each tooth to cut through the gums.

Babies teeth at different times, but the first tooth appears between four and eight months on average. After the first, a companion tooth will likely appear. The bottom two teeth come in first followed by the top two. Then generally teeth continue to appear in pairs on the bottom followed by the matching set on the top. By thirty months, your child will have an entire collection of teeth including two sets of molars.

At the age of three, parents are urged to take their child to the dentist for the first time. Even though his teeth are baby teeth which will fall out and be replaced by permanent teeth in a few more years, caring for these teeth is very important. If baby teeth are damaged, permanent teeth can be misaligned or damaged as well.

Teach your baby healthy dental habits from the start. Brush his gums with a special toothbrush. Then when the first tooth appears, make brushing that tooth, or at least wiping it with a clean washcloth, part of your routine. Good dental hygiene now will make for an adorable smile the rest of his life.

Postpartum depression hits a large percentage of pregnant women after delivery. Some feel that every new mother suffers from some degree of the condition within a few days of giving birth. The primary cause for the depression is the surging hormones following delivery, and the degree to which you’re affected is not something you can control.

Degrees of Depression
At the light end of postpartum depression is the condition called “Baby Blues.” When a new mother is suddenly weepy for no apparent reason, is worried constantly about her baby and feels like motherhood is suddenly overwhelming, she has what is considered by many to be a very normal, routine effect to hormones and emotions following delivery. Baby Blues pass in a few days or a week once your system has settled back down. For years all degrees of depression were written off as Baby Blues, but now there is much more support for mothers who suffer from a more extreme case of depression.

Postpartum Depression
When full scale depression hits, the mother might feel sad, but she might also feel angry, frustrated and even apathy toward her baby. Her feelings of worry for her little one might be so overwhelming she can’t function or care for him correctly. She might be so frustrated and down that she doesn’t always keep the baby’s best interests at heart and in very extreme cases might even harm her child.

Dealing with Postpartum Depression
Some rocky emotions following delivery are normal, but if you suspect your emotions are going beyond a few good sobs and tearful midnight feedings, call your doctor immediately to seek out assistance. In rare cases, doctors treat postpartum depression lightly when it is indeed serious, so if you’re unsatisfied with your doctor’s handling of your concerns, continue to seek help. Your baby and your own condition are too important not to be treated properly.

As a second timer, I thought I’d write a little something to help new mothers pack wisely to the hospital.

Here’s the short list

For you:

Labor and after:

• Pillow (in a printed pillowcase so it doesn’t get mixed up with the hospital’s)
• Sucking candy or lollipops
• Hairbrush, rubber band, barrettes or hair band
• Cell phone, charger and phone card (for long distance calls)
• Lip Moisturizer
• Baby Book- give it to the nurses to keep, so they’ll stamp the baby’s prints in there when they do the birth certificate.

After Labor:

• A little bit of make-up
• Travel sized and pleasant smelling shampoo, conditioner and lotion.
• Travel sized toothbrush and toothpaste
• Razor
• 2 pairs of plain roomy underwear (leave your Victoria’s Secret Bikinis at home)
• 1 pair of supporting underwear to wear over your undies, to begin reshaping and supporting your belly.
• Nursing bra, nipple cream, breast shells, ultra soft nursing pads
• Socks and slippers
• Comfortable clothes and shoes to go home in
• Plastic (shopping) bags to sort and store dirty laundry and other stuff

For your partner:

• Camera
• Snacks
• Couple of bottles of water
• Chewing gum
• Tylenol (or other pain reliever)

For the Baby:

• Car Seat
• Baby outfit, hat, scratch mittens, season appropriate blanket, and a bundler if it is cold.

Other things to consider:

• If you are have other kids, I hear it’s good to bring along some present for your older children (as if from the new baby) so they’ll have pleasant associations.

• Don’t bring entertainment- if you have a chance- rest, during and after labor. Basically rest and sleep every chance you get.

• If you plan to continue breastfeeding, bring your pump so they can show you how to properly use it in the hospital, but don’t expect to have great milk supply during the first couple of days.

• Don’t bring too much of your own clothing for the hospital, at most bring a top robe. It might all get soiled, and you also want to provide easy access for doctors and nurses to check you out. Hospital gowns should do.

• Same goes for pads- use hospital pads, they are bulky, but they are the only thing that will do the trick for you during the first 5-10 days.

Hope this helps. Good luck and enjoy your achievement!

Watching a toddler eat can turn even the hardest stomach. Young toddlers use their fists and fingers to smash all kinds of food into their little mouths, and older toddlers are often not much better. But the mess young children make while eating is not a sign that they shun table manners. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Most children want to learn to eat properly, but they also want to eat quickly. Learning to use utensils is a long process that starts in infancy and won’t be perfected for years.

Early Self-Feeding

The earliest self feeding is often a cracker held in a tiny fist. But your child might also try to grab your spoon and feed himself during meals. Offer your child a spoon to keep him off yours, but also to let him practice getting the spoon into his mouth properly. This is the first step in the long process of using utensils.

Learning to Use Utensils

Often a toddler will know how to use utensils properly well before he actually can use them correctly on a daily basis. Scooping food neatly with a spoon and getting it into your mouth is hard work, and most toddlers decide their fingers are the better option. Like all things toddler, pushing a child too hard can cause more harm than good. Rather than forcing your child to use a fork or spoon before he’s ready, simply provide the utensils at every meal and praise him lavishly when he does stab meat with the fork or scoop yogurt with the spoon.

Remind your child that the utensils are available for his use, but don’t force the issue. If you’re ready to see finger foods disappear, make it a point to serve foods that must be eaten with a spoon such as yogurt, soups and puddings. Your child will have to use utensils to eat his favorite treats, and perhaps he’ll grow more accustomed to the feel of a fork and spoon in his hand. Expect your toddler to use utensils sparingly at first and then with increasing accuracy as he grows. Some children are using utensils consistently by two and a half or three; others prefer finger foods until closer to four.

Tips for Using Utensils

To help your child use utensils, make it as simple as possible for him to practice. When you want him to use a spoon, offer him a sticky pudding or yogurt and show him how to dip the spoon in and pull it back out leaving the food stuck to the spoon without bothering to scoop. Once the dip action is learned, move on to scooping stews and ice creams, but leave peas and thin soups to more experienced eaters.

You may find that the fork is the easier utensil for your child to learn to use. A fork requires a stabbing motion which is simple for most children. Provide your child with food chunks that are easy to stab but won’t fall off the fork such as cheese cubes or hot dog pieces. Be sure to cut the pieces large enough that the fork handler can get one when he’s trying.

Childhood vaccines have been under speculation by some parenting groups for years. In more recent years, many fingers have been pointed at vaccines as the cause or instigating factor in the high numbers of autism cases identified each year. Parents are becoming concerned about vaccines and the health of their child, but waiting or choosing not to vaccinate may be just as dangerous.

The Vaccination Schedule

The many vaccines required for children today are scheduled to be administered beginning at birth and routinely at almost every doctor’s appointment for the remainder of childhood. The sheer number of vaccines is baffling to many parents who remember only a handful from their own childhood.

Pediatricians will inform you of when your child is due for each vaccine, and will give you information about the shot and common side effects. Parents may elect to skip or delay vaccines, but schools and daycares will require a completed shot record with enrollment or a qualified waiver.

Concerns about Vaccines

In the past, many vaccines were made using live strands of the disease the shot was designed to prevent. In some cases, the vaccinated child actually developed the disease or experienced severe, sometimes life threatening side effects. Over time, live viruses were removed from vaccinations, and today all vaccines are available without live cultures – but be sure to check with your doctor that your child is receiving the safer version.

Many strongly believe that autism is caused or brought forth more prominently by the MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) vaccine. For many years mercury was used as a component of the shot, and mercury was believed to have harmful effects in children. Today, mercury has been removed from the vaccine, but many parents still delay the vaccine.

Delaying Vaccines

There is a middle path between getting all vaccines on time, even if you’re not sure your child is ready, and skipping them all together. Most of your child’s first doctor’s appointments will include four or five shots. Rather than getting all the vaccines so early, you can delay them over a few years giving your child’s immune system time to develop more properly should he have an adverse reaction to the immunization.

The MMR is often delayed. The correct time frame for the MMR is between twelve and twenty-four months. Most doctors give it at one year, but you may simply be more comfortable waiting until your child is two. Vaccines are important to prevent the spread of highly contagious diseases, but there is no rule that you have to immunize your child on someone else’s schedule.

When your child gets sick, often you can’t ease their discomfort until you know what you are facing. During the colder months of the year, your child can come down with any number of bugs and viruses, but the worst bug of all is the flu. Unfortunately, even cold symptoms in children can be pronounced, so it can be challenging to determine if your child is suffering from a common cold or if she does in fact have the flu.

Cold Symptoms

In children the most common symptoms of a cold are a runny nose, cough, and irritability. Of course, these can also be signs of teething, so the best way to check for a cold is to determine the color of the nasal discharge. Green or yellow mucus is indicative of a cold, but clear discharge is likely allergies or teething related. Other cold symptoms include:

There is no cure for colds, and young children should not be given any cold medicines as they have been shown to be dangerous. Instead treat the symptoms as best you can with a little extra love and attention. Push fluids and food, and elevate the crib mattress and encourage older children to sleep with their head on the pillow to help drain fluids away from the nose and ears.

Flu Symptoms

The flu is a much more intense disease that might be prevented by getting a flu vaccine each year. Children six months and up are encouraged to get a flu vaccine annually. If your child has the flu, the first symptoms might appear similar to a cold, but symptoms will quickly become more severe. Symptoms of the flu include:

• High fever lasting 3-4 days
• Severe headache
• Severe body aches and pains
• Lingering fatigue and weakness
• Extreme exhaustion
• Chest discomfort and cough
• Occasional stuffy nose, sore throat and sneezing

The flu can be shortened considerably by administering antiviral drugs within twenty-four to forty-eight hours of the start of the disease, but you’ll need to discuss this with your pediatrician. The flu must be monitored carefully as it can develop into other more serious conditions such as pneumonia and bronchitis.