Giving Medicine

Having trouble giving your baby medicine? Whether it's pain reliever or a prescription medicine, most babies don't cooperate when it's time to dose em' up! Here's a little trick I learned: pinch your baby's nose to make them open their mouth. Because babies breath through their nose and not through their mouth, when you pinch their nose, they are forced to open their mouth in order to breath. (Make sure you release their nose as soon as they open their mouth!)
If you continue having trouble giving them medicine, you can buy OTC suppository pain relievers.

Diaper Rash

Every baby has probably had at least a minor case of diaper rash! This common occurrence can be a result of many things ranging from a change in food, a virus or a side effect from antibiotics.
There are a wide variety of treatments for diaper rash. Creams and powders are the most common treatments. Baby powder with cornstarch can be used during the first stages of a rash. This can also be used with each diaper change as a preventive measure. Be careful using powder around babies as it can be easily inhaled.
Diaper cream or ointment is usually used to treat the more severe rashes. There are many brands out there, so shop around and find what works best for your baby. (I prefer Desitin Diaper Rash Ointment)
Wipes will often irritate a sore bottom, so avoid using them if possible . You should rinse baby's bottom with warm water and pat dry. Let your baby soak in the tub several times a day if possible. If you need to use soap, use something very mild like Dove Soap.
If your baby has developed blisters or his/her bottom is bleeding, you should contact your pediatrician.

Time For Food

Some moms have asked me when to start giving their baby something other than milk. There is no particular age that you have to begin feeding your baby solids. Each baby will be different, but there will be signs of being ready that you can look for.
- baby is getting hungry before their normal feeding time
- baby does not seem satisfied after nursing for long periods of time
- baby's weight gain is not sufficient
You should not need to start your baby on solids until they are at least 4 months old. (Unless your doctor has given you medical reason) Many babies have been totally breast or bottle fed until they were a year old!
One common misconception is that giving your baby cereal before bedtime will help them sleep better. Unfortunately this is usually not true. Exercise and fresh air have a much more effective result!
You should begin your baby with boxed rice cereal. You can try mixing it with warm water, but usually a baby will enjoy it more if it is mixed with a little formula or breast milk. Start with about a tablespoon of cereal and make the consistency a little bit runny. If it is too thick, your baby could choke on it.
It will most likely take a few spoonfuls for your baby to get the hang of eating, but if they start to gag and consistently push the food out with their tongue, most likely they are not quite ready for solids yet. Try again in a week or so.
(After they get the hang of eating, try to thicken up the cereal a bit so that they are getting more eating and less sipping. )
It is best to introduce them to cereal around your dinner time. While it may be a little inconvenient for you to try and feed them while you are eating, this will help them to get on a schedule of eating with the family instead of before or after.
After a few weeks you can introduce your baby to vegetables - not fruit. If you give your baby fruit before veggies, they could develop a bit of a sweet tooth and not want to eat the vegetables after having the fruit.
You should start with the yellow veggies like squash, sweet potatoes and carrots. Introduce them one at a time. Stick with one vegetable for about a week before moving on to the next. This way, if your baby is allergic to it, you will be able to tell right away what the allergy is to.
After the yellow veggies, move to the green.
At this point, I usually begin to give my babies cereal in the morning and give them their vegetables at dinner time.
Once you've gone through all the veggies, then when you feel like your baby needs more, add fruit to their diet. Again, introduce them one at a time.
Be careful when introducing those baby foods that have chunks of food in them. If your baby is not ready for anything other than strained baby food, they could very quickly choke on these chunkier foods.

To Sleep or not to Sleep

I have had so many new mom's tell me that they have set their alarm clocks to go off every three hours so that they can feed their baby only to find that they had a horrible time trying to wake their baby up!
"They just won't wake up! What can I do to get them to wake up and eat?"
My answer to that is "don't". Don't wake them up. If your baby is content to sleep for 4 or 5 hours - even through the night, let them!
Unless their is a specific medical reason for waking your baby up in the middle of the night to eat, it is not going to hurt your baby to sleep through until morning! In fact, if you allow your baby to wake you up when they are hungry, you will find that they eat much better because they are already awake and you will feel much more rested having slept for a greater length of time!
A rested mom is a happy mom!

More Oil

This is a post specifically for expectant moms. When you are packing you bag for your trip to deliver your new baby, make sure you put in a bottle of olive oil.
The messy diapers that your baby will make during the first few days will be very sticky. It's actually called meconium, and is often hard to wipe off your baby's bottom.
There is a very easy solution to this that my mid wife introduced me to. Simply squirt a bit of olive oil on your baby's clean bottom each time you change their diaper. The mess will wipe off without any trouble!

Cradle Cap

Cradle cap, for those who don't know, is the oily build up on babies heads. It is often yellow or brown in color. It is very normal for your baby to get this in the first several months.
Unfortunately, cradle cap won't come off with just a simple shampoo. You should never pick or scratch at the build up on order to remove it. This could lead to a very sore or even a bleeding scalp. There is a way to lessen the build up and sometimes can even remove it completely.
About five or ten minutes before bathing your baby, rub the top of his or her head (wherever the cradle cap is) with baby oil. Simple wash the baby oil out with shampoo while bathing him or her. After taking your baby out of the tub, gently comb out the cradle cap using a fine toothed baby comb. Carefully comb your baby's scalp in several different direction so as to loosen the build up.
It may take several days of applying the baby oil to remove the build up entirely, but after the first time you will definitely see a difference!

Water and Oil

There are so many different kind of baby bathing products out there! It can be confusing as to which one is the most gentle for your baby's sensitive skin.
Actually, for the first few months, when bathing your baby, just plain old water is the best thing for their skin!
If you find that you need to use a little something more on baby's bottom, I would suggest either Johnson's Head to Toe, or a bar of Dove soap.
If you use soap simply to get that "yummy" baby smell, try using baby oil after his or her bath. I love to give my babies a good rub down with baby oil after bathing them. This keeps their skin from getting dry and leaves them smelling wonderful! This also keeps the skin from chafing in the endless roles of fat that our babies tend to develop! (Make sure you lay your baby on a towel while you oil them - besides the chance of getting oil on the changing surface, the towel will catch any leak that might happen during baby's massage!)