Finding the Perfect Changing Table

When you are expecting it is always hard to know exactly what you will need and how long you will use it.

Here are some handy hints to help you find the perfect one when you are shopping.

When buying a changing table one of the key items to know is what the manufacturer says the weight limits are. One that has a 30lb capacity will be better built than one with only a 20lb capacity.

Check to see if it has barriers around the outer edges. Ideally you would want them at least 4 inches tall. This will help prevent your child from rolling off. Also make sure that it comes with safety straps, and USE them. It only takes a second of inattention for a baby to roll off.

Take a look at the height of the table. You are going to be spending a lot of time bending over it, is your back going to hurt? Check to see how accessible drawers or shelves are. Pretend to hold a baby while you reach for something, can you do it easily with one hand?

My daughter was quite large so she didn't fit on the standard sized changing table for long, but we found a way to work around it. I bought a credenza that was tall enough for me to use with out bending over too much and attached a contoured changing pad to it. I also mounted a strap so that I could secure her while I was changing her with out having to worry about her rolling off.

Now that she is older, I have taken off the pad and she uses the credenza for storing her clothes and playthings in.

Tooth Fairy Magic

The tooth fairy has always been such a fun tradition. Every child knows that when you loose a tooth, the tooth fairy leaves money for the child.

Start a new tradition. At the drug store, grab a tub of bright pink lipstick and some lip gloss that has glitter in it.

After your child falls asleep put the 2 on your lips and kiss your child. When they wake up they will talk all day about their kiss from the tooth fairy.

Long Distance Readers

If you have family that lives a long way away you may only get together a few times a year.

You have the occasional phone calls, but it is hard to get everyone together to talk.

You can use this hint to help your child remember the voice of each special person.
Make a list of your child's favorite books, or have a relative find a new unique took from their area and read the book on a recorder onto a tape or cd.

Have them send the tape/cd and book back along with a picture. Now when it is story time, pop in the tape/cd and have your child read along in the book with the tape/cd.

Before and after reading the book, show the picture of who is reading the book to remind your toddler of their long distance relative.

Get Out of Bed Free

It seems that as soon as you put your tot down to bed, they remember everything that they forgot before they crawled into bed.

To try to cut down on the trips, make a list of all of the night time duties. As each activity is done, mark it off the list.

Next, give your child a get out of bed free pass. This can simply be a piece of paper with Get Out of Bed Free written on it.

Now when your child goes to bed, they only have one free pass to get out of bed for that potty trip, hug, drink of water, etc....

Quick Reminders

You find that you need to leave notes frequently, but you are running out of places to leave them where your family can see them and they don't fall down.

There is a memo board that is right in front of everyone's face first thing in the morning. The Bathroom Mirror.

Grab a dry erase marker and make your notes on the mirror. When they are no longer needed you can simply wipe it away.

A word of caution when using dry erase markers, TEST the surface first in an out of way location to make sure that you can erase it. Someone told me once that I could use the refrigerator, and I wrote my notes only to find out that they did NOT erase.

Summertime Blues?

Summertime is here and the kids are starting to drive you crazy! Don't forget that your kids are people too!

We all remember being a kid and all the fun that we had.

It is fine to set up a daily schedule of chores to be done, but don't forget to schedule some fun time too.

It may not be anything that you want to do, but all kids need a bit of time explore on their own schedule.

It can be as easy as setting up a sprinkler in the yard on a hot day to letting them go to the zoo for the day.

Fish? Really?

You want to teach your kids responsibility, but you have no idea how to begin.

Are they old enough? Mature enough?

A good way to start to teach your kids responsibility is to get a fish.

There are a lot of different things that a fish can teach.

Your child will have to feed it every day, make sure that the water is changed regularly and make sure that it is kept safe.

And if the fish for some reason does not make it, they are cheap enough to hop on out to buy a new one.

You don't think that they are old enough to give them enough (and not too much) food each day?

Find a weekly dispensing pill container with the days of the week printed on each day. Place just enough food for each day in to the coordinating date of the container. Now when it comes time for your tot to feed the fish there is the exact amount of food for it, and you don't have to worry about "How many times was the fish fed today?"

Playpen Art

If you have small tots that love to color or do crafts, but you are tired of having to monitor them every minute to make sure that they are not coloring on the walls or furnature, there is an easy fix!

Grab your old playpen. Set the kids inside with their favorite weapons of destruction (pens, pencils, crayons) and paper.

Now they are contained to the playpen until they are done.

Family News

It is always hard to get communication started in the family. You can try this to get everyone talking.

Give each child a spiral notepad and pencil or pen. Now tell them to watch what is going on in the family during the week.

Have them write notes or pictures to describe what is going on.

For a bit of fun, the can even interview family members. This can be parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, anyone!

Now pick a day of the week over dinner and have your reporters let you know what they observed. You can ask questions or just chat about what they have reported.

Not only will you be communicating, but you might also be learning bits of information that you did not know before!

Battle of the Wits

OK, your child comes in and says “Mom, can I…..”

Sometimes we can be so caught up in our daily lives that your instant response is an emphatic “No”.

Remember, kids are people too, and everything that they ask seems reasonable in their mind.

Instead of the knee jerk reaction, think about their question.

Then ask them to explain to you why they should be able to do the things that they ask.

Sometimes an amiable agreement can be made.

Maybe a quid pro quo of sorts: You can go to the park with your friends if you room is clean and your homework is done.

Don’t forget to listen to your kids. If you treat them as an adult, they will often act like one in return.

Re-Usable Notes

If you find that you like to leave notes for your family to let them know where you are, or what they need to do, there is an easy way to do this and be kinder to the environment.

Grab a box and a pack of 3x5 cards. Whenever you need to write a note grab a card and write the note onto it and leave it in the designated area for everyone to see. Once you are done with the note, put it in the box.

The next time that you need to leave a note, browse through the box to see if you can re-use the same card again.

Fort Fun

Your kids are bored and driving you nuts.

Try building an old fashioned fort with them.

Pull out a few high backed chairs and place in the center of the room.

Grab a large sheet or tablecloth and drape over the backs of the chairs.

Find some pillows to toss under the “tent” and let the kids have fun with their imagination in the new play area.

Family Dinner

Having meals together is very important for communication with your family.

It is so easy to get in the rut of grabbing food to go or letting everyone else just grab something that sounds good.

When you sit at the table together you can communicate and talk about each others day.

This communication will help you keep up to date with the happenings in your kids life.

If you haven't seen your family at the table for a long time, start slowly.

Set aside one night a week for the first month and have your kids help you with a menu.

Let your kids help with the shopping for the groceries and preparing the meal.

The next month try for 2 nights, and continue building until it is a regular habit.

Remember to always be flexible as sometimes schedules will not allow for a sit down dinner on the night that you had planned.

Thumb Sucking

Ok, you get all the nasty looks from other parents or even just strangers in the store when your toddler is sucking his/her thumb.

This is not the end of the world, everyone has their own opinion about when a child should stop sucking their thumb.

It has not been proven that thumb sucking will cause any permanent dental damage, but if you are worried about it just get a check up with your dentist.

On an average kids will give up on thumb sucking by the age of 6 or so.

If you constantly call attention to it, you can actually backfire your efforts to get your child to stop.

Play Dough Play Time Cleanup

The next time that your kids play with play dough you don't have to worry about the hassle of cleaning up.

If you follow this simple tip, your kids can play and have fun, and when they are done they can even clean up themselves!

Just go to the thrift store and pick up an old cutting board, or cut out a piece of cardboard and cover with contact paper.

Now you can just stow away between uses.

Just before using again scrape off any dried on clay.

Co-Ordination with Cutting

If you really want to help your toddler learn new skills, let them cut up paper.

Don't have any paper that you want cut up?

Dig out the newspaper and let them cut out coupons and pictures that intrigue them.

This will stimulate their mind as well as giving you a hand if you keep coupons.

Decision Making 101

Don't forget that your kids are people too. They like to have a say in things and that is ok.

Most day to day decisions are not life threatening. When you have a chance, let them have a choice.

Most of the time in the end you will be happier and your child will be happier.

Whatever the decision is, don't tell them what you don't want to do, give them a choice of 2 things that are ok to do.

It will be a win win situation for both of you.

Sandbox Storage

Your kids love to play in the sandbox, but you don't have enough room for a great big one. You can easily make your kids happy in a small amount of space.

Go to the store and pick up a large flat plastic storage container that has a tightly locking lid. Some even come with wheels and a handle. These are typically found in the organizing aisle and are used for under the bed storage of clothing items.

When you get it home you can fill up about half way with sand and place in an out of the way location.

Now when the kids want to play they mess stays in one spot and clean up is a snap by just putting the lid on to keep out any bugs or weather.

When the kids out grow the box you can clean and use for storage of toys.

Night Time Monsters

You dread bed time each night. You child has suddenly developed the fear that there is a monster in their room!

You have tried everything that you can think of to get rid of the monster, but your child still believes that there is something there.

You can try this little trick to see of it will get rid of those pesky monsters once and for all!

Get a spray bottle and decorate it up, add a label that says "Monster Remover".

Fill up with water and add just a drop of perfume or scent.

Now when your child says that there is a monster in their room, set the sprayer up for mist and spray the areas of the room that frighten your child.

It will also help if you both pick up the room a bit at night and make sure that there are not any shapes that might resemble monsters in the dark.

Bubble Solution

The kids are bored and you want something that will keep them busy for a while. The weather is nice, so why not make up some bubble solution and send them outside to decorate the sky!

In a large unbreakable bowl or container combine 1/3 cup dish soap or clear shampoo (don't use shampoo with conditioner) 1 1/4 cup water, 2 teaspoon Sugar and 1 drop food coloring of choice.

Now let the kids experiment with straws, pipe cleaners, spoons with holes, fruit baskets, hangers, or anything else that has a hole or can be made into a loop.

Let them have contests to see who can make the largest, smallest, or most bubbles at once.

Video Memory

If you have a loved one that is not local, but you want your child to remember who they are and what they sound like, have them read your child's favorite book while being video taped.

Now you can pop in a video tape and they can see mom/dad/grandma whenever they have to be away.