Diaper Bag Secrets

There are about a gazillion different styles of diaper bags. And the one that is right for you depends on how you plan to use it. More on that later. For now we wanted to let you in on a little secret. Buy two diaper bags. A big one for when you will be out for a while. And a mini one for when you are just running into a store or going on a quick errand and do not need to rip your shoulder out of socket.

Get a diaper bag you are going to WANT to carry around. Don't feel the need to get Winnie the Pooh unless YOU like Winnie the Pooh. Your kid won't know the difference and you can get him or her a bag for themselves later. If Daddy is going to be taking daddy out a lot too, consider getting a gender neutral bag. Totally up to you.

You can purchase a set of matching bags like these from The Bumble Collection:

Paige Purse fits inside larger bags or can be carried on its own

Chloe Convertible

There are also sets that come together like these 5 piece options both from WalMart

You can get a stylish diaper bag at any price point. Make sure they are durable because after lugging all of your stuff around, they get beaten up. Strong straps, easily cleanable inside AND out. Pockets and storage are a must. Kristi G (featured below) has a EZ Wipe collection that is genius. Wipes are accessible from the outside. More on her later... but here is a sneak peak.

Skip Hop

Diaper Clutch (perfect for just a quick trip)

JJ Cole diaper purse found on Diapers.com

2D, 3D and 4D Imaging ... who does baby look like?

3D and 4D imaging are so cool. When it first came out YEARS ago, the pictures were a little funny, although you could still get a great shot of baby's features. So precious! With today's technology it is AH-MAY-ZING what all you can see. How much hair does baby have? Mom's nose or dad's? Look at how she rests her hand on her forehead. All that kind of stuff. Sappy yes, but this is your baby we are talking about.

You can get so much more detail than just the sonogram shot. So if you are itching to see your little sweety before the big day, have a 3D/4D imaging session. Your heart will melt. We like Stork Vision. They have been around for a while and know what they are doing!

Shannan DeLima  (owner of Stork Vision Buckhead)              

RT(r),RDMS,BS (with her adorable family)

550 Pharr Road, Suite 203
Atlanta, GA 30305
(p) 404-816-9004
(f) 404-816-9092

imaging room with plenty of room for family!

When Should I Schedule Mine?
2D Baby Ultrasounds can be done as early as 18 weeks gestation.
3D Baby Ultrasounds and 4D Baby Ultrasounds can be done at any time after 18 weeks gestation however the optimal time to have a sonogram is between 27 – 30 weeks.

Writing A Will

Okay, so a will is not really fun to think about. Especially when you are high on baby. But let's be real. Having a will JUST IN CASE is far more pleasant than the alternative, which is having the state decide who will raise your child. No thanks!!

So, just to make sure you have all your bases covered, after your baby is born make an appointment with an estate lawyer. Ask friends and family who they use (if you do not have a lawyer already) or go to The American Bar Association and find someone reputable in your area.

Consider whom you want to raise your child. Who will give your baby the most nurturing environment and teach him what he needs to know about life? Mostly likely you will be giving this person financial assistance through your assets, such as a 401K or IRA, etc. Make sure the person you select to raise your child will have access to this money either directly or through a financial executor. Think long term. Sure your mom has free time because she is retired, but can she really handle the day to day energy it takes to raise a baby? Maybe, maybe not.

Kaboose has a great article that outlines some of the elements to consider and provides some resources you can consult. Find it HERE.  This is a just a guide to get you started. An estate lawyer who is experienced in this sort of law is your best source of information.

You love your baby oodles, so you want to make sure you have thought of everything. Even the "un-fun"stuff. Pretend it's a word, k.

Please Don't Scratch Your Face, Baby!

A while back (in the birth announcement post) we talked a little bit about newborns and their desire to scratch their face. Okay, well they just like to have their hands right up against their face and do not seem to understand the concept of fingernails. So their face gets all scratched up. And you want to take their picture and show them off, so what are you to go?

When you are in the hospital/ freshly home you can try a few options.
1. Hand Mitts (these do not always stay on but when you are changing baby's clothes or need a quick cover up these are great)

2. Swaddling (newborns LOVE being little burritos so this keeps them cozy AND keeps those fingernails safely tucked away)

3. Sleeve Folds (most long sleeve newborn tops have an extra flap you just fold over baby's hands... the nurses can show you if you don't get it. We didn't at first!)

Baby Fingernails
You cannot cut them for several weeks because they are soooo soft. Many a parent has clipped the tip of baby's finger trying to cut those nails before the right time. Spare yourself the drama. For the first few weeks you can peel baby's nails off if they are scraggly. Or you can file them with a gentle buff. When they have hardened you can them CAREFULLY clip them with baby nail clippers. It is easier to do this by having baby fold the finger over your hand like in this picture. Just an idea!

How to Change a Diaper

If you have nieces and nephews or have some kiddos in your life already, you might have experience with changing diapers. But some of you may have no clue. And that is totally cool. Or you might have changed a 1 year old's diaper but feel a bit nervous about a newborn. That is yours!

We found some videos we thought might help visualize the whole process. There is one for boys, one for girls, one for cloth prefolds, and then one for cloth all in ones. Happy diapering :)

BOY Diaper: key is to cover his "man" parts so you don't get sprayed. The change in air temp can cause him to pee, especially the first few months. And right after circumcision (if that applies to you) the pee runs right off the diaper because of all the Vaseline in there for healing, so go ahead and put the clean diaper under baby's bottom BEFORE you pull away the dirty one.



GIRL Diaper: Main difference here is that you MUST wipe front to back with girls. It's just good hygiene. Make sure you wipe out all those crevices (gently), even the little leg rolls because spit up and such finds its way everywhere :)



Cloth Diapers: PREFOLDS  Cloth diapers are not like they used to be. No more stick pins. And they can save you loads of money in the long run. For a prefold you need the cloth diaper, a snapi, and a cover.



Cloth Diapers All in One: Same deal as a regular diaper, but you can wash and reuse these. Unlike a prefold, this diaper has an insert so you don't have to use a snapi. You'll see what we mean. 

Baby Books, Scrapbooks, Baby Photos Oh my!

We all want to be rockstar moms. But sometimes life just gets the best of us. One area that is tough to keep up with: baby albums. You have probably noticed from your OWN parents that the first child is documented like a science experiment. Every single thing has a picture. Here is Joe at 6 weeks 3 days. Here is Joe at 6 weeks 3 days and 33 minutes. My how fast he is changing!

And then the second kid has about 10 pictures. Total. And most of them aren't even labeled. In fact, you are not entirely convinced these aren't pictures of first baby just labeled with your name. Or some random baby photo your mom found in a picture frame and slapped your name on the back so you wouldn't feel entirely unloved.

These days it is easy to keep an adorable chronicle of every season of baby's life. Even the second and third child! All you need is a digital camera and some cool websites. Well, and a little money. But not much.

Every now and then upload your favorite family pics to a site like Kodak Gallery, Photobucket, Snapfish, Shutterfly, Walmart, and honestly more than we can list here.

Then whenever you feel like, create a photo book on the site. You can make one for baby's first year. And you can add captions for each picture, create collages, etc. They are mailed to you in a cute little booklet all labeled and ready to enjoy. They also make great gifts for Grandma :)

So instead of having 40,000 pictures on your computer just sitting there waiting for you to print, sort, organize into an album and label, you just use the photo sharing site and it's all taken care of. Say cheese!

Newborn Skin...

Ahhhhhh newborn baby skin. It is so soft. Don't cha just wanna cuddle it all day? Once upon a time our skin was like that too, before tanning and makeup and wrinkles (sorry- back to baby)...

Sometimes a newborn baby will have a little bit of flaky skin. Don't worry! It is just new skin getting used to this world. It is not a very dramatic process either. Your baby will not look like a snake shedding its skin. More like when you get Elmer's glue on your hands from some kindergarten craft and you kind of rub it off?

If this happens to your baby you don't need to do anything special. It will finish up by 1 month or so. Do not put lotion on a newborn :) Just wait it out. No one else probably notices anyway. It usually only happens on baby's feet. Nothing a cute pair of socks can't hide.

18. Overstimulation: It Aint no Fun

After being pregnant for 9 months (really it is 10, thank you very much), the thought of playing with baby and smiling and laughing and all the other things you see babies do in commercials is exciting!

And you have all these toys and books and stuffed animals you got from showers and what not, so what is the hang up?

Some eager beavers end up overstimulating their baby. Instead of the sweet cooing from the Gerber ads, they end up with a screaming, tired but cannot go to sleep, eyes bugging out of their heads kind of baby. Not interested in going through that? No worries.

1. Pay attention to the average developmental makers. A fresh from the factory baby (1-4 weeks) does not need any toys or form of play. Looking at you and listening to you and cuddling is plenty. The whole world is new to him, so anything more than that is overkill. Much like your first IKEA shopping experience, it can be a little overwhelming.
2. Babies can only see so far. Sticking a bunch of toys in front of them or some crazy mobile is a waste when they are this young. Save those for 10 weeks or so.
3. At first babies only see in black and white (or so we've been told). Those colored flashcards you bought are a bit much for now.
4. Noises are new, too. Processing this brave new world is a lot of work for baby.Be mindful of over doing it on the noise factor.
5. Other people might freak baby out. Visitors are awesome, but too many in a row can cause overstimulation. New smells, new voices, this person to that person...you can see how this is a lot for a brand new baby. Space it out as much as you can.
6. Let baby sleep. Newborns do not do tired well (neither do we, for that matter). If it is obvious your baby is exhausted-- yawning, a little fussy, tired looking eyes-- put baby down. I know Aunt Martha is coming over in 15 minutes but visit with her while baby naps. Do not keep your baby up when she is tired. This can cause overstimulation. And then an hour from now when Aunt Martha leaves and you try to put baby to sleep, do not wonder why she is keyed-up, screaming, and cannot fall asleep.

So what can baby handle? Here is a little guide
Weeks 1-4: when baby is awake, talk to him a little. No need to peek-a-boo or anything other than just normal conversation. Toys, flashcards, anything visual is unnecessary.
Weeks 4-8: towards the end of this stage, baby may start to hold his eyes open for a decent chunk of time and start looking around. New babies love light. Have a window in your den? Lay baby down on a blanket near the window. This is like a flat panel t.v. to a newborn. Who knew a window could be so fun!
Weeks 9-12: baby is now more interested in the world around him. He will stare at something and may even try to reach it or kick it. A simple toy (anything with a mirror is golden) that hangs over baby is great. Minimal movement is good. In other words, a toy that spins quickly= not good. Or flash cards= not best.

So what happens if baby does get overstimulated? Give him some space. Newborns cannot handle someone in their face babytalking them to death all day long. Over kill!! Baby may look away. That is code for get this out of my face, please. If someone is loving baby a little too much and you can tell your little one has had enough, just ask for baby back and let him chill. Take him to a quiet room for a few minutes. Or give him some time in his bouncy seat. Alone. He will feel much better.

Be mindful of outings. We took our newborn to a baseball game and her eyes about popped out of her head. So that she would not get overstimulated, we tried to shield her from the bright lights and noises as much as possible. Every now and then take baby to an area that isn't so busy. Little breaks can go a long way. And when you get home, give baby a little time to decompress. 

Flashing, blinking lights and loud noises. These toys are bad news. A child this small does not need all that busyness. If a toy has lights, turn that part off or take out the battery until baby is older. Like 12 months or so.
And get all those toys out of baby's crib. Confusing! Am I sleeping? Playing? What do you want me to do? Baby might not be able to sleep because there is too much going on in the crib. Keep it minimal.

To sum things up, do not over do it with visual and auditory stimulation. Flashcards for a 3 week old is like you going to Times Square on New Year's Eve. Instead of helping baby learn and develop, you are actually hindering him. His brain is on overload and he cannot take in anything else. Take cues from your baby of when enough is enough and you both will be so much happier.

Ahhh! Not too much, not too little

Help! It's a jungle in here!! Too much going on

16. Newborns: They are cute but a little boring (at first)

You might read things that talk about how great it is to finally have that little baby home. Oh, sweetness. Birds chirp. There is a rainbow at every window. You float around the house on cloud 9.

Maybe. Yes, it is so cool to have a baby. You cherish him. But let's be honest, he doesn't really do much. For the first 8 weeks (just an average) your baby will do little more than sleep, poop, pee, and cry.

He can't really see anything yet. He can't smile yet. He can't roll over. And he is just barely able to hold his head up. So although the IDEA of having a baby is supercalifragalistic, the reality of those first few weeks can be kind of a bummer.

Around 8 weeks they can see something that is pretty close to their face. They may start to smile here and there. You might catch Junior trying to reach or kick at his bouncy seat toy, but not really having much success.

It is not until closer to 10-12 weeks that baby can start to do SOMETHING. Again, these weeks are averages. At this point you can make him smile by making those silly faces and talking in that voice we all swore we would NEVER do. He might reach or kick something very close (like a toy bar on his car seat). So don't freak out if you are bored while sitting home all day with your kid until you hit that stage of development.

It is normal. Try to combat this by watching movies, reading a book, having a friend stop by for a bit, call someone one. Have a connection to the outside world :) Soon enough little Sally will be talking your ear off and running all over the house. But for now, it is okay if being a mom isn't the most exciting part of your day.

12. Day and Night

One the best little nuggets Project Mom ever heard was a way to help baby establish the difference between day and night. Fast.

Let there be light!
During the daytime, resist the urge to turn off the lights in baby's room (or where ever she is sleeping). Leave some lights on. Let him know it is daytime and there is light out. This will not only help her learn that there is a difference between day and night (but more importantly...how long she is supposed to sleep during the day versus how long she is expected to sleep at night)... but it also helps her be able to sleep anywhere, anytime if you are out. She doesn't HAVE to be at home in a dark room to take a nap.

At night turn off all the lights. Leave the nightlight on if you feel the need for one. Even though it doesn't officially matter right away, I would start this from the beginning. If you are planning for your child's bedtime to be 8:00ish eventually, then any time you lay baby down to sleep after 8:00 PM, turn off the lights. Likewise, if you plan for your child to wake up in the morning around 8:00ish, then whenever baby sleeps anytime after that during the day, turn the lights on or leave the blinds open. Lights out is a signal to them that it is time to sleep...for a long time. Lights on is a signal to them that it is time to sleep...for a little nap. You'll be surprised how fast a baby can understand this difference. They are smart little cookies!!!

Make some noise!
The same concept applies with noise. During the daytime do not feel like you have to tiptoe all over your house and whisper during your child's entire nap. Maybe be a little quiet is needed when he is going to sleep, but once he is out BE NORMAL. Talk on the phone, snore loudly, vacuum...what ever you need to do. Now, I am not saying this is the best time to practice your tuba, but keeping up with everyday noises will help your child sleep better. Especially when you are out. At night when the house (and world) are a little less noisy, baby will know to sleep longer.

10. Swaddle in Style

Newborns are used to being crammed into your belly. Seriously, it is amazing how those little babies fold! In the hospital, the nurses will swaddle your baby. Have them teach you how! After a few tries your baby will be snug and will typically sleep so much better.

Check out the youtube video for a lesson/reminder about how to swaddle correctly. It can be a great sleep trick :) Also, having a great swaddle blanket can made the job easier.

You do not HAVE to have these blankets to swaddle. But we have found blankets like this to be fabulous for swaddling because they are very tuckable (pretend it's a word, okay).

100% cotton; muslin; a lightweight fabric.

1. SwaddleDesigns: www.swaddledesigns.com
2. Aden + Anais: www.adenandanais.com (these are great because they are large. you can use them as cover ups, blankets, swaddlers, play space, etc) anything like them would be a good buy
3. Velcro swaddlers like: Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe www.kiddopotamus.com/p_swdl_123.php (some people love the velcro swaddlers because they are easy to use; some think they are impossible to figure out and they can't be used to anything else later; check them out at a baby store before you deliver and see what you think)

As with all things baby, there are about 1000000000000000000000000 different types of swaddle blankets. Ask your mom friends what they used and liked. You could even borrow one from them and see what baby likes best before you buy some for yourself. Swaddling is an easy way to help your baby feel warm and cozy. The more you practice, the better you'll get.

As the dad in this video mentions, The Happiest Baby on the Block www.amazon.com/Happiest-Baby-Block-Crying-Newborn/dp/0553381466 (a great book in our humble opinion) discuss the benefits of swaddling and explains a way to get' er done. Happy swaddling :)

8. Changing a Diaper

If you have the opportunity, practice changing as many diapers as you can before you have your own baby. The more times you do it, the faster you get. Here are a few more quick tips for making diaper doodie (wow, that was really lame) easier:

1. open up the diaper (unfold it and spread out the sides a bit) first
2. BEFORE you take off the old diaper, slide the new one underneath. Why? Because new babies often pee right away because of the cold air. Having the new diaper there ensures you won't get any pee pee on your couch!!
3. for BOYS, cover up his "man parts" right away; some people use the new diaper to cover IT, other people use a plastic cup they sell at baby stores. If you don't cover, you may get a little sprinkle IN YOUR FACE. You've been warned.
4. newborns don't really have super smelly diapers because they aren't eating REAL food yet. However, if you get a stink bomb that you just don't want smelling up your house, pick up some powder bags. They sell these at Target, Kroger, basically everywhere. It is a little scented plastic bag you throw the dirty diaper in before it hits the trash can.
5. Set up a diaper station in the rooms you most often change baby's diaper. A cute basket stuffed with wipes, some diapers, maybe a couple burp cloths, etc are good to have on hand. That way when it is time to change a diaper, everything is right where you need it. Refill items as they get low. This is also helpful when daddy or grandma want to help. They know right where everything is.

5. Birth Announcements

If you are like me, the second that baby entered this world you were ready to take the perfect birth announcement picture. In fact, you have looked at a million card sites like Tiny Prints, Inviting Smiles, and God knows where else. You have had the perfect card saved on-line since you found out what you were having. All you have to do is fill in the birth information and add that smashing snapshot.

So what's the problem? Baby refuses to cooperate. If only he knew how cute this card will be!! Here are a few heads up about taking your baby's picture right away.

1. Some hospitals have a photography company that comes around to each room. I know moms who chose this and loved it. Even if they didn't use the picture for the actual birth announcement, they were happy to have a "professional" picture of baby's arrival. I know other mom's who were less than pleased. Baby cried the whole time and scratched up his face. Be flexible. If you think you want this done, be willing to quit if baby isn't having any of it. You can always take his picture later when he is in a better mood.

2. Most babies do not even open their eyes for more than a blink. They are just too cool to stay awake and socialize with anyone. Much less bother letting someone take their picture. So if you are hoping for a great picture of baby's adorable blue eyes, you may have to wait until about a month or so. Again, be flexible. Your baby may be wide awake long enough to get a great picture. If not, wait until he is more alert. Or just send a sweet picture of him sleeping.

I know how badly you want to send out that announcement!! But you'll be happier in the end you waited until the picture captures just how cute he really is.