Tag Archives: parenting

How to Organize Your Home for a New Baby

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Preparing for the arrival of a new baby means that you are inspecting your home from top to bottom and baby-proofing practically everything. As part of your mission to maintain a decent work-life balance while creating the safest and most comfortable atmosphere possible for your little angel, you prioritize home organization like never before. To help you on your quest for baby organization perfection, here are our suggestions on how to organize your home for a new baby.

Prepare the Nursery

When the baby is ready for the nursery, you’ll want to make sure the room is as comfortable as possible. Long before the baby arrives, have the painting done so that the baby will not breathe in any paint fumes. Go with a bright color like yellow to keep your baby visually engaged as they adjust to their new environment. Decorate the baby’s room with stuffed animals, loving photographs, and a rocking chair for bonding time.

Safety Comes First

Before anything else, prioritize safety. Babies are curious creatures, so you want to be one step ahead of them before danger strikes. Start blocking off outlets, installing baby gates, and finding out of reach placements for your cords until your tiny tot isn’t so little anymore. Say goodbye to your glass coffee table and triple-check that you have safety-locked all the cabinets. These tasks are, of course, only a handful of the safety precautions you’ll want covered.

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Rearranging Your Bedroom

Although a baby nursery is its own setup entirely, you’ll want to feel as close as possible to your new baby as they adjust to being home. Make enough space in your bedroom for all the baby gear you plan to keep with you. An additional crib will take up space, and you’ll want to put it in a place that allows you to easily see your baby from your bed. Keep the floor clear of any mess, so you have open walking space to get to your baby quickly.

If you find that your bedroom is cluttered, remove any extra furniture that is not needed during this time. End tables, chairs, benches, and even dressers that take up unnecessary space should be removed so that you can stay focused on your baby and their comfort. Turn your space into a sanctuary for your baby.

Keep Things Natural

In addition to elevating your home office to help you work from home, avoid going out on those endless trips to the store for diapers, creams, and food by relying on natural alternatives that keep errands to a minimum. Go with bamboo diapers, puree your baby food, and make use of homemade bath products as you navigate early parenthood.

You will be grateful for the convenience of these essentials at your disposal and the extra time they allow you to achieve that better work-life balance, as you no longer need to run out for the baby.

Designated Pet Areas

If you have a pet, use one of your baby gates to block out a section for your furry friend that is away from your baby. You will already have enough on your plate caring for your new baby as it is; don’t add to your to-do list by watching out for pet and baby run-ins. Know that this separation is temporary and is what is best for the baby. Soon enough, your baby and your four-legged bud will be best friends.

Organizing your home for a new baby is about safety, ease, and convenience. Put these factors first, and you’re well on your way to giving your baby the successful homecoming they deserve.

5 Ways to Promote Family Bonding Outside

It’s so important to find the time to bond together as a family, now more than ever in this busy build.  It’s well worth going in the great outdoors with the family as this helps to temporarily break away from the constant connectivity of the phone and social media. This summer, plan an outdoor adventure with your family! These tips will help you and your family bond in the great outdoors, regardless of age.

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Traveling

 Vacations are a great way to relax and connect with your family. There are plenty of ways to have a kid-friendly vacation. Some ideas would be flying, taking a cruise, train, or even a classic road trip. Sites like StressFreeCarRental.com make it easy and, well, stress free, to rent the perfect vehicle for your trip. There are so many options such as going to a city and exploring, staying at a resort, or maybe trying out some camping. But make sure to talk to your family about what they would prefer the most. It’s important to make sure that nobody has a bad time.

Plan things out together

As stated above, it’s best if everyone in the family can voice their wants and concerns when planning activities out. This helps kids with sharing the ownership of the activity but it also allows them to enjoy it more as well. Sitting together as a family and making suggestions is the best way to go. There are even websites that allow for family’s to create a vacation planner to share ideas for their itinerary.

Go on small escapes

Small escapes can be anything from a day trip, going out for a couple of hours, or even just something overnight. These are short but still, bring in some family fun time and bonding. This could entail going camping for the night in the woods, hiking in a nearby park, purchasing some dye paintball, or even just going on a picnic.

Gardening together

A very inexpensive save to have some outdoor time with your family would be to do some gardening together. Whether you have a large backyard, a balcony, or even an allotment, no size is too small for gardening. Teaching your kids to the garden will give them an educational experience about biology while helping the environment out. This also helps with creating a beautiful garden, where you can enjoy your harvest of veggies during dinner time. Plus this is given a great opportunity to take some cute family-friendly photos too.

Creating traditions

This is another great way to encourage children to get outside more. Creating a family tradition is a great way to keep up this yearly ritual. You can even base it all off of each season. For example, whenever autumn rolls around, your family could have a tradition of picking apples from an orchard or maybe visiting a pumpkin patch to purchase pumpkins. The same can be said for the summer or spring, there can be an annual tradition of picking berries in the forest or maybe going on a big hiking trip every year. If this is done annually, then it will have a deep connection with the family. This tradition could even continue with grandchildren too.

New Fathers Guide: How to Get Rid of Your Unbearable Back Pain?

Fathers, like mothers, are not born. Men grow into fathers, and fathering is a very important stage in their development.”
– David Gottesman

A father’s role is as vital as that of a mother in upbringing a baby in an appropriate atmosphere. Where a mother is to take care of the baby in all manners, it’s a father who teaches the infant true learnings of life. From being a shield of protection to exposing the child to several life challenges, fathers are amazing; therefore, they should be appreciated.

Just like new mothers, new fathers do go through a delicate phase. Besides feeling a sense of responsibility, new fathers often sail through multiple health issues. Above all of them, fathers experience back pain issues the most. For once, it may sound like a common body problem, but in no time, it can turn into a massive loggerhead in surviving throughout the day.

What is the common reason for fathers to experience back pain after having a baby?

Undoubtedly, a newborn comes with a lot of excitement and happiness in one’s life. But don’t forget everything has two phases. And the other phase of becoming a new parent is spending sleepless nights, dealing with the infant’s mood swings, changing diapers frequently, washing garments, feeding the baby, and so on. These things make the new parents feel exhausted, leading to headaches and back pain the most.

How to get rid of excessive back pain?

Lift the baby carefully – It’s common for new fathers to experience a degree of back pain after holding the baby frequently. Researchers prove that holding a baby makes fathers ultra-conscious about their posture. While comforting the baby, fathers often keep their body stiff for long, which results in back pain issues. Therefore, it’s wise to learn the proper manner of holding a baby while ensuring complete comfort for yourself. If you already have back pain, ensure to bend your knees when picking the baby from the car seat, bassinet, or cradle. Also, try to keep your back straight and try to hold the baby close to your body.

Work on your muscle development – Although your life may have gone a bit harsh on you, especially after welcoming a little life into your family. Still, make some extra efforts to start your exercise routine once again. If the conditions worsen, we recommend beginning with Physiotherapy to prepare your body for a hardcore workout. Moving forward, practice muscle strengthening exercises which are best to eliminate the chances of back pain.

When talking about the exercises, you can consider doing lat pulldown, single-arm dumbbell row, band pull apart, barbell deadlift, and much more.

The final line –

Being a new father is a lifetime experience to cherish. During this stage, most fathers neglect their health while preserving the baby at its best. However, it’s a genuine feeling of every protective father, but at the same time, you need to remain in good shape. Therefore, practicing light exercises and keeping a check on your diet can help you sail through wisely.