New Parents and Eco Friendly

July 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Are you a new parent? Are you looking for a way to create a clean, healthy environment for your child? Of course you are. Most parents will do anything they can to make sure their child is healthy and cared for. But, what can you do to prepare?

Keeping Things Friendly

Environmentally friendly products and services can help you ensure your child remains healthy right from the start. There is no need to put toxin-filled clothing near her body or to give her food that is not healthy. There are numerous ways to protect your child and here are just a few.

  • One of the things you may not have thought about is improving the air quality in the home. Due to everything from dander to pollen, the air in most homes is not as clean as it could be. Use an air purification system to clean it up.
  • Do consider the clothing you place on your child. Not just anything will do. Choose organic cottons and other natural fibers. Even bamboo clothing can be a good option.
  • Get rid of the chemicals. Cleaning your home with eco friendly cleaning products is critical. It is the only way to protect your child’s health.

Each and every one of these things is important. However, your home is likely to need more help. Look around. Are all of the surfaces and things in the space healthy for your child? If not, try and find an eco friendly version instead. It will be well worth it to do so.

 

Filed Under: Best Green Practices for Kids, Eco Family Benefits Tagged With: , ,

Guide for New Parents – Part 6 Your First Day Out

March 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

You may be staying in your house for the first couple of weeks of your baby’s life, but eventually you’re going to want to get out. Here are some tips that you can use when you journey your first time out with your baby.

  • Bring a Friend – The first thing that you want to do is bring a friend or a family member who has some experience. This could be your mom, a sister, your best friend, or anyone.  This is going to help you to stay calm and give you an extra set of hands.
  • Baby Friendly – The second thing that you want to do if you are going somewhere by yourself is to go somewhere that will be baby friendly. This is going to make the experience more positive for you and the baby and make you less frazzled.
  • Bring a Spare – The third thing that you want to do is to bring a change of clothes for you and the baby.  You never know what’s going to happen with a baby and the last thing that you want to do is to walk around with stains all over your clothes.
  • Be Flexible – Finally, you want to make sure that you are flexible.  The plans that you have need to be simple and you should know that you may have to leave sooner than expected.  The baby is in charge and when he or she wants to go you have to go.

You should remember that every new mom goes through this and that they survive it.  You are going to survive as well. It’s going to get easier each time you do it and soon you’ll look forward to it.

Filed Under: Green Parenting Tagged With: , ,

Guide for New Parents – Part 5 Tips for Everyday

March 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

You’re happy to be a mom and you love your new baby, but you are tired and you are frustrated and you feel drained.  Here are some of the things that you should remember for the next couple of months while you and your husband are learning to be parents.

  • Ignore advice that’s confusing or unwanted – You are going   to get a lot of advice, most of it unsolicited. Unless it’s your mom or the baby’s pediatrician, smile, nod, and forget it.
  • Ignore the housework – This is a precious time for you and your baby. If someone has a problem with it, point them to what needs to be done and tell them you’re glad they offered to help.
  • Accept Help – If anyone offers to help you, don’t turn them down.  The help that is going to come from neighbors and from family isn’t going to last, so grab it while you can.  As long as you know the person, accept their help and thank them for it.
  • Delegate – If you have a lot of offers of help but they don’t know where to start, don’t be shy about telling them what needs to be done. Enjoy it while you can because these times don’t come around often.
  • Keep Small Jobs – You may hate changing a diaper, but when someone offers to help tell them the housework that needs doing.  They are going to be giving you more help than the two minutes that the diaper change is going to take.
  • Take a Breather – Finally, go outside and get some fresh air. If you are worried about taking the baby outside or if it’s cool out, then you are going to need it.  The fresh air is going to revive you and help to stave off depression, especially if it’s a sunny day.

Next – going out with your baby.

Filed Under: Green Parenting Tagged With: , ,

Guide for New Parents – Part 3 Soothing a Fussy Newborn

March 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

One of the things that you are going to discover is that it’s hard to figure out what your baby wants when he or she is crying. Sometimes the baby just wants to be soothed and feel comforted. Here are some of the ways that you can sooth your baby.

  • Mimic Feelings and Sounds in the Womb – The first thing that you can do to make a baby feel better is to mimic what she heard and what she felt in the womb. This is done by swaddling the baby, making shushing sounds, and holding the baby on her side.  You should also allow the baby to suck, since she did that in the womb too.  All of these things can help to calm a fussy baby.
  • Play Music – The second thing that you want to do is to play some soothing music.  There are CDs that are made specifically for babies and they are going to have a calming influence on her.
  • Warm it Up – The third thing that you want to do is to make things warmer, especially if your baby cries when she’s being changed.  One of the things that you can do is make some warm wipes with paper towels and warm water in a thermos that can be pumped. There are also wipe warmers that run on electricity.
  • Take a Bath – If you’ve run out of tricks and the baby’s stub fell off, you can take a nice warm bath with her.  This is also going to relax you and when you’re relaxed your baby will be relaxed.  It’s a good idea to do it when someone’s home though so that they can take the baby out of your arms so you can stand up carefully and safely

Now that the baby is soothed, the next set of tips are specifically written for the new dads.

Filed Under: Green Parenting Tagged With: , ,

The Year is Going so Fast

December 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
These people really went all out
Image via Wikipedia

The end of the year is coming so quickly. I have to wonder where the year went; it went by really fast. These last few months have flown. I can’t wait for the holidays each year, but this year, it almost feels like they’re coming up on me long before I’m ready for them. I barely have anything prepared!

I have been doing some social media monitoring of my own this month to see what my friends and family are up to for the holidays. It’s kind of crazy, because I found out that I am not the only one feeling completely unprepared. In fact, it seems like no one is ready for the holidays this year. Is it normally like this? I’m not sure; maybe I’ll have to pay more attention next year.

I realized today that I may not even get much up for Christmas decorations before the holiday is over. Sure, we’ll have a tree, but I generally like to have some outdoor decorations, as well as a few others inside. This year, though, I don’t think I’m going to have the time to go all out. Every time that I think “Oh, I’ve still got a month”, I realize that I actually only have a few weeks.

On the plus side, most of my shopping is done. In fact, even the things that need to be sent out to people who don’t live close by, have been sent. I still need to get a few presents, but nothing big. We’ll be waiting to put up the tree until a little further into December; we usually put it up a week or so before the holiday. So, even though the time is going fast, I am lucky enough that I haven’t missed out on anything. Things are getting done – just not quite as quickly as I would like.

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , , ,
«Older Posts