LilSugar

Lil Tips For First Time Mothers

babysugar — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:00:04 -0700

Childcare classes and newborn books may provide mom with the basics, but it's her girlfriends that teach her the tricks of the trade. We've gathered up our best baby care tips from moms who've been there and done that to help new mamas through the early months with their lil one.

Releasing the Grip Reflex	Controlling Cradle Cap	Take Your Baby's Temperature
Trim Baby's Nails	Cure Diaper Rash	Neutralize Diaper Odor

Exclusive Pumping Gains Popularity

babysugar — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:30:47 -0700

Breast, bottle, or both? New moms are faced with a barrage of questions immediately following their lil one's birth, but few receive as much attention as how they will feed their wee one. While doctors and lactation consultants praise the benefits of breastfeeding, some mamas just cannot fathom putting their newborns to their breast. Rather than turn to formula, a growing number of women is relying exclusively on their breast pumps to nourish their tots.

Though there are no statistics to quantify the growing number of bottled breast milk-fed babies, anecdotal evidence suggests that many women choose to rely on the pump due to early latching issues, uneasiness with the concept of nursing and discomfort with potential public feeding sessions. Though the babies receive all of the health benefits of breastmilk (and allow moms to see just how much their wee ones are ingesting), experts worry that mums will not reap the benefits that a nursing mom sees.

Did you exclusively pump for your child?

Lil Tip: Loosen That Baby Grasp

babysugar — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:00:00 -0800

One of the first responses a new mama witnesses from her newborn baby is his ability to grip her finger. The Palmar grasp, or Darwinian reflex, forces a baby's fingers to curl around and cling to an object when their palm is touched. Moms love to marvel at the strength of the grip, and rightfully so. The Palmar grasp is so strong in the first six months of life that a lil one can support their entire weight in it.

But like a magician who has seen his trick replicated in every possible forum, mum can grow tired of her tot grabbing hold of objects that don't belong in his hands. When your wee one has an Herculean grasp on your hair, necklace, or sweater, simply place your thumb on the outer side of his wrist and your index finger on the inner side. Gently push back and his grasp will quickly loosen enough to remove the object!

LilSugar Readers' First Purchases For Baby

babysugar — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:30:27 -0800

The excitement of a new pregnancy can send parents-to-be on immediate shopping sprees. While some are armed with lists of necessary items to stock their nurseries, others splurge on a few fun items to help get them in the baby frame of mind. We asked our readers to tell us about their first purchases for their baby-to-be and received a wide range of answers. Check them out here.

View Slideshow ›

Tell Us Your Best Baby Home Entertainment Trick!

babysugar — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:00:18 -0800

The pile-on continues against videos that claim to educate babies. Following a University of Washington study that found the Baby Einstein videos to be of "no value," a new study out of the University of California Riverside confirms that the DVDs don't help babies learn words featured throughout the programs.

In a column over at Newsweek, Kate Dailey suggests that while we know that children under 2 should not watch TV, in reality, parents often need a break – be it to go to the bathroom, prepare dinner, or draw a bath. She said:

The kiddie-DVD industry hasn’t made her into Einstein-but it has made sure she’s properly fed, clothed, and bathed even at the most harrying of times. That, in its own way, is genius.

How do you keep wee ones occupied so you can take care of other matters at home?

What Was the First Baby Item You Purchased?

babysugar — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:00:03 -0800

Nine months is a long time to wait for a baby. From the moment the stick shows a pregnancy sign, mamas-to-be enter the magical world of babydom where they are surrounded by a bevy of onesies, rattles and nursery furniture that are just begging to be bought. Like kids in a candy store, pregnant women often can't keep their hands off of all of the goodies they see for the new addition to their family.

Deciding where to start is a fun dilemma to have. Some expectant moms run out to buy that first pair of baby booties as soon as the doctor confirms the pregnancy. Others wait to dive right into the gear and come home with the stroller they've been eyeing for some time.

Tell us, what was the first item you bought for your baby-to-be?

US Babies Getting Smaller?

LilSugar — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:00:22 -0800

So much for all that talk about big babies. After five decades of steadily growing birth weights, US babies appear to be entering the world smaller than before.

A new study published in the current issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology found that babies born between 1990 and 2005 weighed an average of 1.83 oz less than those born the previous decade. The study also found that the average length of pregnancy decreased by 2.4 days during the same timeframe. Though the average American newborn is still well-above the 5 pound 5 ounce weight that gives doctors cause for concern, researchers consider such an unexplained trend important. No typical factors, such as maternal age, smoking, and hypertension, were found to be causes for the decline.

Eczema: Take This Skin Rash Test

LilSugar — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:00:09 -0800

Don't scratch! Approximately one in five babies will be diagnosed with eczema in their first year of life. The red, itchy patches only become more inflamed when lil ones rub them and seem to appear at the most inconvenient of times. Take this quiz and see just how much you know about this skin rash.

Source

Take the quiz

One Sure Cure For Cradle Cap

LilSugar — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:00:00 -0800

My two older kids never really got cradle cap, but my little guy had it for a couple of weeks after he came home from the hospital. Hesitant to scrap the scales off of his scalp, particularly his soft spot, I waited to see if it would clear on its own. Since he has blond hair, it wasn't terribly noticeable, but eventually tiny flakes settled in his eyebrows, irritating his eyes.

To solve the problem, I took a super fine-tooth comb and massaged his head with a quarter-size dollop of Gentle Naturals Cradle Cap Treament ($7). The oily lotion works wonders. I ran the comb through his hair in a back and forth motion, which pulled the flakes out without irritating his lil head, and took time to rinse the comb in between. After five minutes and a final sudsy shampoo and rinse, my guy was cradle cap free, and it never came back.

Do You Sterilize Your Newborn Feeding Equipment?

LilSugar — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:30:07 -0800

How clean is clean enough? We wash our baby's clothes in special detergents, sanitize their toys with kid-friendly cleaning supplies and try our best to keep their nurseries free from outside germs. When it comes to cleaning baby bottles and pump equipment many mamas opt for a double cleaning – first washing the items in warm soapy water and then sterilizing them in either the dishwasher or special sterilizing machines. According to WebMD current water supplies are cleaner than previous generations experienced, making the sterilization process (after the first use) unnecessary. The American Academy of Family Physicians agrees.

Do you sterilize your newborn feeding equipment after each use?