Toddlers are adorable and so much fun as they learn new things every day. But dealing with toddlers at some point gets challenging for parents. As kids grow, they become headstrong, stubborn, picky, talk back and ask infinite questions in a day.
From terrible twos to threenagers, parents need a lot of patience and perseverance, to help their kids learn new things as they grow up.
Every stage in a child’s development and growth brings its own set of joys and stresses, but in the end, it’s all worth being a parent to healthy and happy kids.
These toddler hacks will help new parents raise stronger and independent kids.
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Toddler Hacks for new parents
Simple tips that you can follow to make things easy with a toddler; while at home or outside the house.
1. Have a designated accessible drawer
Have a designated drawer for kids’ bottles, bowls, spoons that are safely reachable. Your toddler can grab it from the kitchen without having you do it. Don’t worry about the extra plates and bottles on the floor, and your child would eventually learn.
While you are baby-proofing every corner of your house, you have to make sure you are setting up everything to train your kids to be more independent as they grow up.
Kids do learn how to clean up and you need to teach them. Try to keep wipes or napkins in your toddler’s reach, –not too many though. You will be surprised how well your toddler can clean up.
Now when we are washing hands more than normal, make it easy for your toddler to have a step stool in your bathroom and one for kitchen as well.
Having a step stool in the kitchen makes dishwashing fun and more convenient for your toddler. The best part is, your tot is going to be a great help in the future.
4. Is your toddler having gas? Fennel seeds
If your child is having painful gas or bloating issues, using fennel seeds for gas is the best remedy for babies, kids, and adults.
Have your child chew on a teaspoon of fennel seeds and gas pain will be gone in a matter of minutes.
You can use diaper booster pads for heavy wetter toddlers at night or during the day. Also, if your toddler leaks from the sides of his back, this pee cover works amazingly.
Play-doh is your go-to thingy when you have kids. The best engaging activity for them is to have a play-doh or slime. You must have it at home most of the time.
It may get messy, but you can have them clean up soon after they finish playing. Also, the best way is to use a bin to keep the mess contained or have a designated spot for messy activities.
When play-doh gets dry, you can repurpose it by adding a few drops of water and let it sit overnight.
When Your child is having a meltdown over something, do not make it a parent-child power struggle and let it go. It’s not worth making a power struggle unless your child is putting his life in danger.
Either you want to ignore the unnecessary crying or try to listen if there is anything worth bawling. Kids only cry if there is an audience around, you wont see a toddler throwing a tantrum in an empty room.
In my experience, sometimes inconsolable crying results into a huge throw-up, especially for those who had reflux issues during infancy.
8. Distract
The best hack to deal with a crying toddler or tamper tantrums – distract. Immediately try to divert his attention over something else as soon as you foresee a melt-down.
Distract with a new toy.
Remind him of his favorite thing.
Offer candy or a lollipop.
9. For light sleepers, no toys in bed
Either you are training a toddler to sleep in his own bed, or sleep training at some point, in both cases I would suggest, do not allow toys in the bed. This may be distracting or it could keep your child from going back to sleep if he wakes up in the middle of the night.
Have notebooks, papers, pencils or markers or pen around the house. Try to do a writing session with your toddler every other day. Let your child scribble – not on the walls, of course! – and for that, you have to keep easel, papers, notebooks in your child’s reach.
I learned this hack when my second born was about to turn two. And trust me, it makes a lot of difference. She is not even three, and she can write the letter A.
Lately, I have seen this idea on Pinterest to have your child scribble on the big empty package boxes.
Make sure every marker, paints, and pencils are washable.
Teach your child how to self-feed and make your life easy. It is very essential for your child to learn how to hand pick food from his plate. Start soon and let your child explore different types of food.
Do not get scared if your child gags, however, you have to pay close attention while your child is eating or learning to eat.
Cut food in super small bites.
Skip the sippy cup at home altogether, and teach your tot how to drink water from a water cup. However, you can use sippy cup on-the-go.
13. Potty seat in a car
When you are potty training or even after that, for long drives, you must have a potty seat in the car trunk.
Now during these times of pandemic, it would not be a good idea to stop frequently at public restrooms for pee break. Have a gallon of water for hand-washing, wet wipes, and soap in your car.
14. Pillow on the bed to keep your toddler from falling
Once kids start rolling over while sleeping, they tend to fall from the bed.
You can roll soft towel or blanket and put it under the crib sheet to prevent babies from falling.
I have been using a pillow on the bed to keep my kids from falling as they both have co-slept. You have to make sure, you are monitoring your baby while sleeping and the baby is safe.
15. Toddler gets sick due to seasonal allergies
If you notice that your child gets sick due to change in weather or pollen, the best way to prevent seasonal allergies is, include kids multivitamins in their diet after discussing with the pediatrician.
As a parent, you know better what affects your child’s health. Before seasonal allergies make your child sick, you may want to give your child non-drowsy anti-allergy medication like Claritin or Zyrtec, for prevention.
As a precautionary measure, my kids’ pediatrician advised to give them anti allergy once season starts changing.
During winter, using a car seat poncho is a better way to keep kids warm, instead of having them wear bulky winter wear under the seatbelt.
Toddlerhood can be challenging for new parents and we all learn the hard way. The only key to deal with a toddler is to keep him busy learning new stuff every day. Try to be more present to your kids, mentally and physically, both.
When you head out to the hospital for delivery, you should know you will be in the hands of responsible health care professionals for making sure both you and the baby are in good condition. The team at the hospital consists of the obstetricians, midwives, doctors, nurses, and lactation specialists.
The moment your baby is born, doctors or midwives encourage moms to have skin-to-skin bonding with a baby. In the case of vaginal delivery, moms can immediately enjoy bonding with the baby right after she is born. However, in C-section delivery, dad may get the opportunity to enjoy skin-to-skin contact with a baby.
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What happens to the baby immediately after birth
Every baby that arrives in this world need some procedures immediately after birth.
Curious to know what happens to the baby after birth? Things you should know about post-birth procedures for the baby.
1. Apgar Evaluation
This is a necessary evaluation procedure done after birth. The purpose is to see if there are any medical concerns or not. Doctors measure five signs of the baby’s condition
Heart rate
Breathing
Reflexes
Activity and muscles tone
Skin color
Apgar evaluation score varies from 0 to 10. Babies who score 7 or more are considered healthy. Low Apgar score does not mean any necessary medical concerns.
Researchers say that in more than 98% of babies, quite often the Apgar score reaches 7 within 5 minutes of baby’s life as it is checked twice in the first 5 minutes of baby’s life after birth.
2. Vitamin K injection
Babies are born with vitamin K deficiency as it does not reach the placenta during pregnancy. Thus, doctors make sure that babies get vitamin K injection right after birth to make sure no bleeding in the brain or intestines could occur. Right after the birth baby is given vitamin K injection to help with blood to clot.
3. Antibiotic eye ointment
Your baby will be applied Erythromycin an eye antibiotic ointment to her eyes so that it does not cause an infection that could occur during delivery. Infections could occur due to sexually transmitted diseases, gonorrhea, and chlamydia.
If you are concerned, babies can see through the ointment and it is not irritating for babies.
4. Oxygen saturation testing
This procedure is done to check for lower levels of oxygen in the baby’s bloodstream that might identify any significant yet rare heart defects. This is a needleless procedure involves placing a band-aid-like sensor on the baby’s right hand and right foot.
4. Baby Foot is printed
Your baby’s tiny foot is printed for you to take home.
Your baby will also be wearing an identification band on with your name as a mother.
6. Skin-to-skin
Research has shown that an hour after birth, when your baby is very awake and alert and during that time and it is highly recommended when mother and baby have to be more on skin to skin.
7. Regulating the baby’s body temperature
Baby’s lose body heat fairly quickly, thus it is highly advisable to practice more and more skin to skin to regulate the baby’s body temperature after birth. For that reason, hats are essentials for newborns for the first several weeks as they tend to lose body heat through the head -as the head is the largest organ of the body for newborns.
As soon as your baby is done with all those requirements after birth, mothers are advised to start breastfeeding their babies right away, as this will help with the flow of milk supply for moms.
Breastfeeding has numerous benefits along with it helps the uterus to come back to its original size within 6 weeks. Breastfeeding is tough for the first several weeks after that it becomes the most convenient and healthy way to nourish your baby.
Also, You may want to take breastfeeding classes at the hospital.but at that time, you are so tired and exhausted, you may not even feel like struggling after those hard sleepless labor hours.
Right after birth, It is very normal to feel overjoyed to see your little bundle of happiness. Some mothers cannot feel that way which is normal too. Do not stress about bonding if you are not in that state of mind, because most of the time it is the effect of medicines as well.
However, dads would be happy to perform skin to skin if mom is having a surgical delivery.
I had two C-section deliveries. At the time my first one was born I was in labor pains for three days, tired and exhausted, yet I just was super excited about bonding with my little guy. On the other hand, while with my second delivery, it took a while for me to feel normal again I was having extreme shoulder pain and my blood pressure dropped significantly. I just could not talk. And I could not hold her for a long time.
That being said, convey your concerns immediately if you do not feel okay about anything. You can bond skin-to-skin the moment you start feeling better and want to connect.
10. Nursing, latching, and feeding after childbirth
If you are a first-time mom, and you THINK that you KNOW how to breastfeed, do not stay in this misconception.
There is a big difference between knowing something and actually doing it.
Some babies do not know how to latch. They will learn slowly and gradually. However, some babies are great at latching. They know suckle very well since birth.
I would highly recommend first-time moms to consult a lactation specialist. Many hospitals in the US offer super helpful lactation classes. Like I said, at that time, you are so exhausted to even try. The lactation consultants will visit you every day during your hospital stay and are there to help. Seek help, consult if you are struggling with breastfeeding.
Doctors would not allow you to go home if your baby is not having enough wet and dirty diapers within 24 to 48 hours. This means your baby is not having enough to eat although babies do not need a lot. For the first couple of days, a few drops of colostrum should be fine as long as you are seeing wet diapers.
Breastmilk takes a few days to establish a sufficient milk supply for the baby. I highly recommend taking a breastfeeding class online while you are still at home and you could learn new things.
You might have heard from a lot of people that newborns love to sleep. Yes, but they do not know the difference between day and night just yet. It takes a while for newborns to follow a good sleep schedule even after sleeping 20 hours a day. New moms get sleep-deprived because getting straight 3 hour sleep is like a dream.
Get a sleep ebook for you, it is about understanding the baby sleep dos and donts so you can follow a better, doable schedule for your baby. Eventually, it could get you some 5 hours sleep at night. .
All of a sudden your child wants to go to the bathroom to pee more often than he normally does, more than 20 times a day. You will notice, your child passes a very small amount of urine without any pain or discomfort. However, you may notice wet pants around the pee area.
Typically, this happens when your child is around the preschool age, 4 to 5 years old (definitely more than 3-year-old). Such behavior is quite common in preschoolers. Most importantly, you should know, none of this is deliberate. Your child does not know how to deal with such situations.
Despite how well your child has bladder control, he is going to the bathroom every 20 minutes or even less. Sometimes it gets hard to understand whats going on.
Not every time it is a medical condition. Other normal reasons could be drinking too much water, holding on to pee for a long time.
However, if your child is having painful urination and also complaints burning sensation or have an overactive bladder, you must seek professional advice.
In addition to overactive bladder, frequent daytime urination syndrome or Pollakiuria is also one of the medical conditions.
Coming back to your child’s urinalysis….
If you are reading this article, quite a chance you are a worried parent looking for a solution. Once I have been there, all worried and looked for the answers.
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Why is your child all of a sudden starts going to the bathroom to pee too many times
In my experience, there are a few factors responsible for the behavior like frequent urination or going to pee too many times in a day or having accidents, despite being fully potty trained.
Stress and Anxiety
As a parent you know your child more than anyone, if there is any change in your child’s everyday behavior or activities, you are the first person to notice. Something that is ‘not normal.”
Like I said if your child is potty trained, and he has reasonable bladder control and hardly had any accidents – why would a four or 5-year-old child is painlessly going to the bathroom every 10 minutes to pee when there is not enough to urinate.
Experts say, this kind of behavior is significantly related to anxiety.
There are number of factors that could trigger anxiety for a little kid.
Change of place or Routine
A new house, new neighbors, staying at someone’s house, new school, new day care.
Long break from the scheduled routine and then going back to the normal could cause anxiety subconsciously for kids,. Anxiety or excitement of going to school, seeing friends etc,
Also, a new sibling, guests or new people around could also be the reason of frequent bathroom trips.
Lack of attention
Are you too busy around the house or busy at work than usual? Kids want undivided attention. Sometimes Issues like this arise when, as a parent, you are failing to give even a bare minimum.
Running from a situation
If I look back to my childhood, I could relate to running from a situation when you just want a distraction. Homework not done, or left books at home. we all have had our moments. what is the best way other than nature’s call to get away with a situation?
How you can solve the problem of frequently peeing
When my son started preschool he took about 3 to 4 weeks to adjust. It was tough for him in the beginning, eventually, he enjoyed going to school and loved everything about it.
In about two months, we had a family vacation planned, and we had to take a break in November from school. I had guests at home for almost a month. When we came back, he started school, and I noticed he is always going to the bathroom every 10 or 15 minutes, and he is doing the same in the school.
It was worrisome for me. I could tell it is not UTI, since he is not complaining about or burning sensation.
Eventually, I figured, due to the break he had from school he is not getting attention in general as he used to.
I followed these steps to solve the problem of frequent urination as it was not a medical condition.
Give your child undivided attention
if your preschooler is showing signs of “anxious peeing”, you need to slow down with your routine, and give your child your undidvided attention.
Talk to your child’s teacher or caretaker
Most likely, he is going to the bathroom more than usual in school as well. Have a word with your child’s teacher or caretaker and talk about paying more attention than she does.
Understand your child’s surroundings
This behavior is common for preschool-aged kids. While they are at school or daycares, it could be something, your child feels anxious about. As a parent, you need to figure out.
Teach control once again – Have him wait for 30 minutes at least for the next bathroom trip.
Limit your child’s sugar intake
Most importantly, Cut down Sugar – absolutely no candies unless he gets to his normal bathroom routine. Trust me, if you tell your child that he is not going to have it until this problem is fixed, he is going to understand that.
Remember, your child is not doing that deliberately, it is just about what he feels at the moment.
Natural remedy for bladder control – Feed your child Sesame seeds
Sesame seeds are known to improve bladder health. Try to incorporate sesame seeds in your child’s diet.
Add sesame seeds in the
Muffins,
Pancakes,
Bread,
Cookies
Smooties etc.
Mix it in honey and make honey drops
Eating Sesame seeds is an effective natural remedy to improve bladder health. If your child has overactive bladder problems or bedwetting issues then you must add sesame seeds in your child’s diet.
Also, you may be interested in getting sesame seeds coated peanuts or crunchy candy. I usually get sesame seeds coated snacks (made of brown sugar) called “Rewari Sweets” from Asian grocery stores. It is so addictive, and your child would never say no to something tasty like this. It is readily available at local stores at a very reasonable price.
Choosing a name for your baby is an exciting and challenging at the same time. Parents may feel overwhelmed due to too many name choices out there.
However, the best way to making it easy to decide one name out of plenty is to funnel down your research about baby names.
The most important factors to short list few names are:
First Letter – The first letter you want your baby’s name to start with.
Cultural factors – Keeping your culture into consideration.
Pronunciation – How is the name pronounced in native accents. Especially, if you are bilingual, then you have to ruminate on all the aspects.
A name that clicks – You can feel a connection the moment you hear it. In my experience, I wanted to name my daughter with letter A or M, and the name for her that clicked starts with letter Z.
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Modern and Unique Baby Girl names with meanings
Ideally, every parent wants a unique name for the baby. A name that stands out, and not too many people already have it. Keeping your wishlist about unique, fashionable, short, and sweet girl names in the context, here is a list curated for parents who want to choose a beautiful name for the baby.
This list is a unique and modern blend of names you can choose for your baby’s first name. However, some of the names you may want to opt for the baby’s middle name. Some of the names are unisex that you can pick for both boys and girls.
The year 2020 had an unfortunate beginning due to an amid breakout of COVID-19. During this time, everyone is struggling to stay safe and healthy due to a rapid increase in the number of people tested positive.
New moms and expectant moms are worried more than ever now. Doctors are not seeing pregnant women in their clinics, rather most of them are having video appointments keeping safety and health into consideration for both mom and the baby
Keeping your newborn safe during this time is your top priority. If babies are exposed to sick people (or asymptomatic people) it is very likely for them to catch the virus. So for that reason, if you have a newborn at hand, please do not leave home unnecessary.
The government is on reopening the country now. Gradually, everything is going to open, and as a mom, you have to think about your kids’ safety.
We all are frustrated sitting at home, kids are cranky, but the truth is, this is not over yet. Every step matters, so try to make wise choices for your family.
Once the country reopens, it’s reasonably wise to avoid going to restaurants, malls, and anything crowded for now if you have kids at home. I completely understand the frustration of not being able to go out. Even if you do choose to go out for recreational purposes, take essential precautionary measures.
It is nearly impossible for a mom with little kids, to isolate from her kids if anyone falls sick. Unfortunately, this coronavirus situation is rough, as it is going to be our “new normal.” We have to take serious measures that we have never thought of doing it in the past.
In this post, we talk about how new moms can protect their newborns if they have to go outside, and you have no choice but to take their newborns with them.
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Tips for mom to keep newborns (infant) safe during a pandemic
When you are living alone – independently, no family or you are a single mom – and you have to go get groceries. As a mom what are the precautions you need to do to protect your infant and other kids?
Protect yourself first
I always wondered why every time you board on an aircraft and the aircrew would tell you to put on your oxygen mask first and then on a child next to you.
A Mother in every mother would want to protect her child first.
Besides what is going on all around the world, you have to make sure, you are taking the right measures to protect yourself, even you are going out or not.
Read CDC Guidelines on how you can protect yourself and others.
Steps you have to take to minimize the risk
Wear a mask at all times while you are outside. Make sure it is clean and washable – if you do not have disposable ones. I have sewn masks for my family after watching the video on Youtube I could make masks super quick.
2. Keep a sanitizer in your car. If you do not have a sanitizer, keep a hand wash and fill up a gallon of water for frequent and better handwashing.
3. Weather is getting a little warmer in several weeks, so it would be better to wear flip flops and wash them when you get home or leave your shoe outside. As per CDC guidelines, the virus does transfer on shoe soles. So why take a risk even.
4. I would not suggest you wearing gloves, because in my opinion, when you are wearing gloves, you would never feel what surface you touched the last time. For that reason, you would not feel the need to wash your hands. Nevertheless, the best defense for this virus is frequent handwashing.
Newborn protection when going out
Well, as a matter of fact, we cannot have newborns wear the mask due to a risk of SIDS. However, you still have to protect your baby from inhaling anything that is dangerous.
You can also use a muslin Blanket to cover baby’s carseat so it would not slip away.
When you cover baby’s car seat or baby’s face while sitting in the stroller, you have to make sure there is enough breathing room for the baby.
This pandemic is going to take several months to even slow down, thus, protection and safety are essential during this time to keep your household safe. Days are going to be hot and if you have covered stroller or car seat with a blanket, be vigilant of the temperature inside the cover.
You must know that a temperature under the blanket or cover or inside the car (Closed windows) is several degrees higher than outside.
Never leave your baby in the car alone, even you have to leave for 5 minutes. Nope, not at all. It’s not worth it!
Nursing moms are aware of the benefits breastmilk has. It has antibodies that protect babies from getting sick and it makes immune system strong.
If you are pregnant and do not have any other health condition that could keep you from breastfeeding, you must choose to breastfeed for the better health and safety for your baby.
If you are breastfeeding already, amp up your game of nursing and feed your baby on demand as much as you can.
Breastfeeding gets hard and painful sometimes and you do not want to continue anymore. Right now that’s not what is needed. Nurse for a little longer if you can.
But if you want to wean off your toddler from breastfeeding, I would say wait for a couple more months and keep nursing for baby’s health and safety.
Be mindful of how you soothe your crying baby
While you are outside, you have to be super vigilant when and how you are soothing a crying baby.
The moment your newborn gets hungry, she is going to suck on her hands. Try not to touch baby’s hands once you are out of the house, only if it is to clean baby’s hands.
Sanitize your hands before you pick up your baby.
Do not take baby toys along for a short visit to grocery store.
When you hold your baby, you need to make sure, it would not have any consequences.
Take baby inside only if you have no other choice to leave baby at home with a caretaker (a family member).
You can also have someone watch your baby in the car while you can run errands.
Baby clothing & Accessories
When all the stores are closed nationwide during these times of pandemic, chances are, you have to order baby items online if you are expecting anytime soon or have a growing child with growing. Wash baby’s clothes before you have your baby wear them, regardless.
Either clothes are hand-me-downs or brand new, try to wash them.
Teach your toddler how to wear a mask while you go outside. You can make some fun masks for your little ones, using their outgrown character shirts, flannel blankets, etc.
Focus on kids immune support.
Once your toddler turns two, start giving your child supplements as a part of her diet (if she does not have any health concerns).
Multivitamins would help to improve the immune support system. Also, it would help your body fighting common cold and flu and other diseases, so your chances to fall sick get slim. and if you do in the worst case, you recover fast.
What to do when country re-opens
Moms and dads with little kids need to be extra cautious once county re-opens, regardless of where you are living.
We all are frustrated and depressed because of the lockdown, financial stress is taking toll on everyone’s mental health. Experts say people may get infected more once the county reopens. For that reason, we have to strive for not being a reason for infecting others in any way.
Practice Social Distancing – Hard it may sound, but that’s the only way we can pull ourselves out of this pandemic safe. Thanks to our health workers who are working 24/7 around the clock for us.
Practice hand-washing inside and outside of the house. Again, I would say keep a gallon of water (make sure you can cap it well, so it doesn’t spill) and hand- soap in the trunk of your car.
If you are going for a long drive, try not to stop at rest areas public restrooms for handwashing if you have little kids with you. Also, instead of using hand sanitizer (which is rarely available in stores now) kids and you can wash hands with soap and water.
Avoid using public bathrooms and rest areas as much as you can while you are at the beach or at a restaurant.
Wash your clothes regularly.
Wear a mask while we are outside, and we might have to wear it for at least a year since we still do not know if it comes back in a second wave.
Stay safe, be prepared and protect your family and yourself.
I am Madiha, mom to two beautiful kids. Here you find helpful tips about pregnancy, postpartum, newborn care, toddlers, and product reviews. Join the tribe, and let’s grow together as moms. Enjoy having kids while they are little and more fun.
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I am Madiha, mom to two beautiful kids. Here you find helpful tips about pregnancy, postpartum, newborn care, toddlers, and product reviews. Join the tribe, and let’s grow together as moms. Enjoy having kids while they are little and more fun.