DadTrends » First Year

Dog or baby – you decide

stefan — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:34:42 +0000

If you’ve ever wondered whether to have a baby or get a dog … here’s a direct comparison.

Devine

-Stef

Newborn Parenting for a New World

stefan — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:00:08 +0000

“If you haven’t heard about “Dads The Word” check it out now! We’ve been working with Ross and her team for many years and her programme for new parents (“Newborn Parenting for a New World”) really is one of the best around. If you’ve ever been frustrated about upskilling your childcare skills (or find books just way too dry) give Ross’ programme a shot! Compared to many other parenting education DVDs, videos and apps “Newborn Parenting for a New World” is not only very practical but it’s also pretty funny!

In 28 minutes the “Newborn Parenting for a New World” DVD shows you how to:

Settle a crying baby

Bathing a baby

Step by step guide and tips on nappy changing for both baby girls and baby boys

Feeding a baby

Baby massage

Dressing your baby

And SIDS prevention

Nappy change – the radio presenter way

stefan — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 01:56:49 +0000

Matt Tilley shows how your average radio presenter changes diapers/nappies. Nice

Enjoy,

Stef

Child car seat safety

community — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:44:05 +0000

The loss of a child is the single thing that scares parents the most. We often obsess over ways to keep our children safe. We buy plastic doodads to plug into electrical sockets to keep little fingers away, we put poisons and chemicals out of reach and special childproof locks on cabinets, and, of course, we put our children in child safety car seats. What we often fail to do, however, is get expert help with car seat installation. Studies from the Center for Disease Control have shown that motor vehicle injuries are the greatest public health problem for children. When correctly installed, child safety seats reduce the risk of death by more than 70 percent for infants and more than 43 percent for children aged 1 to 4!

Improving car seat safety

Keeping babies entertained – paper

stefan — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:08:25 +0000

More evidence that expensive toys are not needed to entertain babies … the clips below have clocked up over 70m youtube views (!)

Enjoy,

stef

How to select a childcare or daycare center

stefan — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:46:30 +0000

Here’s our list of handy hints and tips for selecting a daycare or childcare center for your child. We split our list of essentials into two parts – firstly things you should consider when selecting the center, secondly things the daycare staff should tell you about. Here it goes …

1) What to look for in a childcare / daycare center:

Safe location – is it in a safe neighbourhood / near a busy street?

Safe building – is it clean and child-safe (by regulation, it has to be)? Or is it old and rundown?

What are the play areas and toys like (new, old, dirty, clean)?

Is there a pleasant outdoor area available, with appropriate shelter from sun and rain?

Can the dropping off and picking up of your child be organised safely and with relative ease?

What is the teaching and childcare philosophy? What are their policies and procedures e.g., about noise, behaviour, TV watching, sleeps, and so on?

Staff ratio – are there enough people to take care of the children at ALL TIMES?

Staff abilities – are they trained and qualified? There are strict regulations in place for operating a daycare; don’t be afraid to ask about staff qualifications.

How many children attend in total? How many under two year-olds and how many pre-schoolers.

What food and beverages are served?

What is the incident history, and how long has the center been registered with an official authority?

What is the decoration like – does it look like a happy place with lots of photos, children’s paintings and other artwork on display?

Sequence of how baby teeth come out

stefan — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:23:24 +0000

We originally posted this article 3 years ago. It’s been super popular ever since so I thought it’s useful to have it up on the home page again for a while. Enjoy – Stef

Now that our little champ has pushed out his first two teeth and we are (anxiously) awaiting the next ones to emerge I was wondering what the usual sequence for teething is anyway. Well – as it turns out the good people of the “Journal of American Dental Association” already did some research back in 1974 to answer exactly that question.

[image by sedron.com]

Eruption Sequence of baby teeth (also called “Deciduous Teeth” or “Primary Teeth”) in months after birth:

Rodney’s home birth story

stefan — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:28:18 +0000

Everyone has “the” list … you know the one, babies coming and magically this list appears “things to do”. No matter how hard you work and toil over this list it just never seems to get smaller …

So 9 months after starting on this list, (ok I had a few days out fishing) it was Saturday morning and all I had left was to plant 5 trees and fix the house.

I had been woken at 2am to be told that my wife had been having very mild contractions since 7pm the night before, but don’t panic as this was the third time and baby was still a long way off. The midwives were due at 10am for a checkup.

10am rolls around the midwives arrived and we timed the contractions at about 30sec long and around 10 mins apart. Armed with the information that when they last 45sec and 5 min apart that we should head to the hospital. Yes this was originally supposed to be hospital birth, but the fact that this letter is in this magazine you already know the outcome…

Back to the story; 10.30am and my wife and I are in the back garden with the final job on the list. She is only there to supervise, while I am digging planting and timing the contractions. Just after 1pm the first contraction that went aver 45 sec came. Quickly finishing the last plant and fixing the hose, my job was done and the list complete.

10 things to do with your kids on Father’s Day – Part 1: babies

stefan — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 22:42:15 +0000

If you are a brand new dad you’ll be looking forward to your first ever Fathers Day as a dad. No doubt your partner will treat you to something nice on the day – great. But what are some of the special things you can do with your bundle of joy that all of you will really enjoy? Here’s some tips:

create an animoto video with photos of your baby and family

go for a walk with your little champ – when you see a mum with a crying baby make sure to go over and point out what she’s doing wrong

record yourself and turn into a song using songify – then play to your baby

have a bath with your baby (just awesome – it’s warm, relaxing and great fun)

DIY with dad – Father’s Day Special

community — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:19:13 +0000

This is a great little project for something to do on Fathers Day that your baby will love – check it out!

When Jack and Tess were one month old I made them a mobile like this and hung it over their crib. Looking at it was Tess’s favorite activity for almost 6 months. The contrasting black and white shapes are perfect for infants’ developing vision. It’s also very simple to make, using only cardboard, paper and some thread. At the bottom of this post is a template that you may download and print, or you can design your own black and white shapes.

Here’s a step by step on how to make your own mobile:
1) Cut two strips of cardboard about 14 inches long. (I used illustration board and painted it red, but any cardboard will work.) Then lay them in a cross and use some double sided tape (or glue) and stick them together.
2) Print the template and cut out the mobile shapes.