Child Proofing Your Home With Adults In Mind

It is important to begin child proofing your home as your toddler begins exploring, mainly for child safety reasons. A number of great tools and products are on the market to help make your home as safe as can be for your new baby. By the time your baby is six months old, he will likely be exploring the home is his own way. This gives you just a small amount of time to get anything and everything out of the way so that he can’t hurt himself or break anything in the process. Today’s baby proofing products are more adult friendly to use, but there are often better choices available than those you may remember using in the past.

Crawl Like A Baby

The best way to find potential problems within your home is to see your home as your child does. Get down on your hands and knees and crawl around. Make a list of all the potential problems you expose your child. At this level, you will see electrical outlets, cords for televisions or lamps, small fringe or other small items on tables that can be picked up, thrown or put in their mouths. Look for corners on tables or other surfaces that are sharp. Look for stairs or places within the home they can get to as they crawl and later stroll around. This may include cabinets, closets and doors.

With a list in hand like this, you can start finding the solutions to your problems. Luckily there are many great products on the market that can help you to child proof your home without a lot of worry about expense or the difficulty in using your home as you would like to.

Child Proofing So Your Home Is User Friendly For You

Your baby’s safety is the most important consideration but you do not have to compromise the ease of living you currently have. The following are some of the most important tools available to you to both protect your child while still have easy access to your home and things.

• Safety Latches

Perhaps you have drawers and cabinets that baby can get into. It is important to keep these locked so that your child can’t get into them and access poisonous chemicals and medications. Latches are available that can be attached to these cabinets (with minimal if any damage to the cabinet itself) You will want to buy latches that are durable can handle the pulls that your child is likely to do to them. Still, many of these products are very easy to install and easy to use.

• Corner Protection

As you crawled around you may have bumped into the corners of tables and chairs along the way. Either remove those with a point from the area or they should have a corner bumper installed on them. These will soften the edge and allow the child to bump into them with little or no effect. Most are widely available for just a few dollars. Choose bumpers that stay snuggly in place.

• Outlet Covers

One of the most effective ways to prevent baby from being hurt is with outlet covers. A package of 20 or more can cost just a few dollars. These plastic covers are in the sockets throughout your home, keeping fingers out of the outlet. Parents can easily remove them and replace them when the outlet is in use.

• Safety Gates

Older models of safety gates were hard to put in place and often were cumbersome to deal with. Newer models make getting through them must faster and safer. Protecting baby from stairs and areas of the home that are too dangerous is one of the best ways to child proof your home. These gates are available in a range of sizes and styles to accommodate virtually any home’s design.

There are many other things to add to your home to child proof it. You may wish to add locks to doors to rooms where you do not want your toddler to venture. Every home should have carbon monoxide detectors and smoke alarms installed in them. Be sure to secure all items on tables safely or otherwise remove cords that could cause an item to fall on the child.

There’s a lot to do but by making a few simple changes to your home you will successfully protect your child from all the problems that usually affect children. Since thousands of children end up in the hospital each year due to injuries or poisonings at their home, don’t overlook the safety in child proofing your home. It is an important part of your parenting responsibilities.

Parenting your Children as Adults

As many parents will tell you, the job doesn’t end when your children move out of the house. Parenting your children as adults is also important but your role as a parent will change when your children grow older. If you want to maintain a positive relationship with your adult child, it will be important for you to learn about parenting your children as adults.

Family is important and your children remain your family even when they grow into adults themselves. How can you remain close as you grow older and your relationship changes? One important step is to remember that your children want respect as the adults they have grown into. Your attitude toward your child will need to change.

Respect without Dependence

When parenting your children as adults, it’s important to have a relationship of mutual respect without dependence. You likely spent a majority of your parenthood trying to teach your child independence. Now that they are an adult, you want them to give you respect and you also need to show them respect as a grown person.

While your child may still come to you with problems or for advice, they should not depend on your to take care of them anymore. If the adult child has too much dependence on the parents, they will never be able to make it on their own as adults. It’s part of your job as a parent to teach them to be responsible adults.

Living Arrangements

What type of living arrangements exist with your adult child? If your adult child lives in their own home, the relationship will be less strained and will take on more of a friendship than a parent/child relationship as long as good communication exists. If your adult child still lives in your home, different rules will apply.

Your child will feel that they make their own rules and should be free to come and go as they wish since they are grown but you may have your own house rules that you want them to obey. If there are disagreements over the rules, conflict can ensue.

While it’s important for you to respect their individuality and the fact that they are grown now, your child should still respect your rules while living in your home. For example, if you say you do not want them having guests of the opposite sex spending the night, your adult child needs to respect this or discontinue living in your home.

To prevent complications, be sure to set ground rules before they move in (or if they never moved out after teenage years). Sit down and have a mature adult conversation about the rules and what will be expected of them while they are living in your home.

Friends and other Relationships

It’s important that you have a mutual understanding with your adult child to respect one another’s choices in friends and relationships. Unless they ask for your opinion, you shouldn’t tell your adult child who to be friends with or who to not be involved with. You have to trust their opinion as an adult to make their own decisions about what is best for them.

On that same topic, your adult child should not try to tell you who you can be friends with or who you should be in a relationship with. If you choose to discuss your personal relationships with one another, there should be a level of mutual respect and there should be ground rules regarding what shouldn’t be discussed between child and parent.

Tips for Parents

Here are some things to keep in mind when it comes to parenting your children as adults:

• Respect your adult child’s privacy
• Respect their own moral and religious beliefs
• Be available but not overbearing
• Don’t give your opinions when they haven’t been requested
• Remain open communication so you both understand how the other feels
• Don’t try to “baby” them or allow them to be dependant on you
• Be supportive in financial situations but don’t help when you feel uncomfortable doing so- you are no longer obligated

These tips and ideas will help you have a good relationship with your own adult child.

Tips For Settling In With Your Newborn

As the parents of a newborn, life has changed drastically. Babies take up most of your day. They require feedings every three to four hours. They require constant attention while they are awake, too. As a new mother or father your job may feel overwhelming but in fact it can be one of the most wondrous times you experience. In order to make sure that your new days as a new parent go well, consider these tips on incorporating your life into your newborns sudden demand for attention.

Developing A Routine

One of the keys to your success as a new parent will be your ability to set up a new routine for your child. A routine allows for everything to get done that needs to within the allotment of limited time you have. A routine is nearly possible at first because your newborn will dictate every minute that you have. Yet, it is still likely you can put in place a few crucial details.

• Go to bed early. Newborns sleep most of the day away, so take advantage of this. You may have to get up three or more times per night but going to bed early will still allow you to have enough sleep.

• Make morning time a time for feedings and small things to do around the home. Don’t expect to do a lot of chores during that first month. Instead, incorporate more time for just doing things in the short amount of time you have.

• In the afternoon, perhaps when the other parent comes home from work, take a break. This is a good time to throw a load of laundry into the wash and relax in a bath. Give yourself a break before the overnight shift starts again.

Breastfeeding Help

At the hospital, your nurses will help you learn techniques for breastfeeding. Take advantage of this help and ask questions. Talk to friends about their experience and learn from their mistakes. If you are finding it difficult to get your baby to nurse, call the hospital and talk to the nurses. Most hospitals have nurses who are able to come out and give you help.

Remember that breastfeeding your baby will take time. Therefore, don’t jump at the first cry baby makes. Instead, get to the restroom first and even get something to drink. Flip on the television or grab a book to read. This way, you aren’t rushed because you are thinking about the million things you could be doing.

A warm cloth or a warm shower will help drastically if you are feeling engorged. You may want to use a heating pad laid over the top of your breasts. This will help you relax and the pain to subside.

Don’t Fret

Over the next few weeks, you will receive advice for plenty of friends and family members. Their advice may be sound, and their intentions good, but really what you use from it is up to you. Don’t feel obligated to do whatever they tell you.

Accepting help from anyone that offers is always a good thing. Do not feel like you have to do this all on your own. It is difficult and it will feel like you are not a good mom if you can’t handle it all. This isn’t true, though. If your neighbor would like to visit and perhaps give baby a bottle, go ahead and let them. This is a good time for you to sneak off for a quick shower, for example.

When it comes to giving out the tasks to those who are looking to help, give them the tasks that take longer to do. For example, if your sister wants to come over and help for the day, asking what she can do for you, give her a larger job. Ask her to handle the vacuuming or even changing the sheets on the bed. The small tasks around the home are all things you likely can do yourself, in between feedings and sleeping.

Being a new mother is hard, but it will get easier. Over time, you may find that by reaching out to others, you can improve the quality of your own time with your child.

Early Childhood Education Starts At Home

There is a saying that the years before the age of five will last the rest of their lives and this is very true for children. All years are formative but the first five are extremely important to the development and self-esteem of a child. Early childhood educators all agree that when a child is put in an enriching learning environment from a young age, this can translate to happier, more secure and confident individual.

Mothers who choose to keep their kids at home rather than in a daycare setting can educate and socialize their children. Here are a few ideas explored that can help you to provide your pre-schooler with a great foundation for learning.

Everything from building and exercise as well as music in early childhood education programs is recommended. Many parents choose to read books and watch videos on these subjects so that they can maximize their baby’s early development possibilities.

The Baby Years

As a baby, we sponge information and absorb it really well. Today’s babies are even doing sign language to communicate with their parents before their vocal chords have matured enough for speech.

Play and communicate and talk and sing with your baby. Touch and exploration is how they’ll learn. You can find activities to do at home to help your baby define their large and small motor skills. Take the baby out into the world and let them safely discover the outdoors as well.

Babies love music and when you get onto the floor with them and show them how to build a tower with blocks. Story time can be a great time for cuddling and showing as well.

The Toddler Years

Toddlers love to get into things and explore. It can be trying for a parent but this is the time they learn that they can do things with their hands and they want to reach for everything to discover what it smells like and tastes like. Of course safety and child proofing is a big concern but early childhood education advocates encourage letting your child explore safely through play. Let them build things and set up a craft station at home. Let them “help” wash the dishes and give them little chores to help you with. It’ll help them learn and contribute.

Toddlers love to ask questions once they are verbalizing and figure out how stuff works. All babies and toddlers develop at different stages. Verbalizing starts at various stages and while some toddlers are talking before the age of two, many are not. If you have concerns about development with walking and talking, talk to your pediatrician.

The Preschool Years

A preschool education can happen at home and outside of the home. Some parents go to play groups or enroll their kids in a part time or full time preschool program so their children can interact and socialize with other children.

Whether you go to a play group or swap having it done at various houses, it’s important that preschoolers can interact with other kids their age in order to help them get ready for school. Some parents enroll their kids in preschool at age two or three on a part time basis to introduce structured learning but you can also have structured and unstructured play at home and help them learn to write their name, identify numbers and alphabet letter as well as do pattern matching and problem solving.

Issues, Concerns and Early Intervention

Children develop at varying rates and if you’re concerned that your child might be developmentally delayed or have a delay in their motor skills, it’s important to identify any problems early. Very often, early intervention for development can result in a child getting “caught up” to others in their age group by the time they are in school.

Well baby checks are a good idea on a routine from infancy and in terms of early literacy and development of social skills, it’s never to early to sit down and play with your children in a way that helps them develop social skills, language skills and self esteem. You’ll find many programs free on the internet as well as groups and courses that you can utilize that will help you. You can find early education catalogs and early education videos and many therapists that specialize in helping with early intervention programs.

Learning through play can help the child in many ways for their future education plus help build a bond with their parents where they have open communication and get to have fun with parents as well.

Single Parenting and the Child Care Problem

One of the first things you think about when you are a single parent by choice (divorce, unmarried) or natural circumstances (death of a spouse), is who will care for my child or children? Single parenting and the problem of child care is one of the biggest issues.

There are a number of options and each has its pros and cons. Do your homework and based on your work routine, budget and the temperament of your child, choose a child care option that works with single parenting, not against it.

In-Home Nanny

Pros: You do not need to bundle up your kid at 6AM and leave him at day care. He does not need to catch the viral flu from other kids at day care and he can play in familiar surroundings and not have his bath or nap time disturbed.

Cons: If the nanny is a ‘bad person’, as a single parent, you don’t have any one keeping an eye on her. Unless your child is old enough to express any signs of abuse or neglect, you may want to thoroughly check references. Investing in a spy cam or web cam whereby you can monitor the person monitoring your child, is risky, and can lead to legal complications.

Day Care Center

Yes, day cares can be plagued with ill, cranky children, but many have strict rules of keeping sick children home. Regardless of whether you are a single parent or not, you have to be thorough about checking cleanliness, safety precautions and the atmosphere of day care centers because older premises can have problems of their own.

The advantages are that there is more than one caregiver, so there is a sense of security as compared to one nanny at home who could neglect a child. Yet, high turnover at day care centers may make it difficult for your child to adjust to a new person ever so often.

Home Day Care

On single parenting websites, one sees a lot swap child care with one another and work around their schedules so as to reduce or eliminate child care costs. Of course there are advantages with leaving your child with a familiar fiend or neighbor, but if she is running a home day care, and there are other kids in the picture, it is important she be licensed in your state, meet safety standards and have CPR certification.

Relatives

If you are so lucky as to have grandma or some other close relative care for your child - that can be an ideal situation provided the caregiver is in good health and again knows some emergency protocol.

For more information on single parenting visit our ‘Single Parenting Guide‘

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