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Question: What has made parenting easier for you?

SuburbanDaddy says “Learn how to swaddle! It’s a real art form. The nurses at the hospital are experts, and babies calm down as soon as they are snug. I could never get the swaddle to hold for more than 5 minutes, so we used the ones at babies r us that wrap around with velcro.”

To be honest, I did not know what the heck swaddling was up until a couple of weeks ago. After I read SuburbanDaddy’s comment, I thought to myself, “What in the world is swaddling?” Before turning to Google to tell me what it was, I tried figuring it out on my own. I began to focus on the word……………swaddling…………swaaaaaadling………sssssswaddling……… And that’s when it hit me! I came to the conclusion that it must have something to do with swimming and paddling! Swimming + Paddling = Swaddling! Right? Then I wondered, “But what the heck does swimming and paddling have to do with babies?” Could it have something to do with a baby “swimming” around in his/her mother’s stomach? But then how would he/she have access to paddles? Becoming frustrated, I just asked Mommy what swaddling was. After she laughed at me (for an hour or two) when I explained to her what I thought it meant, she told me what it was. I felt like an idiot.

So since I’m a complete dummy when it comes to swaddling (Swaddling For Dummies, anyone?), as I just previously proved, I’ll let my research do the talking on the subject.

Running a quick search on Google for “swaddling” will net you loads of information on the practice. It turns out that swaddling has been around for centuries simply because it has many benefits and very few risks. Swaddling is meant to emulate the tightness and security of the womb for a newborn baby. Loosening a swaddle over time can help him/her adjust from the tightness of the womb to the openness of the new world they’ve just entered. This can make the transition for the newborn much easier and much more comfortable. Many more benefits of swaddling include:

-helps the baby sleep through the night with very few awakenings
-keeps the baby warm
-prevents the baby from startling him/herself and even scratching his/her own face
-calms the baby

There are also some risk factors of swaddling. It is recommended that a baby is swaddled only for the first month or two of his/her life. Swaddling for longer could potentially interfere with his/her mobility and development. Excessive swaddling could make it difficult for the baby to become comfortable or fall asleep without a swaddle, as he/she would rely so much upon it. It is recommended that you loosen the swaddle over time so that becoming reliant upon it can be prevented.

In case you are interested to learn how to swaddle a baby, here are some instructions on how to do so:

1. Lay the blanket out on a flat surface in the shape of a diamond.
2. Fold down three or four inches of the top edge of the blanket.
3. Place your baby on the blanket so that his head is overlapping the top edge you turned down.
4. Tuck your baby’s right arm into the flap made by the folded down edge of the blanket and the right corner of the blanket. Pull that corner across his body, tucking it behind the opposite side of his back.
5. Bring the bottom corner of the blanket up and tuck it inside the blanket near his chest.
6. Tuck your baby’s left arm into the flap made by the folded down edge of the blanket and the left corner of the blanket. Pull that corner across his body, tucking it behind the blanket on his back.

Or if that doesn’t work for you, you can always buy a swaddling blanket with Velcro flaps to make it easier for you as SuburbanDaddy suggested. Mommy and I have these types of swaddles on our Babies “R” Us baby registry. And speaking of Babies “R” Us, they are currently having a buy one get one 50% off sale on all Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe swaddles! The offer ends on the 24th of this month, so be sure to hurry and check that out if you plan on swaddling your bundle!

So now I would like to hear your opinions on swaddling. Do you or did you swaddle your baby? If so, how did he/she react to it? Are there any other benefits/risk factors of swaddling that I did not mention here? Are there any swaddling methods you would like to share?

This post is a part of our Parenting Made Easier series. Our goal for this series is to help new and expecting parents learn ways that parenting can be made easier through tips and advice given by “veteran” parents. If you would like to be featured in this series, just leave a comment on the original post sharing your own tips and advice on what has made parenting easier for you. And be sure to subscribe to our feed so that you don’t miss out on any updates to this series!

(Sources: Baby Center, Wikipedia, and About)

Question: What has made parenting easier for you?

Summer says “Physical items that helped: A sling! Oh, hands free baby care rocks and they are so much happier and peaceful. Cosleeping. No getting up for late night feedings, just roll over lift shirt fall back asleep.

The biggest help was learning to trust my gut instead of what the “experts” say or what society thinks I’m supposed to do.”

Mommy - Two summers ago, I purchased a Peekaboo pouch on sale to add to our “baby stash” and I’m eying a few other slings. Slings are definitely must-haves. There’s no way our baby would survive in our bed as Daddy already uses me as a teddy bear! Products such as the Co-Sleeper or Amby Baby Motion Bed may be of some assistance! Oh, just rolling over and lifting up your shirt sounds really convenient, lol!

Daddy - Trusting your gut is definitely important. Everyone is unique in their own way, so what works for one person just may not work for another. That also can be applied vice versa; what doesn’t work for others just may actually work for you. Sometimes you just have to go by your gut instinct to find what works best for you and most importantly, your child.

LOL @ “just roll over lift shirt fall back asleep”! Mommy suggested co-sleeping to me for when Jayden arrives, but then she retracted the idea due to the fact that (and I quote), “You might roll over him or fart on him.” Now I’ll admit, I can get a little tossy turny while I’m sleep, but I DO NOT FLATULATE IN MY SLEEP!!!

…ok maybe I do once or twice, but Jayden won’t care!

This post is a part of our Parenting Made Easier series. Our goal for this series is to help new and expecting parents learn ways that parenting can be made easier through tips and advice given by “veteran” parents. If you would like to be featured in this series, just leave a comment on the original post sharing your own tips and advice on what has made parenting easier for you. And be sure to subscribe to our feed so that you don’t miss out on any updates to this series!

Question: What has made parenting easier for you?

Raquita says “What has helped the most for me (I just had kid #2) is backing off the idea that I had in my mind about what parenting was going to be for me, and learning to go with the flow. I’m still figuring out what works best for my family and my kids, but we are getting there and it seems better every day.

As far as material items, I couldn’t live with out my stroller, its the one that accepts this one. My travel swing, and a good monitor, it will help you keep from spoiling the baby. The more comfortable you can be with the baby in another room the easier it will be for both of you (you and the baby- that is) to learn to be independent of one another… for me that took a pretty high tec monitor.”

Mommy - Going with the flow is definitely what I’m all about. Life’s full of surprises and you have to be able to adjust to them for the benefit of your family. Independency is something I may struggle with because I plan on practicing some forms of attachment parenting. This is where going with the flow and seeing what works best for our family comes in!

Light-weight strollers are a definite must-have! When you’re traveling with kids in tow you don’t want to have to struggle with lifting and getting a bulky stroller out of your vehicle, especially in extreme weather conditions. I will wear Jayden, but in situations when wearing him becomes uncomfortable we will definitely benefit from a stroller.

Thanks for your suggestions and congrats on babe #2!

Daddy - First of all, congratulations on your second child! I totally agree with you on going with the flow. I’m a go-with-the-flow type person myself, and I’ve learned that some things are just best taught through trial and error. That way, you can figure out what doesn’t work, what does work, and what works best. And when it comes to family, as you said, you want what works best!

I also agree with you on a parent and a child becoming independent of one another. I already know that Mommy and I are going to spoil Jayden like crazy since he is our first child. But I don’t want to spoil him to the point where it has negative affects on him or us. So I believe establishing independency with the child is definitely a very good way to make parenting easier.

This post is a part of our Parenting Made Easier series. Our goal for this series is to help new and expecting parents learn ways that parenting can be made easier through tips and advice given by “veteran” parents. If you would like to be featured in this series, just leave a comment on the original post sharing your own tips and advice on what has made parenting easier for you. And be sure to subscribe to our feed so that you don’t miss out on any updates to this series!

A few days ago, I asked a question: What has made parenting easier for you? My intentions in asking that question were to help new and expecting parents by allowing “veteran” moms and dads to give tips and advice on what has made parenting easier for them. I’d say that my intentions were definitely met as I received numerous informative, helpful responses. I honestly have to say that, speaking as an expecting parent, the responses I received helped me a lot in learning ways that parenting can be made easier. So, I’d like to personally thank each and every person that took the time out to share their knowledge and experience in wanting to help others!

Now, I believe that the responses by these people should not be buried in comments. So what I’m going to do is highlight each and every one of them in a series of posts entitled “Parenting Made Easier”. In each post I will highlight one response from the original post (in chronological order in which they were received), and Mommy and/or I will add our input while allowing others to add input also through comments. Since I believe that there are an infinite amount of ways that parenting can be made easier, responses are still encouraged on the original post. For each new, quality response received, a new post will be added to the Parenting Made Easier series featuring that specific response. Every post added to the Parenting Made Easier series will be added to this post below. So be sure to bookmark this post or subscribe to our feed so that you don’t miss any new entries to the series! Enjoy!

Question: What has made parenting easier for you?

Independency & Going With The Flow
A Sling, Co-sleeping, & Trusting Your Gut
Swaddling

I hear it all the time: being a parent is not an easy job, especially when you’re first-time parents. There are so many things to consider, so many new responsibilities to take on. After all, you are taking care of a new, fragile human life. So many new things come into perspective. You now put this new person before yourself. So many questions arise when you’re a new parent: How do I decide what’s best for my child? Is there anything I should encourage my child to do or not do? What if I make mistakes and what effect could those mistakes have on my child? Will the love that I give to my child be sufficient enough? Will I be a good parent? And the list goes on. These questions and more can lead new parents to the assumption that parenting is very difficult and stressful. And although I believe it can be to an extent, I also believe that there is an endless array of objects that can make parenting a little easier.

Which is why I want to hand the mic over to YOU! I’m referring to the moms and dads out there who have overcome the struggles and stresses of raising a new child and lived to see another day! I would like to know what helped (or still helps) to ease those stresses of raising a new child. It can be something small (such as a toy or even a pacifier) or something big (such as a brand new nursery or minivan). It can be something tangible or even something intangible (such as the love from your family). It can be one thing or it can be many things. Whatever it may possibly be, I would like to know:

(My goal here is to help make parenting easier for the people out there who are either expecting their first child [of which includes Mommy and myself] or have just recently had their first child. I believe the more input I can get out of this, the more helpful it can be, as it will introduce all sorts of ways that parenting can be made a little bit more easier for new and expecting parents. So I encourage any and all feedback! I believe that there is no answer too simple or impractical. If it has made parenting easier for you then I’d love to hear it!)