Home And Family

Special events including weddings, birthdays, holidays, confirmations and graduations require special invitations. If you are currently planning a wedding for instance and want to make every aspect of your wedding very memorable, then you certainly have your hands full planning guest lists, ordering flowers, arranging music and selecting the food you will serve. Many people make the mistake of sending out dull and unattractive invitations. Wedding invitations are available today that come in stunning designs and in a wide variety of pretty patterns and themes. Many people actually save wedding invitations to remind them of the big day and often even go to the trouble to have the invitations put into frames for displaying in the home.

Holiday parties abound in the month of December. Many people throw Christmas cocktail parties and big New Years Eve bashes. If you are planning on inviting a group of your friends to your home during the holidays, take some time and select eye catching and festive holiday invitations. There are many sources of great invitations, including your local card shop and the internet. Decide on the theme of your party and then try to select invitations that reflect that theme. For instance if your theme is based on winter nights, try to find party invitations that depict some pretty night time snow scenes. Your guests will love receiving invitations that show you put considerable thought into selecting and will no doubt complement you on your choice when they arrive for the event.

Party planning is fun. The anticipation of the big day grows with each day that passes. You have gone to a lot of trouble to order great decorations for your party. Be sure to take the time to select the perfect party invitations that will impress your friends.

It is not necessary to spend a lot of money for invitations. There are many websites online that offer a huge selection of invitations of all kinds and that are suited to every budget. Local wedding boutiques and card shops in all cities also offer a great selection of invitations for every occasion imaginable. So the next time you are planning a special event, take the time to find the perfect invitations-your guests will appreciate the thoughtfulness.

New Years Eve… A night to say good bye to the old and ring in the new.. For many people it is a night of revelry and fancy festivities. At our home it has always been a night of family and friends gathering together for food and fun. When our children were little, and we were much younger, they hated for us to go out on New Years Eve, even when I bribed them with their favorite babysitter, who I had booked months in advance. When our oldest got to be 6, she told me that she all she wanted for Christmas was for us to stay home on New Year’s Eve and have a big New Years Eve party with the kids.

From that little request, our family began a New Year’s Eve tradition that lasted over 10 years. We invited friends over with their children, family with the cousins and began holding our “Ring It and Sing It ” New Year’s Eve party. No fancy outfits, no costly dinners or expensive parties and no babysitter. That tradition turned out to be one of our family’s favorite holiday celebrations. Now that the kids are older and out on their own, I still get melancholy on New Year’s Eve as I remember all the fun we had when the house was noisy, chaotic and filled with kids. We would let them decorate the house with New Year’s decorations, get hats, balloons and noisemakers. They would make Countdown Cards for the number of kids that would be there each year. If there were 15 of them, at 11:45 as the big clock on the Dick Clark New Years special would countdown, they would each come parading into the main room doing silly dances or cheers, holding their Countdown Number as the clock ticked down. Everyone else would applaud each one and blow their noisemakers! The kids were always each hoping that they would get the #1 card and be the last one before we all crowded around the television to watch the Big Ball in Times Square drop down to officially signal the start of the New Year!

Sometimes all the adults still gather here but it is not quite the same without all the kids and their enthusiasm to stay up til midnight and enjoy the hoopla of the New Year’s countdown. Last year our 2 oldest children asked if they could plan a reprise of our old New Year’s Eve parties at the house. Sure enough, they did and it was wonderful and great fun.. perhaps a new tradition is in the making. So if you are contemplating what to do this New Year’s Eve.. maybe a family New Year’s Eve party at home with family and friends could be an option for your own group.

Temperature may changes many times in a day. During the nights, it can drop to very low levels which won’t be healthy for all plants. Hence, to maintain temperature at the correct level for plant growth, generally greenhouse heaters are required. For selecting the correct heater, one must look into capability of producing correct temperatures during cold in winter and nights, but also in the money needed to installing and hence run it.

1. Different Kinds of Heaters For Greenhouses
- Electric heaters. This type of heater is suitable for tiny greenhouse structures. They can maintain the specified temperature levels. Also they don’t produce fumes and also there is no use for ventilation while using these.

- Gas heaters. These heaters are run by natural or bottled gases, they are less efficient when compared to electric heaters. Waste products while combustion are put back in the greenhouse and hence ventilation is needed while using these. These heaters must be located in a safe and secure location and also need replacement and monitoring.

- Paraffin heaters. These are the very basic among all the three. These require constant wick trimming and replacement. They also require fuel , thus, fumes enter into greenhouse and hence need lot of ventilation. These also reduce the risk due to frost damage and also prove to be emergency standby.

2. Types Of Heater Mounting
- Hanging. This heater is mounted in the ceiling or plainly just hung down from it. It’s advantageous to implement since less floor space is needed. They must be hung high so as not be an irritation or obstruction.

- Wall. These kinds of heaters are placed in the wall and also vent outside the greenhouse. Less or no floor space is needed but the place in front must be clear.

- Floor. These kinds are not mounted since they have a stand and hence can be located anywhere in the greenhouse floor. The disadvantage is that it takes up a lot of floor area.

3. Types Of Heater Combustion
- Open. These types of heaters make use of air inside for combustion needs. So long as air doesn’t contain contaminants, this works fine. Generally flammable liquids must not be kept near the open heater since the burner isn’t sealed.

- Separated. The gas heater makes use of this type of combustion mechanism where it makes use of air outside for combustion needs. The burner is sealed in order to trap air outside. Exhaust pipe is placed outside the this structure.

- Sealed. These kinds are like the separated type. It’s burner is totally sealed in and also there isn’t way use the air inside. Some sealed combustion heaters also use direct venting for exhaust and also intake.

Heater Vents
- Unvented. Unvented heaters, the combustion produced gases are released into heated location. They are for temporary use due to sensitivity of plants.

- Gravity. Exhausted air in this kind must rise via pipes and are released outside, hence, vents must be vertical. Air put out has to be gotten back by air outside.

- Power. The power vented ones have blowers which push air via pipes to outside the structure. These vents can be made horizontally or vertically, the vent pipe is smaller and hence makes it efficient.

- Direct. These kinds of venting are for sealed combustion types. They have one vent pipe for both exhaust and inlet; with one pipe being inside another.

A personalized Baby Girl Gifts add a special touch to a diaper bag, cloth diapers, clothes, or accessories baby. This adds meaning to the items and provide a keepsake for the baby treasure for a lifetime. Personalize baby gifts might include baby’s name engraved or embroidered on the prize. In some cases, gift givers choose to have the baby’s birth date, weight, and length is also a gift. This, of course, assume the gift is given after the baby is born.

It’s never too early to start thinking about your new baby’s arrival, and if you have the advantage of knowing that your child will be a girl you can focus on kitting out your baby nursery with a beautiful gift before he was put in an appearance. Holding a baby shower in your home for all of your friends and your family to give a chance for everyone to bathe your baby with a gift and you may want to give a gift wish list when you send an invitation.

The most popular type of personalized items for babies is diaper bags, burp cloths, blankets, and clothing items. These items purchased from or taken to an embroidery shop baby either name or initials added to the item. Other personalized gift ideas include picture frames or decorative wall with the child’s name and / or date of birth. Personalized baby girl gifts may include a ring or bracelet for a baby boy.

To mark the occasion of the birth of this little princess, a special wall hanging will be a good decorative and memories interesting. All little girls love fairies, and some big girls too. A Fairy Wishes Personalized Canvas features kids a happy elf in a bright pink background, and even available in 2 sizes.

This is an example of beautiful baby gifts that can be personalized with baby’s name and he can lay in bed and secret messages gurgle his own fairy special fairy. You also can choose from many other funky designs like a cat funny, hearts and flowers, chunky or crazy daisy daughter’s name but a few. Each one of these arty baby gift will make a little girl’s bedroom looks great and he will never grow out of them as a canvas is suitable for girls of all ages.

Choosing to give a baby gift designed for baby is touching and full of presents. Name of the item indicates that the gift giver put forward to the gifts of mind because most personalized items take longer to receive to give gifts. It also gives the mother a special item that is different from the others. Opening presents and see your new baby or small person must be in writing is a wonderful name and a warm feeling. When shopping for gifts to give to someone who has had or expecting a baby, consider adding the personal touch gift with baby’s name, initials, or date of birth.

If you don’t feel like making your own worm farm, they are easy to find. Available from some hardware shops, local councils or even online, worm farms are very popular.

But if you can get hold of four crates or storage boxes, you are well on your way. The boxes will be stacked on top of one another, so make sure the bottom one is waterproof with no holes and large enough to take the weight of the other boxes when filled with soil. The other three boxes need holes in them or perforations, so that the worms can move from box to box and the box on the bottom will collect the worm juice.

Don’t try to collect worms from your garden, not only will it take you ages but they just won’t do. The best worms are red worms or tiger worms. You will also need a good supply of vegetable scrap waste.

Step One

Line the first box with soil and newspaper, add some fruit and vegetable scraps and then add the worms. Place a hessian cloth or more newspaper over the top to block out the light. Now place this box on top of the waterproof “bottom” container.

Step Two

Look after your worms for a couple of weeks. Don’t put orange and lemon skins in your worm farm, worms don’t like acidic food. Also avoid raw onion, tomatoes and pineapples. Remove the hessian or newspaper every time you add food scraps and replace afterward. Add leaves or paper with every second or third batch of vegetable scraps and spray with water occasionally to keep moist. After about two weeks your worms will have grown larger and your box will be full.

Step Three

Set up box two in the same way as you did in step one, remove the hessian or newspaper from box one and place box two on top with the hessian or newspaper over it. Keep adding scraps to this second box and when this box is also full of worms you do the same thing with the third box.

Step Four

Now is the time to harvest your compost from box one. By the time box three is full the worms will have finished eating all the food in box one and moved on. All that will be left in this box will be compost material that you can now spread over your garden.

Step Five

The waterproof bottom container will regularly fill up with liquid fertilizer. Dilute this worm juice, two parts water to one part juice and pour on your plants as fertilizer.

Keep rotating your boxes and enjoy your beautiful garden.

My son抯 bedroom has always been a dark and dangerous, one of those places where anything might happen. But even I wasn抰 prepared for my late night encounter with his friend抯 father. Let me clarify. This experience was a strictly virtual one, the momentary blending of pixels across the ether ?webcam to webcam, although the embarrassment of being caught out in my nightclothes was real enough. My teenager has embraced modern technology, which means draughty street corners are out and instant messaging is in.

Armed with laptop, webcam and the absence of vowels required for today抯 communication, he conducts much of his social life with the help of Bill Gates and without removing his dressing gown. 慏isgusting!?cry the anti-progress police and it would be all too easy to take this route towards family strife. But I抦 not falling in step with the populist viewpoint just yet. At least I know where he is at night and with a flat-rate broadband connection there are none of those outsized phone bills that my parents endured when I was his age. Speaking of which, he has just shown me how to make free phone calls from my PC. And what about his room? Now I never step across the threshold without a note book and my best smile. After all, you never know who you might meet.

My relaxed attitude towards web chat is part of a broader acceptance of computers in my children抯 lives. Inevitably they will live in a more advanced world than mine so an ability to ride the wave of new technologies is a crucial part of their education and is thus reflected in the school curriculum. Of course I have concerns about the potential dangers, particularly of the Internet and have already observed, firsthand, the reduction of homework to a quick 慓oogle?and the moth like attraction of young children to a lit screen. However, I still believe that, with the right guidance and appropriate supervision, the benefits outweigh the pitfalls many times over.

The very advances that so worry the experts have equipped my sons with valuable life skills way beyond those of this 1970s teenager. Technology literate, politically astute, consumer savvy and in possession of a sophisticated sense of humour ?with all these positive attributes, forget those computers, perhaps it抯 the girlfriends I should be worried about. I feel sure that my children抯 enhanced development owes something to the communications capability and unlimited availability of information made possible by the Internet. I just hope that they will be equally well equipped to deal with the extra responsibilities that come with this shiny new world.

While much is made in the press of the detrimental effects of computers on the young, there are many situations in which they can be used to support creativity and constructive thinking. In our house computers are regularly used for digital photography, musical tuition and composition, animation, graphic design, database construction, programming, research, writing and much more. And yes, they are used for video gaming too. I抣l admit that some of these games push the boundaries of taste and are, at worst, mindless but given the content of your average soap opera, haven抰 the children seen it all before? I have to confess that as a somewhat serious teenager, even I lingered briefly in the twilight world of Space Invaders but progressed happily to boys in the end. I抦 not too worried – the pull of nature is strong!

Rather than banning games altogether, a bit of research and well thought out choices can reap their own rewards. The right game can even work as a bonding experience for the whole family. As boys grow up it gets harder for mothers to find common ground so I was delighted to discover a shared interest in puzzle adventures such as the acclaimed Myst series, which test observational skills and the ability to think laterally. A particular favourite, based on the Holy Grail conspiracy, gave us all a crash course in medieval art and religious history way before Dan Brown had written one word of The Da Vinci Code. Now you can抰 say that about Snakes and Ladders or Monopoly can you?

For those who are still worried that computers will bring an end to civilised society ?take heart. Last week I received an email from the moderator of a web forum that is popular with young people. Concerned that the language used on the site had dropped to an unacceptable standard, participants were being encouraged to write in clear and correct English and warned that 憈ext talk?would be removed from the website ?immediately. And what about all that sitting around? Some argue that computers are breeding a generation of overweight, exercise-adverse children. Not true. With all that cheap sports equipment available on ebay, my kids have never been so active!

Do you want to get together with the girls, have lots of fun – and not spend a lot of money? Then declare a ‘Girls Night In’ – and let the fun begin!

As the first in a series of “Girls Night In” articles, let me explain how ‘Girls Night In’ works. First of all – decide who is going to be the host of this particular event. (It’s best to try to rotate the host each and every time). Then decide how much each ‘guest’ will contribute to the evening. This will include food, beverage, and ‘incidentals’. Think of what you would spend on a normal ‘Girls Night Out’ and then slash it by 30% or more! The amount should easily cover your costs for these ‘do-it-yourself’ parties. Agree to this amount and stick to it. Note: Guests should provide payment upon arriving at the party in fairness and respect to the host – it is NOT okay for the hostess to have to hunt down the payment that night or any other time.

Hostess duties include: planning the party details (what to serve, what music to play, what features to offer that pertain to the party’s theme, etc.), shopping for everything, hosting the event and cleaning up after it. But remember – hosts are rotated each time so depending on the size of your group it really is manageable. For example – let’s say your gal pals number 6. Have a “Girls Night In” every two months and each person only hosts once that year!

Okay – let’s move on to the first party – Spa Night:

Manicure-Pedicures: What you’ll need on hand are:

1) at least one set of disposable gloves (these are in case anyone needs to remove a dark nail color before they start their manicure or pedicure. Put a glove on the hand that’s doing the removing – that way the color on the cotton ball won’t get all over them).

2) A full bottle of nail polish remover and big fat fluffy cotton balls (typically sized “Jumbo”)

3) A new nail file for each gal.

4) A container of great smelling hand lotion.

5) At least five bottles of new nail polish shades. Make sure at least one is neutral and another is at least a soft color (light pink or peach, for example). But make sure you also have an outrageously deep, vampy color too!

6) One full bottle of nail polish base and a top coat product.

7) Enough toe separators for everyone to have their own set. It’s also nice to have a nail buffer – make sure you get one that isn’t too coarse – you just want to gently buff away any old nail stains. All of these products can be purchased at beauty supply stores or drug stores – they will barely dent your budget.

Facials:

Again – pick these things up at the drug store to keep costs down – no need to get fancy.

You’ll need:

1) A gentle cleanser.

2) At least two masks products. Make sure one is labeled ‘Gentle’ for those guests that may have sensitive skin.

3) And a toner to use after you rinse off the mask to ensure that you remove every last morsel of it. Make sure you have a freshly laundered washcloth for each gal. If you don’t have enough – you can get them very inexpensively at most stores that sell linen (towels and sheets).

All that is left is food and beverage (well – you’ll want to decide what music to play ahead of time). Decide if you are going to offer one or two types of cocktails. Or perhaps just wine – a red and a white. Make sure you have non-alcoholic beverages on-hand too. And as for food -finger food that can easily be picked is a must for this party – you don’t want to take the chance of ruining your just-done nails. Sushi, wrap sandwiches (just make sure they are not over-stuffed), chips and dip (not out of a bag – the chips must be put in a bowl ahead of time), and/or bite-size hors d’oeuvres (these can be found in the frozen section of supermarkets) are all great options. And make sure you don’t forget to put out a tray of bite-sized sweets before the night is over!

I know what you’re thinking – there’s no way that I’m going to use cloth diapers on my baby! I don’t want to deal with diaper pins and plastic pants, I don’t want my princess hands anywhere near swishing a dirty diaper in the toilet, and I sure as heck can’t expect my partner to pin a diaper on my precious baby without blood being drawn. No way, no how.

For parents like you, all in one cloth diapers are absolutely perfect! Also known as all-in-one diapers or AIO diapers, these are modern cloth diapers that are just as easy to use as disposable diapers. So put your pre-conceptions to rest, and read more about why all-in-one cloth diapers are a great choice for your family.

All-in-One Cloth Diapers Help Your Pocketbook

If there’s one thing that most parents can’t find enough of (other than sleep, of course), it’s money. And let’s be honest – disposable diapers are basically throwing money into a landfill. You buy the diapers, Baby does his duty on them, and out they go. There’s no return on your money, and you’re guaranteed to spend more tomorrow.

With cloth diapers, things are very different! Once you purchase a set of all-in-one cloth baby diapers, you’re good to go. You have all the diapers you need for quite some time. So there’s no weekly outlay at your local store, and there are no last-minute trips in the middle of the night for a package of disposable diapers when you’ve run out unexpectedly.

In addition, all-in-one cloth diapers have a very high resale value. Yes, you heard me right, resale. There’s a large market today for secondhand cloth diapers. If you care for your all-in-one cloth diapers properly and follow the manufacturer’s guidelines, you can sell your used AIO cloth diapers for as much as 75% of the retail value. You can’t exactly do that with your bag of used disposable diapers.

All-in-One Cloth Diapers Help the Environment

We’re all more and more aware each day of the problems we’re faced with in caring for Mother Earth. It can seem overwhelming to find something that you can do to help. A simple thing to do is to trade in your disposable diapers for all in one cloth baby diapers.

I know exactly what you’re thinking – but doesn’t the washing of the cloth diapers cause just as many environmental problems as it saves? Not really. Consider the chemical processes that are used to create all the gels and other parts of a disposable diaper. The chemical by-products here aren’t exactly something that’s all-natural. Are there by-products in washing diapers? Yes. However, you can mitigate these by choosing more environmentally-friendly laundry detergents and purchasing AIO cloth diapers made from organic fabrics.

All-in-One Cloth Diapers Help Your Baby’s Skin

Now we’re back to the chemicals in disposable diapers. Let’s face it, I know I can’t pronounce more than half of the products that go into a disposable diaper, and I doubt most of you can either. This gives me more than a slight pause – if I can’t pronounce it, do I really want it sitting next to my baby’s genitals and other tender skin 24 hours a day for the next 2-3 yeas?

With an all-in-one cloth diaper, you know what you’re getting from the get go. You know the fabrics used to make up the diaper. And yes, I said fabric. You know, that soft, breathable material that is used in adult underwear the world over. Personally, I can’t imagine wearing paper underwear…so why put it on my baby?

So while the convenience of disposable diapers has long been unmatched, a new option is on the market that is just as convenient and even more logical. It’s time for you to explore more about all-in-one cloth diapers today!

People often ask me what the difference is between a baby “comforter” and an “aid” because I recommend using a sleep comforter and I spend lots of time telling parents that sleeping aids are a definite no-no. In reality, they are both aids in essence but the way I see it, there are two types of aids. You have sleeping aids which may become a problem – such as rocking, patting, feeding or giving your baby a dummy to suck on while going to sleep – and then you have good aids which do not require parental participation.

Aids that require your attention are a problem in my opinion. However, something which provides comfort and which the baby can easily find himself when he wakes in the middle of the night or between sleep cycles can be a parent’s best friend.

Every baby finds an aid of some sort to comfort himself with just before he goes to sleep. Unless the parents have introduced the aid themselves, they are usually unaware of just what it is that is comforting their baby at sleep time (with the exception of thumb sucking).

An unintroduced baby comforter could be holding, rubbing or playing peek-a-boo with the sheets or blankets but sometimes it can be a little more complicated. I have seen babies play with the bars on their cots just before falling asleep. That is their comforter and this can cause a problem when you ask one of these babies to fall asleep in a travel cot or anywhere away from their beloved cot bars. If they don’t have the bars to play with, they can’t fall asleep. Another common comforter is playing with labels or tags on bedding or clothing.

In my “traveling with a baby” article, I mentioned Luke as a case study. As I seem to be coming across more and more babies like Luke, I thought I would use this article to share with you his story in more detail.

Luke’s parents contacted me when he was 10 months old. Up until this stage, he had always been a good sleeper. His parents had started Luke on my routines when he was five weeks old. At 10 weeks, he had started to sleep all night and had done so nearly every night since. But now, suddenly, at 10 months he was finding it hard to go to sleep and once asleep he was waking up crying several times throughout the night. I consulted with Luke’s parents several times over the phone but we couldn’t work out what the problem was so I decided a house visit was the only option. After putting Luke to bed I decided to sneak into his room on all fours and observe him in an effort to work out what the problem was.

At first, things looked OK. They had put Luke to bed and he was lying down looking ready for sleep. I watched him and saw a funny movement in his wrist. He was pulling his fingers up as though he was trying to scratch his wrist before he became frustrated and started to cry. It was not the cry you hear when a baby is fighting sleep. He seemed genuinely upset and had tears so I picked him up and went to talk to his parents. After a few minutes, we realised he was looking for the sleeves of his pajamas but he couldn’t find them anywhere as he was now in short-sleeves for summer. It was now obvious to us all what Luke’s problem had been. We had spent hours on the phone trying to work out what was different about Luke’s environment and I felt very silly that we had not considered the summer pajamas to be an issue. We put Luke back in long sleeves and he started sleeping through the night again.

This was a clear case of a baby who was comforting himself to sleep using an aid that the parents were totally unaware of. It is also a good example of why it is better for parents to choose their baby’s comforter for them so you know what it is but it can be just about anything so long as it is safe with him in his cot.

View a range of safe Baby Comforters

Tips about baby comforters

There are a few things you really need to be aware of when introducing comforters to your baby.

* Some babies like to sleep with their comforters over their faces. If this is your baby, make sure she can still breathe (this is why we suggest breathable cotton muslin squares).

* Make sure your baby cannot get the comforter tangled around his neck. A good comforter size is about 38cm by 38cm.

* Soft toys are not the same as comforters.

* When choosing a comforter, please avoid ones with bean fillings or long fur that your baby might pull out and accidentally inhale. Pull at the fur a little to see how easily it comes away.

* Some companies specialise in making baby comforters. They have usually conducted a lot of research into the best comforter features for you and your baby. The Save Our Sleep?online store stocks a large range of some of the world’s most safe and cute comforters. Choose comforters from the SOS store.

* We also recommend that you have more than one comforter, and that they are machine washable. This enables you to rotate and wash them periodically, as well as ensuring you have a back-up comforter in the event that you misplace one.

Tricks of the trade

There are also a few tricks to introducing a comforter to your baby. I believe mum should put it down her top for a few hours to allow her smell to infiltrate it before putting the comforter in the cot near baby’s face so he can turn and snuggle into it. It is amazing to watch a baby take solace from their comforter.
Baby comforters

It is my experience that babies with comforters are much happier and more secure as they progress through certain milestones in their lives. Research has shown that at about nine months babies often become very clingy to mum as they realise they are individuals and not a part of their mothers. A comforter seems to help with this transition.

Meanwhile, in Germany there has been some research published recently which states that slightly older kids feel much more secure if they have a comforter with them for the first few visits at kinder or day-care. I also support this notion but feel you should quickly wean your child off taking it once they are settled. I also firmly recommend that a comforter is only given to a baby at sleep times or on occasions when some additional comfort is required such as a visit to hospital or the doctor. In my opinion, it is not good for children or babies to be carrying their comforter around all day.

One other issue I often get called about is when suddenly, at about 10 months, the baby comforter starts getting thrown out of the cot. The first time it happens it could be an accident, so walk in without making eye contact or talking and very calmly return it to the cot. If this becomes a ritual, the baby is probably game-playing. I suggest parents in these situations explain to their baby that if they throw the comforter out it will stay there and they won’t have it to sleep with. If this continues, don’t go in straight away but instead wait until you feel your baby has realised their comforter might not be coming back. Then walk in without eye contact or talking and give it back. Each time wait considerably longer and the game will soon stop.
Warning

When using comforters or putting cuddly toys in the cot as suggested in some articles, it is important to ensure they are safe for your baby. Soft toys with bean filling could block the air from getting into a baby’s mouth or nose if the baby was to sit it on top of his face. You also need to take care with soft fur covered toys because the fur from a toy could be breathed in by a baby and cause the baby to cough a lot which may not be dangerous but could cause the baby a lot of unnecessary discomfort. To ensure the fur is safe, just pull at it and see if any comes away

View Tizzie’s hand-picked range of safe Baby Comforters

As you prepare for a new addition in your life, you are running back and forth trying to get everything right. Look at the choices and items needed to take care of the little one coming home. From diaper bags, to bath tubs, from bottles and pacifiers to bedding and the right colors and furniture, everything has to be perfect. It is easy for a new mother and father to stress out over all of the decisions to make. How can we every get ready? We are into our seventh month already and the room is not painted. One item that will save you and help you relax after your bundle of joy arrives is a baby monitor.

The first few nights or weeks after arriving home you will not sleep. Every move that your infant makes will be noticed by you and you will snap up to see that he or she is still breathing. Eventually you will realize that your child is fine and sleeps much during the day and not much at night. You also will notice the dishes are piling up and look at the clothes. You need some much needed time to yourself to get caught up on the house work and it is also good for the infant. This is where a baby monitor comes in to play.

The baby monitor allows you to be mobile while still keeping an ear and with some monitors an eye on your infant. Most are sensitive enough to pick up their crying as well as grunts, squeals etc. There are many brands to choose from and this can be a difficult task. You need to determine if you want video or just sound. Is there a special distance needed? Will there be interference with your monitor? The most important question to ask is Can I trust the monitor? That is where research has been completed for you.