We would like to thank everyone who entered the giveaway and are thrilled to have so many new friends following us on Twitter and Facebook or who have signed up to receive updates from us as well as from our sponsors, The Baby Sleep Site^TM and Mabel’s Labels. Reading through the comments for the giveaway, there seem to be quite a few people who would love to put our photo tips to good use with the Canon Sure Shot Camera.

So, without further hesitation, we are pleased to announce the winners of the giveaway. All winners have been notified by email.

Grand Prize

Canon Sure Shot Digital Camera

Grab the perfect shots of baby and family with this high, quality compact digital camera. It has face detection technology and face detection self-timer for effortlessly capturing those candid shots. A print and share button make for easy and direct printing with a photo printer.

• 12.1 Megapixel- Allows you to take quality, high resolution photos of your baby and family that can be enlarged up to 13 x 19.
• 4x optical zoom and Optical Image Stabilizer- Advanced preset for automatically detecting photo conditions. Includes 18 shooting modes and 9 special scene modes.
• 2.5 – inch LCD screen- A high resolution screen for viewing shots easily with a crisp, clean pictures. Also has a night viewing mode for easy viewing in low light.

Winner: Kim K. who had multiple entries. Congratulations to Kim! We hope you have a great year full of wonderful photos.

But wait, there’s more!

Mabel’s Labels Camp/School Pack Gift Certificate

How many times have you sent your baby or child off to day care, school or camp and wished that you had an easy and simple way to label your baby’s bottle, sippy cup, diaper bag or even their shoes? Mabel’s Labels are the perfect solution. These colorful, bright and personalized labels make it a breeze to mark your child’s items in a way that much cuter and cleaner than just using a regular old sharpie.

The Camp/School Label pack comes with the following:

• 15 personalized super durable and waterproof labels- making them perfectly usable for toys, dishes, bottles and much more.

• 40 Iron-On tags or 50 Tag Mates- The Iron-On tags will adhere to almost any fabric and are designed to withstand washing, drying and wear and tear. The Tag Mate labels are a great alternative to iron-on labels. Also, designed to withstand washing, drying and wear and tear, these labels peel and stick to clothing care tags.

• 8 Shoe Labels- Extra tough and extra sticky labels that fit nicely on the insole of shoes, boots and skates. They will not rub off on socks when shoes get wet and are made to be kid durable!

• 2 Bag Tags- Sturdy metal tags that can be attached to diaper and school bags, luggage, backpacks and more!

Available in three different sets of coordinating colors!

Winner: Tammy, who left a comment.

Twilight Turtle

An adorable plush turtle that can turn any room or ceiling into a starry night. Lights up in three soothing colors and works as the perfect nightlight to help soothe and calm children and babies into a comforting sleep. Projects real star constellation so you can sit with your child and identify the different star patterns. Comes with Star Guide and 8 constellations. Auto shut-off after 45 minutes help save the batteries!

Winner: Amy who had multiple entries.

Babble Soft Subscriptions

Babble Soft applications not only help parents stay organized and on top of it all, but it makes a great gift for new parents or parents-to-be. Enter to win one of these subscriptions for yourself or as a gift to someone else. A Babble Soft subscription includes access to Baby Insights and Baby Say Cheese as well as access to our mobile web application on your internet-capable mobile phone.

One lucky winner 12 month subscription to Babble Soft. Three winners 3 month subscription to Babble Soft.

Winner of the 12 month subscription: Corrie who had multiple entries.

Winners of the three 3 month subscriptions: Nadia, Josie and Lisa- all of whom had multiple entries.

Pacifier Pod

This is just too cute to pass up. A JJ Cole Pacifier Pod helps keep baby’s pacifier in an easy to find, easy to carry place. A stylish little pod with an “attach anywhere” handle means you can keep it attached to your purse, belt, diaper bag, stroller or car seat. Keeps baby’s pacifier clean and sanitary. Comes in designer prints with coordinating trim and are machine washable and dishwasher safe. PVC and phthalate free for additional peace of mind.

Winner: Tree who had multiple entries.

Baby Sleep Consultations

After sleep coach and owner, Nicole Johnson, overcame her son’s sleeping issues in a way that complemented her own parenting style, and after such a happy success, she knew it was her mission to help other tired parents “find their child’s sleep.” Your baby’s sleep shouldn’t be stressful and The Baby Sleep Site^TM strives to provide a strong, non-judgmental, support network to help you and your family sleep better. The Baby Sleep Site^TM has helped countless families through free online articles, step-by-step e-Books, and private and personalized sleep consulting services.

Two (2) people will get TWO FREE e-mail baby sleep consultations to help with your sleep struggles. You’d be surprised how far you can get in just two e-mails! If you already have an account with The Baby Sleep Site^TM, your account will be credited.

Winners: Julie and Teresa who both left comments.

Please claim your prizes by Sunday, February 7th or we will choose new winners. Thank you and congratulations to the winners and many thanks to everyone who entered!

Hopefully 2010 has started out with a bang for all of you and that it continues to be a good year for all of us! We are looking forward to adding some new features to the Babble Soft applications and would love any suggestions or feedback you have to help us continue to improve our products. So… as way to celebrate this new year and new decade, we thought it would be a great idea to have a giveaway!

If you haven’t already tried our Baby Say Cheese online album, then we highly recommend you give it a whirl. One of the joys of parenthood is capturing the perfect shot of your baby as he or she grows and changes. Now with a digital camera, practically a staple for every new parent, the possibilities are endless when it comes to the number and types of pictures you can take of your baby.

We thought it would be helpful to provide you with a few tips for creating beautiful, keepsake photos of your baby.

• Get creative by using the zoom feature on your camera to capture up close some of baby’s distinct features. Create feature photos of baby’s feet while lying on the ground with the camera pointed at the bottom of his feet.

• Getting physically close to baby for photos or getting down on their level is also another way to find good angles for taking photos of baby.

• Another good photo idea is to create an entire series around baby’s “firsts.” Capture baby’s first moments with family, first bath, etc.

• Use the telephoto on your camera to try and get photos of baby when they are otherwise occupied and not quite as aware of your presence. This can result in some very natural looking photos.

• Use indirect lighting whenever possible instead of a flash to prevents baby from looking washed out and also to avoid temporarily blinding baby.

• Play with photo editing software to adjust lighting, play with colors or remove color all together for timeless looking black and white photos.  All in all, keep your camera close during those first few months and keep practicing.

And now with these tips in hand, it seemed only fitting then that our giveaway Grand Prize should be a Canon Sure Shot Digital Camera. Be sure to read to the end of the post for information on how to enter!

Grand Prize

Canon Sure Shot Digital Camera

Grab the perfect shots of baby and family with this high, quality compact digital camera. It has face detection technology and face detection self-timer for effortlessly capturing those candid shots. A print and share button make for easy and direct printing with a photo printer.

• 12.1 Megapixel- Allows you to take quality, high resolution photos of your baby and family that can be enlarged up to 13 x 19.
• 4x optical zoom and Optical Image Stabilizer- Advanced preset for automatically detecting photo conditions. Includes 18 shooting modes and 9 special scene modes.
• 2.5 – inch LCD screen- A high resolution screen for viewing shots easily with a crisp, clean pictures. Also has a night viewing mode for easy viewing in low light.

But wait, there’s more!

Mabel’s Labels Camp/School Pack Gift Certificate

How many times have you sent your baby or child off to day care, school or camp and wished that you had an easy and simple way to label your baby’s bottle, sippy cup, diaper bag or even their shoes? Mabel’s Labels are the perfect solution. These colorful, bright and personalized labels make it a breeze to mark your child’s items in a way that  much cuter and cleaner than just using a regular old sharpie.

The Camp/School Label pack comes with the following:

• 15 personalized super durable and waterproof labels- making them perfectly usable for toys, dishes, bottles and much more.

• 40 Iron-On tags or 50 Tag Mates- The Iron-On tags will adhere to almost any fabric and are designed to withstand washing, drying and wear and tear. The Tag Mate labels are a great alternative to iron-on labels. Also, designed to withstand washing, drying and wear and tear, these labels peel and stick to clothing care tags.

• 8 Shoe Labels- Extra tough and extra sticky labels that fit nicely on the insole of shoes, boots and skates. They will not rub off on socks when shoes get wet and are made to be kid durable!

• 2 Bag Tags- Sturdy metal tags that can be attached to diaper and school bags, luggage, backpacks and more!

Available in three different sets of coordinating colors!

Twilight Turtle

An adorable plush turtle that can turn any room or ceiling into a starry night. Lights up in three soothing colors and works as the perfect nightlight to help soothe and calm children and babies into a comforting sleep. Projects real star constellation so you can sit with your child and identify the different star patterns. Comes with Star Guide and 8 constellations. Auto shut-off after 45 minutes help save the batteries!

Babble Soft Subscriptions

Babble Soft applications not only help parents stay organized and on top of  it all, but it makes a great gift for new parents or parents-to-be. Enter to win one of these subscriptions for yourself or as a gift to someone else. A Babble Soft subscription includes access to Baby Insights and Baby Say Cheese as well as access to our mobile web application on your internet-capable mobile phone.

One lucky winner will win a 12 month subscription to Babble Soft. Three winners will be selected for a free 3 month subscription to Babble Soft.

Pacifier Pod

This is just too cute to pass up.  A JJ Cole Pacifier Pod helps keep baby’s pacifier in an easy to find, easy to carry place. A stylish little pod with an “attach anywhere” handle means you can keep it attached to your purse, belt, diaper bag, stroller or car seat.  Keeps baby’s pacifier clean and sanitary. Comes in designer prints with coordinating trim and are machine washable and dishwasher safe. PVC and phthalate  free for additional peace of mind.

Baby Sleep Consultations

After sleep coach and owner, Nicole Johnson, overcame her son’s sleeping issues in a way that complemented her own parenting style, and after such a happy success, she knew it was her mission to help other tired parents “find their child’s sleep.” Your baby’s sleep shouldn’t be stressful and The Baby Sleep Site^TM strives to provide a strong, non-judgmental, support network to help you and your family sleep better. The Baby Sleep Site^TM has helped countless families through free online articles, step-by-step e-Books, and private and personalized sleep consulting services.

Two (2) people will get TWO FREE e-mail sleep consultations to help with your sleep struggles. You’d be surprised how far you can get in just two e-mails! If you already have an account with the Baby Sleep Site^TM, your account will be credited.

Deadline to enter is January 31, 2010, 8:59 p.m. EDT.

Here is how you can enter:

1. Leave a comment. – 1 entry

2. Stumble this post. – 1 entry (Leave a comment that you stumbled)

3. Follow us or one of our sponsors on Twitter:  @babblesoft,  @mabelhood, @babysleepsite and leave a comment to let us know you’re following. (1 entry for each sponsor followed)

4. Tweet  or Re-Tweet about this giveaway. For example: Win a Canon Sure Shot Camera in the Babble Soft New Year’s Giveaway http://bit.ly/6jedsp (via @babblesoft). Be sure to include the link back to this post and our Twitter name (@babblesoft) so we can track your entry. Feel free to tweet about any of our prizes- including those from @babysleepsite and @mabelhood. (Can enter multiple times with multiple tweets.)

5. Become a fan of our Facebook page and a fan of the Facebook pages of one of our sponsors . Leave a comment to let us know you’ve become a fan (1 entry for each page you’ve fanned)

• Babble Soft on Facebook

• Mabel’s Labels on Facebook

• The Baby Sleep Site^TM on Facebook

6. Subscribe to the Babble Soft Blog, the Baby Sleep Site^TM Blog or Mabel’s Labels Blog (and leave a comment letting us know you’ve subscribed):

• Babble Soft Blog via RSS or via Email (1 entry)

• The Baby Sleep Site^TM Blog via RSS or via Email (1 entry)

• Mabel’s Label’s Blog via RSS (1 entry)

7. Subscribe to Babble Soft, Baby Sleep Site^TM or Mabel’s Labels Newsletters and leave a comment telling us which newsletters you’ve subscribed to.

• Babble Soft e-newsletter (upper right corner of this page). (1 entry)

• The Baby Sleep Site^TM Newsletter (1 entry)

• Mabel’s Labels Newsletter (1 entry)

8. Blog about this giveaway with a link back to this blog post. Leave a comment with a link to your blog post. (10 entries)

Good luck to everyone that enters and thanks for visiting the Babble Soft Blog!

This article is going to be a “how to” about diapers. Ever want to know how to buy diapers, how to put on a diaper, or how many diapers to buy? This article will give you the low-down on what you need to know.

How to buy diapers

When you buy diapers, make sure you do some math on how much you are paying for each diaper. Companies tend to put a different number of diapers in each box. I think they do this on purpose, so you don’t realize you’re paying the same or more for each diaper, depending on what you’re buying. For example, someone once told me to go to a membership warehouse (e.g. Costco or Sam’s Club) and buy their store brand diapers and it’s cheaper than the name brands like Pampers® or Huggies®. I just went to Costco’s website and see that a box of 216 store-brand size 1-2 diapers is $39.99 and a box of Huggies® size 2 diapers with 258 diapers in the box is $49.99. So, yes, you can spend less money by buying the store-brand, but you’ll be buying a new box sooner and not saving anything per diaper. Either way, you’ll be paying $0.19 / diaper for this size. When you get to size 5 diaper, also notice that you not only pay the same $49.99 for both brands, but you get less diapers. Based on prices today, you will actually pay more for the store-brand, paying $0.30 per diaper for 168 diapers and pay $0.28 per diaper for 176 Huggies® diapers. So, even if you don’t like math, take a calculator to get the most bang for your buck.

How many diapers to buy

Saving pennies might not seem like a big deal, but when you add up the amount of money you can save when you figure out just how many diapers you will buy in the first two years, it really does add up! Since I’ve already gone over how many diapers your baby will use by age, I’ll only reiterate that it will be in the neighborhood of 4,700 in the first two years alone (you can try to potty train early). I calculated that’s roughly $500 you can save by making sure you buy the box where you pay the least per diaper! If you have twins or triplets, watch out! This makes me wish I had done the math when I was buying a lot of diapers!

How to cloth diaper

Truth be told I only half-considered using cloth diapers, but this seemed like a good place to give you resources on where you can go to learn how to cloth diaper your baby. I found a really good video that shows you how to cloth diaper, which looks VERY similar to disposable diapers, if you choose an “all-in-one” cloth diaper. Here’s the video:

How to clean cloth diapers

According to The Cloth Diaper Whisperer, finding the routine that fits you takes some time, but the simple steps that tend to work are:

Using your washing machine:

1. Cold Water Rinse (no detergent)
2. Hot Water Wash with detergent
3. Rinse – If the load is particularly bad, consider a “quick wash” instead of just a rinse
4. Dry – Medium heat for about 60-80 minutes or hang on clothes dryer

In the same video series as above, here’s one on how to clean cloth diapers.

How to put on a disposable diaper

Here is a very good video on how to put on a disposable diaper:

If you are considering cloth diapers, but aren’t sure whether it’s more work or not or whether it will really save you money, here is a very good series of posts explaining the benefits: Cloth vs. Disposable. As I said, I never quite ventured into cloth diapers. I think I just became so overwhelmed with baby “stuff” when I was pregnant the first time, I just didn’t have any more brainpower to make that decision and I never revisited it the second time around. Researching for this article may have changed my mind!

How to organize clean diapers

Many people just keep the diapers in the box as quickly as you go through them, but if you want another way to organize your diapers, you can consider a Diaper Stacker or Diaper Essentials Organizer

How to store dirty diapers

Storing dirty diapers will keep your nursery (or any other room in your house) from smelling like a bathroom and prevent you from needing to run to the dumpster after every diaper change. We used the Diaper Champ because you can use regular kitchen trash bags rather than buy the expensive inserts that you have to keep buying with other systems. If you are using cloth diapers, you can use a wet bag or laundry bag to store soiled diapers.

I hope you enjoyed this article about how to: diapers and found the information useful.

Share your diapering tips!

I can tell you that your state did not earn an “A” in the Premature Births Report Card released this week and I don’t even know where you live. That’s because, sadly, no state earned an “A” this year.

According to the government’s Healthy People 2010 campaign, the goal is to reduce preterm births down to 7.6% and the overall U.S. rate in 2007 was 12.7%! That earned the U.S., on the whole, a “D” grade on the report card. Vermont was the ONLY state to earn a “B”. According to Health.com, “Seven states — Arizona, Indiana, Missouri, Idaho, Massachusetts, Utah and Wisconsin — improved their grade year over year. However, Ohio’s and Oklahoma’s grades dropped.” I’m embarrassed to say the state I live in, Ohio, earned an “F” even though our facilities are supposedly very good. However, the statistics are delayed by two years (which is why I am citing 2007 numbers) and in March 2007, Ohio created Ohio Perinatal Quality Collaborative, whose sole purpose is to reduce preterm births in Ohio.

Since we don’t know all the reasons why babies are born premature, most states have been targeting the things they can influence such as pregnant women who smoke and elective inductions or c-sections before 34 weeks of pregnancy.

Since last time I already went over the fact that 1,400 babies are born premature every single day, in the U.S. alone, and what you can do to reduce your risk for a premature birth, today I thought I’d share a few stories I found during the March of Dimes Prematurity Awareness Month Fight for Preemies Bloggers Unite Event:

Kerry –
A wonderful and touching story looking at both the negatives and positives about having a premature twins.

Phoebe –
A courageous post from a teen mom who went through a very scary and painful ordeal. Her story is still in progress, and I can’t wait to read the rest.

Melissa –
A mom who bravely shares her story of how her son was born 5 weeks early because she smoked in pregnancy and had an eating disorder. She shares how it actually saved her life.

Jael –
Shares a story of her best friend whose baby came early, struggled to breathe on his own, was jaundiced, and spent months in the NICU.

 
Please take time this month for the March of Dimes Prematurity Awareness Month and share knowledge you have gained with other parents. You can save a life! Thank you!

November is March of Dimes Prematurity Awareness Month! It is a good time to share some facts about babies born premature (born before 37 weeks of pregnancy), share what pregnant women can do to prevent premature birth, and tell you how you can help raise awareness.

Babies Born Premature Facts

Every day, there are over 11,000 babies born in the U.S. alone and out of those, 1,400 babies will be born premature (or over 540,000 babies born premature per year). Unfortunately, the rate of babies born premature is actually increasing rather than decreasing and it’s alarming. Premature births increased 36% comparing early 1980’s and 2006, according to The March of Dimes. Fortunately, due to advancement in technology, chance of survival has increased, but sadly, after weeks and sometimes months in the NICU, some babies will grow up to have lasting disabilities.

Preventing Babies Being Born Premature

Most babies born premature will be due to unknown reasons (roughly 40%). Studies have shown four primary paths that may cause premature birth including infections, mom or baby under stress, bleeding (such as placental abruption), and over-stretching of the uterus (such as when there are multiple babies or excess amniotic fluid).

No pregnant woman is completely risk-free when it comes to premature birth. Any woman can have a baby who is premature, unfortunately. There are things that you can do to limit your risk such as not smoking, drinking, doing drugs, high stress, and getting prenatal care. You can also be more at risk if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, are obese, or underweight before pregnancy.

Although there is nothing definitive that can be done to prevent premature birth, in 2003, they did find giving women who previously had a baby born premature progesterone during pregnancy decreased another premature birth. There have also been studies that show giving the pregnant woman antibiotics if she previously had her water break before 37 weeks can reduce the chance of another premature birth. Lastly, there are also studies that show a woman’s cervix can be stitched who have a short cervix. This procedure is called cerclage.

How Baby Insights Can Help

When babies are born premature, there is so much to worry about. Parents of all newborns need to make sure their baby eats enough and have enough wet and dirty diapers, but when your baby is premature, extra care needs to be taken as there is higher potential for complications. By using Baby Insights to track your baby’s schedule, you can ensure she has enough wet and dirty diapers, eats and sleeps enough, and takes any medication on time, too, just like Kerry did when she found out her baby had a heart condition when she was just one week old. With Baby Insights she was able to track her baby’s medication doses very closely. Having information stored all in one place helps you worry less and enjoy your baby more!

Raise Awareness About Babies Born Premature

You can help raise awareness about babies born premature by sharing this article, considering a donation to the March of Dimes, or volunteer today!

Learn more about March of Dimes Prematurity Awareness month and what you can do by visiting The March of Dimes Website today!

For most of us, it will feel like our baby is getting teeth for what feels like two years straight. This is true particularly if your baby struggles when he gets teeth or doesn’t sleep well. This article will help you learn when babies start teething and what order your baby gets teeth, on average.

When Babies Start Teething

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know exactly when babies start teething because all babies are unique and genetics play a part, too. There are very few babies born with teeth and for most babies, they will not get their first tooth until 6-7 months old. Unfortunately, just because a tooth does not come through until 6-7 months, on average, does not mean that the teething process does not start sooner. Your baby can show signs of teething a month or two before the first tooth actually comes through the gums. Your 3 or 4 month old can drool and chew on toys or her hand like she will get teeth any day, but it just might not happen that quickly.

If you are breastfeeding, you might want teething to start later as it can be painful when your baby decides to chomp down at an inopportune moment. Don’t worry, women have been breastfeeding successfully for thousands of years, even babies with teeth and there is hope. You do not have to stop breastfeeding. If you can feel your baby’s teeth while breastfeeding, try removing your baby and re-latching him. If your baby bites at the end of a breastfeeding session, that usually means he’s finished so try to watch for signs he’s finishing before he bites such as slow sucking or looking around looking bored. If your baby does bite, end the breastfeeding session (or take a break if baby does need a feeding) and say “No bite.” firmly (but not yelling). He will quickly learn not to bite the breast that feeds him.

Order of Baby Teeth

Do not worry if your baby does not get teeth in the same order as other babies. The general guideline is your baby will get the bottom middle teeth, then the top middle, then the top incisors right next to the top middle and then bottom incisors next to the bottom middle. In other words, the top and bottom four teeth, in the middle, will be the first eight teeth your baby will get. In general, teeth usually come in pairs (but not always) about one per month or so. After the first eight, the first-year molars will begin to come in. The first-year and second-year molars are often the most difficult on your baby to come in. These teeth tend to take longer to come in and hurt your baby more as they break through the gums. Note: when your baby is teething, she may like to breastfeed more often to help massage her gums.

My personal teething story

I have two sons and when my first son started teething, it was around 4 months, but then didn’t pop through until just after 5 months old. He struggled with the first few teeth, but one day just had molars. His younger brother, on the other hand, didn’t get his first tooth until after 6 months and struggled for over a month to get his one-year molars and we all seemed to feel it with all the fussiness. So, even within the same family, when babies start teething varies and how difficult it is on the baby varies, too. A friend of mine’s son didn’t get his first tooth until well after he was a year old!

I hope this article has helped you figure out when your baby might start teething or whether she has already started. Make sure you send your family and friends a picture of her first tooth from her online baby album!

Share your teething story

by Nicole Johnson

Are you ready for Halloween? That’s one fun thing about October, but October is also an important month because it’s SIDS Awareness Month. In 2005, 2,230 babies died of SIDS and while it’s not preventable, there are things you can do as a new parent to reduce the risk. Here are some SIDS facts:

What is SIDS?

SIDS is the diagnosis given when an infant under one year of age dies suddenly and there is no other medical explanation for the death after a complete examination.

SIDS is most likely to occur in infants between one month and 12 months of age with the majority of deaths occurring between 2 and 4 months of age.  The risk of SIDS diminishes significantly after the first year.

How to Reduce the SIDS risk:

• Place babies on their backs to sleep. If baby falls asleep on his tummy, gently roll baby onto his back.

• Baby should sleep on a firm, flat mattress. Avoid using soft, fluffy or loose bedding that can increase suffocation risks. Consider using a sleeper or other sleep clothing as an alternative to blankets. (See the Merino Wool Baby Sleeping bag as part of our giveaway.)

• Keep baby’s room temperature warm but not too warm. Overheated
  babies are more likely to go into a deep sleep from which it may be hard to wake up.

• Babies with mothers who smoked during pregnancy are three times
  more likely to die from SIDS. Exposure to passive smoke around babies can double their risk of SIDS.

• Good prenatal care and breastfeeding can also help lower the risks of SIDS.

Please forward this valuable information to people you know to save lives!

Now for some Babble Soft news:

The Ultimate Guide to Baby’s First Year of Sleep
Win a $75 Target Gift Card, $50 Target Gift Card, 3-Month Subscription, and more!
Babble Soft Is Staying Home

The Ultimate Guide to Baby’s First Year of Sleep

We know that many of you find your way to Babble Soft because you are trying to help your baby get on a schedule and possibly sleep better, too. Using Baby Insights helps you do both and now we have more ways to help! Now when you purchase a subscription to Babble Soft, you not only receive a subscription to Baby Say Cheese, your very own online baby album, but you will also receive a free copy of the book The Ultimate Guide to Baby’s First Year of Sleep! Inside the book you will learn the primary ways to help your baby sleep through the night, how much sleep he really needs, how to help him nap better, tips for keeping up your tracking in Baby Insights, and more! The book also has sample schedules for each month of age to compare against what your baby is doing. To purchase a subscription, please go to the Purchase Page, now!

Win a $75 Target Gift Card, $50 Target Gift Card, 3-month subscription, and more!

In recognition of SIDS Awareness Month, Babble Soft is co-sponsoring a giveaway on the Pick Nick’s Brain website and providing 3-month subscriptions to three lucky winnsers! There are a variety of prizes available including a $75 Target Gift Card and $50 Target Gift Card. Who doesn’t need some money in time for the holidays? To enter the giveaway is very easy and takes just a few seconds of your time, so head over now by following this link: Enter Giveaway!

Babble Soft Is Staying Home

Awhile ago, we announced that Babble Soft was looking for a new home and for all intents and purposes, we’ve found one! But, it’s not too far from the current home, so you might say we’re staying home. I have decided to take on the operations at Babble Soft! Helping parents with their babies is near and dear to my heart and I have a lot of passion for it, so it made sense for me to take it over and run with it. Aruni has taken the company to an amazing place and she is an amazing woman, but with all the things on her plate right now, she needed to confidently let someone else see to the day-to-day details. Aruni is still part owner and Babble Soft will always be near and dear to her heart. I know that I wish her well in her next endeavors.

Have a great weekend!

Unfortunately, some babies will need medication to help with a variety of health issues from medication for premature babies to increase blood cell production to full-term babies who need medication for reflux. This article will review some baby medication, give tips for giving medication to your baby, and give you tips on tracking your baby’s medication doses.

Common Baby Medication

Baby Reflux

– While baby spit up is normal, if there is too stomach acid in the spit-up, it can irritate your baby’s esophagus and your doctor might determine your infant has reflux. If methods to help reflux without medication do not help your baby, your doctor might prescribe medication such as Pepcid and Zantac, which are tolerated well by most babies. Even though they are tolerated well by most babies, this type of medication seems to be prescribed more and more often, so do take care not to allow your doctor to prescribe medication for normal fussiness, which is very common. Most babies will outgrow reflux with or without medication.

Baby Colic

– A small percentage of babies (around 20%) are said to have colic if they cry more than three hours per day where the crying is uncontrollable and difficult to soothe. There are various theories on the causes of colic, but it is still unknown what the true cause of colic is. Most people and doctors have said that there is no cure for colic and a baby will just outgrow it around 4 to 5 months of age. Some parents have used gripe water as a medication to help with colic with the thought that colic is caused by an immature digestive system.

Baby Teething

– It might start to feel like your baby is teething for two years straight, particularly if your baby is sensitive to pain when the teeth break through the gums. To help your baby (and you) get through the height of teething, sometimes medication can help. Of course, no one wants to give their baby medication every single night, so I always chose to give medication only when it was obvious in the daytime that teeth were really bothering our baby or when it was more difficult than usual for our baby to sleep. Ibuprofen (e.g. Motrin) or Acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol) can help relieve the teething pain. For a more natural medication, you can try Hyland’s Teething Tablets.

Baby Colds, Coughs and Flu

– When your baby has a cold or the flu, can’t breathe through his nose, has sleep trouble, fussy, and is overall miserable, some parents choose over-the-counter cold and flu medications. In 2008, there was a voluntary recall of all OTC cold & flu infant medication due to many people giving too much medication to their babies. Manufacturers are changing the labels for children under 4 for this reason. Make sure you read about OTC medication safety if you are considering giving your baby cold medicine.

Baby Medication Tracking and Management

For whatever reason you decide to give your baby medication or need to give your baby medication, it’s important to dose it correctly and make sure numerous caretakers don’t give medication too soon. When your baby is taking medication critical to their health, this is, of course, even more important that doses are not missed or that you accidentally overdose your baby. Tracking your baby’s medication can be the difference between life and death when you have a busy home life or if your baby has numerous caretakers to keep up with medication doses. In addition, many new parents are sleep deprived and it’s easy to forget whether it’s been 30 minutes or 2 hours from the last time you gave your baby medication. Many new parents forget to even eat lunch! If you are a working parent, being able to logon to check on your baby’s medicine doses from your computer (or mobile) and know that he is getting all he needs during the day, on time, can give you peace of mind to help you focus on other things at work.

Giving Baby Medication

Here are some tips to help the medicine go down:

•     Measure your baby’s medication and then use a syringe or dropper to give it to her. You can let her suck it out of the dropper or place the dropper in the back corner of her mouth and dispense a little at a time.

•     Depending on the medication, you can try to put it in some formula or breastmilk, but keep in mind the taste might be altered and some babies won’t like that very much.

We hope this article has helped you feel more confident in giving your baby medication. None of us want to have to give our baby medication, but if we have to, at least there are ways to give us more peace of mind!

What type of baby medication was prescribed for your baby? Please share your tips!

How often you’re pumping can affect your milk supply. If you’re pumping too much, you can build up too much milk supply and if you’re not pumping enough, your milk supply can suffer. This article will outline some tips on how you can handle pumping and keeping your milk supply where you and your baby need it to be.

Pumping Full Time

Sometimes, for whatever reason, breastfeeding might not work out for some new moms and they decide that pumping full time is the next best thing. I commend these moms, because I pumped part-time for a 11-12 months and it is no small feat! Because pumping does not always get as much milk out as breastfeeding would, sometimes a mom has to pump more often than a baby would typically eat. This might mean that a mom has to pump every two hours when the baby is eating every three.

Unfortunately, some moms find that if they don’t pump at night, in the early days, that they see their milk supply drop in the daytime. For these moms, sometimes pumping before bed can help, even if your baby is sleeping through the night. Some moms even take the next step and set an alarm, pumping in the middle of the night. That’s dedication!

Pumping For Milk Supply Stash

Pumping and breastfeeding at the same time can have unique challenges. Not only are you requiring your body to make a big enough milk supply to feed your baby, but you are trying to make even more milk to provide an extra date-night bottle or to store up extra milk for emergencies. Building up a milk stash can be challenging, but not impossible. Here are some tips:

• Typically, the early morning is when you have more milk, so plan to feed your baby and then pump. Your body will make enough milk for your baby’s next feeding.
• Consider tracking your baby’s schedule, so you know how often she is breastfeeding and can plan a pumping schedule accordingly. If you also track your pumping and how much milk you get at each pumping session, you can figure out the best schedule that works for you. For example, I found feeding my baby and then pumping 45 minutes to an hour later the best for me. I rarely got much milk after a feeding and if I waited too long, I’d be light for baby’s next feeding 2 1/2 to 3 hours later, so pumping in between was best for me. Since everyone is different, it helps for you to find what works for you and your baby.
• If you know your baby often feeds on just one side, consider pumping at the same time you are feeding your baby. You can simulate you have twins and encourage your body to make more milk at each feeding. Generally, you may get more milk this way because of your baby stimulating your other nipple at the same time.
• Figure out the best times NOT to pump. Again, since I monitored how much milk I got at different times of the day (which is hard to remember, so better to track pumping), I knew that in the early evening it was the worst time to pump. My baby cluster fed and I was tired from the rest of the day.

Pumping To Increase Milk Supply

Even if you are breastfeeding for the most part, some moms find they have trouble keeping up with baby’s needs. Pumping can be a great way to increase milk supply. Consider pumping for an additional 10-15 minutes after your baby is done eating. This simulates your baby needing more milk and will signal your body to make more. Sometimes, it is isn’t that your baby does not want more milk, but they get way too busy to want to keep suckling when they can be exploring! Pumping is a great way to do it for them. Again, it might also be a good idea to pump an extra time before bed.

This article explored the various ways pumping can help you achieve your goals with your milk supply, but also keep in mind that you need to drink enough water, get adequate rest, and eat healthy (oatmeal helps!). Making milk takes energy (calories), so make sure you have enough. You may be interested in other ways to increase your milk supply. Happy pumping!

Babies grow quickly and they soon learn to crawl and walk. This is the time you need to have child safety gates in place. You need them as part of your overall child safety proofing. You know that not all of the areas of your home are completely safe for baby and if you have steps, they really need to have child safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs.

You need peace of mind at the time your baby begins to crawl so you need to keep your baby as safe as possible using a safety gate. There are two major types of child safety gates, differing only in how they are mounted. There are pressure-mounted gates and hardware-mounted gates. Which one you choose depends on the area to be protected.

Look at the following points when buying a child safety gate:

• Look for Safety certification. You need to look or ASTM/JMPA certification for your child safety gate. It is present on the outside of the package so you know that the item has been inspected as safe. Don’t just go by the manufacturer’s name.

• Sizing. Use a ruler or measuring tape to measure the distance between the hard surfaces. Don’t rely on what seems like the right height for a gate because you need to remember that your baby will become upright and taller before you know it. Choose the taller one from the beginning.

• Bar Spacing. Many models have vertical slats and you should make sure the slats are no further apart than 2 ½ to 3 inches apart as any greater can trap a child’s head between the slats. The baby could strangle if he gets caught in too wide of slats.

• Opening with Ease. Most of the hardware mounted variety of child safety gates open easily with just one hand. Pressure mounted gates can be practically impossible to open so you have to climb over them. This can be dangerous, especially if you have a baby in tow. Having a gate opening feature will add to the price of the item but it is well worth it when it come to getting from room to room in your house with ease.

• Watch out for second-hand gates. If a gate was made before 1985, it might not be safe. It might be of the accordion variety which is unsafe because the triangle shaped holes on the gate can easily trap your baby’s head in it.

Pressure-mounted baby gates are simpler to install than hardware-mounted gates but can fall down when pressure is applied to them. Hardware-mounted gates are sturdier and should be used at the tops of stairs and when you really don’t want baby to get through the gate. It takes about a half an hour to install a permanent hardware mounted gate but it may be worth the extra time because they enhance the safety of the doorway.

Happy shopping!