Is your child starting to express (very strong) likes and dislikes when it comes to making food choices? These preferences, though quite common at this age, may start to make mealtime a little trickier. Here’s how to cope with your picky eater.

Involve him.
Start by taking your picky eater to the store and letting him choose his favorite vegetables and fruits. At home, bring your preschooler into the kitchen and ask him to help you scoop out watermelon, combine fruits in a big bowl, or arrange veggies into various shapes on his plate. If your child plays a part in preparing his meal, he may be more inclined to taste what’s on his plate.

Avoid bribes.
If you tempt your picky eater with sweets for finishing his vegetables, he may come to expect a reward every time. Or he may become even more resistant to eating whatever he's being bribed to consume. Instead, concentrate on providing healthful foods at every meal (your job) and let your child manage how much and what he eats (his job).

Set a good example.
To encourage your picky eater to eat and enjoy a variety of healthful foods, make sure you are modeling that behavior with your own eating habits. Let him see how much you like having fruit and wheat toast for breakfast and eating a salad for lunch. Get his attention by saying how yummy you think certain dishes are, and be sure to get excited when he wants to help with meal preparation.

Rethink recipes.
If your picky eater is turned off by the sight of omelets or salads, try giving some of his favorite foods a healthy makeover. Including undercover fruits and vegetables is an easy and healthy way to transform any meal. For example, pureed sweet potato can go undetected in a dish of pasta with cheese.

No matter how determined your child is to remain a picky eater, remember to be patient and encouraging. Eventually, this stage will pass and mealtimes will be a lot more fun.

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There is probably nothing harder for a mother than to hear her baby crying, especially if she’s not yet used to the sound. While it's true that even a happy, healthy baby cries often, your instinct is probably to soothe your baby and take away whatever may be ailing her.

You may have heard advice from friends and family on how to calm your crying baby, but sometimes it is best to come up with your own comforting techniques. With this in mind, here are some tricks to consider.

Make sure your baby is fed and clean.

First thing to do: Check if your baby is hungry or wet. These are probably the most obvious reasons you'll hear your baby crying and among the simplest to soothe.

Hold your baby.

Sometimes your crying baby just wants to be held. Just as you love your baby immensely, your baby also loves you and wants to feel your touch.

Rock your baby.

Whether you’re in a rocking chair or just rocking your baby in your arms, the back-and-forth motion is comforting for your baby. It may just be the calming action she’s looking for.

Walk your baby around the house.

A nice little walk around your house might do the trick and soothe your crying baby. A change in scenery is sometimes all it takes to help her stop crying. 

Play music for your baby.

Some gentle music may help ease her tears. The soft noise often helps distract your baby and calm her cries.

Sing to your baby.

Your own voice may be just what your crying baby needs to hear. Singing when your baby is crying often helps calm her down.

Rub or pat your baby's back.

As you hold your baby, try rubbing her back up and down, in a circular motion. You can also lightly pat her back. The rhythmic patting can mimic your heartbeat, which is a sound that your baby is used to from her time in the womb.

These soothing strategies can do wonders for stopping tears. Learning some good ways to comfort your baby will make both of you feel better.

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If you’re having trouble figuring out your new baby’s sleep schedule, you’re not alone. Baby sleep is unpredictable, to say the least! Typically, newborns may sleep 16 or more hours a day in short stretches of a few hours at a time. However, by the time your child is 3 months old, he may be snoozing for five hours straight at night. And at 6 months, he could even clock in 9 to 12 hours of uninterrupted shut-eye.

But no baby sleeps by the book all the time. To help guarantee a peaceful night’s rest for you both, start by making the best of bedtime with these baby sleep solutions.

Keep your new baby busy.
A fun-filled day can lead to a peaceful bedtime. Age-appropriate activities, such as a stroller ride around the block and a few sessions of tummy time, will go a long way toward readying your little one for sleep. Getting out of the house, even for just one errand, will help keep your new baby stimulated -- and keep you sane!

Teach him the difference between naptime and nighttime.
Clue your baby into the rhythms of the day by differentiating between naps and bedtime early on. This will help him understand that daytime is for playing and nighttime is for sleeping. When you put your new baby down for a nap, crack the window shades in your nursery to let some light in. Don’t worry about being super quiet around your sleeping baby -- naptime is also your time to get stuff done.

Set the mood.
A tranquil nursery can help turn a boisterous baby into a sleeping baby, so keep the room dark and at a comfortable temperature. A fresh Pampers diaper before lights out is also a good idea. 

Rethink your routine.

You may love winding down from a hard day with a TV show, but your new baby probably prefers peace and quiet while he's having that last feeding of the day. Help him settle down by creating a relaxing bedtime ritual for your little one. Giving your child a bath, reading, and singing his favorite lullabies in a quiet part of the house are all great activities to add to your routine. Just be sure to do the same activities in the same order every night. At the end of your routine, dim the lights and put your baby in his crib while he’s drowsy but still awake so he learns how to fall asleep on his own. To get him accustomed to a sleep schedule, it’s important to put your baby to bed at the same time every night.

Of course, colds, teething, dreams, and noise can all disrupt your new baby’s slumber. Adopting these baby sleep solutions will help your little one get the shut-eye he needs.

Few baby milestones are as thrilling as your child’s first words. They sound just plain adorable, for one thing. The fact that your little one can talk to you, and that you can better understand his wants and needs, is a huge accomplishment for both of you.  

While every child will learn to speak at his own pace, your baby might babble his first “mama” or “dada” around 6 to 8 months, and by age 1 he may have added a few other words to his list. While your child probably won’t be able to have a full conversation until his second year, it’s not too early to start encouraging language development. These tips will help get your baby talking.

Baby talking rule number 1: Get chatty.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but in the first year of life, children are drawn to their parents’ voices and faces. So simply talking to your baby teaches him new vocabulary and encourages first words. Talk aloud to your little one, even when it seems silly (e.g., “Mommy’s folding the blue socks right now!”). Provide constant narration too when you are out and about in a new environment to introduce him to new words (e.g., “Look at those pretty flowers in the park!”).

Baby talking rule number 2: Talk back.

Aim to respond to whatever your new baby is looking at. Follow your child’s interests and let him be your guide when deciding what to talk about. For example, if your child is staring at a dog and babbling, make this the topic of conversation and repeat the word “dog” over and over while pointing at the pup.

Baby talking rule number 3: Focus on routines and repetition.

Daily activities such as bath time, mealtime, and changing time are ideal opportunities to have the same conversations with your baby each day. During these times, he will begin to pick up on key words and phrases and associate them with the activity.

Baby talking rule number 4: Model speech for your baby.

To help your baby build language skills, speak in slow, short sentences about whatever your child is focusing on and wait for him to try to repeat the word back if he’s ready. Help him recognize objects and words through play ("Here's your ball. Let's hide the ball").

Your baby will be on a roll with his words before you know it! Just remember that some children start talking a little earlier, and others take their time to utter their first words.

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Your new baby was born into a different world than you were, so it makes sense that baby safety advice has changed in the last few decades, too. While your family and friends will likely dole out baby tips, it’s possible that their well-intentioned pointers could actually compromise your baby’s safety. Here are three outdated pieces of parenting advice you can feel free to ignore.

Outdated baby safety tip number 1: You will spoil your baby if you pick him up too much.
Someone may tell you to let your new baby cry it out, but it’s okay to give this piece of advice a pass. Newborns usually cry because they have a need -- whether it’s a diaper change, a feeding, or just a cuddle -- and soothing your baby helps him feel secure and loved. The truth is, babies simply cannot be spoiled. In fact, the more consistent you are at meeting his needs before he’s 6 months old, the less demanding your baby will be later on in life. So the next time you hear your baby crying, feel free to shower him with love and attention.

 

Outdated baby safety tip number 2: Your baby needs complete quiet to sleep.
Common wisdom once held that babies need a hushed household in order to get the rest they need. Turns out that they are actually used to hearing background noise from their time spent in the womb. So go ahead and run the vacuum during naptime if you like. The humming of the machine may help ease your baby to sleep, and you can get some cleaning done while he rests.

Outdated baby safety tip number 3: Your baby should be put on a strict feeding schedule.
It was once thought that babies should be fed every four hours after leaving the hospital. The belief was that feeding on demand -- in other words, whenever a baby was hungry -- would spoil a baby and even increase the risk of contracting an intestinal infection. Now, however, many doctors recommend against setting a feeding schedule and suggest following your baby’s lead when satisfying his hunger needs. 

Baby care advice has certainly evolved over the years. What hasn't changed is that parents want to do everything possible to keep their baby happy and healthy.

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