If you plan to work outside the home, the day will come when you have to decide on childcare for your baby. If you don’t have a relative to help out, you might have to choose between hiring a nanny or a daycare center. So how do you know which is best?

Choosing between a nanny and daycare comes down to personal preference. There is no one right answer for everyone. But it may be helpful to consider the pros and cons of each.

When it comes to hiring a nanny, an advantage is your baby gets one on one attention. You also get more customized care. For example, you have the freedom of setting a schedule to include naps and feedings at a certain time. It might also be nice to have someone come to your home, instead of having to drop your baby off at a center.

But on the downside, if your nanny gets sick or needs an unexpected day off, it could leave you in a bind. Although your baby gets one on one attention, there is not much social interaction with other babies. Of course, your nanny could arrange outings, which provide social opportunities. Nanny care also tends to be more expensive than a childcare center.

Another childcare option is a daycare center. Daycares may include, small home daycares and large centers. Keep in mind, licensing regulations can vary widely among daycare centers depending on where you live and the size of the center. For example, a home daycare may have less licensing requirements than a larger childcare center.

One advantage of a daycare center is you may have care you can count on every day. You don’t have to worry about one person getting sick and not having care. Also, daycare centers are often inspected on a regular basis, which may give you peace of mind. Your baby will also get the opportunity to play around other babies.

A downside to using a daycare center may be that your baby will not get as much one on one attention as he would with a nanny. There is also the inconvenience of having to get your baby up and out the door each day. Also, if your little one gets sick, you’ll need backup care since he will not be allowed to go to the daycare.

Whichever type of care you feel is best for your baby; it’s essential to do your homework. For example, if you’re considering a daycare, ask what the ratio of caregivers to infants is. Ask about teacher qualifications and training. If you’re hiring a nanny, do a background check and thorough interview. Also, consider having your nanny do a trial run and spend a few hours with your baby while you’re at home to see if she is a good fit.

Lastly, trust your gut. If something does not feel right, walk away. There are always other options. Remember it’s a big decision. Selecting the right childcare will help your baby continue to thrive!

Written by MaryAnn DePietro @writerlady34

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general information basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright © Health & Parenting Ltd 2016. All rights reserved.

When babies are first born, they are essentially helpless. In fact, it can be disconcerting for many new parents to discover just how fragile those little ones are. But it seems like overnight, they begin to develop muscles they didn’t have at birth. And before you know it, they are lifting up on their own, rolling over, and threatening to crawl.

You baby isn’t an infant anymore, and he or she is bulking up before your very eyes. What does that baby strength development mean for this next stage of parenting though?

Safety First

You’ve probably already realized that the more mobile a baby is, the more prone to accidents they become. Most parents have at least one scare of baby rolling off the bed or couch, and attempts at sitting up often result in at least a few crashes.

Try to go easy on yourself when these mishaps occur; sometimes they truly are unavoidable. But work on being more aware of your baby’s mobility, and start thinking about baby-proofing. Gone are the days when you could set him or her on a blanket while you ran to take a quick shower or make a quick meal. Now, you need to keep your baby in your line of sight as often as possible—you never know what they might do next!

Encouraging Development

Your baby is getting stronger by the day, with or without your help. But providing opportunities for that baby strength development can help them to gain more control sooner. Assist your baby with standing in order to develop those leg muscles, and encourage sitting with lots of clapping and excitement. Play with your little one during tummy time in order to keep him or her from rolling over and giving up, and use toys as incentive for reaching and grasping.

 What to Expect

If you thought the last few months went by quickly, wait until you blink. Over the next 6 to 12 months, your baby is going to begin crawling, pulling him or herself up (usually with the assistance of various furniture pieces), standing unassisted, and eventually… walking. The more babies discover about the world around them, the more they want to know, and the more motivated they are to get moving. Gone is your helpless little one; in his or her place is a tiny baby hulk, just looking for a way to propel forward.

Get ready! The fun has just begun!

Written by Leah Campbell, infertility advocate, adoptive mama, writer and editor. Find me @sifinalaska on Twitter.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general informational basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright Health & Parenting Ltd 2016. All rights reserved.

As a new parent, the list of things you worry about is endless. Is your baby happy? Is your baby bored? Does your baby love you? Even, is your baby overweight? Those adorable thigh rolls are probably the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, but could they be a sign that your baby is overeating?

Is my baby overweight?

If your baby is gaining weight quickly or seems to be jumping percentiles on the growth chart, you may be worried that your baby might be overweight. Firstly, there’s usually nothing to worry about. Immobile babies are often chubby, but the excess weight soon drops off as they start to move about. However, there is evidence to suggest that babies at the very top end of the BMI scale may have an increased risk of obesity in later life.

Babies need high-fat diets. Fat is important for brain development. It is not recommended to reduce the fat content of your baby’s diet. There are a few things you can do, however, to encourage your baby to enjoy a healthy diet:

• Breastfeed – breastfeeding has been linked with lower levels of obesity in later life. Breast milk is packed full of nutrients that your baby needs. Do not limit your baby’s feeds, instead continue to offer the breast as you usually would.

• Wean wisely – when it’s time to wean your child onto solid foods, think carefully about the types of foods you are offering. Ask yourself whether each food is nutritious and has something to offer your baby nutritionally. If not, it could simply be empty calories that will have little benefit to your baby. Start off by offering fruits and vegetables. Be wary of store bought baby foods which may contain high levels of salt and sugar, always check the nutritional information on the packaging.

• Stick to milk and water – many parents fill their baby’s bottles and cups with fruit juice and cordial. These drinks are high in sugars. Not only are the sugars potentially bad for your baby’s teeth, but they’re full of empty calories that could be adding to your baby’s weight gain. Most babies are perfectly happy drinking milk or water with their meals. Remember, you shouldn’t offer any milk other than breast or formula until your baby’s first birthday.

If you’re worried that your baby may be overweight, you should speak with your healthcare provider for advice. You shouldn’t put your baby on a diet unless recommended to do so by your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider will have regularly monitored your baby’s weight since birth and so is best placed to advise you on this matter.

Written by Fiona (@Fiona_Peacock), mother, writer and lover of all things baby related.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general information basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright © Health & Parenting Ltd 2016. All rights reserved.

Sure you knew your life would change once you had kids. After all, you probably heard stories from your friends who already had children about how they never slept or how much life changed.

But you might not have realized how much gross stuff comes along with taking care of a baby. The surprising part is, most of the time, the gross stuff does not even faze you anymore. Consider some of the gross things that moms (and dads) deal with on a regular basis.

Farts: Let’s be honest, we all fart. But it’s usually nothing to cheer about. But when your six-month-old lets it rip on your lap, somehow it’s not so gross, and it may even make you giggle. In fact, when you think your baby is gassy, you might even celebrate a fart.

Wiping someone else’s butt: In your pre-baby life, the only butt you wiped was probably your own, and that was no picnic. But times have changed. From routinely smelling your baby’s bottom to dealing with diaper blowouts, poop is a part of life for new parents. It may still be a bit gross at times (especially when you hit the toddler years). But for the most part, you can change a diaper without even flinching.

Cleaning snot out of your baby’s nose: The thought of sucking boogers out of someone’s nose may have made your stomach turn before you became a mom. But now when your baby has a stuffed up nose, you reach for the bulb suction and suck out snot with ease. You might even examine what you pulled out and congratulate yourself on a job well done.

Being sneezed on: Whether you’re on a crowded subway or in line at the movies, being on the receiving end of a sneeze is gross. There is saliva flying everywhere and germs coming your way. But when your baby does it, you simply wipe the droplets off your face and break into your baby talk voice and say “bless you.”

Cleaning spit up: Cleaning spit up or vomit used to be cringe worthy. But once you have a baby, it’s a part of life. With your new mom ninja like reflexes, you might even catch it with your bare hands to prevent it from hitting the floor. The good news is if your baby is not eating solids yet, spit up consisting of breastmilk or formula is not too gross. The bad news is once your baby moves onto solid foods, it’s a different story.

Although your little darling is the light of your life, he does not always mind his manners. But when you become a mom, you do it all, even the gross stuff. Because there is nothing you would not do to keep your baby happy and healthy.

Written by Mary Ann DePietro@writerlady34

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general information basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright © Health & Parenting Ltd 2016. All rights reserved.

If you’ve been taking baby advice from your mom or grandmother, you’ve probably received lectures about sterilizing your baby’s bottles. “It’s not enough just to clean them,” they tell you. “You need to sterilize them too.”

So perhaps you bought one of those fancy sterilizers online. Or maybe you’ve been using the microwave and hot water to do your sterilizing every week. The good news is, you’re not doing anything wrong. Conventional wisdom used to suggest that you should sterilize your bottles until your baby was about a year old, to protect them from germs that may not be washed away with simple cleaning.

But these days, most pediatricians will tell you that after the first use, sterilizing isn’t necessary. Unless you live somewhere with a contaminated water supply, washing your bottles after every feeding with soap and warm water will do the trick.

You’ll never be able to stop that—for all the same reasons you should be washing the dishes and glassware you use as well. Washing with soap and warm water is necessary to remove germs and bacteria. But that’s really all that’s necessary.

Granted, it is a good idea to sterilize your bottles when you first take them out of the packaging, just to make sure you’ve cleared out any bacteria or germs that may have accumulated while those bottles were sealed up. But after that? Routine washing after every feeding is plenty sufficient.

This same philosophy applies to nipples. Using warm water and soap for cleaning, and allowing them to air dry will suffice.

But what do you say to your mom and grandmother who want to know why you’re no longer sterilizing as they instructed you to do?

Well, you can point out that water sources are generally cleaner today than back when they were raising babies, and that most major pediatric groups are clear that there is no need to sterilize bottles or nipples. In fact, as long as a brand says those bottles and nipples are dishwasher safe, you can even leave the cleaning to that handy machine in your kitchen.

Still, for some parents, sterilizing just feels like the right thing to do. And that’s okay. Sterilizing bottles and nipples certainly won’t hurt your baby; it just takes up a bit of extra time from your day. So continue using that handy sterilizer you registered for if it makes you feel better. Just know it isn’t something you have to do in order to keep your baby safe. And even when conventional wisdom said it was, sterilizing usually stopped after one year of age.

Written by Leah Campbell, infertility advocate, adoptive mama, writer and editor. Find me @sifinalaska on Twitter.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general informational basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright Health & Parenting Ltd 2016. All rights reserved.

Nevus simplex and capillary hemangioma: these are the official medical terms for those birth marks that are more commonly referred to as stork bites and strawberries respectively.

Both marks are temporary, usually going away by the time a child reaches five years of age. Stork bites are seen in about a third of all newborns and are caused by the stretching of certain blood vessels. They are usually pink and flat and might also be called a salmon patch. What’s interesting about stork bites is that they won’t necessarily appear right at birth; sometimes they don’t become apparent until a few months of age. You will usually find them on the forehead, eyelids, nose, upper lip, or the back of the neck.

Strawberries, on the other hand, are often raised, red marks that are typically present at birth on the chest, upper back, or head. Approximately 10 percent of babies are born with strawberries, and they can be as small as a freckle or as large as a grapefruit. The marks themselves are soft and are the result of extra blood vessels that broke away in development.

In most cases, no treatment is prescribed for either stork bites or strawberries. Instead, your pediatrician will likely recommend a wait and see approach. If a strawberry starts to grow or bleed, treatment may become necessary, to include steroids, surgery, or laser therapy, but in most cases, both marks will begin to fade on their own with time.

Still, when these marks are especially large, it can be hard to face the questions of others when it comes to your baby’s physical features. In January of 2016, mom Katie Crenshaw wrote about the reactions of strangers to her daughter’s strawberry mark. The blog post went viral as a result of its blatant honesty and tips for what to say to a parent whose child has one of these marks. You may find some comfort in reading her words and decide you want to share the post yourself.

Either way, know that your child’s birthmark is just a part of who he or she is, and that with time, it will fade. In most cases, stork marks and strawberries pose no health risks, and therefore require no reason to be concerned or seek further treatment. Your baby isn’t hurting as a result of this mark, and is just basking in your love like all other babies his or her age. So enjoy those smiles; they were meant just for you!

Written by Leah Campbell, infertility advocate, adoptive mama, writer and editor. Find me @sifinalaska on Twitter.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general informational basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright Health & Parenting Ltd 2016. All rights reserved.

From the day your little one was born, you have yearned to hear him or her utter a single word: Mama. You tell your partner you don’t care which comes first, and you tease that your baby is more likely to honor some other integral piece of your life (like the dog’s name, or some curse word you’ve been guilty of dropping). But really… you’re waiting for “Mama.”

And, of course, for the day your baby’s language development allows him or her to actually converse with you.

Most babies have a handful of words by age one, and they are starting to string them together into short sentences by two. But if you are anxious for the day real communication can begin, there are ways you can help to encourage your baby towards those language development milestones.

1. Read: Your little one is never too young to be read to, and making story time a part of your nightly routine can help him or her to develop a lifelong love of reading. Be sure to angle the book so that they can see the pictures, and choose stories that provide the opportunity for you to alter your voice and express enthusiasm. Your baby is sure to love that!
2. Narrate Your Life: Don’t ever feel silly talking to your baby! In fact, tell him or her everything you are doing as you go about your day. For instance, “Mommy is going to get you a blanket now,” or “What do you think about sitting in your swing while Mommy makes us dinner?” Just because they don’t respond, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be engaging in the conversation. And the more you talk, the more they will learn how to associate those words to what you are talking about.
3. Babywear: If you haven’t worn your baby up to now, it may be time to consider doing so. There are a lot of different options for wearing your baby on your chest as you go about your day, and doing so can increase interactions between you and your little one, thereby improving your ability to narrate.
4. Tell Nursery Rhymes: Nursery rhymes have a rhythm that captures the attention of little ones and engages them in ways simple story telling might not. So memorize a few of your favorites, and repeat them throughout the day.
5. Sing: Most babies love music, and just as with nursery rhymes, singing has the ability to uniquely draw them into the words you are sharing. So sing along to the radio, cultivate your own lullaby, and introduce a few classic children’s songs. Bonus: Sometimes busting into tune is the perfect way to get your baby to smile for a picture!

Written by Leah Campbell, infertility advocate, adoptive mama, writer and editor. Find me @sifinalaska on Twitter.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general informational basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright Health & Parenting Ltd 2016. All rights reserved.