When you first bring a child into the world, two of the most important things that you give that child are love and protection. In this article I am going to focus more on the protection side of things, and why you should spend the extra money in purchasing a highly rated car seat for your baby. Life throws curveballs, and you want to be prepared.
There are so many different makers and manufacturers around the world that focus on baby and child products. Out of all of these products, car seats are one of the most important purchases you will make. You could be the best driver in the world, but when you’re on the road, you’re subject to everyone else’s driving skills and attention spans too.
Car seats continually develop new technologies, safety features, and ways to protect your baby. These features are usually brought to the market by the experts in the industry. The experts include but aren’t limited to Britax, Graco, Peg Perego, Safety 1st, and Max Cosi.
Some of the revolutionary features include side impact technology, special harness technology, padding and support to keep your baby’s spine, head and neck straight and supported during and accident, and more.
Just because your baby needs a seat doesn’t mean they are optimally protected. I personally recommend the Britax Frontier 85 car seat, along with a few others. The Britax Frontier 85 is a combination booster seat. It has awesome safety features such as a 5 point harness system, True Side impact technology that distributes force away from your child, patented versa-tether that anchors the seats, and a quick adjust head restraint.
I look at purchasing items like this as an investment. I am investing in my child’s safety in case some unfortunate event was to occur. I just don’t think it is worth it to save a couple bucks and purchase a cheap no name brand product when you can get so much more with car seats like the Britax Frontier 85.
There are many places to purchase high quality, name brand car seats. I recommend shopping around online. I have found that prices and discounts are much easier to come by, and buyer ratings and reviews can really help make the decision. Search around and find the right car seat for you and you baby. Remember too that safety isn’t the only thing to look at. Comfort, ease to use, and ease to clean are also important things to take into consideration. Hopes this helps point you in the right direction!
A ball can be just a simple play thing for the park or garden, but when a baby is learning to walk, stand or crawl it becomes an important educational toy for strengthening your baby’s leg muscles. Firstly you should sit on the floor holding your baby facing away from you. Put a ball in front of their feet and encourage them to kick it. You can help by moving their legs if your baby can’t do it unassisted. Give praise each time they make contact and this will give them confidence. With another parent and baby playmate you can have them kicking the ball to each other. They will both improve their gross motor co-ordination skills whilst having a lot of fun.
As your baby becomes a 1 year old they will begin to babble word-like sounds. To help improve your baby’s verbal and hearing skills you can use felt to create animated stories. You can buy ready-made shapes from educational toy shops or make your own. Face your baby and tell a simple story using the shapes to illustrate. Speak clearly and point to the pieces as you talk about them, don’t worry about making the story complicated just keep it animated.
Babies love to put items into categories, particularly at about 9 months. A shape sorter is an educational toy that will help to develop your baby’s fine motor skills. Although a shop bought toy may be fun to begin with, the novelty will soon wear off. It is easy to make your own shape sorter at home instead, for very little cost. Provide your baby with different objects or food cut in small pieces and small containers to put them in. Encourage your baby to sort the items by colour or shape.
A rattle can help develop your baby’s fine motor skills and sense of rhythm. Any toy that is musical can be entertaining, even ones you have made at home with pasta and a plastic bottle. Add variety with colours and different sounds to ensure that your baby doesn’t get bored. It may give you a headache but your baby will love it.
Babies begin to understand language and develop motor skills before they can actually speak. Baby signing toys can be used to help improve your baby’s communication skills. Signs are attached to words and this enables you to better understand what your child wants. Some people think that baby signing will negatively affect their baby’s speech development; however it actually enhances their vocabulary and language skills.
The range of educational toys for babies 1 year old is extremely vast. There are products to suit every parent and baby, whether it is a ball, a homemade rattle or baby signing toys. When choosing a particular toy think about the skills that your baby will develop and try to target all the senses over time.
As a parent it is natural to want the best for your baby. You want them to grow up to be well rounded happy adults. Educational development is something that all parents are concerned about from the moment their child is born. This article focuses on educational toys for babies 0-6 months old and why they are important for your child’s development.
When a baby is born their vision is limited, they will be able to differentiate between light and dark but they will not see all colours. At about 3-4 months old babies start to distinguish between colour hues as their full colour vision develops. Newborns are able to see things directly in front of them but struggle to focus on anything further than about 12 inches away. Using finger puppets can help to develop your baby’s vision.
To perform this exercise position your baby either lying down or in a reclining seat so that they can see your face. Put a finger puppet on each index finger and slowly move them into your baby’s line of sight. Wait until they have focused their eyes on the finger puppets before carrying out a conversation between the puppets and your baby. Pause after each question as if your baby was responding. These educational toys not only improve your baby’s vision but also help their interactivity skills as they are included in the conversation.
Naturally babies are inquisitive and they want to experience the things they can see by touching them. Try rubbing different textures on your baby’s skin as this will help their touch sensitivity. Activity gyms are brilliant educational toys for babies aged 0-6 months. They can improve the hand eye co-ordination of your baby as the hanging parts will move as they are touched. Reaching for something and making contact will give your baby confidence.
Newborns don’t respond positively to loud noises but as they grow they begin to appreciate surprise sounds. To help develop your baby’s hearing you can encourage them to play with toys that are musical. This not only improves hearing skills but is educational; their sense of cause and effect is developed when your baby makes connections between hearing a sound and seeing what made it happen.
It is easy to transform household objects into educational toys for your baby. A simple hiding game can help your baby understand “object permanence”; knowing that something is still there even if you can’t see it anymore. In front of your baby put a favourite toy in a number of containers just like Russian dolls, and then ask your baby where their toy is. As you take off a layer repeat your question until you reach the toy.
Babies develop motor skills and their understanding of language much quicker than their ability to verbally speak. Baby signing toys are a great way of communicating with your child. Some parents are worried that baby signing will slow speech development but in actual fact it can improve language and vocabulary.
There are a variety of educational toys for babies 0-6 months old that will help improve the development of your baby’s senses. From finger puppets to activity gyms and baby signing toys, there is something for every parent and child.
Baby bouncers can be a great way to safely entertain your baby and give you a little bit of free time provided they are used properly. Let us take a quick look at a few things you should consider before purchasing a new baby bouncer or a baby bouncer chair.
Placement
This may seem obvious but every year babies are injured in bouncers that fall off surfaces such as tables, countertops or even a small height such as a slightly raised outdoor deck. Keep your baby bouncer on solid, level ground and away from stair wells. While they are designed not to move during operation this can occur depending on the surface and you should always keep a close eye on them whenever they are in use. Always look for non-slip padding mounted to the bottom of the one of interest and make sure that it is not wearing away or degrading in any way.
Defective Parts
Many of the injuries caused by bouncers, according to a 2007 report from ConsumerReports.com, were from defective parts. This means that there was either a manufacturers’ defect or the parts had been damaged by misuse.
For this reason it is always a good idea to research the history of the brand name you are interested in purchasing. If they have a solid track record with no recalls and few customer complaints then you can feel safer about their newer products however this is not a guarantee.
You should also avoid purchasing used products. Just because a bouncer looks to be in good condition upon initial inspection does not mean that there has not been misuse in the past. This could be as simple as poor assembly by the prior owner, or a drop during transport. Either of these things could be enough to damage it and lead to malfunction.
Safety Features
Your baby bouncer should always include the following:
- Wide base for extra stability
- Anti-slip padding on bottom
- Safety Harness
- Anti-tipping features
Safe Use
Always make sure you remove your baby from a bouncer whenever you move it. With the moving parts it is too unstable to be carried or lifted with your baby inside. Also, they are not designed for the extra weight whilst being transported and this could cause the handle or bars to break with your baby inside.
It is also recommended that you limit your babies use to approximately thirty minutes. Different studies have shown that prolonged use could lead to the development of ‘flattened head syndrome’, which basically causes a flat spot to form on the back of the baby’s head. This can remain throughout life and prevention is very important! Follow these tips, use common sense and you and your baby will be sure to enjoy lots of fun with a new baby bouncer!
Newborn Baby Stuff 