Parenting Help | Is It A Baby Walker or A Rolling Disaster?

By Bruce Teague on August 16, 2009

Is It A Baby Walker or A Rolling Disaster?
We had an exersaucer for Elijah. I loved it! The exersaucer provided hours of entertainment. I can’t tell you how many times I would throw the boy in it and leave him to do whatever else I felt like doing. I assure you it was always productive, like washing the dishes, doing laundry, watching sports or playing video games. Unfortunately we had to part ways when we made the big move overseas. When Jonas came of age we went on a search for one in our new country. Sadly we came up empty handed, but we noticed walkers hung from the ceilings of every toy store we could cram ourselves into. We decided it would be a good substitute.
Jonas enjoys the walker immensely. I can’t blame him. He can now get around to anywhere his coordination will allow him. This of course is everywhere we don’t want him to go. I hear the bouncer scuttle across the floor. *bonk* He hits the trash can in search for a new tasty treat to teeth on. *crash* He’s pulled down a dining room chair for a chew. *clank clank* He’s trying to pick up the glass bowl under the kitchen sink, it’s so shiny. The madness never stops despite my efforts. I try to roll him in an area where he surely can do no harm, but he always finds something enticing like electrical cords. I know now why pediatricians don’t recommend them in the States. We can’t part him from it though. The big smile he wears on his face as he scoots to danger, the cute look of concentration as he tries to navigate around the corner. Jonas’ walker brings him too much joy. We will just have to keep an extra eye on our little rolling disaster; however, I’ll pass on the same advice as my pediatrician. Don’t buy one, they’re dangerous.
What have been some of your worst baby purchases? (This is where you go below and type in the comment form.)

baby walker1 Parenting Help | Is It A Baby Walker or A Rolling Disaster?

We had an exersaucer for Elijah. I loved it! The exersaucer provided hours of entertainment. I can’t tell you how many times I would throw the boy in it and leave him to do whatever else I felt like doing. I assure you it was always productive, like washing the dishes, doing laundry, watching sports or playing video games. Unfortunately we had to part ways when we made the big move overseas. When Jonas came of age we went on a search for one in our new country. Sadly we came up empty handed, but we noticed walkers hung from the ceilings of every toy store we could cram ourselves into. We decided it would be a good substitute.

Jonas enjoys the walker immensely. I can’t blame him. He can now get around to anywhere his coordination will allow him. This of course is everywhere we don’t want him to go. I hear the bouncer scuttle across the floor. *bonk* He hits the trash can in search for a new tasty treat to teeth on. *crash* He’s pulled down a dining room chair for a chew. *clank clank* He’s trying to pick up the glass bowl under the kitchen sink, it’s so shiny. The madness never stops despite my efforts. I try to roll him in an area where he surely can do no harm, but he always finds something enticing like electrical cords. I know now why pediatricians don’t recommend them in the States. We can’t part him from it though. The big smile he wears on his face as he scoots to danger, the cute look of concentration as he tries to navigate around the corner. Jonas’ walker brings him too much joy. We will just have to keep an extra eye on our little rolling disaster; however, I’ll pass on the same advice as my pediatrician. Don’t buy one, they’re dangerous.

What have been some of your worst baby purchases? (This is where you go below and type in the comment form.)

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Toilet Sympathy

By Bruce Teague on August 11, 2009

You’re arguing because he left the toilet seat up?
Are you kidding me?
How long does it take you to flip the seat back down?
How hard is it to look before you sit?
I never fully understood the whole toilet seat issue. It takes all of one second to either flip it up or flip it down. Who is to say its default position is supposed to be for females anyways? My world doesn’t screech to a halt if I have to bend over and pull that round piece of porcelain up. You’re actually already on your way down, just grab the lid as you go. This really should be a non-issue.
All that being said, my mom still taught me right. I have always put the seat back down, it’s just instinct. Even when I lived in a house full of guys.. zip up, seat down. The toilet seat has always been a non-issue in our house, until now. I finally feel women’s pain. My son is now capable of going into the bathroom, putting in the potty insert, relieving himself and leaving with out any assistance from me. I’m happy for that, but he leaves the insert in and this causes flashes of annoyance. I go in to do what needs to be done, I see the insert in and I grumble to myself about how much more work this whole experience will now be. Why? I’m lifting the seat up anyways. It will take me a whole two seconds to plop that sucker back in the corner, yet the feelings are there.
My female friends, I now have sympathy for your pain.

toilet seat1 Toilet Sympathy

You’re arguing because he left the toilet seat up?

Are you kidding me?

How long does it take you to flip the seat back down?

How hard is it to look before you sit?

I never fully understood the whole toilet seat issue. It takes all of one second to either flip it up or flip it down. Who is to say its default position is supposed to be for females anyways? My world doesn’t screech to a halt if I have to bend over and pull that round piece of porcelain up. You’re actually already on your way down, just grab the lid as you go. This really should be a non-issue.

All that being said, my mom still taught me right. I have always put the seat back down, it’s just instinct. Even when I lived in a house full of guys.. zip up, seat down. The toilet seat has always been a non-issue in our house, until now. I finally feel women’s pain. My son is now capable of going into the bathroom, putting in the potty insert, relieving himself and leaving with out any assistance from me. I’m happy for that, but he leaves the insert in and this causes flashes of annoyance. I go in to do what needs to be done, I see the insert in and I grumble to myself about how much more work this whole experience will now be. Why? I’m lifting the seat up anyways. It will take me a whole two seconds to plop that sucker back in the corner, yet the feelings are there.

My female friends, I now have sympathy for your pain.

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The Truth Behind Excuses

By Bruce Teague on August 9, 2009

The Truth Behind Excuses
“Do you want to put up the light fixtures this weekend?”
“Uhhh, I think I better wait {quick think of an excuse} until we have the Internet up and running so I can research the best way not to electrocute myself. I have no idea which way they run the wires after it goes into the ceiling. I wouldn’t want to drill right into them. Maybe there’s some sort of standard?” Score, that was a solid reason.
We now have Internet, same question…
“Well, you see the problem is {what is the problem anyways?}, we have tall ceilings, and although I’m tall I’m not a freak of nature. Our neighbors have a ladder we could borrow, but they’re out of town this weekend. Sorry.” Yes! I totally sounded like I wanted to do it, but just couldn’t given a lack of proper tools.
Neighbors are back in town, same question…
“You know, {come on excuse train, don’t fail me now} I’m still not sure if I can safely do it, I found no standard for running wires and I could shock myself, or worse, ruin the wiring in the house. Maybe we should hire someone to do it?” Whew, that should buy me another week or two. Lets be real though, I’m a cheapo and I’m not paying anyone to do something I probably think I can manage.
This went on for a couple more months. Many lame excuses were given, but today they ran out. Actually they ran out last week. Today was Day 3 of light fixture fun. I had 9 to put up across the house. It’s not that I enjoy looking at bulbs dangling from bare wires out of my ceiling, I’m just peaceful phlegmatic. Loosely translated this means I’m shy, I avoid conflict, and I’m lazy.
On top of being a bum, I just really disdain house projects. Things never go the way I want them to. I imagine that has to do with the fact that I have no clue what I’m doing.
I am tired, but happy. Sure, many of the fixtures are a little off center, but they look better than just the bulb. The take away lesson for you husbands is probably obvious, but if you’re like me you need this one bashed into your head. Maybe someday it will stick. When your wife asks you to do something, go ahead and do it. It’s better to just get it out of the way and not have it linger over your head. Your wife will be happier, and thus, so will you.
That being said, I still need to keep good excuses on hand for when I get a new line item for the honey-do list, but something important comes up. You know, so important that I can’t use it as my reason for procrastination, but instead have to use a lame excuse. Give me your best.husband excuses1 The Truth Behind Excuses

husband excuses1 The Truth Behind Excuses

“Do you want to put up the light fixtures this weekend?”

“Uhhh, I think I better wait {quick think of an excuse} until we have the Internet up and running so I can research the best way not to electrocute myself. I have no idea which way they run the wires after it goes into the ceiling. I wouldn’t want to drill right into them. Maybe there’s some sort of standard?” Score, that was a solid reason.

We now have Internet, same question…

“Well, you see the problem is {what is the problem anyways?}, we have tall ceilings, and although I’m tall I’m not a freak of nature. Our neighbors have a ladder we could borrow, but they’re out of town this weekend. Sorry.” Yes! I totally sounded like I wanted to do it, but just couldn’t given a lack of proper tools.

Neighbors are back in town, same question…

“You know, {come on excuse train, don’t fail me now} I’m still not sure if I can safely do it, I found no standard for running wires and I could shock myself, or worse, ruin the wiring in the house. Maybe we should hire someone to do it?” Whew, that should buy me another week or two. Lets be real though, I’m a cheapo and I’m not paying anyone to do something I probably think I can manage.

This went on for a couple more months. Many lame excuses were given, but today they ran out. Actually they ran out last week. Today was Day 3 of light fixture fun. I had 9 to put up across the house. It’s not that I enjoy looking at bulbs dangling from bare wires out of my ceiling, I’m just peaceful phlegmatic. Loosely translated this means I’m shy, I avoid conflict, and I’m lazy.

On top of being a bum, I just really disdain house projects. Things never go the way I want them to. I imagine that has to do with the fact that I have no clue what I’m doing.

I am tired, but happy. Sure, many of the fixtures are a little off center, but they look better than just the bulb. The take away lesson for you husbands is probably obvious, but if you’re like me you need this one bashed into your head. Maybe someday it will stick. When your wife asks you to do something, go ahead and do it. It’s better to just get it out of the way and not have it linger over your head. Your wife will be happier, and thus, so will you.

That being said, I still need to keep good excuses on hand for when I get a new line item for the honey-do list, but something important comes up. You know, so important that I can’t use it as my reason for procrastination, but instead have to use a lame excuse. Give me your best.

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Parenting Help | Help Your Child Roll Over

By Bruce Teague on August 7, 2009

Help Your Child Roll Over
We all want our children to advance in their development, but when your kid first learns to roll over you will find some trouble. He will usually roll front to back, but he’ll most likely not know how to roll back the other way. Or vice versa. Now I, being the terrible parent that I am, at times already allowed my kid to sleep on his stomach. I use ‘allow’ loosely because he absolutely wouldn’t tolerate sleeping on his back. Once he learned to flip, my little flap jack would be stuck on his back. He would let out a cry to inform me that I needed to wake up in the middle of the night and flop him back to the other side. This occurred numerous times a night and I wasn’t thankful for his progress in mobility. At least not for the moment. It only lasted about a week with both kids though so the tunnel is short and the light is easy to see at the other side… if you can keep your eyes open long enough to see it. Now here’s what you can do to help your sleeplessness nights child to roll over.
Roll From Tummy to Back
Tummy Time: This will strengthen the muscles he’ll need to flip himself over from front to back. Place his arms in front of him and give him something of interest to look at to keep him on his tummy longer.
Also alternate objects on either side so he’ll turn his head and strengthen those muscles.
Neck Twist: When he’s on his tummy place an object to the side of his feet or some how draw his interest in that direction. When he turns his head far enough to try and see it there’s a good chance he’ll eventually roll over.
Roll From Back to Tummy
Almost got it: Put him on his back then place an object he is interested in slightly above his head and to the side, just out of reach. He will wriggle, worm, and stretch to try and get a hold of it. Often all this motion will lead to him rolling over.
Crossing legs: Take one of his legs and cross it over the other. His waist will lift off the ground on one side and this will get the ball rolling (bad pun intended). My kids are fat balls, what can I say. You can also nudge him to help encourage things along.
My kids were late rollers. I like to blame it on them being fat, but I bet part of the blame is me missing some nuggets of wisdom. What tips and tricks did you use to get your little one rolling?

help child rollover1 Parenting Help | Help Your Child Roll Over

We all want our children to advance in their development, but when your kid first learns to roll over you will find some trouble. He will usually roll front to back, but he’ll most likely not know how to roll back the other way. Or vice versa. Now I, being the terrible parent that I am, at times already allowed my kid to sleep on his stomach. I use ‘allow’ loosely because he absolutely wouldn’t tolerate sleeping on his back. Once he learned to flip, my little flap jack would be stuck on his back. He would let out a cry to inform me that I needed to wake up in the middle of the night and flop him back to the other side. This occurred numerous times a night and I wasn’t thankful for his progress in mobility. At least not for the moment. It only lasted about a week with both kids though so the tunnel is short and the light is easy to see at the other side… if you can keep your eyes open long enough to see it. Now here’s what you can do to help your sleeplessness nights child to roll over.

Roll From Tummy to Back

Tummy Time: This will strengthen the muscles he’ll need to flip himself over from front to back. Place his arms in front of him and give him something of interest to look at to keep him on his tummy longer. Also alternate objects on either side so he’ll turn his head and strengthen those muscles.

Neck Twist: When he’s on his tummy place an object to the side of his feet or some how draw his interest in that direction. When he turns his head far enough to try and see it there’s a good chance he’ll eventually roll over.

Roll From Back to Tummy

Almost got it: Put him on his back then place an object he is interested in slightly above his head and to the side, just out of reach. He will wriggle, worm, and stretch to try and get a hold of it. Often all this motion will lead to him rolling over.

Crossing legs: Take one of his legs and cross it over the other. His waist will lift off the ground on one side and this will get the ball rolling (bad pun intended). My kids are fat balls, what can I say. You can also nudge him to help encourage things along.

My kids were late rollers. I like to blame it on them being fat, but I bet part of the blame is me missing some nuggets of wisdom. What tips and tricks did you use to get your little one rolling?

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Rewind Back In Time | Marriage Tips

By Bruce Teague on August 3, 2009

Rewind Back In Time | Marriage Tips
This is a post I made on a website that my wife and I had a few years ago. One of those we just got married “so let’s put our names together to make a url and barf a million pictures from our wedding and honeymoon on it” sites. It was my first attempt to make a humorous post. I think I may have to do a version 2.0 on this one. To my surprise I received a lot of positive feedback on it. I hope you enjoy the trip back to my roots. This one’s for you Jeff.
Things I’ve Learned In Marriage
If you’re flying to Mississippi for a week and you leave the house while your wife is there, you should say bye to her before you go.
If it’s your turn to wash the dishes after dinner that means tonight, not the next day.
What you consider to be a clean but lived in look.. is a mess.
Underwear is actually supposed to be folded.
Pretty hand towels are not to be used.
Just because you are going to be getting back into the bed in a few hours and messing it up again doesn’t mean you don’t have to make it.
If she calls your name from another room it means respond quickly or show up now, not in a few minutes when it’s a commercial break.
If she starts to clean the house while you’re home, you better grab the vacuum cleaner or some pledge.
When she gets dolled up because you’re taking her out, you’d better tell her she looks pretty.
Just because you told her she looks good doesn’t mean you’ve romanced her.
If you lose, she played fair. If you win, you didn’t.
She told you about it, you just weren’t paying attention.
It’s always your turn to take out the trash.
When you are both comfortably lying on the couch and she needs something, you get up and get it.
It’s so much better not sleeping alone

This is a post I made on a website that my wife and I had a few years ago. One of those we just got married “so let’s put our names together to make a url and barf a million pictures from our wedding and honeymoon on it” sites. It was my first attempt to make a humorous post. I think I may have to do a version 2.0 on this one. To my surprise I received a lot of positive feedback on it. I hope you enjoy the trip back to my roots. This one’s for you Jeff.

Things I’ve Learned In Marriage

  • If you’re flying to Mississippi for a week and you leave the house while your wife is there, you should say bye to her before you go.
  • If it’s your turn to wash the dishes after dinner that means tonight, not the next day.
  • What you consider to be a clean but lived in look.. is a mess.
  • Underwear is actually supposed to be folded.
  • Pretty hand towels are not to be used.
  • Just because you are going to be getting back into the bed in a few hours and messing it up again doesn’t mean you don’t have to make it.
  • If she calls your name from another room it means respond quickly or show up now, not in a few minutes when it’s a commercial break.
  • If she starts to clean the house while you’re home, you better grab the vacuum cleaner or some pledge.
  • When she gets dolled up because you’re taking her out, you’d better tell her she looks pretty.
  • Just because you told her she looks good doesn’t mean you’ve romanced her.
  • If you lose, she played fair. If you win, you didn’t.
  • She told you about it, you just weren’t paying attention.
  • It’s always your turn to take out the trash.
  • When you are both comfortably lying on the couch and she needs something, you get up and get it.
  • It’s so much better not sleeping alone

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Parenting Help | Tips To Keep You Sane When Traveling With Kids

By Bruce Teague on August 2, 2009

Tips To Keep You Sane When Traveling With Kids
Traveling with babies and small children is about as much fun as rubbing a jalapeño in your eye. Actually I’d prefer the pepper. Sure your eye swells shut, burns as if it’s on fire, and leaks like a busted pipe, but it’s over rather quickly. Kids can melt down for hours. Given our current situation my family and I have traveled a great deal ranging from quick 2 hour trips, driving from Boston to Houston, and 30 hour flights after layovers. I would say at this point if I never had to travel again I would be fine. There are a few things we’ve learned along the way that help make it easier.
Baby Carrier: When you travel with kids they require lots of stuff. Somebody has to carry these things and chances are it’s not going to be anybody under 3 feet tall. A carrier is a great way to free up your hands and our kids have always had an easy time taking a nap in them. We use the BabyBjörn and the Ergo Baby Carrier. I prefer the Bjorn for the first 6 months or so, but after that I’m an Ergo man. The weight is easier carried on my back than my chest.
Kidco PeaPod: These things are fabulous. A far superior alternative to a pack n play in my book. They are much lighter, and even small enough that you could fit one into a carry on. This is a benefit if you want to nap your child on a layover. They come in two sizes, the smaller of which weighs less than 5 lbs. We opted for the larger one so we could have the option to use it for either child. It’s good until age 5 or 6.
Buy diapers there: If you can buy diapers at your final destination then pack just enough to get you there. Don’t waste the space in your suitcase. You’ll be carrying enough toys, books, snacks and who knows what else that you could use the extra storage.
Schedule around naps: If your kids nap well on the go, then by all means, use up some of that time traveling with a nap. If your kid is more prone to meltdowns if he doesn’t get to nap in a bed then try not to book a flight at nap time.
Wrap a new toy: It’s a fun little treat that will start him off in a good mood and gives him something to play with for a while. Maybe wait till you see some signs of a meltdown before you hand it over. Although I wouldn’t give it to him after the start of a meltdown. You wouldn’t want to reward the kid. We usually buy something really cheap. Kids haven’t started to associate a toy’s coolness factor with how much was spent on it yet, and if he’s already bored with it by the trip’s end it at least served its purpose.
Snack time: Try and work in a long snack time with special treats that they may not get as often. The more you can occupy their time with a snack the better. I slowly feed our eldest Cheetos one at a time.
Ipods and the like: We often make sure we load up an awesome play list for ourselves but think about putting on some children’s songs or a video for the kids.
Interact with his new surroundings: Traveling often introduces totally new things to your child. Perhaps its his first time on a plane, train, or boat. It’s a great opportunity to point out new things to him or refer something to a book he’s read. Get him interested or psyched up about what’s new.

traveling kid tips1 Parenting Help | Tips To Keep You Sane When Traveling With Kids

Traveling with babies and small children is about as much fun as rubbing a jalapeño in your eye. Actually I’d prefer the pepper. Sure your eye swells shut, burns as if it’s on fire, and leaks like a busted pipe, but it’s over rather quickly. Kids can melt down for hours. Given our current situation my family and I have traveled a great deal ranging from quick 2 hour trips, driving from Boston to Houston, and 30 hour flights after layovers. I would say at this point if I never had to travel again I would be fine. There are a few things we’ve learned along the way that help make it easier.

Baby Carrier: When you travel with kids they require lots of stuff. Somebody has to carry these things and chances are it’s not going to be anybody under 3 feet tall. A carrier is a great way to free up your hands and our kids have always had an easy time taking a nap in them. We use the BabyBjörn and the Ergo Baby Carrier. I prefer the Bjorn for the first 6 months or so, but after that I’m an Ergo man. The weight is easier carried on my back than my chest.

Kidco PeaPod: These things are fabulous. A far superior alternative to a pack n play in my book. They are much lighter, and even small enough that you could fit one into a carry on. This is a benefit if you want to nap your child on a layover. They come in two sizes, the smaller of which weighs less than 5 lbs. We opted for the larger one so we could have the option to use it for either child. It’s good until age 5 or 6.

Buy diapers there: If you can buy diapers at your final destination then pack just enough to get you there. Don’t waste the space in your suitcase. You’ll be carrying enough toys, books, snacks and who knows what else that you could use the extra storage.

Schedule around naps: If your kids nap well on the go, then by all means, use up some of that time traveling with a nap. If your kid is more prone to meltdowns if he doesn’t get to nap in a bed then try not to book a flight at nap time.

Wrap a new toy: It’s a fun little treat that will start him off in a good mood and gives him something to play with for a while. Maybe wait till you see some signs of a meltdown before you hand it over. Although I wouldn’t give it to him after the start of a meltdown. You wouldn’t want to reward the kid. We usually buy something really cheap. Kids haven’t started to associate a toy’s coolness factor with how much was spent on it yet, and if he’s already bored with it by the trip’s end it at least served its purpose.

Snack time: Try and work in a long snack time with special treats that they may not get as often. The more you can occupy their time with a snack the better. I slowly feed our eldest Cheetos one at a time.

Ipods and the like: We often make sure we load up an awesome play list for ourselves but think about putting on some children’s songs or a video for the kids.

Interact with his new surroundings: Traveling often introduces totally new things to your child. Perhaps its his first time on a plane, train, or boat. It’s a great opportunity to point out new things to him or refer something to a book he’s read. Get him interested or psyched up about what’s new.

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Parenting Help | Help Your Baby Hold His Head Up

By Bruce Teague on August 1, 2009

Help Your Baby Hold His Head Up
Babies have really big heads which are disproportional to their bodies. They need their loving parents to help strengthen their necks and upper body so they can hold them up. Babies can usually start to lift their heads around 1 month, and hold them up in a sitting position around 4 months. Here are a few tips to help with their head control.
Tummy Time: Many children hate to be placed on their tummies, but don’t let that stop you. One trick is to put something of interest in front of your baby. This encourages him to try and pick his head up to look at it. It also entertains your baby so he doesn’t cry demanding to be flipped back over. In this picture the entertainment was the camera, and it didn’t work. You’ll probably only have success with tummy time for a few minutes at a time at first. Don’t get discouraged, keep at it.
Tummy Time Variation: My wife likes to lay on her back, put her legs up bent and place the little one on them with his head hanging over the knees so they can look at each other. If you’re not into rolling around on the floor doing acrobats then you can do as pictured above. Our kids were usually happier with this method, in either position, than being placed on the floor, and would last for longer periods of time. On a side note, don’t you just love the fabric on those pillows?
Pull Up: Lay your baby down on his back, grab his arms and slowly pull him up. Your baby should try to pull his head up and keep it in line with the rest of his body. If he’s leaving it behind and it’s flopping around like it’s going to roll off then lay him back down and try again. In the beginning you may need to help him extra by supporting his neck muscles. Remember this is the first time these muscles are being used! I’m ok with his head lagging behind some, but if he’s crying or looks too uncomfortable I’ll wait and try again later.
Sit Baby Upright: Once your baby is able to hold his head up for brief periods of time hold him upright for as long as he can keep his big noggin up. When it falls forward give him a short break and do it again. It’s like reps at the gym… I should know I went to the gym for a week once. Then impregnated my wife and had to put the money towards other things like diapers, baby clothes, bottles, you know how it is. We tried to inlist Jonas’ older brother for the task. It was a fail.
Once your little peanut can hold his head upright all on his lonesome you can continue these exercises to help with his strength training for rolling over.
I would love to hear how you helped your little one reach this milestone

Parenting Help | Help Your Baby Hold His Head Up

Babies have really big heads which are disproportional to their bodies. They need their loving parents to help strengthen their necks and upper body so they can hold them up. Babies can usually start to lift their heads around 1 month, and hold them up in a sitting position around 4 months. Here are a few tips to help with their head control.

Tummy Time: Many children hate to be placed on their tummies, but don’t let that stop you. One trick is to put something of interest in front of your baby. This encourages him to try and pick his head up to look at it. It also entertains your baby so he doesn’t cry demanding to be flipped back over. In this picture the entertainment was the camera, and it didn’t work. You’ll probably only have success with tummy time for a few minutes at a time at first. Don’t get discouraged, keep at it.

Tummy Time Variation: My wife likes to lay on her back, put her legs up bent and place the little one on them with his head hanging over the knees so they can look at each other. If you’re not into rolling around on the floor doing acrobats then you can do as pictured above. Our kids were usually happier with this method, in either position, than being placed on the floor, and would last for longer periods of time. On a side note, don’t you just love the fabric on those pillows?

Pull Up: Lay your baby down on his back, grab his arms and slowly pull him up. Your baby should try to pull his head up and keep it in line with the rest of his body. If he’s leaving it behind and it’s flopping around like it’s going to roll off then lay him back down and try again. In the beginning you may need to help him extra by supporting his neck muscles. Remember this is the first time these muscles are being used! I’m ok with his head lagging behind some, but if he’s crying or looks too uncomfortable I’ll wait and try again later.

Sit Baby Upright: Once your baby is able to hold his head up for brief periods of time hold him upright for as long as he can keep his big noggin up. When it falls forward give him a short break and do it again. It’s like reps at the gym… I should know I went to the gym for a week once. Then impregnated my wife and had to put the money towards other things like diapers, baby clothes, bottles, you know how it is. We tried to inlist Jonas’ older brother for the task. It was a fail.

Once your little peanut can hold his head upright all on his lonesome you can continue these exercises to help with his strength training for rolling over.

I would love to hear how you helped your little one reach this milestone

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Stop Nightime Wakings With The Cry It Out Method

By Bruce Teague on July 30, 2009

Stop Nightime Wakings With The Cry It Out Method
The Cry It Out Method is the most controversial. The idea behind it is your child will eventually get too exhausted to care that he doesn’t have the thing he desires to help him sleep and learn how to do without it. You can do it two ways. One is to let your child cry until he falls asleep. Sounds simple enough, but it can be really hard on a parent to listen to their child cry for long periods of time. In theory it doesn’t take as long for your child to learn to sleep on his own as the next option, but some parents find it cruel.
You can also choose to do the “Ferber Method” which is to let your kid cry for extended intervals, while going in to check on him. For example you let him cry for two minutes, check in on him, then let him cry for four minutes before you check in on him and so on until he falls asleep. The key to this one is to let him know you’re there, but not pick him up or help him sleep. This way he knows he’s not abandoned, but realizes he has to figure out how to sleep on his own. There’s a book on it: Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems. It’s a long one, but I recommend it. The book teaches you a lot of general information on your children’s sleep that I found useful on dealing with my child’s sleep issues.
We did the cry it out method with our first child. It didn’t really go as smoothly as we read it should. I believe they said “The crying will only last a few days.” Hogwash! It took weeks for him to get below 30 minutes and he probably cried for the first 5 to 10 minutes every night for nearly two months. He’s a stubborn one… he gets that from his parents.

baby cry it out1 Stop Nightime Wakings With The Cry It Out Method

The Cry It Out Method is the most controversial. The idea behind it is your child will eventually get too exhausted to care that he doesn’t have the thing he desires to help him sleep and learn how to do without it. You can do it two ways. One is to let your child cry until he falls asleep. Sounds simple enough, but it can be really hard on a parent to listen to their child cry for long periods of time. In theory it doesn’t take as long for your child to learn to sleep on his own as the next option, but some parents find it cruel.

You can also choose to do the “Ferber Method” which is to let your kid cry for extended intervals, while going in to check on him. For example you let him cry for two minutes, check in on him, then let him cry for four minutes before you check in on him and so on until he falls asleep. The key to this one is to let him know you’re there, but not pick him up or help him sleep. This way he knows he’s not abandoned, but realizes he has to figure out how to sleep on his own. There’s a book on it: Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems. It’s a long one, but I recommend it. The book teaches you a lot of general information on your children’s sleep that I found useful on dealing with my child’s sleep issues.

We did the cry it out method with our first child. It didn’t really go as smoothly as we read it should. I believe they said “The crying will only last a few days.” Hogwash! It took weeks for him to get below 30 minutes and he probably cried for the first 5 to 10 minutes every night for nearly two months. He’s a stubborn one… he gets that from his parents.

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Can’t Get Away For A Date? No Problem!

By Bruce Teague on July 29, 2009

Can’t Get Away For A Date? No Problem!
We now live in a different country. In the past we had done horribly with the whole date night thing, but our marriage was sliding down hill and we knew the excuse train had to stop rolling. Living in Africa had greatly reduced our options for baby sitters. The only way for us to go out on a date was to give up on the “go out” part. Not to say we would never go out, but it wasn’t going to be the weekly event we always pretended it would be. Even in the States setting up somebody to watch your kid for you once a week was more work and energy then we were willing to put into it. Date nights are more about the two of you then anything else. Here’s the start of our routine date night in.
I had to find the time. I often feel there isn’t enough of it in my day, but much of my time is wasted.The kids are down by 8:30 every night so that gave us 2 or 3 hours before we go to bed. My instinct is to get on the net, but it’s a perfect slot that’s available every day that I can set aside for time with my wife. The average American watches around 30 hours of TV a week. Cut out a program or stop flipping through channels to find something to veg your brain on one night a week.
What was I going to do though? There are not a ton of fun activities in our house outside of anything with a screen, are there? Well what do we normally do on a date night when we do go out? Dinner and a movie. That’s easy enough to do at home. We would wait until the kids were down then eat our dinner. It makes for conversation about things other than eating your vegetables and is much easier to focus on one another. I wanted to do something other than a movie though, but decided it wouldn’t be totally ruled out for future dates. I had just read The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work and it contained several exercises. I realize that doesn’t sound like fun to everybody, but it did to us. The important thing was to do something that would cause us to connect, and also do something we’d enjoy together.
I needed to make this night a little bit more special. Lets be honest, we eat dinner together all the time. Throwing some food in front of each other wasn’t going to make anybody feel better than any other given meal. I tried to turn on the right lights to set the mood and I bought some candles. We also made sure it was a bit of a nicer meal. No Hungry Jacks tonight. The focus here was to separate it from a normal night. Favorite meals or special treats are usually good.
Good conversation and eats were had. I told her we’d put the dishes in the sink, but on date night they could wait to be washed till the next day. To my surprise my wife agreed. We moved to the couch, I made a quick pit stop and grabbed the book and upon my return my wife was already snoozing. Not exactly what I was hoping for. I told myself, “try it again next week” and moved her to the bed. That’s probably the most crucial part. Despite how a date goes, do it again next week anyways.

home date1 Cant Get Away For A Date? No Problem!

We now live in a different country. In the past we had done horribly with the whole date night thing, but our marriage was sliding down hill and we knew the excuse train had to stop rolling. Living in Africa had greatly reduced our options for baby sitters. The only way for us to go out on a date was to give up on the “go out” part. Not to say we would never go out, but it wasn’t going to be the weekly event we always pretended it would be. Even in the States setting up somebody to watch your kid for you once a week was more work and energy then we were willing to put into it. Date nights are more about the two of you then anything else. Here’s the start of our routine date night in.

I had to find the time. I often feel there isn’t enough of it in my day, but much of my time is wasted.The kids are down by 8:30 every night so that gave us 2 or 3 hours before we go to bed. My instinct is to get on the net, but it’s a perfect slot that’s available every day that I can set aside for time with my wife. The average American watches around 30 hours of TV a week. Cut out a program or stop flipping through channels to find something to veg your brain on one night a week.

What was I going to do though? There are not a ton of fun activities in our house outside of anything with a screen, are there? Well what do we normally do on a date night when we do go out? Dinner and a movie. That’s easy enough to do at home. We would wait until the kids were down then eat our dinner. It makes for conversation about things other than eating your vegetables and is much easier to focus on one another. I wanted to do something other than a movie though, but decided it wouldn’t be totally ruled out for future dates. I had just read The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work and it contained several exercises. I realize that doesn’t sound like fun to everybody, but it did to us. The important thing was to do something that would cause us to connect, and also do something we’d enjoy together.

I needed to make this night a little bit more special. Lets be honest, we eat dinner together all the time. Throwing some food in front of each other wasn’t going to make anybody feel better than any other given meal. I tried to turn on the right lights to set the mood and I bought some candles. We also made sure it was a bit of a nicer meal. No Hungry Jacks tonight. The focus here was to separate it from a normal night. Favorite meals or special treats are usually good.

Good conversation and eats were had. I told her we’d put the dishes in the sink, but on date night they could wait to be washed till the next day. To my surprise my wife agreed. We moved to the couch, I made a quick pit stop and grabbed the book and upon my return my wife was already snoozing. Not exactly what I was hoping for. I told myself, “try it again next week” and moved her to the bed. That’s probably the most crucial part. Despite how a date goes, do it again next week anyways.

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Improve Your Marriage With Date Nights

By Bruce Teague on July 28, 2009

“Hey, dad. It’s time to stop making excuses about taking mom on a date!”
We stood in front of the car. It was time for our usual decision. Who was going to drive? My wife always preferred for me to do it, but she also hated the way I drove. This inevitably led to fights in the car. It was only our second attempt in the 9 months since our first had been born. I made her promise she wouldn’t criticize how I chose to maneuver the vehicle on the streets of Boston before I would take the wheel. She agreed, but did anyway. Our high hopes of a great and much needed date night had been squashed within 5 minutes. I wanted to turn the car around right there and scrap the whole endeavor, but being the stubborn duo that we are, we proceeded. We ate a rather quiet dinner, went to a movie, then drove home with little chatter. We used this event as an excuse not to try another date for a while. So what went wrong?
Lack of frequency: It was our first date in 7 months. You might think a date together should be a no brainer, but if you never have dates, you forget how to plan a good one. Just ask the socially awkward guy at the office. He’ll probably get clammy just thinking about the prospect. It’s not like riding a bike. It’s closer to a complicated social experiment that we call marriage. You can forget how to have a good time together.
Pressure: We put pressure on ourselves to have an amazing evening. We didn’t go out and naturally have a good time because we loved and enjoyed one another. We forced the issue and if things didn’t turn out like we thought they should then the night was a failure.
Conditions: Morgan broke our condition of me driving so I had every right to get mad, right? I should have expressed my concern and she probably would have tried to bite her tongue. When she did criticize my driving I wouldn’t have blown up. Slightly irritated? Yes, but a covenant wouldn’t have been broken giving me the justification to get angry.
The only way marriage is really going to work is if it’s rooted in friendship. It’s easy to do life well as roommates, but when the kids grow up you’re going to look at your spouse and find them boring. The memories of how they annoy you will have stayed fresh over the years, but long gone will be the memories of when you had time to enjoy one another. Try to make time once a week for just the two of you. Don’t put pressure on it, just be you. Your partner likes you the way you are. Otherwise they wouldn’t have married you. I know it’s hard with kids, and you’ll always have plenty of excuses, but do it anyways.
What have ya’ll found as road blocks and how have you broken through them?
date night1 Improve Your Marriage With Date Nights

"Hey, dad. It's time to stop making excuses about taking mom on a date!"

We stood in front of the car. It was time for our usual decision. Who was going to drive? My wife always preferred for me to do it, but she also hated the way I drove. This inevitably led to fights in the car. It was only our second attempt in the 9 months since our first had been born. I made her promise she wouldn’t criticize how I chose to maneuver the vehicle on the streets of Boston before I would take the wheel. She agreed, but did anyway. Our high hopes of a great and much needed date night had been squashed within 5 minutes. I wanted to turn the car around right there and scrap the whole endeavor, but being the stubborn duo that we are, we proceeded. We ate a rather quiet dinner, went to a movie, then drove home with little chatter. We used this event as an excuse not to try another date for a while. So what went wrong?

Lack of frequency: It was our first date in 7 months. You might think a date together should be a no brainer, but if you never have dates, you forget how to plan a good one. Just ask the socially awkward guy at the office. He’ll probably get clammy just thinking about the prospect. It’s not like riding a bike. It’s closer to a complicated social experiment that we call marriage. You can forget how to have a good time together.

Pressure: We put pressure on ourselves to have an amazing evening. We didn’t go out and naturally have a good time because we loved and enjoyed one another. We forced the issue and if things didn’t turn out like we thought they should then the night was a failure.

Conditions: Morgan broke our condition of me driving so I had every right to get mad, right? I should have expressed my concern and she probably would have tried to bite her tongue. When she did criticize my driving I wouldn’t have blown up. Slightly irritated? Yes, but a covenant wouldn’t have been broken giving me the justification to get angry.

The only way marriage is really going to work is if it’s rooted in friendship. It’s easy to do life well as roommates, but when the kids grow up you’re going to look at your spouse and find them boring. The memories of how they annoy you will have stayed fresh over the years, but long gone will be the memories of when you had time to enjoy one another. Try to make time once a week for just the two of you. Don’t put pressure on it, just be you. Your partner likes you the way you are. Otherwise they wouldn’t have married you. I know it’s hard with kids, and you’ll always have plenty of excuses, but do it anyways.

What have ya’ll found as road blocks and how have you broken through them?

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