Decorating a baby room is a wonderful opportunity to create a carefree hideaway – a place of slumber and lullabies.

Baby Room Themes…
From Tropical Jungle to Noah’s Ark, Teddy Bears to Winnie the Pooh: There are many delightful baby room themes to choose from – any one will spark enthusiasm and generate exciting nursery decorating ideas.

But decorating the baby room can be daunting: There’s so much choice – nursery bedding sets, furnishings, nursery wall décor and accessories of all kinds! Also young children can soon outgrow even the most enchanting baby room themes.

Nursery Decor…
Co-ordinated nursery bedding sets and matching accessories can make easy work of decorating a baby room, ensuring nursery décor is effective and harmonious.

But mixing and matching presents the opportunity for more imaginative nursery decorating ideas – and it’s fun! The key to success with ‘mix and match’ nursery décor is to select elements – baby nursery pictures, fabrics and accessories – that share color and pattern elements.

Basing nursery décor on neutral wall and floor coverings enables endless variations: Keeping baby room decorating ideas flexible makes it easy to adapt to a young child’s developing interests.

By changing just the accessories – nursery bedding sets, pictures and rugs – different nursery decorating ideas can be developed without all the upheaval of a major redecorating project. For a while, at least, baby room themes can grow with your child!

Color Schemes…
Young children love bright primary colors but large areas can be overwhelming. Decorating the baby room with a subtle, calm color scheme is usually a better choice. Introducing warm colors – rose, peach or primrose – into your baby room decorating ideas will help create a feeling of coziness.

While decorating the baby room with the cool colors – aqua, mint or sky blue – can create a feeling of spaciousness. But it is probably best to keep ideas based on this color range for a room with a warm, sunny aspect.

Touches of bright primary colors bring extra interest and visual stimulation. Introducing just small amounts with baby nursery pictures, nursery bedding sets, toys and accessories can transform a room. These are the finishing touches that can bring nursery décor alive!

Nursery Wall Decor…
From a series of framed art prints to big cheerful posters, a collage of birthday cards to giant stick-ups – nursery wall décor can create an interesting focus and highlight of color.

A special picture may provide inspiration for some great baby nursery ideas and the basis for a subtle color scheme.

Pictures can be used to develop baby room themes, giving them added dimension: Baby nursery pictures of animals can extend a Tropical Jungle theme – Paddington Bear pictures a Teddy Bear theme.

Look for baby nursery pictures that you find inspiring – they can be a valuable source for interesting nursery decorating ideas. But, best of all, good nursery wall décor will help to create a special place that excites whimsical fantasy and imaginative storytelling – the essence of a magical childhood!

About The Author
Writer and designer of elementary educational materials with particular interest in art education. Webmaster of www.NurseryPosters.com. suzanne@takingwing.co.uk

I remember when my daughter was born. Visions of her and I dressed in pinks and purples sitting in her lacy pink room playing dolls danced threw my head. A year later my son was born ;My husbands vision of sports and trucks revved around like mad men threw his manly mind.

Those dreams were simply that dreams. Little did I know there are lessons for parents to learn about children’s toys and who are children will be.

My daughter plays with dolls. She plays with clay and gets her hands dirty. She plays in the dirt, climbs trees and races her trucks around ,he plays kick ball , base ball and can run as fast as any boy.

My son plays with trucks and builds with blocks, he colors and plays ps2 and he plays house with my girls rocking babies and feeding them.

There was a time my husband would bark to my son “Put down that doll!” until we came to the realization that play is really a child’s preparation for real life. Our daughter was learning sportsmanship and how to be a team player from all the sports she played. My son was learning compassion and parenting skills from those dolls. It’s amazing to me to watch my son now with his baby brother…I can see the compassion he has learned threw us and his play and I know some day he will be a good father I see my daughter line up her brothers and sister for a game of kick ball. And I see how she has learned to take the lead and take charge. I know some day in what ever she put her mind to see will be a success.

My message to parents is not to limit their child. Toys and sports are learning tools for life and they shouldn’t carry a gender.

By the way…my daughter and I play but its not dolls….many days you can find us all at the beach…covered in muddy sand driving our big Tonka’s™ .

© 2004-2005 Jennifer Gove
www.simplymoms.com

About The Author
Jennifer is a stay at home mother of eight.Living on the coast of Maine. To visit her parenting site that include more aticles, forums and chat go to www.simplymoms.com/forums. zjgim@hotmail.com

Blue & Yellow Make Green
Put a few drops of blue food coloring in the toilet and show your child that the color turns green when he or she pees in the potty!

Toilet Targets
Purchase or make toilet targets to teach your child to aim.

Musical Potty Chair
Musical potty chairs, such as the Tinkle Toonz, play a tune when your child uses the potty!

Potty training Doll
Anatomically correct drink & wet dolls, such as the Corolle or Aquini dolls, help make toilet training fun and easy. This method is recommended by Dr. Phil.

Potty Training Watch
Make potty time reminders fun and exciting with the VibraLite toilet training watch. The VibraLite watch, which comes in purple or blue, can be set to vibrate every 30 minutes as a fun reminder that it’s potty time!

Books, Videos, & DVDs
Toilet training bedtime stories, videos and DVDs are a fun educational way to introduce toilet training to your child.

Charts & Stickers
Toilet training charts and stickers are great motivational tools. Start by giving stickers for sitting on the potty. After a while, give stickers only when your child uses the potty. Finally, offer a small toy as a reward for 3 accident free days.

Fun Toilet Training Pants
Toilet training pants and liners come in fantastic colors. Let your child choose the color of training pants or underwear to wear.

Phone Call From Superhero
Reward your child for using the potty with a phone call from his or her superhero. Enlist friends or neighbors to play the part.

Copyright © 2004 ZIP Baby. All Rights Reserved.

Danna Henderson
ZIP Baby
101 Convention Center Drive, Ste 700
Las Vegas, NV 89109
www.zipbaby.com

About The Author
Danna Henderson started ZIP Baby in order to provide parents with comprehensive potty training information as well as a large variety of potty training products. For more information about potty training, visit the ZIP Baby Potty Training Store.

1. Make sure your camera is ready.
If your camera runs on batteries, you will want to make sure you have a fresh set. Carry a spare set with you as well. Be sure to have your memory card ready to go if you are using a digital camera. In a standard camera, make sure you have fresh film. As for the film, make sure it is at a constant temperature. You do not want it lying around for several years, then dig it out of the trunk of your car and expect great results. To always be ready, keep a disposable camera in the diaper bag to catch the photo opportunity while you are running around with your precious bundle.

2. Play with colors and lights.
Soft colors, soft light and soft textures work best when photographing babies. These take away from distracting backgrounds or clothing colors and allow the photograph to be focused on the baby. Don’t overlook their hands and toes. A baby’s personality is often found in these digits and cute pictures can be captured as your baby discovers them.

3. Use a blanket.
Covering the baby seat with a solid colored blanket will draw attention to the child, not to the busy pattern of the seat itself.

4. Minimize surrounding light.
Bright light makes babies and all other people, squint. A soft source of light by a window or under the shade of a tree works well. In the house turn on a lamp across the room from where the baby is in order to provide light for your picture and not bother the baby. If you are going to do outdoor photographs, morning light or sundown is a good time to take your baby out.

5. Work around your baby’s schedule.
The best photographs are taken when the baby is rested, fed, clean, and ready to play. Prepare everything during your baby’s nap so that when he wakes up and eats you are ready to have a successful picture taking session.

6. Ordering pictures.
If you are at a professional studio keep in mind that they will try to sell you at least one of everything. Plan before you go the amount of money you want to spend and who you want to buy for. If you are taking your own pictures you can print them out in your own lab at home, or upload them to an online site for processing. If you know sizes and quantities that you need ahead of time then you can quickly order what you need without spending all your grocery money accidentally.

7. Keep a record of your pictures.
Write the date on the front of the envelope that the pictures come in, as well as what it contains. Be sure to store your CDs or negatives in a dry, temperature-controlled place. You can put these photos in your albums or scrapbooks to create a visual diary of your baby’s life.

8. Take frequent pictures.
Your baby is growing up fast. If you are taking your own pictures take them often so that you can see the growth in your baby. When your baby is a year old you will appreciate being able to look back and see all the different ages. If you prefer a professional photographer consider going every three months during the first year to capture the changes in your baby. Many people will do newborn, three-month, six-month, nine-month, one year, 18 month and 2 year old pictures before just slowing down to one pose a year. If your baby’s birthday is around holidays you can take holiday pictures at the same time. If not you may find yourself at the photographers mid-year for holiday pictures.

No aspect of party planning is more crucial and sometimes mind boggling to a baby shower planner than selecting the baby shower theme. There are almost too many ideas available today, and often the host of a party finds themselves suffering apoplexy at the idea of selecting a baby shower theme.

A small amount of creativity however will be sure to generate success, regardless of the baby shower theme selected. Keep in mind that the mom to be’s happiness is perhaps the greatest priority. Not sure what theme to select? Worried about what might go over well with the guests? Turn to the expectant mom for guidance, and you are certain to come out a winner.

Selecting a baby shower theme should depend on just a couple of critical factors; For example, is the mother expecting a boy, girl, twins or more? Twins are the perfect “theme” for any party of a mother blessed with multiples. You could for example, in this instance offer guests two of everything, including cake!

In times of old a shower was only held for the first child. This tradition has changed however of late, and it isn’t uncommon for a mom to be to have a shower for each child, celebrating their uniqueness and the joy at bringing another new life into the world. Sometimes a variation of the same theme can be used at subsequent showers. Still struggling for ideas? Consider some of the following:

Teddy Bears: What child does not love plush, stuffed and furry teddy bears! Teddy bear themes can be used for male or female children. Napkins, tableware and similar style decorations are sure to be found with teddy bears on them.

Colors: Often a mom to be seeks out gifts and accessories that complement or match the color she has selected for baby’s nursery. You might consider a baby shower theme that matches the color scheme of baby’s nursery. Guests can also be clued in on the invitation, and invited to bring items that will complement the nursery or wardrobe of the baby to be.

Cartoon Characters: Many parents select well known characters to incorporate into their nursery theme and these are easily translated into a baby shower theme. Some ideas include Strawberry Shortcake, Hello Kitty, or Bugs Bunny for example.

Shapes: Some parents may decide on shapes or even objects such as lemons, fish, cubes, circles and triangles to decorate their baby’s nursery. Again, finding decorations and accessories for the shower that match this theme should prove beneficial and inexpensive.

No matter what baby shower theme you select, you are bound to find hundreds of items to complement the event, including decorations, favors and even gifts. Once the baby shower theme has been selected, as a planner the next most important task is setting about planning for the actual party and getting invitations out to the guests to be.

Traditionally, the shower is held at the home of the host; this is not always the case however, and exceptions to the rule might be welcome in some situations. Regardless of where you decide to throw the party, be sure to give guests enough advance notice to plan on attending. This usually requires three weeks to a month’s notice, as most people are already too busy in today’s society!

After selecting a baby shower theme, planning the party is easy. Once invitations have been mailed out and RSVP’s have been received, plan on spending some time making a list of food items that will be needed, decorations you plan on acquiring, settling on party favors and deciding on a few fun games to play. Once you have all of these items sorted out, everything else is bound to fall together and you and your guests are sure to have a delightful time celebrating mom to be!

About The Author
Adriana Copaceanu provides people with creative gift ideas that don’t blow the bank. Gift Baskets for Baby to Birthday and Beyond, are just some gift ideas you’ll find at her site: ACB Gifts And Baskets. Want regular reminders on gift-giving? Sign up for her free monthly newsletter at http://www.abcgiftsandbaskets.com/gift-news-signup.htm.