There are so many old wives tales floating around during pregnancy that it is hard to know fact from fiction, except in the case where the tale is really off the wall. You will probably hear strange things from your grandmother regarding what you should and shouldn’t do. While your grandmother probably believed this when she was pregnant with your mom, there is no reason why you have to believe it now. We can’t cover all the pregnancy related old wives tales in this article, but here are some of our favorites, and some of the funniest.

Pregnant Women Should Not Take Baths
This idea is false; however some of the beliefs behind it are true. Pregnant women can and should take baths. It is a great way for a pregnant woman to take some of the weight off her back and relax, especially later in pregnancy. If your water has broken however you should NOT take a bath as your uterus is then vulnerable to infection. You should also avoid throughout your pregnancy taking baths or sitting in hot tubs above 100 degrees. This can raise your body temperature too much and cause problems to your baby, especially during the first trimester.

Holding Your Hands Above Your Head Can Hurt The Baby
The truth is that the positioning of your hands has nothing to do with your baby’s positioning in the uterus or the umbilical cord becoming wrapped around him. Babies born with the umbilical cord wrapped around them is actually quite common as it happens in about 1/3 of all pregnancies and is actually caused by the early movements your baby makes in utero, while they are still small enough to make them.

Wearing A Lei Can Choke Your Fetus
This Hawaiian superstition is just that…a superstition. It makes no sense that a pregnant woman who wears a lei could be choking her baby.

You Have to Drink A Lot of Water or Your Baby Will Get Dirty
A pregnant woman should drink water because it is good for them. However it has nothing to do with how clean or dirty the baby’s amniotic fluid is. The truth is your baby pees in and drinks the amniotic fluid surrounding them, and the amniotic fluid actually replenishes itself every three hours. Staying hydrated helps your baby, but your baby will not get dirty if you do not drink the recommended eight glasses of water a day.

You Need Boiling Water Nearby During Childbirth
Fact or fiction? In reality no one is really sure WHY midwives used to order the husbands to get boiling water. Some think it was just a ploy to get the husbands out of the room during tense times of labor. Others speculate that it was an effort to make sure the few tools that were used, were properly sterilized. Along the same lines so believe that it was a way to keep the tools used at room temperature instead of letting them get cold. Today there is little, if no need to have boiling water nearby during childbirth.

If You Have Heartburn During Pregnancy Your Baby Has A Lot of Hair
Because of there being less room in your stomach since there is a baby growing and pushing on it, heartburn is actually extremely common during those nine months. There is no proof or reason to believe that having heartburn is a sign of a baby being born with a head full of hair.

Your Partner Will Get a Sty in the Eye if They Don’t Feed You What You Crave
While this is fun and definitely something a pregnant woman might be able to get away with holding over her partners head, it is not true. However, that doesn’t mean that the person who denies their pregnant partner the food she craves is safe…

Sex Can Kick Start Labor
This one is actually true! Female enjoyment creates the hormone oxytocin which can help ripen your cervix and get it ready for labor. A mans semen contains the hormone prostaglandins which can cause contractions. Sex is often recommended at the end of a healthy, normal pregnancy. Ask your OB!

Full Moons Bring the Babies
While it is widely believed and noted in L&D rooms every where, however this myth has never been scientifically proven.

These are just a few that we have put together for you. To see our list of gender related pregnancy old wives tales, click here.

by Danna Henderson

Your attitude and actions have a huge impact on your child’s potty training success. The following potty training techniques don’t work and should never be done:

• Punishing your child for accidents
• Making your child wear soiled diapers or underwear
• Making your child sit on the potty for more than 5 to 10 minutes at a time
• Making your child “hold it” if he or she needs to go
• Making your child sit on the potty when he or she is crying

Try to make potty training fun and exciting for your child. Positive reinforcement generates better results than negative reinforcement. Browse our selection of potty training products to choose the right product to use with your chosen potty training technique.

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.

Do you remember the good old days when you could grab your sled in the winter and head down the nearest hill with all your friends from the neighborhood? You probably made a game out of catching snowflakes on your tongue. Would you really want your child to try that these days with all the pollution in the atmosphere? Now thanks to dirty snow your new baby may not have that same delightful childhood experience. However, with your help you can turn the planet around and help the world stay a safe place to play. Currently, there are many “green” factors, such as dirty snow and global warming, to think about in order to keep both your new baby and the planet he lives in a healthy, happy place.

Vehicle emissions are one major preventable cause of dirty snow. To help prevent those filthy flakes, consider walking, riding a bicycle, or carpooling as much as possible to keep the emissions to a minimum. Walking and cycling will also help you shed those unwanted extra pregnancy pounds so there are definite benefits to being planet-conscious! When you absolutely must drive, use cleaner-burning fuels.

Another unnecessary cause of dirty snow is soot particles produced by smokestacks from factories. The US has fallen behind most other countries in requiring factories to comply with reasonable emissions which could not only harm the environment, but also make it harder for you and your baby to breathe easy.

Forrest fires are a third factor that affects dirty snow. When camping be sure that you completely put out all fires before leaving camp. Keep fires far away from brush. Also, use common sense and don’t start fires on windy days, or throw cigarettes out of windows while driving.

How does dirty snow effect global warming anyway? Well, believe it or not, researchers have found that dirty snow can have as much detrimental effect on global warming as greenhouse gasses. You may find the idea of snow heating anything a bit absurd; however, consider this. Although bright clean snow reflects light, dirty snow is darker and absorbs heat which warms the atmosphere. Thus, at least one-third of global warming problems can be blamed on dirty snow, or at least on the people who produce the noxious emissions that cause the filthy flakes. Keep in mind that most of these emissions are preventable, and you can do your part to keep your family and planet healthy. Remember, use clean energy sources whenever possible.

By Roy Thomsitt

If you are expecting a baby in the next few months, the chances are you will have started planning for some of her important things, if not doing them and buying them already. Her crib may be chosen; her nursery may be painted and decorated; you may have some beautiful bedding to match the baby decor of her room; and you may have bought a few gorgeous newborn outfits with which to adorn your newborn.

However, there may be a whole host of things you have not really thought of seriously, especially if you are a first time parent. It is so tempting to focus on the pretty things, and forget, or not learn of, the practical ones. So, when it comes to baby clothes, leave all the cute outfits to the baby shower guests, and concentrate for a while on the things you will really need. After all, you do not want your baby to be caught with her diapers down!

Having a baby is a combination of joy and stress for most people, and I suppose that is true of most major events in our lives. There is nothing to compare to the pleasure and happiness that a mother feels when she holds her new baby for those first few days after the birth; or the father showing off pictures of the baby to his friends and family.

Unfortunately, there is also nothing quite like the stress in worrying that everything is going to be all right on the night, or day, as the case may be. To reduce the chance of those stresses taking over, and to ensure that the family is properly prepared for their joyous new addition, it is as well to get organised with the practical things for the baby layette. Let the person who is to organise the baby shower sort out all that side of things, while you ensure all the most practical items are in place by month 7 of the pregnancy.

New parents quite often fall into the trap of being unprepared when it comes to suitable clothing for their baby. So, here are some of the essentials you will need to complete your preparation for the baby’s arrival:

1. Cotton bodysuits, absorbent baby blankets, bibs, and baby booties are items that a new parent can never have enough of. Babies, God Bless them, are messy little things sometimes. For all the cuteness and adorability that they possess, they do dribble, slobber, vomit and overfill their diapers with some of their profuse outputs, and they are like that for about the first year or so of their lives. As such, their clothes do get messy quickly and often; so be prepared, and be practical. A mum may find herself changing her baby’s clothing almost as often as she changes her diaper – sometimes more.

2. The best plan is to stock up on the practical things such as “onesies” suits, baby tees, and mess-cleaning cotton blankets so that you always have plenty on hand. Buy these practical items in abundance, but not so many that you’ll quickly be stuck with a pile of baby items that no longer fit the baby. It is a good idea to have at least five clean outfits at any time; that is clean items, and not awaiting the next wash. If you are going out on a long outing, you will need to pack extra, so always make sure that you have plenty of clean backups. Do not underestimate your little baby’s ability to take your laundry load to record levels, unlike anything you have seen before if you are a first time parent.

The cute and adorable baby outfits, and the stores are stuffed full of those, are fine for taking baby to church, for visiting grandparents, or for taking family photos. However, be prepared for the baby to make a mess over that precious little outfit. While planning and preparing for the arrival of your new offspring, forego some of the cute outfits so that you can stock up on more of the practical essentials. The guests at the baby shower can provide the cute things, while you ensure that you are truly prepared for the reality of having a bouncing new baby in the house.

About the Author:
This preparing for baby article was written by Roy Thomsitt, owner author of the Bouncing New Baby website. Ably assisted by his baby daughter, he is also responsible for the Baby Blog.

New babies are wonderful. They bring laughter and happiness to any family. They an also bring sleepless nights and ringing ears. Babies cry. It is a fact. But why do they cry?

When a baby is first born they have no way of communicating. Normally, immediately after birth a baby will start screaming. Doctors say this is how they test out their lungs, some people say that it is their way of protesting being taken from their nice, warm cocoon in their mother’s belly, to the cold air in the real world. In reality it is probably a combination of both.

While mothers and fathers are thrilled to hear this first cry, their babies cry often quickly becomes tiring. Most babies will cry frequently. Since this is their only way of communicating the parents must learn their babies cry and figure out WHY their baby is crying. There are many reasons a baby might be crying. A few include:

• The baby is cold
• The baby is hot
• The baby is wet
• The baby is tired
• The baby is hungry
• The baby is lonely
• The baby is frustrated
• The baby is scared

There are other reasons why a baby might cry, and many babies will have different cries for different reasons. The sooner the parent learns the different cries and what they mean, the quicker they will be able to quiet their baby.

Some babies cry and there is no consoling them. When this happens it is normally caused by the baby having colic. Colic is normally described as a baby crying at approximately the same time everyday, for 3-4 hours straight, and their being no consoling. This can start as early as 6 weeks and can last for several months.

If you think your baby has colic, ask your pediatrician for his opinion. Remember it is ok to hand your baby over to the other parent, or a relative who offers to come over, in order to get a few minutes of relief. If there is no one for you to hand your baby too, there is nothing wrong with putting your baby in his crib while you go out of the room for a few minutes and let the baby cry. You have to remember to do what it takes to remain calm, as colic causes extra stress in not only you, but the household and baby as well.