Hospital Bag for You
By the time you hit 37 weeks you should make sure that you have your hospital bag packed and ready to go. You may even want to have it in the trunk of your car. Every labor is different and since you do not know if you will go into labor at home, in the middle of the night, or while you are out of the house, you want to be prepared ahead of time. You won’t want to go into labor and not have time to pack a bag or take anything with you to the hospital. Things you might want to include in your bag are:

• Pajamas/lounging outfit for after the baby is born, if you don’t want to be stuck in the hospital gown
• Music for during and after labor
• Camera/video camera to record the birth and get your first pictures of baby
• Snacks for during labor for you and your labor partner
• Maxi-pads to go home in (the hospital will supply what you need while there)
• Clothes to go home in
• Any medicine you are on, including your prenatal vitamins
• Birth Plan
• Phone cards to call family and friends long distance if cell phones are not allowed in your room
• List of numbers of who to call after the baby comes

Hospital Bag for Your Baby
You also want to make sure that you have a bag packed for your baby, or that you pack some stuff for your baby in your hospital bag. Some things you may want to include are:

• Going home outfit
• Gowns for baby while in hospital
• Special baby blanket
• Cloth diapers if you choose
• Diapers/Wipes (hospital will supply some but it is always good to have extras!)
• Diaper rash cream
• Scratch mitts for babies hands

Other Last Minute Things to Do
If it is possible, get as much sleep as you can in the last weeks before your baby arrives. Chances are you won’t get much sleep after your baby is in your arms. Make your lists of who to call and when to call them. Double check your birth plan and go over it with your doctor or midwife.

Some women are concerned about how they will look “down there” while giving birth. If you choose, go in for a bikini wax and trim a couple of weeks before your due date. Shaving at this point in pregnancy is probably not possible, so have a professional help you.

Try to get away for a quiet weekend just you and your partner before the baby comes. This last chance for quiet time and bonding will be appreciated in the months after your baby arrives and you find that you have very little time alone, or with each other. If you have other kids, arrange with a family member or friend to keep them for a night or a weekend.

Get a facial, get your nails done, or other things that help you relax and are just for you. Once your baby arrives it will be difficult to find time to pamper yourself, so be sure to pamper yourself while you still can.

These last weeks of pregnancy will be tiring as well as joyful. It is important that you try to relax and enjoy the last minutes of your pregnancy and your baby’s movements before you enter a whole new phase of your life.

Any parent who’s ever seen Meatballs, or any other raucous depiction of overnight camp, might want to think twice about sending their child away for a portion of the summer. But the experience can be truly amazing for a kid, especially with the myriad specialty camps and their bounteous facilities. Overnight camp can be a growth experience in which a child can learn more independence, an opportunity to acquire or hone skills (such as a sports or acting), and make friends from places beyond their immediate neighborhood or school. It can also facilitate a kid’s appreciation for the cushiness of home.

While many of the tips recommended for choosing a day camp apply here, these are a few particular suggestions (and a couple of general ones for emphasis) to make the decision on overnight camps easier.

What to consider about overnight camps

1. Is your child ready?
   In weighing the options for what used to be called “sleepaway camp,” first decide whether your child is ready for it. Are they the right age and maturity level? Some kids can start going away at age 7 and others won’t be ready until they are 12, but many children start around 9 or 10 years of age.

    

2. How far/long do want them to go?
   Then, think of how far you want them to travel and how long you want them to be away. Going across the country might be tough for the younger ones and one week away may be sufficient for them as well. But two weeks or more can provide children can provide a rich experience for those above 10.

    

3. What are the costs?
   Price is another major factor in choosing a camp. What can you afford? What’s included in the price? Expensive doesn’t necessarily mean great and there are a lot of moderately priced overnight camps out there. On average, the weekly rate for overnight camps can range from $300 to $1,000.

    

4. What’s the camp look like?
   If you can, tour the camp, preferably with your child. You can check out the facilities for yourself to see if it’s safe and fits your child’s needs. While you’re there, meet the camp director to find out his/her vision, how many years they’ve been in operation, what they counselor to camper ratio is, whether they have licensed drivers or not, and what their safety/medical/emergency preparation is like.

    

5. What are the specialty options?
   These days, overnight camps offer every activity under the same – well beyond the traditional hiking and lake fishing. There are camps that teach kids to scuba dive, manage horses like a cowboy, and even debate like a lawyer. Staffing is the key to the quality of such places, so check out the counselor credentials before making a choice.

    

6. Who else can help you decide?
   Especially helpful in this part of the decision-making is the American Camping Association (ACA) accreditation. This organization checks out countless standards of safety, facility quality, and more. In the West, another group, called the Western Association of Independent Camps (WAIC) asks members to hold to high standards as well.

    

7. Who knows best?
   You do. Certainly, get your child’s input, but as a parent, think with your gut. Can you picture your child here? Is it a little challenging for them or will it terrify them? It wouldn’t hurt to listen to Allan Sherman’s classic comedy song “Hello Mudder, Hello Fadder.” In the song, a kid with fears of malaria and man-eating bears learns to love his overnight camp experience. Chance are, your child will too.

While they’re at camp

1. They’ll be well taken care of
   Once you’ve decided, your camp will provide you with a list of what to pack and what medical preparations you may need to make. While your child is at camp, they’ll be well fed and sheltered (though the beds might be a little rustic), so don’t worry.

    

2. They might get homesick
   You should also discuss with your child the issue of homesickness and what you plan to do about it. Most kids miss home, so prepare yourself for pleading phone calls to pick them up. Decide on the circumstances under which you would go get them and consider making them stringent, such as a medical or serious emotional issue. This is a growth experience so pain can be part of the process of getting to the real fun.

    

3. Don’t change much
   While your kid is away, don’t rearrange the house around or do anything like bringing home a dog. This would make coming home hard for your child and might make them not want to leave home again. But in this time they’re away, do think about documenting what your child was like at this age. Plan a scrapbook to keep letters to home your kid might send and pictures they might take. Some camps even post digital photos that you may download as keepsakes.

Choosing an overnight should be done carefully, but realize there is no guarantee it will turn out perfectly once you do make a selection. Chances are, though, your child will have a massive amount of fun and learn even more about themselves.

About The Author
Gregory Keer is a syndicated columnist, teacher and on-air expert on fatherhood. His Family Man ™ column appears in publications across the country, including LA Parent, Boston Parents’ Paper, Bay Area Parent, Long Island Parenting News, Metro Augusta Parent, and Sydney’s Child in Australia. Keer’s concurrent column, Today’s Family Man, is found at his online fatherhood magazine, FamilyManOnline.com. He also writes for Parenting magazine, the Parents’ Choice Foundation, and Parenthood.com. On television, Keer has appeared on morning shows and cable specials. He is the father of three sons and husband to Wendy, a professor in child development.

Do you find it intimidating when you come to journal your scrapbook pages?

You are not alone! Many scrapbookers find it hard to get started when it comes to adding journaling to their scrapbooking layouts.

If you are one of those people who go blank at the thought of having to journal, don’t worry. Here are some stress-free scrapbooking journaling ideas to help you write the right words whatever your page theme.

Make a list.
This is a fairly simple journaling technique that is suitable for use with any type of page theme, for example:

Doing a friendship page – list how you met, where you met, how long you have known each other, include what you like about your friend and why you are both pals.

Doing a recipe scrapbook page – then make a personal top 10 list of reasons why you like Grandma’s chocolate cake so much.

Doing a baby layout – do a list of baby’s favorite foods, you can even do one for the foods they don’t like!

A variation of this technique is to use bullet points to mark each line on your list, giving you an opportunity to empathise each item of your journaling:

Anguilla
April 2004
My first trip to the Caribbean
This is the view from my hotel balcony overlooking the cove – I can’t wait to go swimming the sea looks so nice! Make sure you have fun experimenting with all the different kinds of embellishments that you can use as your bullet points!

Another bonus with using the list technique is that you do not need to worry about the structure of your sentences or that your journaling makes sense because the list breaks down what you want to say into it’s basic readable form.

Write a Letter
This is one of those great scrapbook journaling ideas that’s fairly simple to do and it’s also a lovely, personal way to journal your layouts too.

All you have to do is pretend you’re writing to a friend telling them what is happening in your photographs and including the “Dear ….” at the beginning of your writing will give your journaling an intimate feel.

Sent any emails lately? Like letters, emails are also a good source of journaling material that you can use for your layouts.

If you are unsure of your own journaling then doing it in a letter format could help your writing flow more easily, as you describe the people and the events taking place, letting you tell the story naturally and in your own words.

Ask a question
If you are completely stuck and cannot think of anything to write this can be a good quick fix technique to use. Just ask some simple questions like, “What was your favorite part of..?” or “Did anything funny or embarrassing happen?”.

This technique can be very effective when used for a special occasion layout, like a bridal shower, where you can ask each of the guests to tell you about their favorite memory of the bride-to-be.

Why not take it a stage further? Give each shower guest some suitable decorative paper and let them write down their own memories rather than journal all of them yourself.

For an extra special touch, you could get the guests to bring with them their favorite photo of the bride-to-be. Ask them to journal why they picked that particular picture and then do a separate layout for each individual photo.

This is an effective way to make a wonderful and unique scrapbook that is quick, simple and full of memorable pieces of journaling that add a very personal feel to the album.

If you are one of those people who find it difficult to begin the journaling process these fun scrapbook journaling ideas will provide you with some basic tips and techniques to help make it easier.

So go on, try out the scrapbook journaling ideas above for yourself and add some stress-free journaling to your pages… Once you’ve finished you’ll see that it’s been well worth the effort.

About The Author
Elaine Clay is the owner of Online-Scrapbooking-Guide.com :: your one-stop online scrapbooking resource. Find inspiration, increase your creativity and have fun with our helpful tips, ideas, articles and much more.

Photography
Family traditions can also involve capturing important moments in film. Keeping a scrapbook, or lining pictures along the wall of your child for every age so that you can see how they have grown or by taking out the photo albums every birthday in order to reminisce.

One family went so far as to religiously photograph themselves every year on the same date, in order to see how they progressed and aged. This started in 1976 with mom and dad, and included pictures of their children from the year they were born through 2006. The results of this family tradition are astounding as it is a chance for them to stop time and see how they changed over time. It is also a great idea for all families who want to start a tradition of chronicling their lives with film.

Some parents will take yearly Christmas pictures of their children, leaving the most recent one on the wall for the entire year. Every year, the new picture would go in the frame on top of the previous year’s picture, giving parents a collection of holiday portraits of their children. Some might do collages of their child in a big frame from birth through the first year, a picture from every month, showing how their baby had changed and grown throughout the first year alone. Photography is a great way to involve tradition in your family.

Holidays
Family traditions can be something little or big and take place as various times of the year. Holidays are a popular time that people abide by family traditions whether it is Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas.

As a kid, Christmas was a holiday that held a lot of tradition in my family. Every year my mom and I would go to my aunt and uncles house on Christmas Eve to spend the night. Dinner would be something light and easy, normally sandwiches and chips. In the evening my mom, aunt, uncle, cousins and myself would play games like Pictionary and Charades for hours. Before bed we would go outside and look for a flashing red light in the sky, which my uncle swore to us kids was Rudolph’s nose.

On Christmas day all the kids would wait at the top of the stairs for the adults to call us down so that we could see what Santa brought. My uncle the chef always made the turkey, and I always made the gravy. My aunt would have the “Gray Family Applesauce Bread” for all to take home, and lots of fudge lying around for a treat. We always HAD to have my grandmothers chocolate pecan pie, so much so that we had to call her for the recipe when she became too ill to make the trip.

Easter in your family might have consisted of re-hiding the Easter eggs a dozen times so that the children can search them out repeatedly every year. In the fall some families hold traditional pumpkin carving contests, letting a friend or neighbor judge. Traditions make people happy, they make people feel comfortable and help them leave their problems at the door for one day, or at least for a few hours.

Vacations
Some families have the tradition of a yearly holiday away from it all just for them. They use this time to reconnect and get to know each other again. This time may be a vacation to a family amusement park, Hawaii, or to grandma’s house. They may even include a yearly, quick trip over spring break to a nearby beach or mountain resort that the family likes to go back to every year. These family traditions are what the kids will remember as they grow up, go off to college and begin families of their own.

Family traditions are an important part of any family. Whether the traditions are small, like the chocolate pecan pie, or grand like the trips to the beach, they are a great way for a family to bond, and pass down the importance of relationships and togetherness. It is never too late to start a family tradition of your own.

Having a baby does not put an end to your ecotourism adventure! Some ecotourism holidays are now actively marketed as family or child friendly, and the ecotourist vacation can provide quite an experience for both parents and children. This is because everyone can learn something from the vacation, including the baby.

First and foremost, babies pick up on a change in mood far more quickly than adults do and, as such, he or she will recognize a relaxing environment. Ecotourism resorts are famed for their ability to set people at ease, to help them become one with nature and to relax them. This will pull the family together in one harmonious unit. As such, your baby will benefit from the tranquillity and will indeed be happier for the duration of the holiday. This makes it fun in itself, but there is more!

Various family friendly ecotourism destinations have a range of facilities for small children, all of which make it easier for you to include the children in fun activities and educate them at the same time. Local businesses and individuals benefit from the tourist trade so they are willing to give something back and can communicate with your child in a unique way. By the age of three, it is possible for your child to have a loose grasp on helping out in a wide variety of fun filled activities that involve interaction with the local environment and wildlife. This in itself marks the ecotourism vacation a unique and innovative experience.

Of course, the child friendly ecotourism vacation is not as intensive as an adults only one because children tire easily, but there are areas of the world that welcome children, including babies. Costa Rica is one example. Your baby or toddler can enjoy the colourful side of nature in the eight national parks. They can bird watch and look out for the colourful toucans or watch the monkeys playing in the rainforest. They will be delighted by the activity and learn things, even from an early age.

If you want to make your ecotourism vacation especially fun for your baby or small child then why not go to Lapland? A good number of the tours there are labelled as ecotourism and the children can meet huskies, reindeer and even Santa whilst learning to respect the environment. It is certainly something different yet extremely fun. And the beauty of it is you are giving back to the community as well as providing your family with a firm foundation for education!

Situation: It never fails, when we’re on vacation, the rains hit. We’re all stuck in the hotel room, and inevitably everyone gets grumpy. How do we keep the kids happy if this disaster strikes again?

Think about it: To quote the insightful words of William Shakespeare, “Nothing is good or bad, only thinking makes it so.” Hey, you’re still on vacation, no one has to go to work, or go to school, and you don’t have to cook and clean. You can still find plenty of ways to enjoy the time.

Solution #1: If you read this book before you left, you’ve packed some indoor activities. If not, venture out to a local store, and buy a selection. It will be the best money you spend on the trip. A few ideas are: paint by number sets, Legos TM, balloons, head sets with music and books on tape, puzzles, clay, and hand-held computer games. One toy that’s a hit for many kids from about age three to ten is a selection of plastic miniature animals or bugs. Many kids will play happily with these for hours. There are many favorite games that are made in small travel size versions, such as checkers, chess and even Monopoly TM. Check out the local toy store.

Solution #2: If you’re lucky enough to have a kitchenette in your room, allow the kids to play house. Let them use the dishes and supplies. Cleaning up the mess is worth it, since this activity will keep them busy for long periods of time. Even better, let room service take care of the mess and give them an extra tip.

Solution #3: Let the kids build a fort using tables, chairs, blankets and whatever else they can find. Let them play, eat, and even sleep in the fort. Need I say it again? The mess is worth the hours of happy playtime.

Solution #4: Fill the bathtub with water. Toss in anything you can find that can be used as water toys, such as cups, plastic dishes, and empty shampoo bottles. Let the kids enjoy playing in the water and don’t worry about the splashing.

Solution #5: Play “Easter Egg Hunt” using coins. Hide them all over the rooms and let the kids find them. Have a scavenger hunt, or a treasure hunt.

Solution #6: Set up a beauty salon. Let the kids practice hairstyles, paint each other’s fingernails, and put on make up.

Solution #7: Let the kids play dress-up with your clothes, if you’re comfortable with the idea. Have a fashion show. Put on a play. Have a concert.

Solution #8: Let them play in the rain! Just dry them off and give them some hot chocolate when they come in.

About the Author:
Elizabeth Pantley is the author of several books, including Gentle Baby Care : No-cry, No-fuss, No-worry — Essential Tips for Raising Your Baby, The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night, Kid Cooperation (with an introduction by William Sears, MD), Perfect Parenting, as well as her latest The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers and is also president of Better Beginnings, Inc. She is a popular speaker on family issues, and her newsletter, Parent Tips, is seen in schools nationwide. She appears as a regular radio show guest, and has been quoted in Parents, Parenting, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, American Baby, Working Mother, and Woman’s Day magazines. Visit Elizabeth’s web site http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth.

Start your vacation with a plan of what you are going to do and when you are going to do it. This isn’t a plan that you have to stick to strictly, but having an idea of when you are going to be where and when you will be able to break and feed with or play with your baby is a nice help. Plan the times you will eat meals so that you can keep to a regular schedule and the times when you are going to be done for the day so that you can put your baby to bed without them getting too overtired or fussy.

A vacation with your baby can be lots of fun. Taking him to meet relatives will have everyone cooing over your little bundle of joy, while giving your arms a break from holding him all of the time. Let your family members play with him and let your baby get to know them, but always watch and listen for your baby’s cues that he has had enough or that he needs a little bit of one on one time with you or alone time to regroup. Babies can quickly become overwhelmed with too many people and with meeting new people. If this happens to your baby it may be hard to calm them down, so try to catch the signs early on in an effort to not let your baby get too worked up.

In order to remember your vacation, be sure to take lots of pictures. You will never be able to go to these places and do these things with your baby again at this age. Since your baby won’t remember it, you can use these pictures when he is older to tell him about the first vacation he took to meet his grandparents. Video is also a good way to capture the moments of the vacation with your baby. Being able to hear his relatives and see them interacting with him between visits, will help your baby feel more comfortable with these would be strangers the next time you go on a trip.

Over all, just remember to have fun with your baby on vacation. Keep it relaxed, and keep your own stress levels down since your baby can feel this stress and will react to it. Whether it is your first vacation with your baby or your fifth, it is bound to be a time that you will remember and look back on with smiles and fond memories. If you manage to make it go smoothly, chances are it won’t be your last.

It’s a biological reality and a tiring facet of new parenthood: babies wake up frequently during the night. Luckily, there are a number of ways that you can help your baby sleep better.

Sleeping Noises
Babies make many noises during the night, and not all of these noises mean they need attention. Some of these are sleeping noises, and though your baby may be grunting or whimpering, he isn’t even fully awake. Often he is transitioning between sleep cycles, and if let alone will return to sleep on his own. If your little one is down the hallway and you’re listening in on the monitor, you may find yourself making many trips to the crib only to find that he’s still asleep, or even worse, you may unknowingly be waking him when you enter his room to check on him.

Consider nestling your baby beside you in a co-sleeping bassinet like the Arm’s Reach patented attachment. You can stay in your own bed while you listen to his noises. When you wake up and hear your baby’s sounds, don’t immediately respond — just wait and listen. He may not need your help to return to quiet sleep. Therefore, when he doesn’t fully awaken, neither do you!

If your baby really is waking up, he may just need your touch and reassurance to go back to sleep — simply reach over, pat him, rub him or gently jiggle him and murmur quiet shushing noises. This may be all he needs to return to sleep.

When a pat and a “shh” isn’t enough, your baby likely needs to be fed. It’s important to allow him to remain in a sleepy state and fall back to sleep quickly. Simply pull him close to you for feeding. Avoid unnecessary diaper changes, don’t turn on any lights and don’t play with him — the goal is to help him fall back to sleep quickly so that he will develop longer night sleep spans.

With a little practice you’ll learn how to tell the difference between your baby’s awake noises and sleepy noises. Handling this appropriately will encourage your baby to sleep through the night much sooner.

The Secret to Your Breastfed Baby’s All-Night Sleep
Many babies develop a very strong association between breastfeeding and sleep. Often babies head toward their first birthday and are still waking Mommy up multiple times in the night to nurse.

If your baby is waking every hour or two to breastfeed, you can try to solve this by moving him over to his Arm’s Reach Co-Sleeper Bassinet after he is done actively nursing, but before he is totally asleep — when his rate of sucking changes to an intermittent fluttery pace (which is more for pacifying than nourishment). Once you move him he can fall asleep independently. You can reach over and pat or rub him as he falls asleep if necessary.

A Co-Sleeping Family’s Best Friend
Families who choose the family bed as their infant’s primary sleeping place will find that the Arm’s Reach solves several of the typical problems that arise from exclusive co-sleeping; naptime and making the change to independent sleep when the time is right.

The first benefit of the Arm’s Reach unit is how it can help your baby to have naptime independence. An endless number of co-sleeping mothers must sleep with their babies for nearly every naptime, since their little one cannot sleep alone. This can be frustrating for a mother who doesn’t want to take a daily nap, has other children to tend to, work to complete or who just needs a little time for herself. A baby will welcome the familiar place for naptime. (Just remember to stay nearby or use a baby monitor to keep an ear on your baby.)

Preparing Your Baby for Independent Sleep
The Arm’s Reach Bedside Co-Sleeper Bassinet is a wonderful tool for preparing your baby for independent sleep. Moving your baby from the family bed is best done gradually, and a bedside attachment is a wonderful first step in independent sleep. Your baby is still very close by, can be easily tended in the night, yet experience solitary sleep that can prepare him for the time when he’ll have his own bed.

Vacation with Your Baby
Since the Arm’s Reach unit folds up easily for traveling, you’ll find that it’s a life-saver when you’re taking baby on a vacation. Trips are notorious sleep disrupters, but bringing your baby’s normal sleeping place along with you can provide security and comfort to allow him to sleep easily in an unusual place. Follow your usual bedtime routine, no matter where you are. If you bring along your baby’s regular bedding and crib toys, and add a familiar sound — such as lullabies or a white noise recording — your little one will be sleeping normally just about anywhere!

Courtesy of ARA Content

Copyright Elizabeth Pantley.

About the Author:
Elizabeth Pantley is the author of several books, including Gentle Baby Care : No-cry, No-fuss, No-worry — Essential Tips for Raising Your Baby, The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night, Kid Cooperation (with an introduction by William Sears, MD), Perfect Parenting, as well as her latest The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers and is also president of Better Beginnings, Inc. She is a popular speaker on family issues, and her newsletter, Parent Tips, is seen in schools nationwide. She appears as a regular radio show guest, and has been quoted in Parents, Parenting, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, American Baby, Working Mother, and Woman’s Day magazines. Visit Elizabeth’s web site http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth.