Extra Long Baby Gate

Baby Gate Tips

Baby shower gifts are a tradition dating back to the early 1900’s where friends and family would throw a “shower” similar to how they would for a bridal shower – to “shower” the woman with gifts before her big day (marriage or having a baby). In the early days, the guests made most of the baby shower gifts. Umbrellas were a popular symbol of the event because the baby shower was traditionally an afternoon event and the guests would use the umbrella to stay out of the sun.

Today, if the Mommy-to-Be intends on registering, she should do so about a month before the baby shower. This allows the host to send the registration information along with the baby shower invitations. Modern day baby showers are much different and not just for tea. Baby shower gifts range from practical to outlandish. You should check to see where the Mommy-to-Be is registered for gifts before deciding the type baby shower gift to give. Here’s some of the more popular baby shower gifts as well as some creative gifts to give the parents-to-be.

Clothing: Sleepers, receiving blanket, undershirts, diapers. socks and hats. make sure they are easy to change since too many buttons or snaps may be difficult for new parents to take on and off the baby. the Mommy-to-Be will need cute clothes to take the baby home from the hospital

Health & Grooming Products: Baby powder, lotion, baby wipes, desitin, q-tips, hydrogen peroxide (for the umbilical cord), baby safety pins, nail file, scissors, first aid kit, baby soaps and wash cloths, baby thermometer, diaper bag

Feeding: Bibs, bottles, bottle holders, baby formula, breast pump, nipples, bottle brush set, tipper cup, feeding spoon, baby burp towels, baby dishes and bathrobe

In the Bath Products: Towel with cute hood, wash cloths, baby lotion, shampoo, soap, baby brush and bath toys

In the Crib/Bassinet Items: Crib fitted sheets, comforter, bumper pads, mobile, crib trim, waterproof crib pads and blanket to swaddle the infant

For the Baby Room: Stuffed animals, cute pictures for the wall, gift certificate for a muralist to come out, dresser, changing table, cute initials of the baby on some type of ceramic item, picture frame, nursery lamp, furniture, boppy, bouncy seats and piggy bank

Toy Time: Teething toys, colorful play matt, black and white play matt, musical toys and plush / stuffed animals

Learning Time: Baby Bach Video, Baby Einstein CD’s, classical music CD’s, Disney movies, books for the parents, baby books, lamaze soft books and story books

For the Parents: Pamper the parents-to-be with a gift certificate to a spa, book store, record store, or a nice gift such as baby hand and foot imprinting plaster, Baby Bjorn or other baby carrier Coupons for babysitting

Here’s some helpful hints for planning your baby shower gifts for the Mommy-to-Be and the Daddy-to-Be:

More Expensive but Practical Gifts: Stroller, bassinet, baby dresser, baby changing table, baby car seat, baby car seat attachment, high chair, baby swing, bouncy seat, sound monitor, video monitor, potty chair, diaper genie (container), safety gate, baby scale, breast pump, rocking chair.

Unique Gifts: Grow chart, gift for siblings, gift certificate for baby pictures, U.S. Saving Bonds for the baby, silver spoon or rattle and baby proofing the house

Baby Shower Coupons: For those that want to give their time for their gift and don’t have much money, it is fun to be creative and make baby shower coupons for the parents such as ” 2- Hour Babysitting”, “Cook for the Mommy and Daddy two meals”, etc. The parents to be will really appreciate this baby shower coupon gift book, especially for first time parents who appreciate the help

Gift of Saving a Life: A thoughtful baby shower gift is a gift certificate for a private CPR class for the mommy and daddy to be and a few of their selected family and friends who may become future babysitters

Diapers, Diapers and More Diapers: A great gift that seems to always running out for the Mommy-to-Be is to have everyone bring a few packages of diapers. New mommies never have enough in the house so getting diapers is a perfect baby shower gift

Useful Laundry Basket Idea: Instead of spending the money on a gift bag that is likely to get thrown away, use laundry basket, line it with a baby blanket and put the gift inside and cover with tissue paper or another blanket. Then the basket can be used for the extra laundry that will be added or for toy storage

Floating Ducky: Take a silver mini washtub and fill it with water and float a rubber duck in each one. Tie balloons to one of the handles. It’s simple, but sweet. You can also place various baby shower related items next to the washtub, like shampoo, lotion and such

Laundry Basket Goods: Purchase a laundry basket, baby laundry detergent, you’re favorite pre-wash, stain remover, wipes to go, and some fabric softener and place in the basket. You can arrange all these small items with tissue paper in the laundry basket, which will serve as you’re gift basket

Baby Shower Baby Books: Have each baby shower guest bring a baby book for the new parents. Have each guest pre-write a sentiment or advice to the new parent’s on the first page of each book which is a great memento to cherish for the baby growing up and the parents

Baby Plant / Tree: Buy a small tree that can be planted outside of the parents-to-be home. Tie baby items to the branches. The parent’s to be can watch the tree and the baby grow at the same time. You can do the same thing with a small indoor plant

Fleece Baby Blanket: A fleece baby blanket is made by taking two pieces of fleece and putting them together, then cutting 3 in slits every 1 inch all the way around the blanket and tie knots to keep the pieces together. Then just roll the blanket up and tie it with a ribbon

Keepsake Box: Use a hatbox and add personal touches to the box by filling it in with onsies, clothes, pacifiers, bottles, wipes, diapers, etc. You can also include a pack of alphabet stickers so I could put the baby’s name and birth date, weight and height on the box with the stickers once he/she is born

You can view lot of unique Baby Shower Announcements, inexpensive Baby Shower Invitations and personalized Baby Shower Cards add your personal message, along with your favorite fonts, ink color and then Preview your personalized baby card. This process allows you to see your baby card before you buy!

Sarah Porter is Press Agent for several websites including Cards-411, Cards Shoppe and more.

Author: Sarah Porter
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Excise Tax

I am looking to purchase a toddler bed and a sturdy plastic baby gate at a reasonable price due to the fact my husband and I are both unemployed. Would like to see pictures of what anyone is willing to sell at a cheap price. Thanks…

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I am looking to purchase a toddler bed and a sturdy plastic baby gate at a reasonable price due to the fact my husband and I are both unemployed. Would like to see pictures of what anyone is willing to sell at a cheap price. Thanks…

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Tips for Enhancing Child Safety at the Window From American Blinds, Wallpaper and More   When it comes to increasing child safety in the home, the window is a fixture that should not be forgotten.  American Blinds, Wallpaper and More offers tips for enhancing child safety at the window:   •·          Don’t forget window covering cords can be hazardous. •·         

Read the original here:
Tips for Enhancing Child Safety at the Window From American Blinds, Wallpaper and More

OKLAHOMA CITY — OU football head coach Bob Stoops is teaming up with Gov. Brad Henry and State Superintendent Sandy Garrett to back a new program to help find missing children.

The National Child Identification Program is a voluntary program designed to give families tools to identify their children if they are lost or missing.

“This is an easy way for parents to keep track of information that could someday save a child’s life,” Henry said.

Statistics show that 800,000 children are reported missing every year, the governor said.

“That means a child goes missing every 40 seconds,” Henry said.

The state plans to launch the program, which is co-sponsored by the American Football Coaches Association, within the next 30 days.

“Coach Stoops brought the idea to my office, and through a federal grant, we are implementing this program,” Henry said.

Many other football coaches have backed the program in other states, Stoops said.

“We work with young people every day and it is important that we do everything we can to keep them safe,” Stoops said.

A missing girl from Dallas was found in Phoenix with the help of a kit the girl’s parents had picked up at her school, said Bret Phillips, National Child Identification Program spokesman.

“In states where these programs exist, we’ve had many success stories,” he said.

Garrett said the state will encourage parents to participate.

“The program is purely voluntary, and parents will keep the information at home,” she said.

Phillips said the kit’s contents will not expire or require replenishment, but the child’s photo should be updated as the child gets older.

Henry said the government does not want to create a database that stores the information in the kit.

“The only time you will ever need to give this to a government official is if your child goes missing,” he said.

The governor said the state received a portion of the Federal Safe School’s Grant, so state funds would not be used to purchase the kits.

The federal grant allowed the state to purchase 360,000 kits for $300,000.

“We hope that we will get 100 percent participation, but at this time, we only have enough for students who are currently enrolled in public school,” Henry said.

Garrett said because of the small number of kits available, home-schooled children and some private school children will have to go without for now.

There are only enough kits for children in public schools who are in grades kindergarten through sixth grade, she said.

EU cyber-security agency ENISA have just published their suggested 10 internet safety tips for parents and guardians, to help preserve the security and privacy of children online.

Here they are in bold, with my notes added (in italics):

1. Communicate with your child about his/her Internet experience. Discuss the importance of Internet safety and teach the basics
1. See point 8 note 2, below.
2. Set house Internet and mobile phone rules
1. Note: see also ENISA’s 17 golden rules on mobile privacy and security - not specific to kids, but still useful.
3. Educate yourself on the latest threats facing children online and have a good understanding of how your child spend his/her time online
1. Note: See Get Safe Online (UK), Stay Safe Online (US); and in more detail Ofcom’s survey of online protection mechanisms
2. The EU do have a Safer Internet Programme including assessments of social networking sites.
3. Recently the EU assessed the child-safety of social networking sites against their Safer Social Networking Principles. You can read their summary and individual site-specific reports on the safety of individual social networking sites like Bebo and Facebook.
4. Keep the computer and any other Internet-enables devices used by your child in a common room. Install firewall and antivirus software
1. Note: on antivirus, etc, see some suggestions on free antivirus software & other software for online protection; and Microsoft have since released for free their Security Essentials antivirus.
5. Ensure parental control, parental consent, age verification and content lock are activated. Ensure barring process and filtering are in place
1. Note: it’s a truism that many kids can easily get round these; nevertheless, they’re worth considering. Thinkbroadband offers some brief info on parental controls etc; and see the more detailed Privacy Rights Clearinghouse guide.
2. Be warned - it’s one thing if a parent monitors their children’s activities online, but quite another if the company selling filtering or monitoring software collects and harvests info on what your kids do on the internet, and sell it to marketers. And they’ve done that.
3. Parental control software has also been known to block innocuous sites while letting unsafe sites through, and they may also censor sites based on the religious or political views of the software’s proprietor.
4. You can tell I’m not a big fan of parental control software. I say, teach your children critical evaluation skills, bring them up to be sensible off line and online, and let them explore and learn - see my notes to point 8, below.
6. Analyse content providers’ policies and their compliance. Check contractual flexibility (e.g. how to delete an account) and use of automated moderation filters in conjunction with humans
1. Note: hmm, this might be tough for non-lawyers to do given sites’ (deliberately?) long and obscure terms and policies!
2. It would be good if a site were to analyse policies etc and publicise the summaries. Rather like what the EU have done, see point 3 note 3, but on an ongoing basis. Anyone? Parents might be willing to subscribe.
   
7. Check your child’s page or profile on a regular basis. Track your child’s spending online carefully
8. Tell your child to never use full names and share passwords. Prevent your child from sharing personally identifiable information (e.g. address, telephone number, name of school, sport club).
1. Note: that should be “or” share passwords, shurely.
2. Child psychologist Dr Tanya Byron produced an excellent review for the UK government on children’s use of the internet and videogames. From a 2008 speech of hers:
   “Kids socialise via technology. Our culture is now so risk averse we don’t let kids out into the streets - the radius for children has reduced by 80% since 1977. They can’t go outside so they go online. They’re tech savvy but haven’t got the skills of critical evaluation to keep themselves safe…
   Policing is pointless: Australia tried to set up blocking at ISP level, and within 24 hours a 14 year old boy had got round it by guessing his mother’s password! It’s not about prying, or even warning kids about predators online (in fact cyberbullying is their biggest fear); it’s about supervision and thought.
   Parenting is an online not just offline task. Parents need to talk to their children, make sure that they think, that they know who they’re talking to: prepare their children to understand the risks, give them the tools and critical evaluation skills to check the reliability of sources and that people are who they say they are.”
9. Ensure your child understand what it means to post photographs and any other content on Internet
1. Note: see note 2 to 8 above.
10. Educate your child by explaining never to arrange to meet in person someone he/she first met online. Warn your child about expressing emotions to strangers directly online.
1. Again, see note 2 to 8 above. It’s really about good parenting, not installing software.