Is your child secure in his car seat?

I know many of you have thought about this before, or is doing now. We have recently refreshed our knowledge on this, with our second baby. We had to buy our second car seat and we didn't know what to do, to buy a new one for a newborn or to buy a new one for our toddler, and which of the group suits better to each one.

Let's see what experts propose to us:

Group 0 or 0+ - group 0 is for babies till 10kg and your baby can lie down on it, and has to be installed in the back of the car on crosswise way. Group 0+ is for babies till 13kg and has to be installed in the opposite direction to driving. Researchers shows that this way, of installing the car seat is more secure as their head, the heavier part of the body, is better protected.

Group 1 - from 9 to 18 kg. It is better to be installed on the opposite direction to driving on the backseat, same as in group 0+, but it is ok if you want to install it in the direction to driving.

Group 2 and 3 from 15 to 36. These types of car seats permit that kids sit to the optimal height.

Combined car seats.... Yeah.. We have choosen these ones for both of our kids. For our little baby we've choosen group 0+ and 1 and for our toddler special for group 2 and 3. I think it is optimal if you want to use these car seats for longer time.

3 tips of use:

1. Use the optimal car seat, that suits perfectly to your child weight.

2. Install correctly the car seat as it is indicated on instructions.

3. Put your baby on the opposite direction to driving till 15 months, as it is better for your kid.

I hope these information you found useful.

                    

Read more ...

Gardening with a toddler. Growing strawberries.

We live in a flat, and I think that it is obvious that our toddler doesn't know where and how fruits and vegetables grow. The perfect way, to explain this process to him, would be to go to a farm and show him. Even with such activity, I suppose that our toddler would not really understand all the process. We thought with my husband that it would be great to grow something easy on our balcony, and our toddler to have the opportunity to see all the process of fruit growth.

What we did?

We bought strawberries' plant that already had flowers. We encouraged our toddler to take care of these, and water strawberries. He enjoyed the idea, and even wanted to water these various times a day. But, the biggest present for him was eating red strawberries from balcony and not from supermarket.

How do you like the idea? Have you done something similar with your kids. Let me know.

Read more ...

How to eat and not to get fat during pregnancy?

It is obvious that every pregnant woman get some kg during pregnancy and it is inevitable to be big. Here I want you to propose some tips that helped me not to gain too many kgs and as well not feel hungry during the day.

1. Eat 6 times a day, this I have read as a tip in a lot of books and journals, I was eating like 8-10 times a day in very little quantities. 3 basic meals, and fruits during other times I wanted to eat.

2. From 3 basic meals, 1 of them was most important and pleasant for me, breakfast time, I eated a lot of carbonohydrates, like bread and cereals and even biscuits. Other times I didn't eat bread, that is why this time of the day was most pleasant for me.

3. Eat a little amount, but everything. Do not stop to eat food tt contain big amount of calories like macaroons or bread or cereals. It is important not to abuse with these, but all of you know that such food is also important for our body.

4. Eat less chocolates and food with high sugar additives. During my first pregnancy I ate a lot of chocolates and then I had to make a diet with my doctor. I made just 1 week diet and the results were amazing, so I had to limit myself from chocolates. I learned the lesson and on my second pregnancy I ate few chocolates.

5. Eat less sugar and salt.

Enjoy your pregnancy time!

Read more ...

Soft blocks. Montessori name recognition.

Our toddler began to learn letters in the nursery. I like the way nursery make this and I thought that it would be great if our toddler would recognize his name spelling. He perfectly distinguish letter A and letter E, maybe some more, but I haven't identified this yet. Many times, I have written his name on paper or on dashboard and he enjoyed this. Every person loves to hear and to see his name.

I thought, it would be great to make a play with letters, and create something interactive for my toddler. Soft blocks - great way to develop fine motor abilities such as touching and playing with them. Apart of this, I made these soft blocks colorful and he can learn colors. I made them in such a way, that he can match letters, once blocks are arranged correctly, he can spell his name, DAMIAN. This montessori activity develops his creativity and makes him easy to learn new letters. And of course his name.

How do you like the idea?

Read more ...

Tips for introducing a newborn to a family with toddler.

I was aware, of introducing a new member of our family, to our toddler from my first days of pregnancy. I thought, that Damian, would not accept easily his brother and he will be very gelous, because we always gave him all our attention and a new member, will mean, less attention to him. Looking back, I understand, that all steps that we have done, helped us and our toddler to pass easier this change in our life. I mean, that he is still gelous, but not as much as I have expected and our toddler loves his brother.

Below I share with you some tips.

1. Tell to your first kid about a sibling, from the beginning of your pregnancy. He has to take care of your bump and not to push in it. Our toddler was kissing his brother from my early days of pregnancy. I don't know if he knew already what we will expect, but the feeling was that he understands all.

2. Take your toddler to the doctor visits, not to all of them, but some of them. On such visits we were listening the heart of the baby. These moments, helped our toddler to understand that there is life inside my bump.

3. Days in the hospital. When our toddler visited us, I told him, that doctor helped mum to give birth to his brother, and now in my bump there is nobody, as his brother is already with us, and will be part of our family. It was strange for him, he was touching my bump all first month to see my reaction, and why it disappeared so quickly.

4. Little brother brought him a lot of presents. Little presents that your toddler would like to receive. We repeated a lot of times that his little brother will bring him presents, because he loves Damian. I think this was the most important thing that we could make, our toddler enjoyed all his presents and showed his love from the first days. I know that some mothers will say that love cannot be bought, it's true...but it works.

5. Spend time with toddler while the baby is sleeping. Try to envolve him in more interesting activities and show him your love. I mean, show your toddler that even if you have less time to spend with him, you still love him as much as before.

6. Invite your toddler to help you while you are changing diaper, for example, he can bring you a diaper or a body while changing clothes. In this way toddler feels his importance in the family and how much he can help you with baby. It is important to tell him how brave is he.

7. Respect your toddler routine. Huuuh, this is the most complicated for me, but I try to do it well. Even if you haven't slept all night, because of your baby, you have to make your toddler routine in the morning. Which is breakfast and going to the nursery. And in the evening, dinner at the same time as before and bath at the same time as before and of course his sleeping hours to be the same as before. It is not so easy, but my husband helps me a lot and we are doing a great job together.

Of course in all these tips you need help, and I am really gratefull to my husband for his help.

Good luck and enjoy!

Read more ...