Great Internet sites to Buy all your baby needs without leaving the house

I have browsed the Internet to find some great deals on baby products and essential items you need when expecting your new edition to the family. Here are my top 3 links.

Baby Zone Direct
http://www.totstoddlersnursery.com.au/
http://babynurserydecor.com.au/

Funny Do's and Don'ts about babies

Measles immune boost

Babies exposed to measles should be injected with antibodies to temporarily boost their immunity, UK experts say.

The Health Protection Agency researchers also advise lowering the age at which the MMR vaccine can be given in an outbreak to six months.

Measles cases in England and Wales rose by 36% in 2008, largely among children not fully vaccinated with the MMR.

One expert at Great Ormond Street Hospital said measles was particularly dangerous in the very young.

Before the measles vaccine was introduced in 1968, very young babies had some temporary protection from antibodies passed from their mother in the late stages of pregnancy.

But because most mothers now have vaccine-mediated immunity rather than natural immunity against measles, that protection in babies is less than it was, the HPA researchers wrote in Archives of Diseases in Childhood.

By four to five months of age, only 25-45% of babies now have protective levels of measles antibody.

The researchers say because of this and the "worrying" increase in measles cases, babies who have been come in contact with someone with measles should receive an injection of human antibodies to give their immune systems a fighting chance.

This human normal immunoglobulin (HNIG) is made from donor plasma and is currently used in immuno-compromised patients, such as children with leukaemia.

It was also previously offered in outbreaks in infants older than six months but too young for the MMR.

The effects last a few weeks.

Vaccine uptake

Public confidence in the triple MMR vaccine dipped following research - since discredited - which raised the possibility that the jab may be linked to an increased risk of autism.

Experts say MMR uptake needs to hit 95% for herd immunity but in England and Wales uptake of the first of the two vaccine courses is still only 85%.

A total of 1,348 cases of measles were reported last year - the highest figure since the monitoring scheme was introduced in 1995.

Wales is currently seeing a record number of cases and London has been particularly hit by outbreaks.

HPA immunisation expert Dr Mary Ramsay said the use of HNIG was well established.

"As measles is highly infectious, it's spreading easily among school aged unvaccinated children and we have measles outbreaks in schools.

"Cases have also filtered out to the general population.

"We know that in the first year of life, before the age of routine vaccination, measles can cause a severe illness with a high rate of complications."

Dr David Elliman, consultant community paediatrician at Great Ormond Street Hospital, welcomed the proposals.

"There is an argument, that if you are that worried about immunity, what about moving the age of routine immunisation down and people may want to think about that.

"The thing that powers this decision is if you get measles when you're very young it is a more serious disease."

He added that although MMR uptake was now starting to rise once more, measles outbreaks would be seen for quite some time.

"There are still a lot of children who are not immunised and they're now going through school - it is still a significant problem."

Source: BBC News

Keeping up to date

Fun Baby Shower Games

Planning a baby shower for a friend? Or do you have a friend planning a baby shower for you? Be sure to print off this list of great games which are guaranteed ways to have extra fun at your baby shower. Here are 7 popular games to get you started.

Game 1. Baby!
What You’ll Need

* 1 x dummy for each person coming, cheap is fine
* 1 x piece of ribbon per dummy – enough to have a dummy hang around guests’ necks

How To Play

When everyone arrives at the baby shower, give them a dummy each to wear around their neck.

When everyone has arrived, explain that whenever anyone is caught saying the word ‘baby’, the first person to spot them gets that person’s dummy. So the idea of the game is to collect as many dummies as you can by the end of the day.

It’s a great game for getting everyone involved and really listening to what is going on in the hope they can win a dummy! You can adapt the word for something else, for example if mum-to-be is having twins, you could choose ‘twins’ or ‘babies’.
Game 2. Jellybabies
What You’ll Need

* A packet of jellybabies
* Ice cube trays – enough for one cube per guest
* Cups of equal size, disposable are ideal

How To Play

This needs to be prepared the night before the baby shower. Place one jellybaby into each ice cube slot and fill with water. They need to be frozen to play.

For the baby shower, announce that you are starting a game and give everyone a drink of water or punch etc., in a cup filled to the same height and tell them not to drink it.

Bring around a bowl of the jellybabies and ask each guest to pick one frozen jellybaby and put it in their drink for the game. Remind them not to start drinking until everyone has a jellybaby.

Once everyone is ready, the game can begin. The first jellybaby to be ‘born’ (from the ice completely melting) is the winner! The cubes must melt on their own accord – no crunching the ice. Even if someone wasn’t paying attention at the time and theirs has melted, the winner is the first person to notice their baby has been born.
Game 3. The Price Is Right…?
What You’ll Need

* A selection of baby products varying in price
* Notepad and pen for each guest

How To Play

This game is simple but fun – buy around 8 baby products which vary in price and place them in random order on a table or bench. Each guest must guess how much each item costs and write it down on paper.

The guest who guesses closest to the amounts wins. An easy way to tally the total up is to work out the differences in amounts of the guessed amount and actual amount, then add up all the differences in prices for each guest.
Game 4. Dress the Baby
What You’ll Need

* A newborn baby sized doll (with a nappy on)
* Disposable nappies
* A timer

How To Play

For this game, each guest needs to take off doll’s nappy and then put another nappy back on the doll, as fast as they can, using only one hand – the other behind their back. Depending on the amount of guests and / or time you have, you could expand this to dressing also. The guest who changes / dresses baby the fastest is the winner.
Game 5. Clothes horse game
What You’ll Need

* A clothes horse
* Lots of pegs
* A timer

How To Play

Place lots of pegs on the clothes horse and the guest to take off the most pegs and put them into a container or bucket in 15 seconds is the winner.
Game 6. Belly Measure Game
What You’ll Need

* A tape measure
* Pen and paper for each guest
* The guest of honour’s pregnant belly!

How To Play

This is a simple game, everyone needs to make a guess of how many centimetres the mother-to-be’s belly is. The person who guesses closest is the winner.
Game 7. Weight Game
What You’ll Need

* Bathroom Scales
* Pen and paper for each guest
* The guest of honour!

How To Play

If mum-to-be is comfortable taking part in this game, it can work as per above, except you need to guess mum’s weight. Probably a game more for a groups of friends that are close and mum is happy to do so – it’s a good idea to ask her first!

Source: bellybelly

Rock-a-by-Baby Automatically rocks your baby to sleep when it starts to cry

A new product for parents, the "Rock a Bye", is launching with the claim of being the UK's first interactive vibrating cot mattress specifically made for children and young babies.

It's a "gentle pulsing" mattress designed and manufactured by UK company Kit For Kids which was launched exclusively at Babies R Us.

Rock a Bye uses an integral control unit that can be activated manually by the parent or by voice activation in response to the baby crying.

The unit, which can be set to a high or low sensitivity to pick up sounds from your baby, will activate a gentle pulsing motion to help baby settle off to sleep in a similar way that gentle random motions in a car will usually rock a baby to sleep.

The mattress boasts a Breathex cover that's detachable, washable and tumble-dry-able while the sleeping surface is Permex Plus and keeps the interior of the mattress
hygienically protected and your baby cool and dry.
Source:Pocket lint

Guidelines released on average weight gain during pregnancy

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) today issued new guidelines on how much weight to gain during pregnancy. But actually, those guidelines begin before pregnancy.

The IOM wants women of childbearing age at a healthy weight before getting pregnant, for the sake of the health of mother and baby alike. And the IOM wants women to be offered preconception counseling about weight, diet, physical activity -- and contraception, if they're overweight or obese, so that they can lose extra weight before pregnancy.

Then, once a woman gets pregnant, she's supposed to keep her weight gain within certain limits, based on her BMI (body mass index) before pregnancy.

Here are the IOM's weight gain allowances for a woman carrying one child: If she's underweight, she should gain 28-40 pounds. If she's at a normal weight, she should gain 25-35 pounds. If she's overweight, she should gain 15-25 pounds. And if she's obese, she should gain 11-20 pounds.

Does that sound doable to you? Or did you figure that since you're "eating for two," you can double your calories -- especially if you're having cravings or feeling hormonal?

Don't go there, says Melissa Goist, MD, a clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Ohio State University Medical Center.

A normal-weight woman would need only 300 extra calories per day to maintain a healthy pregnancy with one baby -- that's one-sixth of her prepregnancy calorie budget and roughly the amount of calories in a Snickers bar, Goist says.

Of course, Goist isn't recommending that pregnant women get their extra pregnancy calories from candy bars -- a healthy, balanced diet is the way to go.

Goist says it can be tough to talk to pregnant patients about weight, like her patient who was 8 pounds heavier each month that Goist saw her. Keeping that pace for nine months would put her way over the IOM's recommended weight gain. Plus, Goist says that patient wasn't following her dietary advice -- she was feasting on carbohydrates.

Goist, and the experts who wrote the IOM's new guidelines, say the public hasn't gotten the message that pregnancy isn't a time to ignore weight or eat with abandon.

What do you say? If you've been pregnant, how much weight did you gain, and did your doctor talk to you about it? How hard was it to lose the weight after the baby was born, and would you gain more or less weight if you had to do it all over again?

Source:webMD

Getting your baby to sleep

Some parents would know that getting your baby to sleep can sometimes be a nightmare. The first few weeks are all over the place as you and your baby get to know each other and find a happy medium when it comes to sleeping patterns.

When my children were babies I found that giving them a nice warm bath, clean change of clothes and a nappy change helped a lot when preparing to get them to sleep. Babies can't tell you what is wrong so it is best to eliminate all possibilities before you give that one last feed. Once you have done all these things feed your baby. A lot of babies (if ready to go to sleep) will fall asleep towards the end of the feed, mouth open and slowly dropping their head back in a deep sleep. Some will still be restless and find it hard to get in that relaxed state. If the baby is still unsettled try pacing around the house for a while and humming as the vibrations in your chest relax your baby and put them to sleep.

There are plenty of old wives tales out there they say work wonders. All you can do is try everything as you get to know your baby and soon you will find what works best for you.

Ways to Make a Baby Laugh

There's nothing quite as delightful as the sound of a happy, laughing baby! And yes we as parents will do just about anything just to get those smiles and sweet sounds no matter how silly we may feel.

I myself have done things that has made my partner laugh more than what my children have. So here are my top 5 idea's on how to achieve that cute little sound that makes the sleepless nights and long tiring days feel worth it.

1. Play peek-a-boo with them. Babies under eight months of age have not developed object permanence, which means they don't understand that things continue to exist when out of their sight. This makes peek-a-boo endlessly hysterical. Take turns hiding yourself, the baby and a toy under a blanket.

2. Find your inner impressionist. Once your baby knows your voice, they love to hear an imitation come from your mouth.

3. Get older children in on the game. Preschool and grade school children still share a baby's irreverent sense of humor and enjoy being the center of a baby's attention. If the baby is crawling, a child can crawl alongside and have a turtle race. Babies also find delight in young children's squeaky voices.

4. Blow raspberries on their tummy and tickle their toes. Gentle tickles never lose their laugh appeal. Just follow the baby's body language, because they can't tell you when they have had enough.

5. Introduce the baby to the world of pretend. Build a small tower of blocks and then demolish the structure with baby's toy vehicle or the traditional imaginary conversation on the toy phone.

Why is everyone laughing at me!!

I wonder if the reactions from the passers-by affects them in later life?