One of the most overwhelming aspects of parenting is helping children go from diapers to the full-time use of the potty. There are so many different methods and ideas behind potty training an entire section may be devoted to it at the local bookstore. Some of the most popular methods follow.

Infant Potty Training

Not for the faint of heart, some parents swear by infant potty training. Theory states if a parent is tuned into a child’s natural rhythms she can anticipate when a baby is ready to go and get them over the potty in time. Obviously this is not an overnight method, but some claim that children can be trained by twelve or fifteen months with consistent parental involvement.

The One Day Method

Other experts claim children can be trained in one day. This method is very appealing to frantic and busy parents. You simply devote a single day to potty training. You don’t leave the house or do anything that might take you away from the potty. Feed your little one plenty of liquids and sit them on the potty regularly (usually every hour.) Eventually all those liquids should come out and the huge amount of positive feedback will convince the child that the potty is the place to go all the time. A variation of this method is to let the child run around naked. Being naked will make them more aware of when they need to go and will speed the process along.

The Reward System

Another parental favorite is the reward system. M&Ms and stickers are given as rewards for a successful trip to the bathroom. Every time your child uses the potty correctly she receives a small award and this motivates her to keep up the good work. This method generally assumes the entire process will take a little while.

The Readiness System

At the opposite end of the spectrum from the infant training is the “wait until he’s ready” system. Rather than being highly motivational and almost forcing your child to use the potty when you feel they are ready, you simply wait for them to tell you they are ready.

Gradually introduce the vocabulary and model the procedures and over time a comfort level will be built up. One day your child will decide that he can probably sit on the potty, too and he will. Experts claim that not forcing the issue will actually make the training easier as it is not emotionally charged.

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Most experts strongly advise waiting until a baby is four to six months to introduce solid foods. “Solid food” is somewhat of a misnomer since the pureed baby foods we consider solids are more liquid still than anything else. Babies may be interested in trying out the foods they see on Mom and Dad’s plate, but introducing solid foods gradually is the best method to avoid overwhelming baby and to make the process more successful.

Stage One – Smooth and Simple

The first foods for your baby should be so smooth they resemble a liquid. The most common first food is a cereal, usually rice, to avoid potential allergies, but can be a fruit or vegetable. The first few feedings will be more amusement than substance, but over time everyone will catch on.

Early foods involve very finely pureed fruits, vegetables and cereals. Introduce the foods one at a time to detect any allergies waiting four days between introductions. Many experts feel bland foods should be given first to introduce baby to the texture of a product that doesn’t come in a bottle.

Then vegetables should be added slowly as they don’t have the sweet taste of the fruits. Others find that introducing fruits first makes baby more enthusiastic about the whole idea. So long as you introduce each food slowly and keep the texture ultra smooth, order is not crucial.

Stage Two – Lumps and Bumps

After all the basics have been introduced, although possibly not meats, it is time to move into textures. Babies must work up to solids and this is the in between step. Foods should now be prepared more mashed than pureed and mixing things a bit is fine so long as baby has not shown any bad reactions to anything you’re mixing.

It may take a little while for your baby to decide that little lumps and bumps in their favorite item is okay, and this is perfectly normal. This is also the stage where many parents begin to introduce meat items.

Stage Three – Finger Foods

Somewhere between nine months and a year, babies are ready for a new challenge. They have worked to develop the concept of picking up items and may actually begin to refuse being spoon-fed. They simply want to do it themselves. Humor your baby with finely cut finger foods. Also realize it will take while to get the hand to mouth action down.

Finger foods can be scary for parents as they produce more choking hazards and are usually pretty messy. Babies eat everything with their hands, sometimes well into their toddler years. Keep pieces very small and make sure your baby’s diet is as varied as possible. Also, be aware of highly allergenic foods such as chocolate, egg whites and nut products which should be avoided until your little one is turns one.

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Newborns amaze us with their delicacy. They are tiny little beings completely dependent on you to provide for them and keep them safe. One of the toughest areas some parents deal with in their child’s safety and comfort are infant allergies.

Skin Allergies

The first potential allergy parents might notice is a detergent allergy. Baby’s sensitive skin may react to the detergents you use in your washing machine or even to certain fabrics. The same can be said of soaps and lotions. Babies that tend to break out from some sort of skin allergy should be examined by their pediatrician and care must be given to avoid allergy producing products.

Cotton and water will keep baby clean enough for the first couple of weeks and bathing every two or three days after that may help as well. Change detergents to something mild with fewer chemicals or consider using less in a wash. Fabric softeners and any other chemicals should be completely avoided.

Food Allergies

The scariest kind of allergies in a baby is food allergies. Babies who legitimately suffer from a lactose intolerance or milk allergy can get very sick very fast as newborns. Fortunately, there are many soy milk products that are non dairy which can help give these babies the nutrition they need.

Other common culprits of food allergies are egg whites, peanuts, and wheat. Strawberries, chocolate, tomatoes, citrus fruits and shellfish can also be strong allergy triggers. The best way to detect an allergy, even if you can’t prevent it, is to wait until a baby is close to six months before introducing solid foods, and then introduce foods slowly. Wait four days between new foods to see if there is a reaction before trying a new one.

Also, items such as shellfish, chocolate and nuts should probably wait until baby is closer to a year old. The same is true for honey. Honey may not cause an allergy, but it contains Clostridium botulinum which can cause a kind of poisoning the baby’s intestinal tract is not mature enough to fight off.

Air Allergies

Babies can suffer from hay fever and airborne allergies the same way the rest of us do. A trip to the pediatrician can help find the treatment or medicine you need for baby’s seasonal allergies.

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Any woman who’s become a mother has daydreamed at least once of trying motherhood out in the celebrity style. How much easier would it be to lose those stubborn pounds if you had a personal trainer and dietician standing by?

The thought of a nanny or “manny” standing by to relieve you of a fussy baby is a dream, and how do celebrity moms always manage to look so pulled together while you barely manage to find a semi-clean pair of sweats to wear every day? Celebrity style mothering has its perks, but definitely has some drawbacks, too.

We all need to maintain a healthy diet and get plenty of exercise. In fact, one of the most critical times for good nutrition and a healthy amount of exercise is immediately following delivery. Your body is trying to get itself back to something resembling normal, and you may be nursing and need to provide the best for your baby.

Celebrity moms have it a bit easier than the rest of us on the diet front. They are able to afford personal trainers and nutritionists to help whip them back into shape. It’s always inspiring to hear how hard a particular celebrity is working to lose the weight they gained, and it does make us a little less jealous to hear of three hour work outs and highly restricted diets when we see how great a new mom looks on the red carpet.

Not only do celebrity moms need hours in the gym to recover as quickly as they do, they need childcare while they work out. The daycare down the street simply won’t do for a high profile baby, so nannies and the male version, mannies, are probably more a necessity than a luxury. Most of these celebs are famous for a reason, and to maintain their careers, they must work like the rest of us. Their childcare options are just slimmer than ours.

Of course, as much as we want to lose the weight and get back into tip-top shape, nobody is forcing us to. It doesn’t matter too much if you wander down the street in your pajama pants, but if our favorite celeb made that fashion choice, the world would know almost instantly. Pictures taken in your house probably lean toward a slightly younger (and possibly cuter) subject matter, and millions of people aren’t shocked or amazed by how much weight you gained or lost.

Your battle is more personal not with the paparazzi, which means you may have to fight it on a more personal level. Just be grateful you’re not recovering in the public’s eye.

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For all the talk of odd celebrity baby names, some celebs are starting to do something even stranger. They are giving their babies “normal” names.

Julia went from a set of twins named Hazel and Phinnaeus to a new little boy named Henry Daniel Moder. Henry is about as conservative and traditional as you can get with baby names. It does make you wonder if Phinnaeus will be jealous some day.

Other celebrities are scaling back on the more outrageous names in favor of something not necessarily common, but certainly more in line with the mainstream. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Gardner shunned pieces of fruit to settle on a more traditional color for their little girl. Violet Affleck will grow up with a name that many others have had throughout history.

Brittany Spears, despite her rather unusual lifestyle choices lately also has a knack for picking names that are beautiful in their simplicity. Sean and Jayden have names that are easy to pronounce and make sense in an otherwise complicated world – at least in their little piece of it.

Of course it will take quite a few more famous celebrity babies to tilt the scales fully in favor of names that have a more traditional flavor, but one can partially understand why celebrities might want unique names. If your child is going to be in the news from the time of conception on, why settle for something normal when you can be creative?

Many parents who don’t share the celebrity spotlight feel the same way about their children. In fact, the most popular name for boys in 2006 and 2007 is not traditional at all. Aiden (and all its different spellings) soundly beat out the classic Jacob, Matthew, Joshua and Nicholas. In fact, the only other name on the top ten list that doesn’t date back hundreds, if not thousands of years is Ethan.

Girl names tell a slightly different story. The top ten girl names are a definite mix of old and new ranging from the classic Emma (at number one) to a more modern Kaitlyn and Hailey. Whatever name you give your child, be sure it makes sense for the child and your family and all will be perfect – just like your little one.

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A toddler is constantly in motion. She must move at all times in order to fully explore the world that is now available to her. Not only does she want to see and experience all that is available to her inside, she needs to know all that there is to know about the rest of the world, too. Summer is the ideal time to take your toddler out exploring and have fun together in the process.

Outside Summer Fun

The weather is warm, and it’s the perfect time to head out of doors and enjoy fresh air and sunshine. Load your toddler into the stroller, or let her walk if you’re not in a hurry, and head to the park. The wonderful thing about toddlers is often the trip is as exciting as the destination.

Plants, flowers and creatures along the way can mesmerize your little one. Upon reaching the park, let her safely explore to her heart’s content. She may have more fun sending pebbles down the slide than sliding down it herself. Sit back and enjoy this time of discovery.

When your little one is ready to wind down and enjoy some quiet time outside, pull out your OutMat and a snack or favorite toy, and enjoy relaxed fun together. Have a picnic or share an ice cream cone. At this age, everything is wonderfully new and exciting.

Inside Summer Fun

When the sun is too much to bear, enjoy time together inside. Fun summer art projects and new toys can brighten her days. Come in from the backyard and help her unwind for naptime by working on puzzles or stacking blocks.

Rainy summer days don’t mean you can’t have fun in the water. Fill the tub and let her “swim” with her tub toys as long as she wants. Toddlers love water, so throw in a few cups and bowls and she might entertain herself for hours pouring water from one container to another. The same toys can move back to the pool when the rain stops, of course.

The best part of summer is the long, lazy days. Even if your toddler isn’t at all lazy, and what toddler is, enjoy the relaxed feeling of the summer months together. Day trips, projects with paint or dirt, and simply spending time in the park or backyard with you can fulfill a toddler’s fantasy more so than anything else you might be able to dream up.

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Skin is considered the largest organ of the human body — even when it’s the tiny body of your baby. How can you take care of her skin right from the start? Try some of these tips from Sandy Johnson, M.D., a dermatologist and assistant clinical professor at the University of Arkansas. Johnson made her recommendations in October at the American Academy of Dermatology’s Skin Academy:

• Use bath products and clothing detergents that are gentle on the skin. Aim for products that are fragrance-free, with fewer than 10 ingredients.
• Use moisturizer after Baby’s bath. It provides a barrier between her and the environment and can help with those who are predisposed to eczema and rashes.
• Between 2 and 3 years, she can start taking part in her bathing. In the beginning, double-check that she’s rinsed well and doesn’t have any soapy residue remaining. When she can brush her teeth without you having to closely supervise, then she’s ready to wash herself, as well.
• For more information and great baby skin products visit our Baby Skin Care section at SpiffyBaby.com.

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Baby teeth don’t last forever, but they need just as much cleaning and care as adult teeth. Neglecting them can cause cavities and lifelong trouble.

Before the first tooth appears, get babies used to having their gums cleaned. Run a wet washcloth or a finger brush around their mouth. Once the first tooth comes in, pay even closer attention. To help protect your child’s teeth:

• Clean your infant’s teeth with a children’s toothbrush and water.
• Take your child to dentist about 6 months after the first tooth comes in, or at age 2.
• Add a pea-sized dab of toothpaste once your child is age 2. He or she shold be able to spit out the paste without swallowing it.
• Start to floss when 2 teeth touch. Don’t put your child to bed with a bottle filled with anything but water. Even milk has sugar in it.
• Encourage your child to drink from a cup by his or her fist birthday. Extended use of a bottle can increase the risk for tooth decay.

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