Thursday Blogging - tips

10 Smart Parenting Techniques that Will Get Your Newborn to Sleep Longer

If you have been working on getting your newborn baby to sleep longer, it may help if you feed your baby before getting him to sleep, give your baby a warm bath, follow a consistent routine, put a sound machine near your newborn, always be on the lookout for a sleepy baby, create a conducive environment for sleeping, make sure your baby’s diaper is dry, swaddle your baby, keep the temperature right, and be flexible and try different techniques.

As a parent, it is very challenging to get your newborn baby to sleep longer. Though they sleep for as much as 15-19 hours in a day, they do not do this in one period of time and their sleep habits usually make you getting really sleepy and tired as well. To help you get your newborn baby to sleep longer, consider the following advice:

Feed you baby before getting him to sleep
The foremost reason why your newborn does not sleep longer is that his stomachs is still small and he needs to be fed every few hours, usually every two. To help your baby sleep longer, especially at night, feed the baby before putting him to bed. But, be sure not to overfeed him, as this will cause discomfort to your baby and make him sleep less than you expect.

Give your baby a warm bath
A warm bath can help your baby sleep longer through the night as it will help soothe your baby. You can make this a part of your bedtime routine to give him a cue that it is about time for bed.

Follow a consistent routine
Bedtime routines can help put your babies in a good sleeping condition. Although it takes weeks or months to get your newborn baby to get used to a routine, it helps a lot to start introducing it to him early. A warm bath, a good book, and a lullaby can help your newborn baby start thinking that it is about time to sleep. Set your own routine that you think will work for your baby.

Put a sound machine near your newborn
Many white noise machines are designed to help your baby get to sleep easier and stay asleep longer. A sound machine (Keyword/URL) will help cover the noise around the house that might disturb your baby’s sleep, like when you are doing some chores or when a dog is barking. Make sure you choose a sound that is comforting for the baby and not something that may scare him. Alternately, you can keep some classical or other soft music playing all throughout his sleep to soothe him.

Always be on the lookout for a sleepy baby
As a parent, you may often get the wrong notion that tiring your baby can make him sleep easier and much longer. The thing is, when babies are overstimulated, it makes them harder for them to go to sleep. If you see signs that your baby is sleepy, such as when they start to yawn, rub their eyes, and cry, get your baby ready for bed before he starts getting more irritable.

Create a conducive environment for sleeping
Whatever the time of the day is, make your baby’s bedroom a soothing place for him to rest so he will be able to sleep longer. It would be great if your newborn gets to sleep longer during the night so you can get the rest that you need. To help achieve this, differentiate your baby’s afternoon nap and his night time sleep so that he will be able to adjust his sleeping hours. For example, you can lie down with your baby in bed to help her get a nap, and you can do your bedtime routine at night to help her sleep easier and much longer. Keep the room dimly lit at night to help your baby differentiate night and day.

Make sure your baby’s diaper is dry
Wet diapers and clothes can disturb your baby’s sleep. Make it a point to change your baby’s diaper before takging him to bed to give him a comfortable sleep that can last for longer hours.

Swaddle your baby
Newborn babies need security. When your baby does not feel safe, the tendency is that he will not be able to get a good sleep. Swaddle him and make him feel safe and secure, just like those days when he was still in your womb, and give him a better, more secure, and longer sleep.

Keep the temperature right
A bedroom that is too cold or quite hot can leave the baby uncomfortable, waking him up earlier than expected. Keep the temperature right for the weather to help your newborn baby sleep longer during her naps and especially at night.

Be flexible and try different techniques
All babies are different when it comes to sleeping, even twins. Stay flexible, and try different techniques to help your baby get to sleep longer. For some, nursing the newborn will work great as part of the bedtime routine after a warm bath and a good book. Others carry or rock their newborns to sleep. Make sure that you put the baby down when he is already in deep sleep. When you find your newborn already sleeping, keep rocking or let him stay in your arms until about thirty minutes before putting him down to bed to make sure he is really asleep.

Getting newborns to sleep longer is a very challenging task. They get hungry easily, they get scared easily, and they need to adjust a lot to their new environment. Try different things out, see what works best for your newborn, and be consistent when you have found the right technique. Once you do this, you will not only help your newborn sleep longer, but you are instilling in him a healthy sleep habit that will help him as he grows. You, too, can get the rest you truly deserve after all your love and care.

Thursday tips

8 Useful Time Management Tips for Mom

You and the rest of the moms out there can have good time management skills by following some useful tips: get organized, delegate household responsibilities, multitask, focus on priorities, develop household shortcuts, follow a routine, bend to certain unexpected situations, and relieve yourself of stress.

Dealing with time properly is something moms should learn how to do effectively. If you consider following specific time management tips, it will not be hard for you to adjust and complete all your domestic responsibilities, kids’ needs, the relationship with your spouse, and even tasks at work. You can manage all of these responsibilities well if you learn to adapt to some forms of effective time management discipline.

Get organized
Getting organized can get rid you of the stress of failing to remember a number of appointments, unfinished tasks, and forgetting other relevant activities. Getting organized by coming up with a system that makes it possible for you to accomplish everything efficiently and effectively. Organize your home by eliminating any clutter anywhere within your house. A messy place drains your time and energy too. Your time is another aspect to organize. You do this by making a ‘to do list’. This will serve as guide of the things you need to finish during the day.

Delegate household responsibilities
Another secret to managing time is to delegate household responsibilities. It will soon become rewarding for the entire family when everyone is able to take turns in doing household chores. Start by asking your kids and spouse to take part in doing the simpler household tasks.

Multitask
The surest and safest way to multitask is to pair one simple task with a another that needs more focus. One good example is to clean your kitchen counter top while making a phone call. However, if you feel that you become agitated by doing two tasks at a time, then it is time to stop.

Focus on priorities
Giving in to other people’s requests can be a nice gesture. However, there are times when you have to say ‘no’ for the simple reason that you need to attend to more important things that are of top priority to you.

Develop household shortcuts
You can develop your own style of taking shortcuts when doing household chores. You can implement your way of clearing clutter, dusting your furniture, cleaning the windows, washing the dishes, and doing the laundry. Think of a technique to hasten your accomplishments without jeopardizing the quality of your work.

Follow a routine
Have a routine to prevent any waste of mental energy. Schedule your time for menu planning, going grocery shopping, running errands, and other essential activities.

Bend to certain unexpected situations
You must be flexible so you can cope with changing and unexpected situations. Even when you have your own set schedule, there are unforeseen things that might come up. When you are flexible, you will not easily get distracted and annoyed by any alteration in your planned activities.

Relieve yourself of stress
You deserve some forms of self-care. You must be able to spend time alone reflecting, meditating and journaling your thoughts. Indulging in a home spa and engaging in various exercise programs can be of great help too. Quality sleep and a healthy diet are two basic things you must have.

Thursday Blogging

Today I figured I would talk about saving money tips. Being a mom to 6 kids and not alot of money coming in I really have to budget everything to make things work. So here is what helps me make ends meet.

1. budget and plan! Ok figure out when pay checks come in on what days, figure out approx average of pay checks then see all your bills and figure out what gets paid on what days. Like Me we get paid the 1st and the 15th. So the rent and the comcast bill( phone, cable, & Internet) and the electric gets paid on the 1st. Then the 15th the car payment, the car insurance, gas, and the water get paid. Other bills like student loans , doctor bills and etc get paid when I have extra money to pay them even if it is just $20 a month. I always make sure to leave gas money for the van and little extra for little things we need.

2. Shop around. Look at food ads and store ads for the best prices. If you dont want to go to a bunch of stores well that is fine I like that Walmart price matches everyone.

3. Coupons!!! I print out coupons on Coupons.com , smartsource, red plum and I get the coupons from the Sunday paper. I have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars with coupons. Find a good deal then use coupons to make them better and even if you have to pay full price for something you need well at least a coupon can save a little.

4. Date night at home! Yes it is possible. I put the kids to bed at 8 then I rent a movie for me and my hubby and make some popcorn and cuddle up. Great date and more personal and less crowds and saves alot of money. Skip a steak dinner at a restaurant. Go to the store buy two nice steaks, bake potatoes, veggies, salad, and some ice cream and grab a redbox movie go home throw the steaks on the grill or in the oven prepare the other foods. Put kids to bed bring out some candles and sweet music and relax with a nice cheaper steak dinner top it off with a big bowl of ice cream with 2 spoons and share while watching a movie. Me and my hubby do these date nights often. They are great.

5.practically Free Fun with kids. Yes it is possible. We do picnics at the parks often and we even change it up and go to different parks around the city. We have a homemade lunch , play on the playground fly kites ride bikes etc. Lots of fun and pretty much free. Adventure walks now this is a double whammy here. It not only gets you and the kids exercised and wears out some of that bottled up energy but it can be fun. I make up a list before we start of stuff that they have to find on the walk. This keeps them busy the whole time and is so fun Like a treasure hunt. Game nights, break out the cards or boards games or even the wii or other game stations. Do it as a family everyone must participate. and make it a weekly ritual so they look forward to it!

6. Make things yourself. This means lots of things. like say you need a organizer to hold those little things well things you throw away are perfect instead of going and buying some fancy smancy thing to hold them break out the baby food jars, peanut cans, etc with lids. If you want them to be pretty paint them or cover with paper. but they are great for the nails, thumb tacks, pencils, erasers, crayons etc.

7.Use left overs. dont throw them away! make a whole turkey , then the next day make some turkey soup, the next day make turkey enchiladas or tacos. Leftover taco meat well use it to make taco salads, or make chili out of it or even dip. Just get creative.

8. Buy generic if its cheaper. Most generic taste or work the same as the name brands and sometimes better! I mean there are a few things I wont buy generic like green beans because there are more stems in generic but most things generic is just as good. Even cleaning supplies some of the generic work just as good.

9. Shop at dollar stores. I get party supplies there, bday and xmas presents there, food, crafts, household decorations, even clothing. I get cleaning stuff there too. Youll be surprised what they have alot of the times. They even have name brand stuff from time to time.

10. Last but not least shop clearances. this is my favorite. I get so much clothes at walmart and target and kohls on clearance for cheap. I get household stuff and cleaning stuff cheap then sometimes I get lucky and things will be on clearance and I have a coupons so I pay even less or even free for them.

These are what helps me save what ways  do you use to save money???