Your Baby's Colic

Many parents become frustrated when their newborn develop colic. The continuous screaming every night for hours on end, can't help but be disturbing. New mothers often feel they must be doing something wrong or worse yet that there is something wrong with their baby. Most new mothers are not aware that almost all babies develop a fussy period and the actuality of colic is present in one form or another....

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Five Easy Steps to Picking the Perfect Baby Name

Stephanie Gallagher

One of the few decisions you'll make during pregnancy that will, in fact, last throughout your child's lifetime is the choice of your baby's name. (Unlike, for example, your choice of stroller or whether to use Lamaze or hypnosis to ease labor pains.) To choose the best name for your baby, follow these simple tips:

1. Don't try to please other people.

Everyone from your in-laws to the supermarket checkout lady is going to have an opinion about what you name your child. But the only opinions that really matter are yours and your spouse's.

2. Keep it a secret!

If you tell everyone names you've chosen before the baby is born, they won't hesitate to criticize your choices. But if you keep it to yourself and announce the name and the birth at the same time, everyone will compliment you on a great name choice.

3. Consider how your child will feel about the name as he or she grows up.

Will it be difficult for the teachers to pronounce in school? Will she be teased because it sounds funny or rhymes with an unfortunate word? Does it sound like a very young or very old name? You want to choose something your child will be comfortable with at all phases of his life.

4. Check the initials to make sure they aren't problematic.

One of the moms I surveyed for "The Gallagher Guide to the Baby Years" told the story about her relative who named his baby, William Eugene Thompson. A nice name, but the initials (W.E.T) weren't ideal for monograms.

5. Decide in advance, or at least have a couple of names under consideration, by the beginning of the third trimester.

There's so much to do as your due date gets closer. You don't want to be under pressure to choose a name because you went into labor early and had to come up with something at the hospital. Check out BabyNames.com (www.babynames.com) for lots of neat ideas for baby names.

About the author: Stephanie Gallagher is Author of "The Gallagher Guide to the Baby Years: The Real Mom's Survey of Top-Rated Products and Advice." To subscribe to her ezine, "The Shopping Mom's Weekly Tip, send a blank email to theshoppingmom@aweber.com.


Special Baby Clothes For Those Special Days

Baby clothes are a necessity more than anything else, but there are a couple of special occasions that make the baby the center of attention. It is moments like this that the mother's keen sense of fashion gets to shine. Here, the fact that the baby will undoubtedly grow out of the outfit quickly is of little to no concern, and style is of the utmost importance. In most cases, so is tradition. Perhaps the most obvious of these occasions is baby's homecoming. Almost any mother can tell you what they brought their baby home in. Depending on the time of year, this special outfit can range from a...

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Using Baby Signing To Communicate With Your Young Child

Baby Signing. . Around 20 years ago, two American doctors discovered baby signing and many thousands of mothers are glad they did! There are many reasons why babies cry. You could no doubt come up with a long list of reasons, but frustration is probably low on the list if it's there at all. Baby can't talk yet but wants to tell you how she is feeling: hungry, tired, sad, my nappy needs changing (although you can probably smell that!) or whatever; but she can't. It's enough to make anyone want to scream!! Wouldn't it be great if you could communicate with baby and she with you before she can...

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