Baby Sign Language Dos and Don’ts

Sign Language For Babies is a cool new way of teaching your pre-verbal child how to communicate. It is easy to teach and a lot of fun to do. To make a start, all you need to do is learn some basic signs and practice, practice, practice. Here are some dos and don’ts for baby sign language beginners…

DOs

• Do start off with signs you and your baby can practice every day. Signs like Mommy, Daddy and Milk are great for beginners. You will need to make signing a natural part of your interaction with your baby, so finding signs you can incorporate into all your usual activities works really well.

• Do sign when your baby is alert, using something which is exciting to her, such as Milk or Mommy.

• Do practice as often as you can. Once you have learned a sign, you should make this sign every time you say the word or do the action with your baby. It is important to say the word clearly, with good eye contact, while pointing to the thing or person you are describing. Be consistent.

• Do use Baby Sign Language when you’re shopping, playing, feeding and reading with your baby. Be creative and make it fun.

• Do be patient with yourself and with your baby. If you forget to sign for a day it’s fine to start again the next day. Give yourself and baby plenty of time. Signing is worth it.

• Do encourage all of your baby’s efforts. Don’t worry if your baby hasn’t got a sign quite ‘right’. Give plenty of praise, attention and eye-contact to show her you are impressed with her efforts. When you and baby are ready you can move on to another group of signs. Encourage all the way.

DON’Ts

• Don’t forget to learn the signs yourself first. It’s a good idea to practice a few times before signing to your baby. That way you will feel more confident. Go to a Baby Signing class or look up some online resources to help you.

• Don’t use too many signs to begin with. Limit yourself to four or five signs – you can add more when you and your baby are more confident.

• Don’t forget the importance of repetition. It’s important to make the sign and say the word every time you do an action or use an object. Babies learn through repetition and it can take about two months of exposure to a sign for babies over six months to learn the sign and be ready to use it themselves.

• Don’t be too results-focused. Teaching baby sign language is about having fun and learning about each other. The attention and bonding you share with your baby while you are signing is as important as signing itself.

• Don’t expect too much too soon. Have fun and enjoy signing, making it a part of your day. Remember, it can take at least two months of exposure to, and repetition of, a sign for a baby to learn it properly.

Information courtesy of Baby Sign Language

Safety Recall on Britax Chaperone Infant Car Seats

Britax Child Safety, Inc. announced that it is conducting a safety recall on its CHAPERONE™ Infant Car Seat. The recall includes CHAPERONE Infant Car Seats with Model Numbers of E9L95P2, E9L95P3, E9L95P5, E9L69N9, (Sold in the US) E9L69P2, E9L69P3, and E9L69P5 (Sold in Canada)  manufactured between April 2009 and May 2010.

Britax Child Safety, Inc. recently determined that the chest clip supplied with the CHAPERONE Infant Car Seat was incorrectly produced by the manufacturer which resulted in a more brittle chest clip than was intended. As a result, the chest clip which positions the harness straps across the infant’s shoulders may break when the chest clip is engaged as the infant is secured into the infant car seat. The sharp edges of the broken chest clip create a risk of a skin laceration and the fractured components of the chest clip may present a small parts/choking hazard.

To address this issue, BRITAX will provide a free remedy kit that contains a replacement chest clip. An instruction sheet in the remedy kit will provide specific instructions and visuals to aid in installing the replacement chest clip.

All CHAPERONE Infant Car Seat owners should confirm whether their CHAPERONE Infant Car Seat is affected by verifying the car seat model numbers and manufacturing dates: E9L95P2, E9L95P3, E9L95P5, E9L69N9  (Sold in the US) , E9L69P2, E9L69P3, E9L69P5 (Sold in Canada); Manufactured between April 2009 and May 2010.

If your chest clip breaks, remove the broken chest clip from the harness along with any fragments.  The CHAPERONE Infant Car Seat can continue to be used until the replacement chest clip is installed.

For more information, contact the Britax information line, toll free at 1-888-427-4829.

Confidence Starts at the Cradle: Tips for Raising a Confident Toddler

All parents want to raise a child who believes that they can become whatever they want to be.  In order for children to strive toward reaching their maximum potential, it is important for parents to encourage confidence from the early years on.  As Norman Vincent Peale once said, “Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.”  Here are four tips from the experts at Baby Potential, a new San Antonio-based company that produces infant and toddler apparel embroidered with career patches, to raising a confident toddler that could someday smile all the way to the White House or the Forbes 400.

1. Show – Children, even the very young, are incredibly perceptive.  In order for little ones to feel comfortable in their own skills and social abilities, it is important to set a good example as a parent.  In social settings, be sure to reach out to others, speak positively about yourself and watch your child follow suit to be generous, polite and feel self-assured around others.
2. Listen – Feeling respected is essential for every person whether young or old to feel confident in themselves.  In order to encourage who they are and what they think matters, listen up!  When babies start to babble, show that you are listening by not interrupting and communicating back to watch their self-worth blossom.
3. Encourage – Rather than comparing your child to others, encourage the skills that make your child special.  While a father may want his son to pick up the basketball over the cooking set, encourage your child’s inherent interests.  This will not only boost your child’s confidence but make him or her feel unique.  You can even provide a custom onesie or t-shirt that says “Chef” from Baby Potential.  This is one of a choice of 12 silk-screened career patches such as Lawyer, Rocket Scientist, Artist, among other career options.  The onesies and t-shirts are practical, gender-neutral and coordinate with pants, skorts, bibs and burp cloths.  Most importantly they provide positive messaging, underscoring the importance of education, and give back to the community – ten percent of sales are donated to community outreach and educational programs.   Encouragement and using such positive messages will make your child even more secure in their own skin.
4. Provide – Offer several opportunities for your child to test their capabilities and gain a sense of success.  Everything from signing up for skill-building classes to simply allowing the little one to figure out how to open the cap of a bottle rather than pulling it off shows them what they are capable of.

Follow these practical tips and watch your toddler grow into a confident child, ready to navigate the challenges of academia and later, the world.

Information courtesy of Baby Potential

Ten Simple Tips to Maintain a Healthy and Germ-Free Nursery

Identify the germ “hot spots” within your nursery and clean them often. Germ hot spots within the nursery are the areas that come in contact with waste in diapers and other body fluids, either directly or indirectly. Diaper waste–and the millions and millions of germs in it–can be spread by hands and objects that come in contact with it. Since germs are microscopic and invisible to the naked eye, it’s easy to spread many of them to clean surfaces without knowing it. Areas where most bacteria typically gather include:

• Changing Table – This is the place where diaper messes and germs are transferred from the diaper to baby’s skin – and possibly mom’s hands. And a dirty diaper likely has more germs inside it than anything else in the nursery.
• Laundry Hamper – Studies have shown that laundry, especially if it has come in contact with bodily fluids, can harbor great quantities of bacteria and even spread them to clean clothes through normal washing cycles.
• Floor – Germs on the floor are not a concern for adults, but the floor is where babies lay, crawl, and play. Most floor germs aren’t of the harmful type, but it’s still a hot spot to keep an eye on.
• Toys/Toy chest – The average toy isn’t loaded with germs, but toys will transmit them easily if they become contaminated, since toys come in contact with playmates’ hands, skin, and mouths.

Learn the difference between cleaners and disinfectants, and which is appropriate for your nursery. Cleaners remove most soils, but may spread germs around. Disinfectants actually kill germs when used correctly.

• To use a disinfectant correctly in a nursery, remove your baby from the spray or wipe zone and apply the product liberally. After the label-specified contact time elapses, wipe off the surface with a wet cloth or paper towel to get rid of any irritating residual chemicals so your baby’s delicate skin does not touch these chemicals.
• It’s also wise to disinfect hard floors and vacuum carpets routinely to keep germ levels low
• Tip: Disinfectants say “disinfects,” “antibacterial” or “sanitizes” on the label Set aside a special place in the nursery for disinfectants so they’re readily available for quick cleaning but safely out of reach of children. Even “non-toxic” cleaners can be dangerous to children, so keep cleaners on a high shelf in the closet or a child-proofed drawer of the dresser.

Set aside a special place in the nursery for disinfectants so they’re readily available for quick cleaning but safely out of reach of children. Even “non-toxic” cleaners can be dangerous to children, so keep cleaners on a high shelf in the closet or a child-proofed drawer of the dresser.

Keep messes (and germs) to a minimum when changing dirty diapers in the nursery.

• Establish a quick, mess-free diaper changing routine, and keep supplies handy and close by.
• Create a dedicated changing area that can be easily cleaned and disinfected.
• Take extra care to handle diapers from the outside surfaces and avoid touching waste.
• Get rid of diapers in a hygienic fashion that keeps germs sealed away. I recommend the Diaper Genie II Eliteâ„¢ Disposal System. It seals odor into the pail and out of your nursery unlike an ordinary trash can and plastic bag. Diapers only touch the disposable film, not the pail, so there is one less thing to clean. The Diaper Genie II Eliteâ„¢ Disposal System also has Antimicrobial Protection built into the plastic to inhibit odor-causing bacteria.

Keep soap and warm water, or where soap and water are not available, antibacterial hand wipes, nearby to use after changing your baby in the nursery. This will help stop the spread of germs within the nursery.

• Tip: When soap and water are not available, consider using an antibacterial and wipe, such as Wet Ones® Antibacterial Hands and Face Wipes. Wet Ones Antibacterial Hands and Face Wipes are clinically proven to be just as effective as gel hand sanitizers in killing 99.99% of germs, and also clean away dirt and messes.

Keep baby bottles away from germ hot spots, such as the changing table, and only handle them when your hands are clean. Harmful germs can grow very quickly in formula and breast milk – be sure to keep bottles clean and dry when not in use.

Keep a special hamper inside the nursery to use specifically for heavily soiled baby laundry This special, separate hamper will help prevent bacteria on heavily soiled laundry from spreading throughout the rest of the nursery. Also, take special care when laundering heavily soiled baby clothing and bedding to prevent the spread of germs through the
laundry.

• Use Hot water and/or chlorine bleach
• Dry laundry in a hot dryer cycle

Take special precautions within the nursery when baby is sick to prevent spread of illness to other children and throughout the rest of the nursery.

• Disinfect nursery “hot spots” more frequently
• Reduce time other children spend in the nursery and with baby

Take special precautions in the nursery when you or other family members are sick, to keep from giving your infection to baby and spreading throughout the nursery

• Cover all coughs and sneezes
• Wash hands before contact with baby and when entering the nursery

Reduce pet access to the nursery.

• Reptiles and birds frequently harbor dangerous germs, like Salmonella. Make sure that children wash hands well with soap and warm water after handling reptiles and before coming into the nursery, and keep bird bedding/litter out of the nursery altogether.

Written by Dr. Benjamin Tanner, president and founder of the Antimicrobial Test Laboratories, LLC

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