For the first few months of her life, your baby will sleep more than fourteen hours every day. That means she is going to be spending a lot of time wrapped in or covered by her blankets. Chances are that you received a short ton of home made and store bought blankets at baby showers. But, which ones are best for your baby?

There are several things you should look for in a blanket. Here are some of the most important things to look for in baby blankets:

1. Baby’s blanket should be made out of hypoallergenic material. There are several different kinds of hypoallergenic materials available.
2. Baby’s blanket should be made of a breathable material. Cotton is an excellent example of a breathable material. Some synthetics are more breathable than others. The best way to tell if a material is breathable or not is to hold the blanket up next to a fan. If you can feel the breeze through the blanket, the material is breathable.
3. Baby’s blanket should be appropriate for the season. You will want to use a heavier blanket in the winter time than you would during the summer time. In general, babies need one more layer of clothing or covers than we need as adults.
4. There should be no fringes, ribbons, or loose strings on baby’s blanket. Baby can get tangled in anything that is loose, which can make baby uncomfortable and even present a choking hazard. If you do have ribbons on the blanket, make sure they are firmly attached and don’t dangle off the edges of the blanket.
5. Make sure that the blanket is attractive. It may not sound important, but you will probably be spending a lot of time with your baby’s blankets, especially once she starts developing attachments to her favorite blankets. Some babies maintain attachments with their blankets until they are school aged. So, you’ll want to make sure you think the blankets are cute and that you won’t mind having them around for a while.

If you have blankets that don’t meet basic safety standards, such as blankets with long ribbons, you can generally save them for when baby is a bit older. Many of the things which present safety issues with babies don’t present nearly as much of a safety issue when your child has grown a bit.

There are many different nighttime parenting styles and techniques espoused by parents and experts, but they all boil down to one of two basic styles: the cry it out method and the active parenting method. And, frankly, the fact that enough parents exist to make the arguments for both sides is proof positive that babies survive and thrive regardless of which method you choose.

Of course, when your baby is first born, you should absolutely not allow them to simply “cry it out.” For the first four months or so of baby’s life, she needs to eat every two to four hours. Her little tummy can’t hold enough formula or breast milk to keep her satisfied throughout the night, and she is waking up because she is hungry. During this part of her life, when she cries, get up and feed her.

However, once babies reach four or five months, they are generally able to eat enough to have satisfied tummies for five to six hours at a time. Many parents also start giving baby some solid foods at this time, which can help baby sleep for longer periods as well.

When babies reach this point, you have a decision to make about how you are going to handle night time parenting. Do you want to get up with baby every time she cries, or do you want to let her learn to soothe herself?

There are strong feelings on both sides of this issue. Some people feel that you will damage your child emotionally if you allow her to cry without tending to her needs immediately. Others feel that your child will remain overly dependant later in life if she doesn’t learn to soothe herself. However, there really isn’t any definitive research to back up either claim. The fact remains that babies can and do make it through either parenting style without having major problems later in life.

If you do decide to let baby cry it out, the best way to go about it is to ease baby into the process gradually. Don’t just decide one night that you’re going to let her cry it out no matter how long it takes. Set a time limit. Two minutes is a good time limit when you are first teaching her to soothe herself back to sleep. After baby has cried for two minutes, go ahead and comfort her. Gradually increase the time limit until you find that baby is able to soothe herself back to sleep.

If, on the other hand, you choose to attend to your baby every time she cries, prepare yourself to be tending to her during the night time for at least the first couple years of her life. There’s nothing wrong with this, and it won’t harm you or your child, other than perhaps costing you some sleep. In the end, it’s up to you as a parent to decide which nighttime parenting style is right for you and your baby.

Most babies are put down to sleep in their cribs from the time they are brought home from the hospital. If, however, your baby has grown accustomed to sleeping somewhere else, it can be difficult to get her used to sleeping in the crib.

Many parents lay their babies down on their own beds to help baby get to sleep. As long as you are watching your baby, and move her to her crib after she falls asleep, that’s fine. Ultimately, however, your bed is not the safest place for baby to sleep.

There are several things about baby cribs which make them ideal for your infant:

• Crib mattresses are generally much more firm than your mattress is. Soft mattresses are believed to be a cause of SIDS.
• The sides of baby’s crib help ensure that she won’t fall out of bed once she is old enough to start rolling around a bit.
• Sleeping alone is a crib is safer than co sleeping because it eliminates any chance that you will accidentally roll over onto your baby.

If your baby has trouble falling asleep when you place her in the crib, you have a few options. One is to simply let her cry it out. If she is tired, she will eventually fall asleep. Or, you could stay with baby, rubbing her legs or feet until she falls asleep. Another option is to hold your baby and rock her to sleep, perhaps singing to her or running her back, then placing her in the crib after she has fallen into a sound sleep.

Experts differ on whether you should tend to your baby every time she cries or allow her to develop her own ability to self soothe. Babies raised both ways overwhelmingly grow up to become healthy children and adults, so there’s really no need to worry about doing any permanent psychological harm to your baby. The main factor in deciding how you want to handle a crying baby really is how you feel about it.

Placing baby’s crib so that she will be able to see you if she wakes up will often help her to stay calm while in the crib, which may mean a little extra sleep for both of you. While most pediatricians don’t recommend having baby sleep in the bed with you, many do recommend placing the crib in the same bedroom.

As with most other experiences, your baby will get used to being laid down in the crib if you continue to lay her down there. Be consistent, and she will get used to the idea that the crib is the place to be when it’s time to sleep.

In most cases, when your baby is between four and six months old, she will begin sleeping through the night most of the time, allowing you and your partner five to six hours of uninterrupted shut eye. While this still isn’t the eight hours of sleep we’re all led to believe that we need, it’s a start.

Unfortunately, in many cases, it doesn’t last long. Just when you start to get used to sleeping through the night again, your baby is going to start cutting teeth. A painful experience for baby, this means that you are going to have to spend some nights awake again, comforting her while she fusses and cries. The good news is that teething usually only lasts for a few days at a time. Once the new tooth is through the gums, life gets a lot easier for baby and, therefore, for you.

For most parents, the first time baby cuts a tooth catches them by surprise. Unless you know what to look for, teething can look like a cold or other illness. Here are some of the signs that baby may be about to get a new tooth:

• Crabbiness
• Drooling
• Low fever
• Baby pulling at ears
• Runny nose with clear fluid

Fortunately, there are some things you can do to make teething a little easier on both of you. One of the best things you can do is to place teething rings, or even baby’s pacifiers in the freezer briefly, then give them to baby. You’ll most likely find that your baby has no trouble at all figuring out where the teething ring is supposed to go. When they start teething, babies tend to put everything in their mouths.

There is also over the counter medication available for baby while she is teething. This includes baby Tylenol and various gels which can soothe aching gums during teething. Most doctors don’t recommend teething biscuits these days, as small pieces can be dangerous for your baby until they learn how to fully handle solid foods.

If you’re losing sleep, hang in there. It doesn’t take long for baby’s teeth to come in and, when they do, they’re as cute as can be. In the meantime, rest while you can and remind yourself that it won’t last forever.

If you’re anything like most of us, you’ve found that a car ride is often just the ticket to help a fussy baby get to sleep. The combination of the snug hold of the car seat with the noise and vibration of a ride in the car seems to help even the fussiest babies fall asleep. Additionally, the need to focus on the road can help a frustrated parent divert some of their attention from a crying infant.

Very few would find any fault with using car rides to help baby get to sleep. When you get back from the car ride, though, the question becomes whether to leave baby sleeping peacefully in the car seat, or to try to move her to the crib without waking her up. For many parents, it would seem that the obvious choice is to leave the baby where she is as long as she is comfortable and safe.

Not the Best Place

Unfortunately, a car seat is not the safest place for baby to be sleeping, especially once it’s outside of the car. Recent studies have shown that one out of five babies sleeping in car seats have a significant have lower levels of oxygen than those sleeping in a crib. It is believed that the reason for this has to do with the way a baby is positioned while in a car seat.

Young infants have little to no control of their heads. When they are in a car seat, their head can move forward in a way which constricts the airway. While this is not especially dangerous for short durations, or while the car is moving, it’s not a good idea to leave babies stationary in a car seat for too long. Even though it risks waking the baby up, it’s much better to take them out of the car seat once you arrive home and place them into the crib.

Let Baby Fall Asleep Good Before You Move Her

One thing that can help is making sure that baby is in deep sleep before you end the car trip. Babies, like adults, go through periods of light and deep sleep. If you wait until baby is really in a state of deep sleep, you will have a better chance of moving her without waking her up. You will know that your baby is in a deep sleep state when she stops making facial expressions and noises in her sleep, and her body goes completely limp.