Leaving the House with Baby: What Do I Really Need?
***** This is a guest post by Aldo Torner *****
Sometimes it is easy to identify new parents just by looking at what they are carrying. Simply size up the baby bag. As the oldest of six siblings, I remember watching my own mom’s baby bag evolution over the years. It seemed that shopping for just the right diaper bag – and it had to be HUGE – was only important during the early years. Once it came to baby number six, my mom had packing baby’s stuff down to an art, and everything she needed fit into her oversized purse – no diaper bag needed. Of course, the prospect of being out and about with the little one and not having something you need can be quite stress-inducing. So, what do you REALLY need when leaving the house with baby? Here is a brief rundown:
Baby food and drink
Bring baby’s bottle, in an insulated bottle pack to maintain its temperature. Even if you don’t plan on being gone during meal time, bring a bottle with purified water and a travel-sized packet of formula. If you are breast-feeding, of course, you can skip the bottle altogether. Additionally, bring a sandwich baggy or small plastic container with a snack. You don’t need the whole pantry; just some simple finger foods – crackers, for example – will do. Bring a sippy cup of water or juice to wash it down.
When baby gets soiled
Bring a travel-sized pack of baby wipes, a couple of diapers, and a simple change of clothing, like a onesie. Don’t forget clean socks. Either a disposable, or a very compact, changing pad could come in handy . . . but is not necessary, if you absolutely must pack as lightly as possible. Pack a couple of zip-lock bags to store dirty or wet clothing in until you get home.
Comfort
If baby has a favorite blanket, stuffed animal or chew toy, or uses a pacifier, bring those.
Entertainment
Don’t pack the playroom. Remember that baby will most likely be stimulated and entertained by being in a new environment. Pack a small rattler or travel toy. If you really want to conserve space in your diaper bag, opt for toys that attach directly to your baby carrier.
Taking baby out and about doesn’t have to be a nerve-wracking prospect. Just make sure you have these basics packed, and you will be prepared to handle most any situation. Also, remember that just like everything associated with parenting, leaving the house with baby may be scary in the beginning, but you will get better at it and more comfortable with it over time . . . and with a little (or a lot) of trial and error.
*****
About the Author:
Aldo Torno is a career counselor for several phlebotomy schools and plans to pursue a career in nursing within the next year or two. He was inspired to write this article after seeing many young mothers visit his schools while caring for their children. Some of them looked like they were about to move in permanently! Take a deep breath and don’t stress out when you take your baby in public. Be realistic and things will go much smoother than anticipated. Please visit http://www.associationphlebotomytraining.com/ if you’d like more information about phlebotomy as a career.
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Parents Who Hid Child’s Gender for Five Years Now Face Backlash
When Beck Laxton and Kieran Cooper had their son, Sasha Laxton, five years ago, they decided that rather than make a big splashy “It’s A Boy!” announcement, they’d keep the news to themselves. Instead, they only told a select number of relatives that little Sasha was a he; to everyone else the child was referred to as “the infant” and described without gendered pronouns. “Stereotypes seem fundamentally stupid. Why would you want to slot people into boxes?” Laxton told her local news outlet, Cambridge …
Winter Gingerbread Porridge Recipe (for Toddlers and Grown-Ups)
This porridge is lovely on a cold day because it’s warm and fruity and biscuity. It’s a special happy winter recipe that makes you feel all glowy and full of solstice cheer.
You can add pretty much anything you like to it; this recipe is reasonably healthy, though if you’re an adult trying to lose body fat then you might want to use lower fat milk and go easy on the sweet bits. Sorry, did I just type that? Call an exorcist; I may not have much time.
To serve 1 hungry toddler, we used:
- About 40 g of porridge oats
- About 125 ml of full fat milk
- About 20 or 30 g of gingerbread (we used Organix mini gingerbread men)
- A small handful of raisins or sultanas
- About a teaspoon of apple with the peel left on, chopped into fairly small bits
- About half a teaspoon of orange or lemon peel, grated
- A pinch of ground cinnamon
What to do:
- Put the oats and fruit stuff and cinnamon into a microwaveable bowl [Note: if you don't like microwaves, put it in a pan instead] and stir it all together a bit.
- Set 2 or 3 gingerbread men/pieces aside, and break the rest up into toddler-bite-sized chunks. Throw the chunks into the bowl and stir them in.
- Add the milk and give it another quick stir.
- Microwave it for a minute on full power; stir it, then nuke it again for another 30-60 seconds. [If you're using a pan, bring it to the boil and keep stirring for 2-3 minutes.] Watch it in case it overboils, but don’t panic – it will bubble a lot, but it thickens up as it boils and is unlikely to spill over unless your bowl is really full.
- Take it out of the microwave [or off the stove] and stir it for a good minute while it cools.
- Stick the spare gingerbread men/pieces in the top for decoration.
- Check the temperature’s OK, then eat it.
Image of the Week: The Small Hand That Kills by Skippyjon
This is just outstanding in so many ways. Enjoy.
You can see more images by skippyjon on Flickr.
Want to Win Image of the Week?
Send me the URL to your image, or email me the file as an attachment if you must. I’m on Facebook and Twitter and my email is mi@machiavelliid.com. Give me whatever info you like about you or your image. That’s it.
[No guarantees that I'll ever publish it, or that I'll repeat what you say about it word-for-word. But if I like your image or your thinking, it's in.]
Giant Lazy Fairy Cake in 7 Easy Steps
It’s huge, it’s awesome and it took very little effort. This is the ideal cake to make if you don’t, in fact, have time to make a cake. It’s really more about the fun of decorating and the oversized cupcake look. Low-energy cake-making (and parenting) at its best.
We used:
- 1 sponge cake sandwich (from the shops, we were short of time) with raspberry jam and buttercream filling
- 1 giant choc chip cookie (you could buy that too, but we made ours)
- Raspberry jam or whatever jam you like
- Hundreds and thousands, or any kind of small edible sprinkles
All you have to do is:
- Cut two slots about the same length and width as the cookie out of the top of the cake and eat the cuttings.
- Smear jam all over the top of the cake.
- Cut the cookie in half.
- Push the cookie halves into the slots in the cake until they don’t fall over anymore. Curved side up or curved side down, whichever looks better.
- Sprinkle the hundreds and thousands all over the top of the cake.
- Admire the cake.
- Eat the cake.
If your dad’s got a motorbike then you win, even if your dad is ginger.
This is pretty much how I remember the logic of comparing and competing about our parents when I was a kid.
I remember my sister telling people her dad was a strong man. I told him this and he said she was right. She meant like in a circus though, with a fancy mustache and tight leopard print pants with the fashioned-in braces.
I’m only thinking about all this because we went with the Animal to visit some of his other kids yesterday and I was reminded of how important it is, at a certain age, to be able to brag about your family and especially your parents.
Let’s not let them down, eh.
How to make a shitload of cash without working too hard
This is how I see myself and my business in a few years’ time. Especially the chart.
Seriously though, how are you going to get from here to there?
My plan involves working bloody hard (but,like I said,not too hard) and training the Animal to make money from blogging too. That way I can just put in a regular few hours a week working for other people, a few more working on my own side projects, and spend the rest playing ball and reading books with Mini-MI while the Animal plays househusband. In the park. With ice cream. Cos that’s how good it will be, if I get it right. Right?
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Image credit: Snugg LePup
15 Safe Ways to Entertain a Baby (or Toddler) in the Car
We did a roughly 12 hour trip each way on our jaunt to Echternach, and Mini-MI suffered all the indignities of a long hot day in the car admirably. There were times when some of these ideas came in bloody handy, though.
BTW, when I say safe I mean it in a relative sense — nothing is truly safe when you’ve got a one-year-old with you.
- Books. Preferably soft ones, to prevent injury when they’re thrown at your head.
- Music. Mini-MI will be happily distracted for up to half an hour at a time if there’s something to listen to.
- Pulling faces. Doesn’t matter if you’re no good at it, they’ll show you how.
- Water games. On a hot day it’s particularly good – just drip a bit of water on the baby’s head or arm, let them do what they like. Give them the beaker and leave them to it if you can…
- Singing. Any kind will do, especially if you’ve got no other music.
- Hand signs. Vulcan, Gangsta, Rocker, Surfer – all genres welcome here. You copy them or they copy you; this is an easy one.
- Food. Let’s face it, this is one of the easiest distraction tactics in the world. Something that takes a while to eat is best.
- Hunt the Food. When your darling little one drops half-chewed snacks into the mysterious cavities of the upholstery & luggage, you’re gonna play this one anyway. Might as well play for laughs.
- “Look!” (like I Spy, but for younger infants the objective is just to point out the window at stuff. Mini-MI likes spotting bikers on the road.)
- The paper fan. Fold a paper sheet in zigzags, pinch one end and fan the other out, waft it at your offspring. Cooling and entertaining.
- “Where’s your…?” (like Look! but pointing at bits of your body)
- Drawing. Provided nobody gets stabbed with a crayon, this could occupy a whole 20 minutes before the upholstery’s at risk.
- Clapping hands. Mini-Mi absolutely loves the power trip of grabbing our hands and clapping them for us, or you could play pat-a-cake if you remember how.
- Winking and blinking. Younger kids typically haven’t figured out how to wink yet, but they’ll give it a damn good try.
- Sleep. Yes, OK, you can’t make this one happen. But it’s the longest period of quiet you’ll have, so make the most of it when you get it.
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Hard times getting to see my kids
I have six children with three different women. Some would say I’m a glutton for punishment, but hey ho, I’ve made my bed and all that. I’m happy to have 6 great kids but I’m frustrated at how difficult it is to get to see all of them.
4 of them live hours away from me with ex #1, because she wanted a new start and decided it would be better for them to get out of the place where we both grew up. But it’s not, I can’t afford to visit them as often as I’d like and they have an unpredictable lifestyle.
I only really get to see them on school holidays and even then their mother makes that difficult. She punishes our children for being naughty with her by stopping them from coming to visit their dad, or goes the opposite way and tells me I have to take this child or that off her hands because they’re misbehaving not because it’s their turn. That’s just unfair and messes with everyone’s heads.
I have got a 6 year old boy with ex #2 and have only just won a court case after 2 years to have regular contact with him. I hadn’t done anything wrong, but my ex wanted to cut me out of his life completely and she held everything up for as long as she could. I’m just glad the courts could see that my ex only stopped me seeing him out of bitterness.
I feel for anyone who has to jump through hoops to see their kids like I did and I say stick with it, don’t let anyone make you think about giving up. Your children are a part of you. I can’t understand people who walk away from their kids, when I’ve had such a struggle to see mine, and I can’t understand people who stop their ex from seeing their kids without reason either.
If you’ve been through fatherhood issues of your own, feel free to tell me about it, and you can always get good advice from Dad.info.
***** the Animal *****
Image credit: WorldIslandInfo.com
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Shh… Even sleeping babies can hear you’re unhappy
You know those times when you’ve argued, wept, or otherwise stressed out while your baby was sleeping? Turns out if a baby can hear you, it still knows how you feel.
fMRI scans of sleeping babies aged from 3 to 7 months show activity in the middle temporal gyri, right lingual gyrus and medial frontal gyri when human voice sounds including crying, laughter and other neutral noises were played to them. Basically that’s the same as you’d expect to see in an adult listening to those sounds, awake.
What’s more intersting is that unhappy human voice sounds – crying etc – activate the insular cortex and gyrus rectus more strongly, again just like in fully conscious adults. So babies can hear us and interpret our mood from our voices even when they’re asleep.
Nobody’s really sure why this is. Maybe the babies are processing the sounds and learning as they sleep. Maybe they’ve already learned to recognise those sounds and associate them with maternal stress they experienced in the womb. Maybe they’re just evolved to be alert to any sign of danger while they sleep, and people arguing or crying around them could potentially do something dangerous.
Whatever the reason, I’m glad that science has finally supplied some evidence to back up all the anecdotes and old wives’ tales about not doing your freaking-out in the same room as your sleeping infant.
Source: New Scientist
Image credit: ECohen
Animal Intelligence: Crows learn who to mouth off at
This is awesome. New Scientist says there are crows on the Uni of Washington campus who were subjected to an experiment 5 years ago in which they were temporarily captured & released by someone wearing a particular mask. They learned to recognise the mask and flashmobbed anyone wearing it; they followed the wearer around, cawing at top volume.
Nifty thing is, only 26% of the crows did that 2 weeks after the start of the experiment. After almost 3 years, 66% of the crows exhibit the same behaviour when they see the mask. That includes birds who weren’t even born yet when the trappings happened – they simply learned who to ‘scold’ from their parents.
This struck me as amazing and even cute, but then I had to think: what if instead of following people and cawing at them, the birds had turned to terrorism? If we’re not the only species that can learn a behaviour from others around us, we’d better hope they never learn to copy the ways that humans react when we feel oppressed by sinister external forces.
As people and especially as parents, we need to remember the crows before we display prejudice, anger, hatred and aggression. Let’s not have our children grow up screaming at masks only we’ve taught them to fear, when they don’t even know what’s underneath.
Just a thought. Yours?
If you want to read the whole paper, it’s here.
Image credit: crowdive
Machiavelli Id does Echternach
Just spent a week in a medieval tower built into the old town walls of Echternach (northeast-ish Luxembourg, right on the German border) with the Animal, Mini-MI and her grandma.
Gods, I’d forgotten how peaceful it is. Lovely walks, amazing food (steak de cheval, fresh asparagus, a fresh apple juice with lime at Apple A Day in Luxembourg city) and an all-encompassing sense of calm and order. Everything was… nice. Really just nice. Pleasant. Open wi-fi was a scarce commodity, yet I was surprisingly non-twitchy. I answered my emails on 2 occasions, but did no work. I had time to read a whole book on the way there, and most of another on the way home. I went to bed before midnight. Bliss.
Of course we had hiccups and arguments. Mini-MI fell out of her stroller and smacked her head on the cobblestones; we lost her bedtime bear for a whole 2 days; we failed miserably in our attempts to stop smoking; the bells of the basilica drove us nuts during the night. But we also walked a gorge through the forest without seeing another human being, and sat talking at night on top of the old defense walls that branch out of the tower like it was our own little castle (btw Luxembourg has some impressive castles).
Notes for parent travellers:
- Don’t take a young child to a 4 storey tower for your holidays. Just don’t, it’s silly. We kept her in her playpen on the upper floor most of the time, but we had to carry her up and down the spiral staircase for every shower or trip or change of clothes and it was a bloody pain in the arse. Wait til they’re walking, eh.
- DFDS Seaways line from Dover to Dunkerque has compact & bijou ferries that are surprisingly easy to get around with a buggy.
- Our 1 year old liked eating our steak and stuff so much, she’s turned into a food snob now.
I’m too knackered to attempt further description right now, so here’s a cheesy video instead:
Oh gods, I’m a mommyblog
It’s come to my attention that my blog now has (a) lots of mentions of Mini-MI, and (b) absolutely bugger all modelling going on because I’m too busy writing and raising a baby to get my shit together and scrub up for a shoot. Can this state of affairs continue?
Let’s be clear on this point: I’m not about to turn the site pink or start thinking I’m Dooce. And I’m a bit less kerr-azy than The Blogess, so the title of Kookiest Mum Online isn’t up for grabs either. But I like being able to share my chaotic parenting skillz (would you take a book called Chaotic Parenting down off the shelf?) and occasional outbursts of maternal pride with you. So the baby stuff is in. Feel free to go & look at Barbies instead if you prefer your girls non-reproductive.
That said, I’m buying a new camera soon. Then I can set up my own shoots, and the Animal can push the trigger for me. So far I’ve been thinking of maybe doing a set in our nice new shower, and there must be something I can do with the Kinect… oh, and I’ve still got my LoveHoney Real Top Model prizes to show off, if they fit after all this time.
Any other ideas?
Image courtesy of Gabi Menashe via FlickrXmas bah-humbuggery ftl
Image via Wikipedia
Don’t you just love xmas? The decorations, the food, the family, the unwrapping of presents? The hellish experience of going anywhere near a shop; the hours of cooking a bigger dinner than necessary; the leftovers; the icy cold if you’re at northerly latitudes; the tons of xmas emails/texts/tweets/Facebook messages clogging up your account?
I like solstice, I like winter. They’re phenomena that seem worthy of some awe, and they inspire archetypal reactions in me – introspection, self-appraisal and a sense of liminality that encourages action. As a scientist, as a pagan, I can appreciate this time of year, but xmas leaves me cold.
The Animal’s in there making dinner for our family & friends, Mini-MI is playing on the rug in front of the tree, and I’m loitering outside smoking (yes, I know, but I’m going to give up in 2011, ok?) rather than make the “xmas hates my face” speech to them again. Am I being a twat? Yes. Would I rather go back to bed than finish wrapping and tidying and stuff? Absolutely. I am awkward at receiving gifts, and feel socially inept this time of year.
[At this point the Animal appears like an angel of mercy to bring me a hot cup of tea. I literally weep with gratitude, for my fingers are about to freeze and fall off. I realise "angel of mercy" bears connotations of euthanasia and, um, whatever the right term is for murdering the enfeebled, but you know what I mean. He's a darling.]
Yay. Let’s get on with it then. Watching Mini-MI unwrap presents and chew the paper cheers me up. Adz the Russian showing up in his dressing gown to make us all an Elf Yourself video helps too. The Animal, in his new dressing gown, is warm and snuggly. We have three different kinds of meat, several types of cakes and biscuits, a gingerbread house, jelly and cream and key lime pie. Later I shall put Mini-MI in her skeleton suit underneath her Santa robe and make her look like Jack Skellington. Or the Hogfather. As you wish.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Machiavelli Id
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