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Flying With an Infant: How to Avoid Disaster

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By Marc Courtiol

Having a newborn can be stressful enough without leaving the house, so it is easy to understand why so many new parents are reluctant to travel. Babies need constant care, they are unpredictable, and their crying is sometimes difficult to stop. All of these things work against travel, which requires as much predictability as possible. The good news is that many infants fall right to sleep as soon as the plane starts moving, but you just cannot know beforehand. Plus, nobody wants to be those poor parents stuck on an airplane with a baby who refuses to be quiet. That is no one’s idea of a fun vacation.

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How to Play with a Newborn

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By Lisa Pecos

First-time parents are often surprised by just how little their newborns are capable of doing. In the first few days of life, babies can hardly focus on their parents’ faces, let alone participate in play activities. And for weeks afterward, it is difficult to get newborns to focus on toys, look at books, or even pay attention to one thing for more than a few seconds. But despite these factors, newborns are more capable of learning than one might think, and they really can enjoy play. All you have to do is enter the baby’s world, rather than expecting her to come into ours just yet.

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Infant Crying: The Secrets to Silencing an Upset Baby

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By Lisa Pecos For new parents, there is just no way to prepare for the onslaught of crying that you will be dealing with in the coming weeks and months. In their first few days of life, newborns spend most of their time either sleeping or in a quiet state of near-sleep, but this is just the calm before the storm. Once you get your baby home, he or she is likely to cry progressively more and more until the habit peaks at anywhere from six weeks to three months. So if you are reading this as an expectant first-time parent, remember not to draw any conclusions from those first few days. The crying almost always picks up by around week two or three, and that is when things may get rough for a while. Read More

4 Common Nursing Problems, Plus Solutions

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By Eirian Hallinan

Nursing a newborn is not as simple as it may seem. Veteran moms are usually able to make it look easy by the time they get to their third or fourth child, but for new mothers, the simple fact is that breastfeeding can be challenging in numerous ways. Remember, it is not just the mother who is learning this new feeding method; it is also new to the baby, who of course cannot read books or take instructions from lactation consultants. This makes learning doubly difficult. But it is important to remember that most new mothers experience difficulties initially, and most soon get the hang of it.

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Reading to Baby: When to Start and How to Do it Well

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By Jamell Andrews

In the age of television, internet, and ubiquitous gadgets, there is something refreshing about the quiet act of reading a good book. And although childcare experts say reading to a child has little significant effect until he or she is around the six-month mark, it is never too early to get started. Young children may not get the same things out of books that we do, but the reading experience is valuable for a number of reasons, and reading daily to your baby is a crucial stepping stone toward future linguistic and educational development.

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The Pros and Cons of Pacifiers

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For many new parents, the pacifier is a lifesaver. Not only is it quick and simple, but it also seems to do a better job of stopping the baby’s crying than virtually anything else. After hours of rocking, cuddling, and singing with no reprieve in the baby’s crying, having that pacifier on hand can be a great relief. Yet even though pacifiers work quite well for many children, there are some potential drawbacks that parents should be aware of. In the end, pacifiers are great as a short-term solution to baby’s crying, but they should be used with caution.

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