Flying With an Infant: How to Avoid Disaster

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

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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Does Bump Size Matter?

Baby bumps come in all shapes and sizes. You are more likely to have a neat bump with your first child but with further pregnancies your muscles become more relaxed and your bump can spread out more. The shape of your bump can also depend on how many babies you are expecting, the amount of amniotic fluid you have in there and also what position your baby is lying in.

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You Can Help How Babies Learn to Talk

Learning how to talk is an innate human ability that scarcely needs parental encouragement. As long as a child is around people who talk, he or she is eventually going to begin picking up on words, and adeptness with the language comes soon thereafter. However, the sooner a child learns how to talk, the sooner she can begin to communicate more complex things, learn to read, and socialize meaningfully with other children. As a parent, you may not be able to speed up the process significantly, but some babies do respond well to encouragement.

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