It will be the longest 3 minutes of your life.  

If you follow Pediatricians’ recommendations, Tummy time (lying down in the prone position) will be the longest 3 minutes of your new baby’s life, too.

At about day three (postpartum for a baby carried to term), it’s time to give your infant the opportunity to develop even musculature in the neck, arms, and upper body.

“Potty-training” sounds like a program for apprentice plumbers, not babies.

The baby-biz lingo, “toilet learning,” conjures images of skipped classes, Fonzie jackets and smokin’ in the boys’ room.

For toddlers and the bathrooms that await them, the key word is “readiness.”  Most children are not ready to learn this complex process until about halfway between their second and third birthdays.

There are plenty of parents who insist (hope?) otherwise. And sure, some tots will offload cargo if you help them pull up to the dock at just the right moment. But that doesn’t mean the kids are “trained” — it means their parents are.

In yesterday’s blog post, I reminisced about how to use lighter-weight blankets.

Thick blankies will be today’s focus. The bumpy ones, the ones with fringes and mysteries stitched in.

While a versatile blanket will support your baby’s overall development, a blanket that offers interesting textures will specifically stimulate motor development, body self awareness, and intellectual development.

Twenty-one years ago, I discovered that my 5 month-old was ready to play hide and seek.

I didn’t mean to.  Really.

My teaching colleagues in Panama had gifted my new baby with an assortment of of hand-appliqued blankets (sheets, actually — this was a tropical birth).

Five months later, back in the US, and past her swaddling stage, my daughter used to enjoy looking at the brightly colored ducks and ginghams that bordered the sheets.  She also spent a lot of time on her tummy, reaching for and touching the embroidery stitches that illustrated the layette.