See Your Child on Our Magazine Cover

Be a part of the Annual Urbanbaby & Toddler Magazine Cover Contest 2013! Winning child will win a feature cover in our Urbanbaby & Toddler Magazine Fall 2013 and over $1400 in prizes.

Enter your child in the Urbanbaby & Toddler Magazine Cover Contest 2013. Voting starts online on Monday, May 27th, 2013.

All entries receive a one year subscription to Urbanbaby & Toddler Magazine.

GRAND PRIZE:

• Winning Child on the Cover of Urbanbaby & Toddler Magazine Fall 2013
• A Quizzy Buzz 3-Wheel Stroller valued at $499.00
• 2 Year Membership from Bopomo Pictures valued at $375.00
• Gymboree Gift Certificate valued at $150.00
• Kalencom Diaper Bag valued at $100.00
• BrightStars Performing Arts valued at $100.00
• Peggalish Luxury Blanket valued at $50.00
• True Cuddles Prize Pack valued at $50.00

Enter by mail, drop off or online. Complete contest details: http://www.urbanbaby.ca/coverphotocontest/ and on page 14 & 15 of the Spring 2013 magazine issue. 

How to Swaddle Baby

Swaddling is an age-old practice that helps babies to sleep longer and sounder. When done properly, swaddling can be the single most important sleep tool a mother or daycare provider can master. 


Some key benefits to Swaddling:

•   Swaddling helps to mimic touch, which is so important for your baby.

•   It also recreates the confinement felt in the womb easing the transition from "womb to world."  

•   Swaddling prevents the startle reflex (arm jumping) so baby sleeps longer without intermittent wake-ups from having free arms.  

•   Swaddling also helps to maintain the "back is best" sleep position.

•   The most important benefit is a good sleep pattern for mom and baby.

Known risks with traditional swaddle blankets:

• Traditional swaddle blankets, when wrapped too tightly, can reduce necessary movement in the hips causing hip dysplasia.  

• Strong babies can easily break out of traditional swaddling blankets which unravel and cover baby's face (potential suffocation risk)

• Blankets too thick or layered can cause overheating, which can be linked to SIDS.

• Swaddling with a blanket is not an easy technique to master; parents and caretakers can swaddle baby incorrectly (too tight for example).

      

"The good news is in today's market, there are many great options!" says Karen Barski. A perfect example is her invention, the Woombie, which is a peanut-shaped swaddle sac that requires no wrapping and is designed to gently hug baby while allowing for natural movement. 



Features of the Woombie that eliminate multiple swaddling risks:

• 4-way stretchy fabric cocoons baby but allows for hip movement.

• The Woombie will not unravel like traditional swaddle blankets. Prevents issues such as startling, face scratching, overheating and dangerous loose unraveled blankets from covering baby's face.

• Light and breathable - new Woombie Air technology allows for excess  body heat to escape creating the first ventilated swaddle.

• Easy for mom to use: just put baby in and zip (2-way zipper for easy diaper changes);  moms who swaddle their babies are less likely to put their babies to sleep on their stomachs when exhausted.

Five safe swaddling tips for parents and caretakers:

·   Always place your swaddled baby on his/her back to sleep.

·   Use a swaddle where baby can have good hip range of motion- this will prevent hip issues.

·   Use a swaddle that will not unravel - this will prevent blankets from ending up covering baby's face.

·  Once baby is actively rolling, consult with your Pediatrician for next steps. Also, try an arms-free swaddle to help the transition such as the Convertible Woombie

·   Don't over-swaddle your baby or double swaddle - be mindful that overheating baby is linked to SIDS. 

Life as a Toddler

I have come to the conclusion; life must be very hard at the tender age of 22 months. I look back at photos and read my journal, tales of this angelic beautiful baby, a Mother praising every sweet moment with her newborn baby. And I long for those days. 

We have entered “Toddlerville” as I call it. As truly, our sweet girl is in a world of her own. The tantrums, the defiance, the sheer desire to push every button I have, and every button I did not even know existed. I don’t think I have ever quite seen anything like it.

The other day I was locked out of the house, by the above mentioned toddler. Yes, it happened. She was on the inside, I was on the outside. I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest. I could see her shoving an entire box of Kleenex into the toilet. When I begged for her to unlock the door, she threw her head back, laughed, shook her hand and said “NO MOMMY!” 

We seem to argue about most things these days. What to eat, what to wear, what to do, where to go. It dawned on me, that I am afraid to upset my child, and I am slowly being held captive by her. It was time for some friendly advice.

After asking many of my friends for the wisdom and guidance I need in order not end up in the loony bin, I was given the suggestions of; Choices and Time Ins. 

What is a Time In you ask? It is literally that. Sometimes, we get wrapped up in our 15 hour days; we need to take a step back, get ourselves back on the floor, and listen and talk with our toddlers. They are trying so very hard to communicate with us. I often find myself saying “good girl” or clapping, when I truly have not paid attention to what really went on. I loved this suggestion from a friend.

My guidance seeking has also confirmed a few other things. I am not a bad Mother. I am a normal Mother. Who loves her child no matter what. But sometimes, we just need to love them a little more, hug them a little harder, and laugh a whole lot more.

Christi Manson is a married mother to a lovable 22 month old daughter and also rocks the part time position of Step Mama to two fabulous pre teen girls.

Still my Best Friends

Man’s best friend. My best friends. I have always been a dog lover. I was very happy when, as an adult, I could have my own dog. I researched to see what breed I wanted. A dog that would be good with the kids I would have someday and be ok while I was at work all day. I decided on a pug. Or rather, two of them! Zoe was a fawn (brown) pug and Tucker is a black one. Both are sweet, lazy and uncommonly cute.

When I met my husband Zoe and Tucker were two and four years old and ridiculously spoiled. Both were overweight, slept in my bed, and basically ruled my life. My husband, though he liked them, did not want to be subjects in their kingdom and so he instituted a few rules. They had to lose weight and were no longer allowed to eat off of our plates or sleep in the bed. There was an adjustment period. Tucker ‘may have’ left some stinky brown presents outside our bedroom door to show how excited he was to not be sleeping with his Mommy anymore, and Zoe shed so incessantly that my new husband couldn’t understand why there was even hair in his shoes.

Eventually we all did adjust. And then I got pregnant. Poor pugs could just not understand why my lap was getting smaller and smaller. I bought a pregnancy pillow, one of those huge snake-looking things and Tucker decided it was HIS pillow. I remember my husband wondering why my pillow was so big and so hairy! I ended up having to finish working a few weeks before my due date and both dogs were happy to have me home full time. Little did they know what was to come!

When I brought my son home from the hospital we all had to adjust again. Zoe became so stressed that she developed a bladder infection. I’ll never forget getting up in the middle of the night with a newborn and seeing my poor dog urinate blood on the carpet. But she grew to love Mason. Zoe always had kisses for him and always wanted to be close to him. When he cried she would run over to him, try to comfort him and give me disparaging looks until I could run over and pick him up. Tucker, who liked children but didn’t have a lot of exposure to babies, wasn’t so sure. This new ‘thing’ made a lot of noise and took up a lot of Mommy’s time it seemed. But once Mason started eating solids he and Tucker became very close friends!

Whenever many of us would gather with our babies it was usually at my place because I was the one with the four legged vacuum cleaners - easiest clean up ever. Pugs will eat anything but seemed to have a particular fondness for baby food. Both dogs enjoyed having me home and seemed to enjoy the baby too, until he started being able to get around. I had always heard the advice to never leave your dog alone with a baby. Usually this advice was given to avoid the baby being bitten. In my case it was good advice because I had to make sure my baby wasn’t hurting my dogs! They were so patient that I had to keep a close eye on my tiny tail/ear/wrinkle puller so he didn’t hurt his furry brother and sister.

By the time I got pregnant again Mason was four, Tucker was ten years old and Zoe was almost twelve. We were overjoyed until, a few days later, we found out Zoe had cancer. We made the agonizing decision to put her down. I will never forget how tough that day was. Mason didn’t fully understand until a couple of weeks later when it sunk in that she wasn’t coming back. Poor Tucker had the worst of it. He searched for her for a long time. Every time we took him in the car he’d search wherever we went to see if she was there. I missed my constant lap companion; Zoe was always on my heels and I missed always being able to turn around and know she was there. Taking a bath without her sitting beside the bathtub keeping me company was tough; as was watching poor Tucker have to sleep by himself instead of curled around her. But, once again our family adjusted.

It has been over a year now since we lost her. Both Mason and I still have dreams about her and Tucker has gotten older and since become deaf. We now have eight month old baby Ben and I often wonder what Zoe would have thought about him. Tucker has strangely taken to him and loves to sit beside him while he pulls on his fur and rubs his chubby little pink feet against his furry belly. Tucker will be twelve this year and I know he only has a few years left. It makes me sad to think I will have to go through this again but I have had so many good years with my dogs and I am grateful. They have brought so much joy to my life and to my children’s lives as well. I know for me that I never want to be without a dog in my life ever again, and I believe I have turned my children into dog crazy people too...my poor poor husband....

Savour Each Moment

If there is one solid truth I learnt two years ago (with the passing of three people in my life) is that time is unforgiving. Time will not wait for you to mend that relationship, make that phone call, take that risk, or in my case, play with my son, in the pouring rain.

I had picked up my son from the sitter and I was exhausted. I wanted to go home, feed him, read with him and hopefully catch the tail end of The Voice.

"Mama, let's go the park. It's perfect to go." It was raining. This kid is nuts, I thought. Nope. This kid is being a kid. Why was it "perfect" for him to go to the park?

He exclaimed,"Because we'll be the only ones there!"

I started to protest but then I remembered that the day before when I recorded his height I shed a little tear. I was astonished as to how much he had grown in just two months. Time is unforgiving.

I said to myself, "The days are long, but the years are short".

And off we went. To the park. In the rain. In my work clothes. He, in his new jacket and jeans I got him at The Children's Place. Did it get dirty? Of course! Did I get frustrated? A little (those two items set me back $80!).  But that's what the washing machine is for, no? It was hard to show my frustration for the materials things, when he was running the perimeter of park laughing and singing, jumping in every puddle, trying to count all the birds in the sky..Children know how to live in the present. No holds barred. Unconcerned about schedules and price tags.

What is with us adults and our need to always be busy? Does being busy equate to being successful?  We’re always thinking we need to hurry up, when we should take time to sit down, calm down, and rest up. Maybe Ghandi was right when he said “There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.”

Those “oreo” organic cookies from Whole Foods lasts around three days in the house.  My son eats each one as if it’s his first, and he stares at it, gently twisting the top with precision as if he is holding the most delicate flower.  As per usual, the creamy filling is savoured first, and when I say “savoured”, I mean he takes his time letting it dissolve in his mouth. At this point, I am jealous at him, amazed how he can turn the mundane into something practically spiritual. Oh, but he’s not done yet!  He then eats the cookie itself almost in like a rhythmic “crunch”. Upon completion of his oreo cookie ritual, he will declare with complete satisfaction “Wow, that was the best cookie I’ve ever eaten!” Then he repeats the process. It is amazing how children can take the simple things in life and make it extraordinary.

I no longer argue when he wants a James Brown dance party in his room before school, or if wants to wear his Darth Vader costume when we’re going to the park and I definitely have stopped interrupting him when he takes his sweet time reading every single page of a DC Comic at the library, even if the library is closing for the day. Why? Because “the days are long, but the years are short”.

To a year full of moments well lived!

With Love & Gratitude,
Joan

Mommy Style: Too Minty For You?

Even though there seems to be no end to the rainy days, you catch a glimpse of Spring in the window displays off Robson Street.  It won’t be long before you say ba-bye to the dark rich colours of Winter. But wait…are you saying bonjour to pastel colours and mint green jeans?!  Oh no. 

If the only mint you’re having is with a scoop of ice cream loaded with chocolate chips, then read on.  Check out 3 easy ways to get geared up without over-doing it. The key is to update with small accessories, add a punchy flavor to your existing outfits and voila! Affordable trendy updates that doesn’t re-invent your entire closet.

 

 

Option 1:  Start small & fun

Mint link bracelet, Guess, $35.00

Option 2:  Go Pretty & Ladylike

Lily & Ivy handbag, Town Shoes, $79.95

Option 3:  Be Adventurous & Carefree

Chiffon tribal print maxi dress, Forever 21, $16.80

By Joyce Lau of Yummy Mummy Makeovers

Adventures in Sleep Training

My family recently returned from a two-week trip to England and had on our hands a very fussy, badly jetlagged baby. Our little one was utterly confused about why everyone wanted to sleep when she was wide-awake at 2am. She had been away from home for such a large chunk of her life that she had forgotten how much she loved her stroller, her vibrating chair, the dishwasher, and every other trick we had to get her to sleep. So we did the most reasonable thing that we could think: we started sleep training.

I decided that I would try the “progressive waiting” style of sleep training, also known as the Ferber method, also known as “cry it out”. There are plenty of other options, but I had heard this method worked quickly, like ripping off a bandage. Our daughter was almost six months old, and I felt she was ready for a few tears if it meant all of us sleeping better. More importantly, I was ready. After months of having her sleep next to me in her bassinet and hearing her every sigh and thump, followed by two weeks abroad, I was desperate for some rest. Not to mention severely jetlagged myself. 

So the first night we were home, I set forth on our first night of sleep training. This meant a lot of change: mainly, that the baby was no longer going to be given a pacifier, I would put down her down in her crib, in her own room, wide-awake, I would implement a bedtime routine that included a bath and a song, and I’d stop playing white noise to help her sleep. Ripping the bandage indeed.

It was a lot of change, but I decided that we might as well get all the fuss over with at once, rather than break one habit only to be forced to tackle the next.

I was so nervous the first night. I gave my baby extra cuddles and a good long nurse. I sang her extra songs and kissed her face and put her down in the crib awake but sleepy. I told her I love you and goodnight. 

And she cried. Oh how she cried! Of course she cried. Change is difficult and scary at any age. She was used to falling asleep in my weak and exhausted arms, sucking merrily on her soother and listening to whale noises. But I couldn’t keep that up forever and now was the time to change it.

I emailed my husband at work to warn him that he would be coming home to a screaming, sleep-resisting child and a frazzled wife. He arrived home with a bottle of wine and a nervous smile – how was it going? Had I cracked yet? Our daughter wailed away in her crib as I lengthened the check-in times from one minute to two, to four, to eight, to sixteen, staring at the kitchen clock and sipping my sympathy wine.

I repeated over and over: I’m a good mother who’s teaching my daughter a valuable skill. And after forty-five harrowing minutes, our little one finally fell asleep.

The following night we tried the same routine over again, with my confidence fading at the thought of another forty-five minute battle. But night two was worse – she was up every three hours, screaming away, as if she were newborn again. I started to feel terrible about the whole thing.

Night three came, and I bathed her nervously at bedtime. I nursed her, sung to her, kissed her goodnight and left the room. Within fifteen minutes, she fell asleep. The following night it took five minutes for her to fall asleep. The night after that, she fell asleep without crying.

Looking back, it was so easy. A few rough nights – which we would have had anyway – were quickly replaced by a simple routine. Baby knows what to expect and loves the consistency. She sleeps twelve hours at a time and wakes up happy and well rested. And my husband and I have our evenings back. We can now eat dinner together without the baby fussing. It’s amazing.

A friend told me her motherhood philosophy was “do whatever works,” and I now live by that motto. For the first few months, a soother, white noise, and mama’s arms worked to get our baby to sleep. But as sleepless nights dragged on and our baby got better at sleeping through the night, those things were no longer working for us. The success we’ve had with sleep training has taught me to be more disciplined as a mother, more consistent with the baby’s schedule, and gentler with myself. After all, we’re all better at our jobs when we’ve had a good nights’ rest.

Sarah Murray
Happylittlefamily.ca