$Unique_ID{PAR00212} $Pretitle{} $Title{6 Months to 1 Year: Daily Care Basics} $Subtitle{} $Author{ Editors of Consumer Guide Mendelson, Robert A Mendelson, Lottie M Meyerhoff, Michael K Ames, Louise Bates} $Subject{6 Months to 1 Year Daily Care squirms squirm squirming diaper rashes rash disposable diapers cloth diaper dress dressing clothes clothing sleep sleeping nap naps napping meals growth spurt spurts crib cribs climb climbs climbing fusses fussy playpen playpens outside outings outdoors teeth fluoride dental floss brush brushing toothbrush toothpaste mouth wash toys pacifier pacifiers clean cleaning cleanliness shoes walk Walking sunglasses sunshine skin sunscreen Sun shade} $Log{} The New Parents' Question & Answer Book 6 Months to 1 Year: Daily Care Basics My baby kicks and squirms whenever I try to change his diaper. It's annoying as well as messy. What can I do to make it less of a hassle? Babies love to squirm and can often make diaper changing a tussle or battle of wills. So whenever you change him, try to be firm and matter-of-fact. Have everything close at hand and be as quick and efficient as you can. While changing him, calmly and firmly restrain him and talk or sing to him to distract him; afterwards, give him big hugs and/or free him as soon as possible. You may be able to divert his attention during diapering by giving him a special toy to play with, one that you keep on the side for just such occasions. On the other hand, he may toss the toy and work on getting a reaction from you. If you're firm, however, he'll get the idea. Gather up your sense of humor and be assured this stage will pass. Although I change my baby's diaper frequently, he still gets diaper rashes. Why? What else can I do to help prevent diaper rash? Almost all babies get diaper rashes. Many factors contribute to these rashes, including skin color and sensitivity, amount of contact with moisture, amount of contact with air, and diaper type. Many disposable diapers fit so snugly that no air circulates to the baby's skin, so the natural skin moisture and urine stays on the skin and causes the irritating rash. To help minimize diaper rashes, use cloth diapers loosely fastened with diaper pins or diaper holders whenever possible. In the presence of a rash, remove the diaper as soon as possible after it becomes wet or soiled, cleanse the area thoroughly, and, if the rash is moist, apply a small amount of drying powder. Allow the baby's diaper area to air dry whenever practical, and use tight-fitting diapers or plastic pants as little as possible. Nothing prevents all diaper rashes, but these hints can help minimize them. My nine month old hates me to dress him. How can I make it easier for both of us? Babies hate to hold still and they dislike having clothing pulled over their heads. So one of the best ways to make dressing easier is to use the simplest on-off clothing. Try to provide as many open-neck and open-front shirts (shirts with buttons or snaps) as possible. Pull-on pants with snaps in the diaper area are the simplest, but you'll still require a minute or two of the baby holding still to accomplish the task. Try not to use clothing with tight sleeves, since sticking little wiggly arms in them is cumbersome. Soon the baby will learn to help you by raising his arms, but not just yet. Remember, babies have no patience, and often their goals have nothing to do with yours. They will cooperate at times, but never when they sense that you're in a hurry or stressed. Try talking or singing to the baby throughout the process, even if you are in a hurry. If you have more time, play peek-a-boo with the clothing as you dress him; sometimes making a pleasant game out of it will distract and please him. If not, try not to display a major reaction when he fusses, since doing so will likely encourage a similar response from him. Be gently firm and brisk, and get the job done. When you're finished, offer him big hugs and send him on his way. Always praise him when he displays preferred behavior. When he's older and able to help choose his clothing, offer him simple choices to give him some control over the dressing process. Sometimes my baby takes long naps, then he doesn't want to go to bed on time at night. Can I influence his schedule? You can try to influence your baby's schedule by determining the length of naps and the timing of meals, but usually the baby will sleep when he's sleepy and eat when he's hungry. Babies require different amounts of sleep and food at different times, just like their parents. With babies, the need for longer naps will often be associated with a rapid growth spurt. Although appetite can change from day to day, the need for an increased amount of food can also accompany a growth spurt. Depending upon your child-raising philosophy, you can remain flexible or you can try to alter the baby's schedule to better fit in with the family's schedule. If he's going to sleep at night only an hour or so later than you'd like him to, you can probably try to work around his schedule. However, if he's going to sleep two to three hours later than you'd like, you'll probably want to try nipping one of his daily naps. If the baby is sleeping too long at one nap time, you might shorten the next one. He may or may not be cranky the rest of the day Likewise, he may fall asleep more easily at the preferred bedtime, or he may be overly tired and cry and fuss at you longer. You'll probably have to do a little experimenting. You might also try to stimulate and play with him more during awake periods; this may help him use up enough energy so that he's tired enough to fall asleep when you want him to. You don't, however, want to overstimulate or excite the baby just before bedtime, since this defeats your purpose. Your baby will need a little quiet time before he can relax and fall asleep. My nine month old wakes me up at night because he is wet. But once I change him, he wants to play rather than go back to sleep. How can I handle this? Try changing the baby just before you go to bed, and maybe that will get him through the night. You might also try double diapering, using plastic pants, or using a disposable diaper with extra absorbency to help him feel more comfortable and allow you both to sleep through the night. Although the baby's skin needs to have some exposure to air to stay healthy, using the heavier diapering or plastic pants only at night may be okay. You might also try adding a blanket or using a sleeper to keep him warmer, it could be the cold more than the dampness that wakes him. Your baby expects you to take care of his needs. You have needs, too, but allowing him to just cry it out may not be the way to handle this. When you change him, be as brief as possible. Let him know it's time for sleeping. If he cries once his diaper has been changed, it's okay. If you allow him to keep you awake just to play, you reinforce his awake time, and he'll expect the same treatment in the future. My nine month old has started to pull himself up in his crib. Is there anything I can do to prevent him from climbing out? Pulling up in the crib is the first step in learning to climb out. Lower the crib mattress as a temporary measure. As soon as he comes close to climbing out, lower the rail to make sure he can get out without injury. You can also move the crib to a corner and pad the floor with extra carpeting. If you are still worried about him hurting himself, you might want to put the mattress on the floor as his new sleeping arrangement until he is ready to try a youth bed. Once he can get out of his crib, however, you have to make sure that his room is safety proofed and that there is a gate at the door of his room to prevent him from wandering around and getting into trouble if he wakes up before you do. Do whatever is most comfortable for you and your baby while keeping him safe. My baby fusses whenever I put him in his playpen, but when I need to get something done, it's the only safe place for him to be. How can I make him happier in his playpen? Some babies never like their playpens. They feel thwarted and restricted--and they are. Still, it's much better to infuriate the baby than to allow him the freedom to hurt himself. Whether he likes it or not, the playpen is the safest place for him when you need to do something that takes you into another room or focuses your attention away from the baby. If the baby has his own room, you might try safety proofing the entire room and placing a gate at the door so that it can be used as a larger "play yard." This is satisfying to some babies, but not all. You might also try keeping the playpen from getting too cluttered; having a few toys rather than many and having more room to move around may make him happier in his playpen. Try rotating the toys used in the playpen. Remove some of the toys and keep them on the side; then, introduce them as surprises on different days. This may help to pacify him and keep him happy for a while longer. Finally, you might try putting him in the playpen on occasion even when you don't need to get something done. Talk to him from a distance and give him encouragement. Let him know he's really having a good time. After a short while, lift him out and tell him how terrific he is. This may help get across the idea that the playpen can be for play as well as for times when you can't be with him. Remember, you don't want to use the playpen as punishment or as a substitute for safety proofing your home, and you don't want it to become a substitute for your loving attention. On the other hand, it is a safe and helpful option for those occasions when you need to get things done and can't be with him. How often should I take my baby outside? Daily outings are almost impossible to arrange. Fresh air outings and diversions provide a healthy change for little ones and their parents, but they're certainly not a daily necessity. When you do go on an outing with the baby, it should be a pleasant experience for you both. If it's a burden and scheduling is difficult, it's not worth it. Try to plan your outings for nice days, and be flexible if the weather lets you down. Many parents who stay home with their babies feel imprisoned and cut off from the outside world from time to time, so an outing can be an uplifting change. If that's the case, try to plan at least a couple every week or whenever it suits you. Keep in mind, too, that your outings can include meetings with friends or a destination with a purpose. My eleven month old has six teeth, and I want to take good care of them. How should I start? You've already provided the most important care by supplying your baby with fluoride. You've also not allowed him to go to bed with his bottle. In addition, pediatric dentists recommend that you wrap some gauze around your finger and gently wipe the baby's teeth and gum line using a circular motion once or twice a day. Once the teeth are touching each other, you can also use dental floss. To do this, briefly and gently slide the floss along the side of each tooth, massaging slightly down and a little bit under the tooth. Afterwards, give your baby a drink of water to rinse. Be sure to let him watch you as you brush your teeth so that he can get comfortable with the process. As soon as he is willing, you can start to brush his teeth using a small, soft toothbrush with or without a tiny amount of toothpaste. You might even give him a chance to start "using" the toothbrush with your supervision, although he'll do more chewing than brushing and you'll need to do the actual cleaning. Most dentists recommend an initial dental appointment at about age two or when all 20 of the baby teeth have erupted. If you have any questions or concerns earlier, consult with your pediatrician and/or a pediatric dentist. In addition to these steps, it's important to keep sugary foods and drinks off the menu. If the baby is offered an occasional sweet treat, brush his teeth or at least have him drink some water when he's finished. How do I keep my 11 month old from putting everything--including rug fuzz--into his mouth? There's no way to keep your 11 month old from putting everything into his mouth. Part of his job is learning about his environment, and tasting is one way he can do this. Your job is to remove all items that are potentially dangerous or harmful. You can also try vacuuming more frequently and keeping an interesting rotation of toys and safe household items available to distract him from rug fuzz. Remember, the more areas of your home you can make safe for your baby, the more opportunities he'll have to explore and learn. You'll want to save "no" for extremely harmful or life-threatening situations. If you find yourself saying "no" to him too often, you'll want to extend your baby proofing so that your curious baby can have a "no-no" free area. When a parent uses "no" for many things in the baby's environment, it becomes commonplace and frustrating to the baby. Although you can begin a form of discipline at this age, you'll want to use encouragement and positive reinforcement to accomplish this. When he does put an unappealing (to you) object into his mouth, don't overreact. Just remove it, and tell him it's not for eating. You'll want to divert his attention at the same time to something else. Try hugging and placing him somewhere else; handing him a more suitable object; or saying, "Let's do this now!" These ploys work and will continue to be effective for quite a while. How frequently should I wash my baby's toys and pacifier? Crawling babies and their favorite things spend a lot of time on the floor. Your baby's hands, toys, and pacifiers will get rubbed on the floor, furniture, carpet, etc. and then end up in his mouth. Once your baby is mobile, it's impossible to keep things truly clean. While your floors should be kept clean, they shouldn't be your first priority. Your rugs should be vacuumed more frequently since crawling babies like to pick at them, and anything they pick up will go into their mouths. Wash rubber toys whenever they're yucky or, if it's more convenient, give all washable toys a bath once a week. Be sure to wash them in warm, soapy water and rinse them well. Pacifiers should be washed and rinsed more frequently, depending upon where they've been. You'll want to have a few spares to rotate. When a pacifier hits the floor in a well-travelled place like the supermarket, theater, or shopping mall, you'll want to pocket it and offer the baby a clean one. If he tosses the pacifier frequently, you might consider tossing it for good. Keep in mind that most of the germs that cause illness come from sneezing, coughing, or kissing. Some are passed from hand to hand. Although you want to protect the baby from as much germ exposure as possible, there's no way to make his environment germ free. Be reasonably cautious about his cleanliness and the cleanliness of his environment, and then, don't worry about it. What kind of shoes should I buy for my baby to help him walk? Babies do not need shoes to walk. Walking is a part of the developmental process and will occur when your baby has been cruising long enough to attain proper balance and confidence. First shoes (prior to when your baby actually bears weight on his feet) serve to keep his feet warm. When he starts to cruise, shoes also protect his feet. Look for the lightest, softest shoe you can find--usually, it's a canvas-topped, rubber-soled "tennis shoe." These are relatively inexpensive and entirely adequate for babies with normal feet. Babies with normal feet do not need high-topped or stiff-soled shoes. Remember, your baby will begin to walk when he's ready, regardless of whether he wears shoes or not. I know they make sunglasses for babies, but should I get a pair for my baby? Manufacturers have made baby sunglasses supposedly to protect a baby's eyes from bright sunshine. Babies don't like sunshine in their eyes. They don't like wearing sunglasses either, no matter how cute or silly they may look to you. While you do want to protect your baby's eyes in bright sunshine, this can be done by dressing him in a cap or bonnet. You'll also want to protect his skin by applying sunscreen and dressing him in lightweight clothing that covers his skin. If you're on an outing and plan to sit or picnic, find a shady spot for your baby. Always try to avoid exposing him directly to midday sunshine. When you put him in the shade, be aware that shade moves and that the baby may need to be moved often as well. Sun rays also reflect off of water and sand and may reach the baby when it appears he's shaded, so keep him in protective clothing even when he's in the shade.