Tag: baby

Dear Mr. Dad: Help! I’m a new mom and I’m bored out of my mind. Everyone says how much fun it is to have a baby but sometimes I can’t think of anything to do with her. Do you have any suggestions?

Although simple things like pots and pans or trips to the grocery store have lost some of their charm for you, keep in mind that just about everything in the world is new to your child. This means there is literally no limit to the number of fun—and educational—things you can do with your baby.

Pregnancy is an exciting time. Despite a lengthy preparation list of name selection, nursery decorating and baby registries, it’s important to keep your relationship a priority—especially since it’s soon to change from a twosome to a threesome or more! Date nights are a great way for couples to maintain a happy connection, yet parents-to-be may feel less motivated—physically and emotionally—to take the time, energy and money to nurture themselves. However, the effort is well worth it! Here are several date ideas for expectant couples:

Boy, do I wish someone had told me how important a healthy microbiome is for pregnancy when I was young and impressionable! Although would I have listened? …Maybe not. Years of miscarrying and fertility treatments in my mid-twenties brought me to my knees as the desire for a baby overshadowed every other part of my life. No one seemed to have a solution except to head to the fertility clinic to find out why I was "broken."

If you’re a new parent, you’ve likely spent a lot of time researching ways to improve your baby’s cognitive skills. Traditional wisdom is that a child’s environment after birth fosters their ability to learn. Although strategies like listening to music and observing colorful mobiles stand the test of time, current research indicates that the capacity for intellectual development originates even before a baby is born.

If you think that means genetic inheritance, think again. Although genes contribute to intelligence, their influence is limited.

It’s been a year since I’ve had my baby and I never feel like having sex. Am I normal?

Very normal. Quite frankly, why would you feel like having sex? All the changes to your body’s hormones, the sheer exhaustion, and feeling overwhelmed are in no way an aphrodisiac.

That said, the first two years after baby couples often create poor sex habits, which will make for an unhappy sex life many years after… instigating a lot of unnecessary fights. It’s important to make efforts to have sex or at the very least a space for connected intimacy on a regular basis.

Dear Mr. Dad: My husband and I have a 1-month old. When’s the right time to start reading to her? And is there a "right" way to do it?

If there is one gift that every parent should give his or her child, it’s a love of reading and stories. At this age, you can read just about anything to your baby, from War and Peace to the installation guide to your dishwasher. The goal isn’t to educate, it’s to get her used to the sound of the language and to make a connection to a peaceful activity.

"Marriage is not 50-50, Divorce is 50-50.  Marriage has to be 100-100. It isn’t dividing everything in half, it’s giving it everything you’ve got." ~ Anonymous

Our first baby is due on Christmas Eve…" a work colleague was telling me, with excitement about what he called his entry into adulthood. I still remember my own rocky transition across this adulthood divide. As most any parent will attest, there is nothing quite like the singular occupation which happens the moment a newborn baby is laid in your hands. It’s an all-consuming love which like it or not often lays waste to all the other pastimes, hobbies and ways of knowing oneself that came before.