Day 311 - How to Keep Your Baby Out of the Cupboards

Today's first time parenting tip - Keep one of your kitchen cupboards reserved for your baby to play in.

Once you've baby-proofed the whole house, to your baby it may no longer seem like a fun place to play. They might get frustrated and all the more determined to get back the cabinet locks you've put on all the cupboards in the kitchen. What's more, if you're working in the kitchen and they are in there too, they may demand to be in your arms where the action is, which makes it very hard for you to get things done.

So instead of locking all the cabinets, leave one open. Fill it with your plastic tupperware or mixing bowls. That way your baby will feel like he's got his own area, and he's got something fun to do in the kitchen. Our son loves opening the cabinet and pulling out the plastic pitcher and tupperware we've got in there.

When you do this, make sure they can't get to any other cupboards from the inside. Likewise, make sure there aren't any nails or sharp things in there either. You have to remember that they may crawl right in there from time to time.

Parenting, Babyproof, Kitchen, Play, Boredom

Day 299 - How to Keep Your Baby Interested

Today's first time parenting tip - Rotate the toys your baby plays with to keep them interested.

I knew my son was getting bored with the toys he was playing with when he'd refuse to pick them up and instead tried to play with the computer, push over the boxes holding our clothes (we're still moving), rip pages out of magazines and cause general mischief.

Then he got some new blocks and we uncovered some books he hasn't ever read. Now he couldn't care less about the other things and loves to dump the blocks out and wants to play with the books all the time.

Babies are like adults. They want variety and excitement in their life. By rotating the toys they play with, even if its the same five toys, you can keep their play fresh. And, as an extra bonus, it helps them grow and learn much better than if they played with one toy for a long while and never really gravitated towards something else.

So every few days or so, bring out something that your baby hasn't played with in a while. See if that cures some of their boredom.

Parenting, Toy, Play, Development, Boredom