Day 352 - Sign Up for Preschool Early

Today's first time parenting tip - Sign up for preschool around your baby's first birthday

I know it sounds crazy, and it is, but around Chicago, if you don't sign up for daycare or preschool early, you're sunk. We called at least 60 day cares and only found 1 that was taking infants. Guess who were sending him too.

Supposedly it's just as bad for preschool. Waiting lists for all the "good" ones fill up fast. What makes a school "good" isn't how expensive a building they have or if they have an Xbox 360 for the kids or even how much they charge. A good preschool is only as good as the teacher, and you can find some great ones that don't teach at the popular preschools.

Even so, you should lock up your spot as early as possible. If you don't send your baby to daycare, preschool becomes even more important as it teaches kids how to learn and play with others before they get into a more academic grade school setting.

Of course, if you don't know where you're going to be living in the next few years and there's a chance you could leave the area, you've got another factor to add to the mix. We're definitely in temporary housing, so we're going to hold off a little longer. If it comes down to it, we might just have to plunk down a deposit and maybe lose it if we have to move farther away.

Parenting, Preschool, Sign, Up, Day, Care

Day 310 - Make a Dentist Appointment for the 1 Year Birthday

Today's first time parenting tip - Make your baby a dentist appointment for around their 1 year birthday

Your infant's first dentist appointment should be somewhere close to their one-year birthday. Your baby may or may not have all his teeth in yet, but the dentist should still check their teeth and gums to make sure they're healthy.

Like your pediatrician, you should be comfortable with your dentist, both in his bedside manner and his professionalism. The first visit will be fairly easy, the dentist will try to get comfortable with your child and check the teeth and gums for signs of bottle decay.

He'll also be able to give you advice on how to care for your infant's teeth, as well as possibly give you fluoride drops, especially if your tap water doesn't have this added already.

After this first visit, you should come back every six months for a cleaning and check up.

Parenting, Dentist, Teeth, Care, Dental

, Clean

Day 297 - Brush Your Baby's Teeth in the Morning

Today's first time parenting tip - Brush your baby's teeth in the morning

By now your baby should have a couple teeth all the way in, with more on the way. Hopefully you've made a dentist appointment around his 1-year birthday (I need to get on that), and you're brushing his teeth with a soft bristled brush at least once a day.

I was of the mindset that it needed to be done at night, but our son usually is pretty drowsy after he's had his final bottle before bedtime. All it did was wake him back up and made it harder for him to fall asleep.

So we tried brushing his teeth in the morning after he's had a little breakfast. He's in a much better mood than at night, and he loves to help out and gum the toothbrush. And it doesn't interfere with his nighttime routine.

So if you're having trouble working a brushing in at night time, try doing it when dawn breaks. It may be easier all around.

Parenting, Teeth, Brush, Dental, Care