One parent saying ‘yes’, one parent saying ‘no’

Being a new parent is difficult work, especially in the beginning, where everything is so new and you don’t know which advice to listen to. Parents, friends, colleagues always try to help with tons of advice, but sometimes new parents should be left on their own so they can discover their own rules about how to bring up their baby in the world. 

Mum’s rules

Usually mums are more strict about what baby can or can’t do, and new mums start quite early to teach their baby about the new rules in their home.  For example not touching cupboards in the kitchen or not playing with plants. Saying ‘no’ for bad things and saying nice words for good is a useful learning practice for baby. Unfortunately some babies at the beginning might do those prohibited things even more often, but later they will get used to the fact that mum is always strict about some rules. It’s very important to be consistent so the child is not confused.       

Dad’s rules

Dads are usually very proud of their first child and want to always be the perfect dad. Every dad is different obviously but most of them usually allow their children to do more naughty things than mums. Their view about bringing up their baby is not strict, as their baby should try everything by touching or smelling or even breaking things. Sometimes that makes the dad appear  to be the more fun parent and therefore is more popular. 

The same rules for all

Every child should learn rules so their life is getting easier later in school. Also, that helps both parents to follow the same rules and the atmosphere between them is calm and nice. It’s very healthy for baby to have consistent rules.

This article was written by Personalised Baby Gifts UK.

PersonalisedBaby Gifts UK has a great range of personalised gifts for parents and other family members, such as personalised leather wallets, engraved jewellery and much more.

 

We have loads of articles with tips on parenting, from travelling with a baby to choosing a baby’s name. And once you’ve chosen your baby’s name, why not have it embroidered onto their bib, or printed on a personalised clock for the nursery.

 

 

Personalised Baby Gift Ideas

If you want to give a gift that is truly unique, then a great way to ensure this is to create something personalised. Here is a list of our most popular personalised gifts for babies.

Personalised Traditional Piggy Banks

 

We all remember our first piggy bank and the bubbly excitement when we fed a coin through that little slot and then shook it to hear the coins jangling around inside. These days moneyboxes come in all shapes and sizes, everything from square boxes to ceramic spheres, even to carousels complete with photos. But the traditional pink pig shaped piggy bank remains an all time favourite.

Personalised albums and frames

The reason personalised albums and frames make such great gifts is that the gift itself is only the beginning of the personalisation. The photos inside are what makes this kind of gift truly special and treasured. It’s perfect for newborns as an album can be used as a place to document the baby’s first few days, weeks and months of life in this world.

Engraved Trinket Boxes

 

One look at these and it’s immediately clear why they’re so popular. The classy, simple design and elegant design make this an elegant and attractive gift. And on top of that they’re practical, as babies first tooth or lock of hair can be stored safely – better than in a little plastic jiffy bag!

For loads more ideas about newborn baby gifts, visit our main site.

Swaddling – what is it and why does it work

You may have heard of swaddling and there are lots of products out their especially for swaddling, but what is it, what’s the theory behind it and does it work?

What is swaddling?

Swaddling is when you wrap up a baby firmly from the neck down in a thin, light blanket with her or his arms tucked against her or his chest. Obviously  you don’t want to restrict their breathing or crush them, but a key factor is that the blanket must be quite firm and doesn’t easily unwrap.

The idea is to calm the baby and make them feel safe and secure.

What’s the theory behind it

It is believed that being tightly bound reminds the baby of the restricted space in the womb – the place that was safe and warm and lovely, before the baby entered the big wide (scary) world. It’s also said to help stop them thrashing around agitating themselves, and it can stop them being disturbed by the little twitches they make when they’re asleep.

Does swaddling work?

Swaddling is not a modern, fly-by-night trend, it’s an age old technique that’s been used since before people started writing books on babycare. Many people swear by it. However, some experts have raised concerns about some of the negative effects of swaddling, and others say it simply doesn’t work for them. At the end of the day, each baby is different, so you won’t know whether swaddling is going to help calm them until you try it.

If you have a newborn baby, why not drop by Personalised Baby Gifts? We have more articles with tips on parenting, from travelling with a baby to choosing a baby’s name. And once you’ve chosen your baby’s name, why not have it embroidered onto their bib, or printed on a personalised clock for the nursery.

Top Three Newborn Gifts

Trinket boxes for firsts

There are a variety of trinket boxes and certificate holders you can get for keeping baby’s first tooth or first lock of hair safe forever (much nicer than a jiffy bag in the kitchen drawer!). Trinket boxes can be engraved with the name and date of the new arrival and certificate holders can come with commemorative plaques.

Bibs and Linen

A practical gift, bibs and linen can be personalised with embroidery to show the newborn’s name and even date of birth or a message. Parents will be grateful for the extra bibs, muslins and linen, which are useful as well as beautiful gifts.

Newborn photo session

Time flies so fast and these precious moments are gone forever. There is a very short window for newborn photography, but the adorable photographs will be cherished forever. Or, if the parents are too exhausted, most photography vouchers can be used later, when the baby is more bubbly and responsive.

At personalised baby gifts we have hundreds of products specially selected for newborns and babies. Most of our items can be personalised free of charge.

Practical tips for picking baby names

It could be one of the most important decisions of your life - after having the baby of course... So what do name your little bundle of joy?

You may have a shortlist already, but here are a few tips to help you avoid making any naming blunders that will haunt you for a very long time...

Say it out loud

It's amazing how different things sound out loud as opposed to written on paper. Say them all out loud and see which ones get crossed off in a hurry! It may be worth getting friends and family to try saying the names out loud as well, to see where people might pronounce it wrong - and find out if it's going to get on your nerves - or even cause embarrasment!

Think about what it might be shortened to

One mother I know gave all three of her boys names with three syllables that could each be shortened to two, or even one. She figured she'd give them the option of choosing how formal or informal they wanted to be. Think about what your potential names could be shortened to, and whether you like them in that format.

Try it with your surname

Trying out various names with your surname highlight issues in rhythm or tongue twisters or even unintended words hiding between them. If you're going to give the child a middle name as well, then try saying it out loud with all three parts. This is particularly important if your surname is King, which is open to all kinds of potential disasters...

Once you've chosen the perfect name, why not get it printed or embroidered onto one of our fantastic personalised baby products!

Personalised Treasure Hunt Gift for a Child's Birthday

Looking for an interesting idea to make your child's birthday even more special and fun? A personalised treasure hunt is a great way of building anticipation and making receiving of gifts into a game.

 

Setting up a personalised treasure hunt takes a bit of preparation, but is quite straightforward and well worth it for the expression of delight on your child's face.

First you have to prepare the clues. Get some little pieces of paper - you can use fancy coloured card or parchment or simply scraps from a jotter notepad, it's really up to you. Then decide which places you're going to hide the clues. It's best if you find places around the house where they won't be seen by accident - if your child accidentally finds one out of turn, it could break the surprise.

For each place, try to think of a clue that will lead to it. For example, if you're going to hide one in a grandfather clock, the clue might say, 'This is a tall tick tock tick tock'. If you're going to hide one in the washing machine (careful nobody does a washload in the meantime!) it might say, 'Socks and suds go round and round'. You can make them easy or difficult, depending on how long you want the game to last.

Once you've got around ten clues, plant them in order so that they create a continuous trail. Then, at the end of the trail - put the present!

Once everything's ready, present your child with the clue and explain that they have to work out what it means - they'll soon get the hand of it and be adventuring away!

If you're looking for a great personalised gift for a child's birthday, check out our cute clothing, soft toys and personalised jigsaws.

Baby Shower Charades! Free Ideas for Movie, Book & Song Titles

Baby Shower Charades is a great game that you can play at your baby shower to liven things up and have everyone falling over with giggles.

Preparation

Easy! All you need to do is prepare some cards with the names of books, movies and song titles all with the word ‘baby’ somewhere in them written on one side. If you’re super enthusiastic or have a lot of time on your hands, you could also make a CD of the songs to play afterwards (but not before or during or you’ll give the game away!).

Titles with baby names in

·         (You’re) Having my baby

·         Anybody seen my baby

·         Baby  be mine

·         Baby love

·         Baby, I love your way

·         Be my baby

·         Bye bye baby

·         Gone Baby Gone

·         Hit me baby one more time

·         I got you babe

·         Maybe Baby

·         Million Dollar Baby

·         Rosemary’s Baby

·         Santa baby

·         The Babysitter

·         The water babies

·         They Baby-sitter’s Club

·         Three men and a baby

Playing charades

 

On the day, split into two teams (you may need an independent moderator as well, depending on how competitive your lot are. One member of Team A takes a card, reads it and keeps it secret. They then have to try to mime the words to their team, who shout out their guesses. The person miming is not allowed to speak (or make any noise) or mouth anything with their lips. If the team correctly guess the title from the card before the time is up, then they win the point. If they fail to win it, then usually the other team has a few seconds to take a guess. If they get it right, then they get the point instead.

Are you interested in reading more about baby showers? Read the fascinating history of baby showers from ancient times to the modern day.

If you’re having or going to a baby shower, check out our fantastic range of baby gifts – there’s everything from bibs to door plaques to silver and crystal keepsakes.

Personalised Baby Gifts! Making your baby shower perfect.

Idea for a wonderful unique personalised gift - photo gifts!

Photo gifts are one of my favourite personalised gifts. These days there are variety of options for using personal photographs to make great personal gifts. There are lots of places that will print photo products at relatively inexpensive rates, and if you watch out for special deals on some of the coupon websites, you can get something very reasonable.

Photos in frames

You could simply go for the classic option and buy a pretty frame and fill it with one or more pictures of yourself or the recipient of the gift and other friends and family. Or you could buy a very cheap plain photo frame and decorate it yourself using glass beads, glittery rubber paint, shells and whatever else you can find!

Photo calendar

Photo calendars are a great useful gift that can keep your loved ones smiling all year round. If possible, you can try to match the photos for each month with ones taken at the right time or year, but it doesn’t really matter. You can just put a selection of your favourite photos in, or you can pick a theme, such as a holiday, day trip, pets, or a year in the life of!

Photobooks

Photobooks offer a load of options, from a mini flip book type book all the way to a hard bound glossy printed tome. As with calendars, it can be nice to pick a theme – perhaps you could collect pictures from someone’s life all the way from being a baby and show them developing through their lives up to the present day!

For more great ideas for personalised gifts and to browse our excellent range of everything from balloons to china piggy banks – visit the Personalised Baby Gift shop!

How do babies develop? Months Thirteen to Fifteen

As your baby enters his or her second year (how fast has that time flown?!), communication becomes much more prevalent. The child has twelve months of experience under their belt and are beginning to understand the world around them - and have opinions about how it should be...

At thirteen months babies usually walk and stand on their own but it is quite common for some babies to still use furniture or other objects to support themselves. And some children don’t walk until seventeen or eighteen months or even later, so don't panic if yours is more content to stay put!

Hand skills will be improving and most babies are able to grab a block and drop it into a container or grip a spoon. Communication and understanding is developing fast and babies usually use the most common words: “dada” and “mama” or “hello” and “bye”.

At around thirteen to fifteen months babies understand the meaning of “bye – bye” and they wave when somebody is leaving and saying goodbye. Most babies can easily drink from a cup and try to eat by using a spoon and fork. Quite often babies are ready to help to do the cleaning - which they enjoy more than their parents..

Usually fifteen month old babies have their own special favourite things, like a soft toy or favourite blanket. These items are called “transitional items” and they can be a source of comfort, especially when parents are not around.

At this time most babies are quite good at walking or even shaky running, and some babies are even able to walk backwards. It’s good fun to push and pull toys while walking or matching lids and stacking blocks. At fifteen months babies can often recognise themselves in a mirror. Hello me!

Personalised Baby GIfts UK is a great source of ideas for unique gifts to make a baby's room more perfect or to put a smile on a new parent or grandparent's face.

We have all kinds of cute themes, from pirates to zoo animals to timeless classic.