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.

 

 

Pets for children – how to choose?

Having pets at home is a good experience for children which helps them to learn responsibility and to learn a good caring attitude towards animals. Before you make this important decision you should do the research and consider what size a pet you can afford to keep in your house or flat and check how to care for your chosen pet. Also, it’s really important to choose insurance for your pet.

Big or small?

It’s a good idea to start with a something small and easy to keep at home. A good example is a rabbit, guinea pig, a mouse, rat or hamster. These pets are generally cheap to keep and also entertaining. You have to only keep them clean, fed and water them and then have great fun with them.
It’s good to do the research about food and special requirements for winter as some pets like a warm and sheltered place when is cold and frosty.

Some of the most common pets are cats and dogs. Cats are safe and easy for a toddler to handle but parents should introduce a child to how to care about a cat, how to feed and how to play safely. Dogs need more daily care as they should be taken for a walk a minimum of once a day and they need some training as well. We need to think about who will take care of that, especially at winter time. Quite often, dogs are the best and reliable ‘humans’ friends and usually there is a strong relationship between dog and family.

Children often like specific animals which they can see in a zoo but they want something cute and cuddly as well. Parents should do the research and make the best decision. It is possible that the exciting time with pets will pass and parents need to accept that they will need to take over. Whatever your decision will be, consider what expectations of a pet your child has or who will look after the pet when you are on holiday.  



This article was written by Personalised Baby Gifts UK.

Looking for a perfect Christmas gift? We have a great range of gifts that can be personalised for no extra cost. Visit Personalised Baby Gifts UK to browse our online store.

We also have some lovely items for mums and dads, to help cheer up the exhausted new parents! 

Organising the perfect baby shower – when, where, how, what and most importantly – why

Whether you’re organising a baby shower for yourself or someone else, this guide will help you get everything organised and give you some inspiration.

When – you need to decide whether to have the baby shower before or after the baby is born.

We think before is better as it means there is more focus on the mother – who will actually appreciate it – and she’ll be able to concentrate on enjoying herself, rather than having one eye on the baby or one ear out for when it starts to gripe.

Where – having a baby shower in someone’s home can be more cosy and relaxing, but don’t forget that then someone has to prepare and clean up afterwards.

Using a restaurant or café might be more expensive, but then the catering and tidying is taken care of. In either case, if the guests can chip in, it will make things much more manageable.

How – themes are very popular in baby shower.

You can get all kinds of decorations such as personalised helium balloons, banners and even outfits – imagine dressing up in a full Victorian dress! It’s customary to bring gifts to a baby shower as well, which may range from anything from engraved trinket boxes to classic personalised piggy banks to practical items such as personalised pillowcases and towels or embroidered clothing.

What – Eat, drink and make merry!

As well as giving gifts, baby showers usually involve baby themed food (such as tiny sandwiches, cupcakes or miniature pizzas), interesting non-alcoholic drinks (such as fruit juice cocktails with umbrellas and foil sprays) and baby themed games (such as Baby Shower Charades, pin the safety pin on the nappy and baby questions and answers).

Why – don’t forget the most important thing about baby showers – the people.

This celebration is all about getting together to appreciate our loved ones and show them how important they are to us. Be patient about things you don’t agree on, stay relaxed and above all – have fun!

 

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.

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!

How do babies develop? Months Sixteen to Eighteen

At sixteen months babies are usually getting quite active and want to play more interactive games that use their brains, such as pointing at body parts or pictures when asked by their parents to identify a particular thing. They will also be stepping up to more physical challenges, such as opening and closing doors and going up and down the stairs (backwards).

They will probably start to imitate common gesture their parents make - such as putting their finger to their lips and saying, shhhh!

Although they won't be able to follow the plot, toddlers enjoy looking at picture books and being read to, and they like to choose the story book - and they don't get tired of reading the same story over and over again, until it falls out of favour for a different one.

At 17 months most babies talk more clearly and use a handful of words regularly. They might be able to take off their dress or top and they can learn quite easily how to brush their teeth. Babies at this time understand more and they want to try new things, like feeding a doll or kicking a ball forward. They can recognise and sort toys by colour, shape or size. It is a good time to work on manners using words like “please” or “thank you”.

The 18 month old baby is very active. They like to dance to music, push and turn buttons and knobs or climb all over furniture. You may be able to teach your baby how to use a potty, but don't worry if it takes a little longer.
Most babies already have their favourite toys but quite often they also develop some habits which help them to calm and relax, for example sucking their thumb. However, usually all babies outgrow these things so parents shouldn’t worry too much.

Personalised Baby Gifts have a range of products to help with toddlers development, including jigsaw puzzles and plastic cups.

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.

Tips for taking photos of your newborn

Whether it’s your first child or your fifth, having a new baby is an incredibly special moment in all parents’ lives. You probably want to capture the first moments forever as your new addition slumbers peacefully.

At Personalised Baby Gifts we offer engraved photo frames and embroidered albums to keep all your baby photos safe in.

Here are some tips for taking some great newborn photos.

Try to capture the ‘firsts’

Rather than having lots of pictures of the baby in the same position, it can be very fun and rewarding to capture some of the many firsts that will be going on. Such as baby’s first bath, first weighing, first outfit, first time meeting grandparents, best friend, aunt etc.

You don’t need to go overboard and try to capture every single thing, but by creating a ‘photo documentary’ of this kind, you will have a story to relive over the years.

Experiment with distances and angles

Close-ups work very well with babies – if you have a macro function on your camera, then get up close and use it! But you should experiment from further away, and also try different angles. Down low works well for babies, because it gives the impression of being in their world.

Try black and white

Converting pictures of newborns and babies into black and white makes for a timeless beauty. If you have some photo editing software, you could also experiment with desaturating but not entirely turning to black and white, using a sepia filter or if you’re a little more advanced removing all colour except in a few select places, such as a bow, or in the eyes.

For more ideas and tips for new parents visit our baby gifts store.

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.