Bringing home a new family member is one of the best things one can experience.

It can also be extraordinarily difficult, especially when you are bringing home the first baby.

Here are some of the basics I found that helped me stay as sane as possible during those first few weeks with your precious newborn.  It’s a wonderful time, but also one full of stress…not to mention lack of sleep! 

So whether it’s your first (or fifth!) here are a few things to keep in mind, so you don’t lose your mind!

Accept any and all help offered to you.

Resist the urge to try to appear as super-parents, and just say yes.  A neighbor offers to bring over dinner?  Yes!  A family member who is visiting starts doing dishes?  Let them!  A friend suggests she take the baby for a walk so you can stay home and nap.  Thank them and let the drooling begin!

That being said, don’t hesitate to limit visitors.

Just because Aunt Maggie offers to spend the first two weeks of your newborn’s life in your home promising to cook and clean doesn’t mean you have to say yes.  Your family needs its quiet time to bond as well, and if the idea of having house guests at that time stresses you out, by all means just say no.

Realize that chaos will reign for a while, and go with it.

Your house just might be a mess.  Showering will likely be a luxury.  You’re pajamas, on more than one ocassion, just might serve you perfectly well as clothes the next day.  And then as pajamas again that night.

 Amid all of this chaos,  you just might have a visitor or two. 

Remember, you are still YOU.

 Just because you’re the mom of a newborn doesn’t mean you forfeit being an individual yourself.  You need to nurture yourself as well as your family.  Eat a balanced diet, sleep (Ha!) as much as possible, reach out to friends and family, reintroduce your hobbies as soon as feasible, continue to indulge in things you enjoy.  Certainly, having a newborn changes your lifestyle dramatically, but you need to be a happy and healthy you to be the best Mama you can.

This is a magical time, but a challenging one.  Try to enjoy even the roughest patches, because as they say, the days are long but the years are short.  I know…that photograph above is my son’s newborn hand in my husband’s.  Seems like just a few months ago, but my son is nearly ten.

Dr. Diva, when not editing the Healthy Bliss Channel here, can be found (sometimes) at her personal site Watch me!  No, watch me!  Her youngest is nearly five, and she still finds these hints helpful.

Little girls always seem to look cuter with pierced ears.  In some cultures, its tradition to pierce newborn girl’s ears. Since the child who had their ears pierced will not be participating in the care, extra time and care needs to be taken to make sure that they do not get infected or cause other problems.

Find a reputable piercer. Ask friends and family members who they used for their infants and young children.  The place at the mall may be fine for an older child, but for an infant, I recommend your pediatrician.  I would strongly recommend against an untrained family member doing it.

Make sure to follow directions given from the piercer. Clean as recommended with the recommended products and for the time set. Keep earrings in at all times for the period stated.

Use only gold, sterling silver or hypoallergenic earrings in children. Many cheaper earrings use nickel, which can cause allergic reactions in some people.

If your child wears earrings all the time, make sure earrings and backs are rotated daily. The skin can grow over the earring backing, which can cause pain, bleeding and may need to be removed surgically.  Make sure earrings are not too tight on ears.  Do not press the backing on tight to the ear, use the notch in the post as a guide.

If there is any sign of infection, call your child’s doctor IMMEDIATELY! If there is pain, redness or oozing from the piercing, treatment is needed.  The sooner the better.

With simple care, earrings are not a pain, and they can be beautiful.

When she’s not explaining again to her in-laws why her daughter got her ears pierced at 5 years, not 5 days, Jennifer writes at Toast on the Ceiling.

When our first child was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder (S.P.D) we had never heard of the sensory diet. We quickly learned that it would be very important in our son’s learning process and furthermore that that all children, at sometime in their development, will have sensory issues.

So just what is a sensory diet?  It is an activity schedule that provides the sensory input a person’s nervous system needs to stay focused and organized throughout the day.

Does your young toddler sit still during story time or do they fidget and look around not paying attention? Do you have a hard time incorporating new foods into your child’s food diet? Is your child sensitive to sound or touch? These might be indicators of Sensory Processing Disorder; check with a Occupational Therapist for correct diagnosis . If your child doesn’t have S.P.D they can still benefit from sensory diet activities.

As a child matures and grows most outgrow any sensory issues, but a sensory diet could help aid anyone’s learning process at any point.  When our second child (who has no disability) came along the diet was incorporated into her life as well as we knew it would be helpful to her.

Some examples:

Try wrapping them up in a blanket like a hot dog, slather on some “ketchup” by giving them a quick rubdown, settle in and read your book. Giving tight deep pressure can help keep a child centered and focus their attention on the task at hand. In a way you are helping them release that energy in a positive way.

Another great activity is a sensory table, or large roasting pan, filled with beans, sand, water or any variety of objects. Allowing kids to touch, smell and use their imagination. Tactile activities are more then just touch, start by inviting new foods into these play based sensory sessions, allowing them to touch, smell and finally taste a new food. You might be surprised at what foods your kids will try.

There are so many more great activities to add to your families sensory diet. Go to Coping.com or check out The Out of Sync Kid Has Fun for more fun activities. You might see an improvement in your child’s behavior after these constructive play-based exercises, not only because of the activity but the positive time your family spends together.

Once you have children, your pediatrician will be a person with whom you will spend a lot of time; you are entrusting them with the health and well-being of that of that most precious person. That’s a pretty tall order; how do you select from your list of potential candidates Dr. Right?

In our family, I am the driver.

It always surprises me when it surprises other people see me take the wheel while my husband heads over to the passenger side.  Why men seem to be the default drivers in our society is a mystery to me, and an issue for another time.

For us, the reason is twofold.  Number one, I’m a horrible back-seat driver, so it’s just easier to let this control freak take the reins.

Secondly, I get horrible car sickness when I’m a passenger…when I drive, it doesn’t bother me one whit.

Sadly, however, my son has inherited this lovely trait from me.  He’s got a few years until he’s a driver (and I’m already gearing up for arguements as to which car sickness sufferer gets to drive), so I’ve had to accumulate an arsenal of ways to battle his sensitivity to motion.

As many of us are tightening our belts and will be driving to our holiday destinations this year, I thought I’d share with you what has worked for us:

•  Look forward, out the window.  Try to focus on the horizon, or clouds in the sky.  It fools your body and is the best way to beat motion sickness.



• Open the window…that fresh air does wonders to help alleviate the nausea.
• Have snacks in the car.  I find that crackers, hard peppermint candies, ginger cookies, and sipping on water steeped with fresh mint can be a great help.
• Stop frequently; don’t let that nausea get to the point of no return.  Nip it in the bud and give your car sickness sufferers a chance to recalibrate while stretching their legs.
• Sit as in front of the car as possible and safe, and NEVER face backwards.

Don’t let motion sickness ruin your next road trip…gas prices are enough of a pain, we don’t need to add nausea to the mix!

Dr. Diva, aka Christine, can be found (sometimes) at her second home Watch me!  No!  Watch me!  She is also the proud editor of this Healthy Bliss channel, and welcomes any and all comments and questions!  Oh, and one other thing that helps alleviate car sickness…let your kids play with your cell phone and take pictures as you drive.  Dr. Diva’s four year-old daughter took the horizon picture on a recent family jaunt.