Although you might be tempted to baby proof the instant you get your little one home from the hospital, you can wait a little bit. There is no need to proof your home until your baby starts crawling.

First, you need to be aware of what harm can be done to your baby because your baby’s safety always should be your top priority. You can start with the obvious. Get outlet protectors so your little one does not get hurt playing around the sockets. You should cover every outlet even if you do not think your little one will find it. Also, get latches for your lower cabinet doors.

You also want to keep your bathroom doors closed at all times when you are baby proofing your home. You do not want your child to fall into the toilet or tub because you left the door open. One of the best ways to protect your child is by putting child safety gates at the top and bottom of your stairs. These you will want to keep in place well after your child is in the walking stage. Now that you have protected your baby from the house’s dangers, you need to protect your house from your baby.

You can do this by getting down with your baby while he or she is playing on the floor and crawling around. Look for anything that you would not want broken. When you are baby proofing your home, be sure to move all small objects to a higher location so your child cannot choke on them. You also may want to take your proofing a little bit higher than where your child can crawl as well. It will be no time before your little one is pulling himself up. He will be able to reach higher things then.

Photo Credit: peasap

There are a bunch of products that have recently been given recall notices.  For example, Old Navy has recalled some stuffed toys that have detachable button eyes.  This was deemed to be a choking hazard for toddlers and babies.  Another tragic case prompted another product recall.  A young boy in California was strangled to death when the drawstring on his hooded sweatshirt got caught on a part of the playground equipment where he was playing.  This death has resulted in the recall of hooded sweatshirts with drawstrings by the Hill Sportswear company.

Recall notices were also issued for a product from the Disney Store.  Tons of parents shop there for their kids, but not everything is safe.  A tool set toy was recalled because it poses a choking hazard to young children.  In another case, DDI Inc. recalled toy construction play sets from the market.  The surface paint on the play sets was found to contain lead.  This was a violation of the federal lead paint standard, and the toys were taken off the market.  Even some High School Musical products were recalled.  As it turns out, that brand was selling a manicure kit with glitter lettering.  Unfortunately, this lettering contained lead which was putting children at risk.

As you can see, even some of the more respected product lines have issued recall notices.  There are dangers everywhere, and it is important for parents to keep an eye out for their children.  It may be an innocent mistake, but accidents can result in injury, illness, and even death.  Avoid a tragedy by closely examining all products that you buy for your kids.  It is better to be safe than sorry.  Check the listings of recent product recalls (or directly from the CPSC) to make sure that the toys and clothes your child has are not a threat to his or her well-being.

So, you think you’re a “Real Man” don’t you? Well, as a professional people watcher, I see lots of guys that would consider themselves to be real men that violate my simple list of 5 Rules.

These men walk tough and talk tougher but they don’t have the common sense to know how the actions they take affect the rest of us and leave a bad impression on their children.

5 Simple Rules:

1) Don’t Swear in Front of Children
Sounds simple right? Well, swearing is addictive especially if you work in a loose environment where everyone does it. You may have the tendency to bring it into the house. Fight it, kids don’t need to hear it.

2) Don’t Smoke Near Children
For the love of God this has to be a no-brainer right? I mean, smoking is bad for you isn’t it? That hasn’t changed, so why the hell would it be OK to smoke in close proximity to children?

3) Be Courteous
There are plenty of ways to be courteous both physically (opening a door for someone) and verbally (saying ‘Thank you’ or ‘Excuse me’). What it comes down to is being respectful. Forget world peace (I say that with my tongue firmly planted in cheek) this world would be a much better place if we all just respected each other.

4) Stop at Stop Signs
Stop signs are red and octagon shaped.  They typically have cross walks on the other side of them and/or separate your car from another through way. Obvious right? How come so many people completely ignore them? I live in the city and see people blow straight through stop signs leaving moms and dads yanking their children out of crosswalks.

5) Give it Away
Everybody has a little extra to give. Donate some time, money or materials to help out a worthy cause. Real men don’t do it for the tax break, they do it because they hope that someone will be there for them when they need a hand.

Now, if you already abide by the rules above then give yourself a pat on the back, but don’t get carried away. These are pretty easy rules to live by. If you don’t, well, all is not lost. With practice and….who the hell am I kidding. These rules are dead simple and common sense. You’ll figure it out!

How about you? What rules do you live by that should be included in the list above? Let us know in the comments section below.

• Complete Poker Rules
  • A community of online and live poker players discussing poker strategy and poker hand analysis.
• Twitter Poker Tour
  • The TPT is a weekly online poker “home game”. The tour alternates between PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker and is open for all players!

• Recalls to Repair Nerf Blasters
• 25% of Teen Girls Got HPV Vaccine
• As Economy Worsens, so Does Stress
• Music Reduces Pregnancy Stress

We did run into some issues out-of-the-box for this product, mainly the motor that runs the swing motion was annoyingly loud and not really, umm, soothing at all. We made a call to Graco and they informed us that they were phasing in a new motor system and some of the products in the stores had the noisy motor.

They shipped out a new motor to us and it runs fairly smoothly now. It is a little louder than I had expected in general, but after reviewing several competing models in store, they are all loud, seems to come with the territory.

The motor aside, this “soothing center” is a great product. It has 6 levels of swing motion, a vibrating function in the included seat and a great selection of music on an above average built-in speaker system. The bonus feature of the music system is an auxiliary input and tray to hold an ipod.

Another bonus feature is that the included seat is removable and your Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat will snap right into the Soothing Center. This is great for transferring your baby from the backseat to the Soothing Center without waking!

This weeks Link Roundup for September 26th, 2008 contains info about recalls, cholesterol, overworking and junk food. Enjoy!

• Recall Buzz: Several child product recalls
• Kids & Cholesterol: Call for Early Action 
• Overworking Affects Spouses Differently 
• Moms Eat Junk Food, Kids Get Fat 

We live in Boston and there is a provider just south of us that we are very comfortable with. The issue with this option is that we only have one car and we both work in Boston, MA (well I work close by in Cambridge). So I would commute out of the city just to come back in for work. If we want to split the drop-off and pick-up, we will need two cars. We could drop her off, leave the car at the train station and commute via train to work. And reverse that to pick her up (thus splitting the responsibility). Downside there is we can’t get to her in a hurry if we need to, nor can we pop in to say “Hi!”.

Another option is to use a great provider in Downtown Boston that is on the way to work if I rearrange my commute slightly.  More importantly my wife could walk up (or cab it) during the day to say “Hi!” or in the case that little girl is throwing a nutty and needs her momma. Issue with this option is that it is (about) $800/month more expensive than option 1.

We are comfortable with both providers in terms of comfort level. So it boils down to:

• Convenience of drop-off/pick-up.
• Closeness to get there in emergency or for a mid-day pick-me-up (baby smiles are good for you).
• Cost. 

• Recall Buzz: Tracking Recalls so you don’t have to
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: New Clue
• Beware the Know It Alls: How to Handle Unsolicited Baby Advice
• Kids’ Diving Injuries Top 6,500 Yearly
  

As we approached 2 or 3 weeks, she was a lot more alert and awake. It was during that time that we noticed a little smile every now and again. It was just a little crack of a smile, but our pediatrician and parents alike played the part of Major Buzzkill and told us it was “likely just gas”.

We move forward a couple of weeks and the smile became more noticeable (and less gas powered). It was the funniest, cutest and one of the most rewarding moments as new parents. But the smiling sessions were brief  and on her terms, we could not induce them.

Well, times have certainly changed. We are at the 12-week mark now and I don’t think a waking hour goes by where she doesn’t crack at least one smile. And the smiling bouts are usually coupled with belly laughs and squealing; It’s pretty amazing.

Photo Credit: ntr23