While we talk a LOT about considerations for your cloth diapers and how to prepare them before your new baby arrives, we want to take the chance to talk a little about the rest of family life with a new baby.  Especially life for your first little one(s).

Introducing our guest writer, Sarah, who will chat with you about preparing your children for the arrival of a new baby.

Your other children will benefit from some preparation before baby comes along.  Life as you know it will never be the same, but the transition can be smoother by doing a few things with the brother or sister to be.  Here are our top tips:

• Changes such as moving to a big bed, moving bedrooms, or new childcare arrangements would be better done well before the new baby is born. You can expect some regression of already mastered skills, like potty training.
• Spend special time with your other child and remind visitors to pay attention to the sibling and not just the new baby. Include sibling in pictures and other activities.
• Ask for your child’s help and involve your child in baby’s care. Even very young children can help by getting a diaper for you, picking out clothes, or patting burps out of the babe.
• Try to let go of guilt. There is no way to give both children equal attention.  Do the best you can and create a support network.
• Remember that one of your gifts to all of your children is the sibling relationship they will have with one another.
• Consider allowing your child to participate in the birth of your new baby, if they are comfortable doing so.  Please be sure to have a special support person on call for your child, as they can be as unpredictable with their feelings and needs as the birth experience itself.

Sarah Farhangi is the mother of three beautiful children.  She teaches sibling preparation classes with her DoulaMamas partner, Bonnie Jarvis.  Both ladies have a wealth of experience as early childhood educators, mothers of siblings and birth doulas.

For more info about sibling preparation classes, please visit DoulaMamas.

Diaper changing time can be a special bonding time with your baby. In the first six months especially, incorporating a sense of play and eye contact with your infant while on the change table can be hugely rewarding.

But as our wee ones begin to hit all those lovely growth milestones – like grasping, rolling and crawling – diaper-changing playtime can feel more like a day at the fair than a blissful, quiet time with your babe. Here are a few tips to make changing your older baby a bit easier…

Have your diapers prepped and preloaded. This most certainly expedites diaper changes. Make sure pocket diapers are pre-stuffed with their inserts, one-size diapers are sized to their appropriate size, and all-in-ones (AIO).  If you are using Bio-Soft Liners for poop management, make sure that your diapers are lined before the event starts.

Also, it may also seem obvious, but make sure you lay out the new diaper and have it close at hand before taking off the dirty one! If you have a baby who just can’t be bothered with laying down and insists that diaper changes be done on the fly while standing (or running), this is definitely essential.  Side snapping diapers make stand up changes much easier.

Have a special toy for change time. This will occupy restless hands and may help a child focus. Always a good thing…

Have your wipes premoistened. As with most tasks, preparation is everything. Having your wipes wet and nearby will allow you to do a bum wipe-down quickly without leaving your child squirming and/or unattended.

If you have a baby who rolls, choose diapers that can be put on with one hand, since usually you’re holding the baby down with one arm and diapering with the other. If you love prefolds, preload them into a wrap-style cover. If you’re into AIO’s, choose the styles with velcro rather than snaps. Diapers that go on in one step rather than two (AIO’s, pockets, All-in-Two‘s, etc) can be a huge boon at this stage of diapering!

Choose diapers that can’t be taken off by toddler hands. Some toddlers never have the urge to figure out how the velcro or the Snappi on their diaper works, but others are only happy if they’re nekkid. If you have such a curious tyke, consider using diapers with snaps, which are stronger than toddler strength, or put your velcro diapers on backward so that the velcro strip is away from curious fingers.

Do you have any tips and tricks you’ve learned from diapering your rolling, crawling baby? We’d love to hear them!

Bummis Training Pants are an excellent tool in active toilet training.  Like any new skill, children need teaching, guidance and repetition to master it.  Using smart  tools to help with achieving success will make toilet training a more positive and enjoyable experience.

Here is a bit about the trainers and some tips and ideas for using and washing them:

• Bummis Trainers are not meant to replace diapers; they are simply intended to provide an “underwear” experience for the child with the bonus of having some absorbency built in along with a waterproof outer layer.  These trainers will hold one to two toddler pees if needed.
• Bummis Trainers feature a cotton inner layer and terry absorbent core.  The advantage to this is that your toddler will receive immediate feedback when he/she begins to pee.  The wetness is a means in which to restore and/or reinforce the association between the feeling and process of peeing with the goal of eventually being able to recognize the feeling of needing to pee with the knowledge of what to do when you have this feeling.
• Bummis Trainers have a waterproof outer layer; the same fabric that is used with their industry gold standard diaper covers.
• Bummis Trainers are generously cut so may appear poofy but are excellent at supporting the self care aspect of undressing and dressing during toileting.  Toddlers will have a greater success if the trainers are not too tight and they are able to pull them down and up without too much strength and motor planning.  When wearing the trainers under pants, they compact down nicely, losing the poofy appearance.
• Before use, for optimal performance, the trainers should be washed inside out 3-5 times on hot with a additive-free (no extras) detergent.  This will help the cotton become absorbent by stripping the natural oils from the fabric and plumping up the fibres.  Some examples include:

• Nature Clean – available locally at Save on Foods Natural foods section
• Nellies Laundry Soda – available at London Drugs
• Tide
• Sunlight
• Cheer
• Country Save – in Canada at London Drugs

• Washing routine – for wet and soiled trainers, run a cold soak/rinse cycle followed by a hot wash with an approved detergent.  If using a conventional detergent, reduce the amount recommended by half.  Dry in dryer or line dry.  Recommend washing inside out for best results and faster drying time.  For wet only trainers, you can skip the rinse cycle.

And lastly, some general info on toilet training.  There are a couple of threads of commonality woven throughout today’s common philosophies:

• The process of helping your child to learn how to eliminate in the toilet needs to be a positive experience; your child should never be pressured into using the toilet
• A parent’s job is to observe their child’s behavioural cues to determine if there are any consistent cues related to when the child wets or has a poop in their diaper
• A parent must provide opportunities to try and use the potty/toilet at appropriate times
• A child is often more successful with learning to use the potty when he becomes aware of the association of peeing and becoming wet.

Bummis Training Pants are one essential piece of “equipment” that you’ll need to assist your child in this transition.  Training pants signal a change from “what babies wear” to “what big kids wear” and also give parents and children easier access/ability to get clothing/underwear off to quickly use the potty.

Enjoy the process.  Remember every child is different and it can feel tricky at times but in the end, well worth the effort when your child learns that she has mastered using the toilet!