Stuff For Baby You May NOT Really Need

PARENT TO PARENT
By Betsy Flagler


Amongst the ever-growing list of new-fangled baby products, parents wonder: What do I really need? Here are tried-and-true, developmentally appropriate answers. Descriptions are from the product's maker:

An infant hair protector is designed to minimize infant baldness. Made from satin polyester, the hair protector will prevent a baby from getting the common "bald spot" on the back of the head. Babies need to sleep on their backs, but baby baldness isn't the main problem if they spend too much time on their backs during sleep, in car seats and in bouncers, child development experts say.

An alternate solution: Pick up and play with your baby. Tote him around the house. Smile face to face or tummy to tummy on the floor. All the while, he will improve his neck, trunk and shoulder strength. Kids who spend too much time on their backs may have delays in early motor skills, such as not lifting their heads or crawling, according to experts at Pathways Awareness, a national not-for-profit group focused on early detection and early therapy for early motor delays.

The group, at www.pathwaysawareness.org, also suggests: Lay your baby across your lap to settle him down instead of holding him on your shoulder. Provide support over the baby's bottom. Enjoy "exercise time together in spurts throughout the day."

A mother of three boys says the "tee-pee for sprinkling wee-wee" designed to cover a boy's penis so he doesn't pee on you while you change his diaper was clearly a product she did not need. Another diaper works just as well, the mom says.

"It seems like most of the items you feel like you have to have with the first child, but by the third you are just happy when you remember to change their diaper," the mother says.

-- DVDs about colors and shapes that may help your toddler more readily identify a crescent shape in books. What about skipping the DVDs for toddlers and starting with board books and taking shape hunts through your everyday life? Or looking for the crescent moon in the sky?

-- Colorful labels to personalize -- temporarily or permanently -- children's bottles and sippy cups to cut down on cup confusion. How about buying different colors to start with? There's a rainbow of choices.

-- Set up your Blackberry with activities for your baby to 2-year-old to occupy him while you're at the grocery store, on an airplane or while you're stuck in traffic. E-mail or phone calls will be intercepted. Or you could skip the Blackberry and show your child blackberries and blueberries and bananas in the grocery store and talk to him about all the cars and trucks around. He should depend on you, not a gizmo, for language development.

-- An iPod application reportedly delivers "safe sound to prenatal listeners." A lightweight belt fits around mom's pregnant belly and has speakers and a controller. Or mom and dad could talk to their growing fetus and turn on some Mozart.

As the list of products for babies gets tougher to figure out, more-seasoned parents find back to basics is the recipe for a healthier family.

Nutritionist Christina Schmidt, author of "The Toddler Bistro: Child-Approved Recipes and Expert Nutrition Advice for the Toddler Years" (Bull Publishing, 2009, $16.95), suggests: Put your little buddy on kitchen duty. Allowing children to participate in age-appropriate tasks in the kitchen such as stirring and measuring ingredients gives them a sense that they participated in the preparation of their meal. They will be more excited to share it with the rest of the family, and more likely to participate.



Parenting tip:

Replace your child's toothbrush frequently and keep it separate from other family members' brushes when the child is sick.