Protect Your Baby

The urge to protect your baby is strong, especially for new mothers. Know the difference between reasonable safety precautions and hyper-vigilant parenting, which can stunt children’s sense of selves, even from a young age.

Let your baby explore the world around him while you keep a watchful eye out for danger.

New parents often experience a flood of emotional anxiety when their child is born. They worry about sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), germs, car seat safety, the family dog, family cat, neighbors, pedophiles, baby’s eating habits and more.

Knowing exactly where to draw the line can be difficult in today’s society, where danger seems to be lurking around every corner, can be confusing. Protecting your family and baby does not mean that you have to let your fears overtake your life. Use your knowledge about baby health care and baby safety to help you create a safe and loving environment without excess worry.

Protecting your child from all the perils of the world is something that every parent wants to do. Arm yourself with knowledge about safety and care of newborns. Follow these tips to ensure your child is protected:

• Take an infant CPR class before your baby is born.
• Properly care for yourself (or help the mom-to-be) while you are pregnant. Eat right, lightly exercise and keep up with prenatal doctor visits.
• Install your infant car seat and get it inspected.
• Place the baby to sleep on his back.
• Keep your home clean and harmful chemicals away from the baby.
• Make an informed decision about vaccines and immunizations.
• Have well-baby visits to the doctor to check your child's health the first year of his life.
• When your baby starts rolling, crawling and walking, do the proper baby proofing.
• Do a background check on and get references for any babysitters/day care providers.
• Feed your baby breastmilk or the proper formula and introduce solids as your pediatrician recommends.
• Let your baby explore the world around him.

Remember that the United States ranks 163rd out of 195 nations in infant mortality rates, so a scratch or bump will likely not cause permanent harm. Taking reasonable precautions is part of being a caring parent.

Some overprotective parents end up helicopter parenting as soon as their child enters the world. This type of parenting is not the same as attachment parenting, which fosters closeness between baby and parent.

Instead, it involves parents who seem to "whir" over their children’s lives from infancy to adulthood, ready to "swoop" in and save them at a moment's notice. Not only does this hinder the development of the older child, but it can stunt even a baby’s self esteem and sense of independence from an early age.

While it is important to soothe an upset child and provide a nurturing environment, it is just as important to know exactly when to let your children learn and experience life for themselves. Look for these signs:

• Are you afraid to leave your child with anyone other than yourself—even your spouse?
• Do you pack an arsenal of baby medicines and health care items every time you leave the house?
• Are you afraid to go into public places with your newborn, for fear he will get sick?
• Do you wonder if every person who thinks your baby is cute has a sinister ulterior motive?
• Have you stayed home from work multiple times because you cannot bring yourself to leave your child in the hands of a trusted caregiver?
• Even though you have a complete video and breathing monitoring system, do you sleep in the same room as your healthy child, waking with every breath or movement he makes?

Having these fears occasionally is normal, but thinking about them all the time is a sign that you are letting your need to protect your baby go too far. Accidents do happen, but unless you have a justified suspicion or prior negative experience, you should make an effort to calm yourself during routine activities and enjoy your baby while he is young.

This is not to say you should neglect your crying baby in fear of becoming an overprotecting parent. Instead, it is important to allow your child to make mistakes and overcome obstacles from even an early age. For example, your child will fall on his behind a few times while learning to walk. Hugging and kissing to soothe his fears and bruises is a reasonable reaction, but lining your whole house in pillows is not.

If you recognize that you may have become too overprotective of your infant, you can start making small steps that will let your child explore the world safely. Try these tips:

1. Allow a grandparent to watch your child while you visit the doctor or run an adult errand. Gradually build up to allowing a trusted friend to watch the baby while you and your partner have a fun "date night" without worry.
2. Stop infant separation anxiety by keeping yourself calm. Instead of the usual long and sorrowful goodbye, cheerfully let baby know you are going "bye-bye" and that s/he will have fun at daycare.
3. Move an older infant, who no longer wakes multiple times a night to eat, into a crib or even his own room. If you find yourself waking over every movement or sound he makes, your lack of sleep could contribute to an overblown sense of paranoia.

It is possible to protect your baby without becoming obsessed with hidden dangers. Educate yourself on the appropriate care, safety and developmental baby milestones so that you are not overwhelmed by worry.

• Infant Car Seat Covers
• Elegant Dresses for Infants
• Baby Shower Cupcakes

• Baby Shower Cake Pictures
• Free Printable Baby Shower Games
• Baby Shower Invitation Wording
• Baby Shower Poems
• Baby Shower Sayings

• Protect Infant Breathing
• Baby Milestones
• Cool Baby Stuff
• Baby Vaccines
• Jogging Stroller