When your little one is about to come home for the first time, your to-do list for preparing can feel endless. You only really need clothes, food, and shelter for a new baby — but it’s the 21st century, and there are a variety of products available to make your life with your new bundle of joy so much easier!
Not sure where to start? We’ll discuss some must-have items for taking care of your new family member, as well as things you can get at the last minute that you may not have thought of before.
Zip-Up Onesies
You can never have too many clothes for your newborn. These are the outfits your little one will be wearing most of the time, and chances are you’ll be going through them quickly. Babies seemingly double in size overnight, so you’ll want to have lots of options available in different colors and sizes.
When choosing a onesie for your newborn, you’ll inevitably have to decide between zippers and snap buttons. While snap buttons are the more common option, most parents will tell you that no one likes to wake up in the middle of the night and snap a bunch of buttons together when they’re half asleep. With zip-up onesies, you’ll have a much easier time dressing and undressing your baby, which you’ll be thankful for when you’re busy dealing with a thousand other things.
Stuffed animals are a popular toy for children of all ages, and they’re guaranteed to become your baby’s favorite comfort object. They come in all different shapes and sizes, from licensed characters to adorable animals. Whether you want tutu-wearing rabbits or funky, rainbow-colored characters, the possibilities are truly endless and depend only on your personal taste.
These toys are seriously cute, entertaining, and will make a fun addition to any newborn’s nursery. Begin building your child’s collection of plushies today!
Blankets and Rattles
Beyond stuffed animals and onesies, you’ll want to make sure your child has other comfort objects and sources of stimulation, like a baby blanket and rattle set. Rattles make noise to entertain your newborn and encourage their brain’s development. Tracking the sounds the rattle makes can help your child improve their hand-eye coordination while grasping and releasing it can strengthen their fine motor skills. Most rattles double as teething toys, as well, with textured edges that will soothe your baby’s aching gums as they grow.
By combining these rattles with an adorable, super-soft blanket, you’re sure to keep your newborn happy and entertained. They may even fall asleep curled up with their new, fuzzy blanket.
Baby Bracelets
These baby bracelets aren’t an absolute necessity, but they would make a great last-minute present for any newborn. These delicate, beautiful pieces come in a variety of colors and feature unique charms. They’re a sweet gift that can be passed down for generations to come, and they’re perfect for baptisms, first birthdays, and other important events in your child’s life. Just be aware they can present a choking hazard so may be best displayed rather than worn for the first few years.
Lots of Diapers
Last but certainly not least, you’ll want to make sure that you have the true essentials before bringing your little one home. Odds are you’ve already stocked up on diapers (or had others buy them for you), but if not, you’re going to need them! From sustainable diapers with colorful prints to classic disposable diapers from the grocery store, there are tons of options to choose from to keep your little one clean and dry.
No matter how prepared you think you are, there will always be something you’re missing when that magic moment finally arrives. Zip-up onesies and extra diapers are essential for keeping your little one looking fresh and feeling clean, while plushies, blankets, and rattles help them stay cozy and entertained throughout the day. To commemorate special occasions, like their first night at home, a delicate baby bracelet may be the perfect gift.
With this list, you’ll be one step closer to making sure your new baby has absolutely everything they need to feel safe, warm, and welcome in your home. Are there any items you think we’re missing? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below!
As a parent, you are always on the lookout for nourishing food for your kids. And one of your primary concerns is often your kids’ healthy teeth. So we are here for all the parents who want to ensure that their kids grow up with healthy and strong teeth.
Food is a significant factor for a child’s overall development. Certain foods are beneficial for the dental health of kids, while some are bad for your teeth. Let’s find out more about the connection between nutrition and the oral health of your kids.
It is better to help kids learn about nutrition rather than merely telling them what to eat and what not to eat. Explain to them that the kind of food they eat directly impacts their dental and overall health.
Try to include food in your kids’ diets with high nutrition and antioxidants. It improves their immunity and provides healthy gums and teeth.
Foods for Good Dental Health of Your Kids
•Fruits & Vegetables
Encourage your kids to eat crunchy fruits and veggies like apple, carrot, and celery. They clean the teeth and stimulate gums with their fiber content. Also, promote veggies and fruits with high water content like melons, cucumber, and pears. They produce saliva, which flushes down remaining food particles and bacteria.
•Green Vegetables
Green vegetables like spinach and kale are great for your kids. They contain lots of calcium, nutrients, vitamins and minerals to strengthen bones. In addition, green leafy veggies are great for your kids’ healthy teeth as they help build up strong tooth enamel.
Dairy products are excellent sources of calcium, vitamin D, protein, and other nutrients essential for building strong enamel and teeth. Include low-fat cheese, yogurt, and milk in your kid’s diet. Along with calcium, the probiotics in yogurt also help in fighting the bacteria.
•Foods Containing Protein
Protein is also required for generating tooth enamel. Encourage your kids to eat protein-rich foods for good dental health. Chicken, turkey, lean meat, peanut butter, and nuts contain protein in abundance. Include these food items in your kids’ diet.
•Cheese
The raised PH level in your kid’s mouth due to cheese prevents it from bacteria and cavities. So include cheese in a varied diet.
Bad Food for Teeth & Gums of Kids
•Chewy & Sticky Food
Sticky food doesn’t get clean quickly and generates bacteria in the mouth. Keep your kids away from raisins, jelly beans, syrups, and other chewy and sticky food items.
•Sugary Food & Beverages
Sugar lingers onto your kid’s teeth and forms cavities. It’s crucial for your kid’s dental health to stay away from sugary food and drinks like candies, sports drinks, colas, etc.
The snacks for kids in the market are full of carbohydrates and starch, like chips, pasta, burgers, etc. The remaining particles of such food can convert into sugar. Limit consumption of these food items.
•Citrus Fruits
Yes, they contain vitamin C, but they also contain acid, which can cause significant harm to the enamel. So give your child citrus fruits like lemon, orange, tomato, etc., in moderation with other food.
Conclusion
Encourage healthy eating in your kids. And tell them to brush immediately after eating any food which is bad for their teeth. Besides nutritious food, maintaining oral hygiene daily and regular dental check-ups are vital for your kid’s dental health.
Dr. Anu Isaac, DMD, runs a successful dental practice in Salem, MA. Dr. Isaac strives for quality on a daily basis and this commitment to quality is reflected in her constant pursuit of advanced training. Her firm belief that even experts need to stay updated about what’s new in the dental field, enables her to provide every patient with optimal oral care. As the founder of Coral Dental Care, she is dedicated to creating healthy, beautiful smiles for her patients and also to educating dental and non-dental communities with her engaging articles on all things related to oral health, recent dental innovations, and latest treatment modalities.
Imagination and kids go hand-in-hand. And when it’s playtime, a kids playroom should be filled with toys that spark their imagination and creativity. Whether that’s with a kitchen playset for a child that loves the idea of being a chef or a table for all sorts of arts and crafts, the options are endless. If you’re looking for a way to highlight your child’s creative mind in your home, look no further than these 21 kids’ playroom decor ideas.
Whether you’re living in Vancouver, CA or in Charlotte, NC incorporating any of these inspiring kids’ playroom decor ideas will make your home a more imaginative place for you and your child.
Kids playroom decor ideas should embrace creativity. I love having a space carved out for my children to get creative. A kid-sized table for crafting and art is a must. I think it is important to keep paper, crayons and playdough within their reach so they can feel empowered to create when they want to. – Rosemary Pritchard, Hopscotch City
Include a space that encourages children to be imaginative. An art table is a great way to encourage this creativity. Start with a child sized table and chairs and add paper, construction paper, crayons, washable markers, water color paints, stickers, washable scented stamp pads and stamps, glue sticks and scissors. These items will encourage your child to use their imagination to create beautiful pieces of art. – Kid City USA
Set up an area for art and let that be messy. A low sink in the playroom will help them with independence. Learning how to wash their hands/materials after working with clay/paints will also give them plenty of sensorial stimulation. A magnetic wall/chalk paint on a wall adds lots of excitement to a playroom. Remember, play is their work. Instead of fixating on “educational” materials choose things that keep them engaged. – Szilvi Kovacs, Director of Kids Collective Preschool
Create small play zones in different areas of the room, and in those areas, only have one type of activity to help the kids focus. Rotate the activities periodically and to make toy rotation easy for you, store the activities by type in large ziplocks or stackable shoe bins. Activity planning then becomes easy and you don’t have to spend the time and energy thinking about the setup. – Myra Epp, Tetrachrome Design, LLC
Have ways for kids to get their energy out. Get those wiggles out! Incorporate items like a toddler trampoline, Nugget play couch, and wood climber that take the place of small toys and get all that toddler energy out. – Kyle and Kim Griffiths, State of Play Kids
Set your playroom up to grow with your child, and make age appropriate toys available within their reach so that they can have the opportunity to play independently while you take a moment to yourself. Some of my favorite things that I keep within reach of my toddler include her bag of musical instruments, shape puzzles, legos, paper and crayons, coloring books and books. Things I keep out of reach include Play-Doh, markers, paint and arts and crafts supplies. The playroom will get messy and I’ve learned to just embrace the chaos… but I don’t need googly eyes or beads all over the house. – Erica Brennes, Real Mom Real Tired
Create a hideaway underneath the stairs. We created a secret hideout by adding some fun festive lights and shelves to the nook area under the stairs. It is a great area to build towering block castles, do puzzles, and experiment with science kits. A monthly subscription to our toy rental service keeps your hideout freshly stocked and clutter free. – Green Piñata Toys
You can make space in your family room. Use low level storage at child height with baskets which fit in with your decor. The key here is to have a place for everything and everything in its place and for the children to be able to access the toys easily for play and for tidying up. Once they are in bed, adults get to enjoy their space with no mess in sight. Children like a low table so your coffee table can do double duty while a floor matt gives versatility. I would make sure to include construction toys, small world toys, drawing supplies and books in the designated area and then swap them out for others to keep their interest. – Dominique Lyons, Founder of Kids Rule Interiors
Create a cozy corner for reading and relaxing. Children love to read books. Create a cozy reading corner by mounting spice racks as bookshelves in a height your kids can reach. Place a comfy mattress on the floor, or even better, a stylish little sofa for “hygge” time. – Leander
Select the right toys and neutral-colored storage. If you’re like us and your playroom is in the same space as your open-concept living room, my biggest tip is to be selective with the toys you have and the storage you have so your living room doesn’t feel overrun by toys. For us, we prefer minimal and/or wood toys over plastic toys, and, rather than plastic tubs in primary colors for storage, we collect toys into large, oversized neutral canvas baskets to group similar items like blocks, Duplo legos, and Magnatiles. – Hunter Rohwer
The less toys, the better the playroom. A playroom that has too many toys can overwhelm a child. Research tells us that less toys leads to more creativity and ultimately happier, more engaged play. You’ll never go wrong with a neutral colored playroom with a carefully selected rotation of toys that encourage a child to use their imaginations. – Jackie Ciaramella, Whole 9 Family
Your space should be clear and clutter-free. Having a space cleared of extra knick-knacks allows for better creative thought. De-clutter by storing and cycling toys seasonally throughout the year. Bring warm season toys out as it warms up; bubbles, jump rope, sidewalk chalk. Bring cool season toys out as it gets chilly; puzzles, books, games. Stage toys to make them inviting and engaging for children to play. Don’t just throw the baby doll and her blanket into a toy box, prop the baby up in her doll house and set the blanket and bottle next to her. – Rebecca Calbert NCARB, LEED AP, Childcare Design Studio and Calbert Design Group
Make sure toys are visible and labeled. If they can’t see their toys, they won’t play with them. Instead of toy boxes, invest in clear, high-quality plastic shoe storage boxes. Label them for easy sorting and clean-up. – Pilar Bewley, Mainly Montessori
Toy rotation is key. The best advice I have for keeping your playroom organized and your children engaged while playing is… toy rotation. When all the toys are out and available, they often get mixed up, scattered across the floor, and the mess can be overwhelming for both parent and child. Categorize your toys (ex: puzzles, play figures), keep one item in each category on a shelf in your playroom, put the rest of the toys in boxes and store somewhere out of sight, rotate the toys weekly. – Shara Challa Arora, Executive Director of Sugar Mill and Meadow Montessori Schools
Include a closet space to keep the majority of toys and activities packed away and out of sight. Keep a limited number of toys out for play, rotating the options on a regular basis. Children will engage better with their toys when there are fewer options, plus old toys seem new again when they have been hidden a while and they will be excited to see. – Nanny Savvy
Label storage with pictures and words. When using storage bins, take photos of the contents and label with both the picture and the words. Not only does this help keep toys organized, it promotes literacy skills as children connect the written words to the image. Don’t forget to make books easily accessible. – Stacey Grumet, Founder & CEO of Paper Pinecone
Stock your child’s playroom with open-ended, age-appropriate materials. These would be any toys and supplies that have more than one possible use. Materials like wooden blocks, art supplies like play dough, and even things from nature like sand, water, rocks or sticks encourage creativity, experimentation, trial and error, problem solving and critical thinking. – Lauren Besack, Ducklings Early Learning Franchise Director of Curriculum Development
Accessibility is key for a playroom for kids that inspires independent play (every parent’s dream). Low shelves with open bins are a must. It also helps to keep the shelves organized and as clutter-free as possible. Too many toys can be overwhelming and make it difficult for a child to find something to do. I recommend keeping the bulk of your toys in a closet and to rotate what’s available on the shelves every few weeks to keep kids interested and avoid toys getting “old.” – Amanda Armbruster, Take a Break Tots, LLC
Highlight toys to spark creativity. My number one tip is to stage and style toys in a way which invites children to jump in and play instead of hiding everything away. – Lindsay Pavlick, The Well Styled Child
Everything should have its place. Make sure everything has a home and make sure that home is labeled. I like using pictures for labels on containers to allow even very young children to know where each toy lives. – Jessica Wade, The Wiggle Room
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